Surfboards and surf accessories

Building a wooden surfboard can be one of the greatest joys known to surfers. To be accurate, the first surfer had to build a surfboard before he could surf and probably enjoyed it. While the process of building a surfboard has changed since the first one hundreds of years ago the types of materials have changed too. We do not need to venture out in the forest and find a perfect koa tree and then chop it down with a manual tool and chisel it down to something that we can ride a wave on. We can now ride down to the local lumber yard or box home improvement store and purchase the required materials for building a surfboard.

The local supplies and wood available to most surfers in a local supply store will give the first time surfboard builder ample choices for a quality surfboard that will last for years. The most common solid wood for building a surfboard is cedar. Cedar is light and relatively strong which are two of the primary concerns when building a surfboard. Cedar is moderate in price and available in a variety of different sizes. Another great wood for constructing a surfboard is pine.

Pine is much heavier than cedar but is also much stronger yet stills a soft wood and easy to work with. Pine is available in nearly any size and is the cheapest available. Some may be surprised to hear but plywood is a great material for the first time builder of a wooden surfboard and has been chosen more recently as the favorite next to cedar. Plywood is available in many different thicknesses which allow some to be used for ribs and some for covering the deck of the hollow surfboard.

By Jack S Yundt

Article Source : http://ezinearticles.com/?Hollow-Wood-Surfboards—Choosing-a-Type-of-Wood&id=5492655