Creating the Base and the Lid

The folks at Grain surfboards were nice enough to make this step fairly painless. They selected White Cedar planks that look good together. Since the finished product will be simply the wood grain, lining up the grain patterns is key to creating a work of art. Once I made sure I liked how the grain patterns looked good together, I proceeded to glue the planks together. On the side of the planks that will be visible (the outside of the board) I used masking tape on the seams of the wood to prevent glue seepage. I also used bar clamps and more tape to ensure that the planks glued tight enough together so that there are no visible gaps between the planks.

Unfortunately, the masking tape did not prevent seepage on the lid of the board so I had to use a sharp chisel to scrape away the hardened glue. Once the glue was removed from the lid, I proceeded to prepare my base and lid for assembly. I started by planing the base of the board so that it was completely flat. Since I have never attempted to plane wood before, I of course started by accidentally taking out huge chunks of wood from my board! Finally I adjusted my plane tool and my technique to the point where the base began to look somewhat flat and smooth. I will do better next time.

Next I used a jigsaw to cut out the shape of what will be a surfboard from the base. This was an exciting step as I can finally see a surfboard beginning to form. I took this step very seriously because there was no going back once I made the cut! I used the keel and frames to determine the outline of the board. Then I measured out some spare space which will be crucial to future steps.

The final step in preparing the base and lid was to epoxy the knots in the planks. The knots often have gaps that need to be sealed. Epoxy is a highly versatile sealant that I will be using for many aspects of the board building process. Epoxy is a combination of resin and hardener that will be used in place of fiberglass coating to seal, harden, and UV shield the surfboard. Yet, I will also be using epoxy as a glue and in this case, as a sealant.

Now that I have my base and lid completed, my next step will be to glue the frames and keel to the base of the future surfboard. Thanks for reading!