MyPaipoBoards Forums

The cork blanks from California Surfcraft are no longer available, but part of the appeal was that you could change the shape, vacuum off the dust, and then head for the waves. As I recall, he used an aerospace or airplane grade of cork that was shipped over from Portugal. He laminated the layers wi...

A few texts, and Facebook posts. He's been making his own Kayaks. He rides them in the surf or the bay. He's in the water at either Coronado or Silver Strand. But Imperial Beach is a no go. Pollution has gotten worse under the Trump presidency.

bendblocks.jpg My custom bending table. Two thickness of 2x12 douglas fir glued together. The two curved blocks are knot-free redwood for ease of shaping. I trimmed the corners of poplar 1x12, to prevent the plank from swelling and getting stuck in the soaking pot. Usually I soak the board for thre...

I have a couple of vintage British boards. I think they're 3/8 inch thick, and most likely marine plywood. I've made a few from 1x12 poplar planks. Here's one I soaked and boiled and bent with a couple of C-clamps. I copied the template directly from a vintage Crest. I planed and sanded it down to a...

Poobah, long time! Wondered if the fires and smoke in N. California had swept you away. Any water time as of late? We had one fire come within a mile of our house. It came over the final ridge, and then we were spared by a lack of wind. The fear of fire also keeps me close to home during the fire s...

I'd saved this photo from that Swaylock's post. Not an ad, but a family photo of Mr. Dextra at a trade show in Chicago in 1968. The transitional Dextras shortly before they stopped making surfboards.


I still have a couple of Dextra Bellyboards if anybody is looking to buy one.

You ride the suitcase.

I suppose it's also worth mentioning that John Galera made a paipo with fiberglass and balsa core...end grain balsa core. It comes in sheets, and is mostly used in boats. As I recall, John glassed his boards on a tarp or something that would curve when he added weights to the board (before the resin...

I'm not suggesting this method, but I thought you might enjoy a really old school way of holding a bend in a timber board. Kerf cuts were made across the nose, and then the bend was held in place with two boards on the rails. They also function as handles. bf0816.jpg bfkerf.jpg This old photo of act...

Poplar board I made several years ago. The template was copied directly from a vintage Crest board from Penzance. The nose kick was done by soaking the nose of the board for a few days, boiling the nose for 20 to 30 minutes, then clamping, and left in clamps for a day. penzy01.jpg penzy02.jpg penzy0...

Then there's the stock shape toilet lid mini paipo, sanitized for your protection.

Inspired by that old bellyboard brochure from the fifties. I can't remember the name. The author mentioned the men in Durban riding half-size boards, so I made a 24 inch board (half of a 4 foot Cornish board.)

This one is five pieces of wood. The main experiment here was to have the two stringers protrude from the bottom of the board as stringer fins. I have yet to make a scaled-up version. The nose could sometimes put a lot of water on my face on an angled takeoff.

Just the sort of topic that will drag Poobah out of his cave. My Royal Egyptian Cubit boards were based on the length of the Pharaoh's forearm, about 20 and 5/8th inches or 525 mm. IMG_0888.JPG IMG_0902.JPG The nose handle on the blunt nose board has some anti-pearling function, and it makes the boa...

My plans have changed, and I cancelled my reservation for campsite #17. Have fun guys, and be sure to take pictures.

Tomorrow is the birthday of the Booger. Celebrate it if you can.

I'm a big fan of Minwax fast-drying polyurethane. It's oil based, but fast enough for 2 coats per day...depending on your weather. It's clear. It's interior, but I never leave my paipo tied up to a dock in a marina. I glue the cork to bare plywood with Titebond II at the very beginning of a project,...

Sort of a board swap possible at the paipo gathering on October 8th and 9th at El Cap. Maybe bring one or two boards to sell, but just put a piece of blue masking tape that says, "make offer" on the bottom of the nose. Sort of a conversation starter for the campground lookyloos.

Anyone interested in getting together again in the Ventura to Cambria stretch of the coast in early October? Thinking about 2-3 days between Friday, Oct 6 and Tue, Oct 10th. About 2 years earlier (Oct 2015) we met up at the Ocean Mesa El Capitan campground (just up the road from Santa Barbara, nort...

I'm now #17. Rod, can you easily PM the entire member list?