Yana Surf balsa wood surfboards are built with a chambered construction method. Chambering reduces the weight of the finished board while maintaining the natural strength of the wood fibers. It all starts with selecting choice grade balsa wood from the forests of coastal Ecuador. Once harvested, the balsa is cut into planks and kiln dried. We select the best balsa planks for building our hand-crafted wood surfboards.
The next step in the process involves tracing the rocker template and rough-cutting each plank before gluing the blank together. Depending on board width, each surfboard is constructed from approximately 20 balsa planks. With the blank glued, the rough surfboard is refined through a methodical shaping process into its close to final shape.
The near final shape is then broken apart and each plank is chambered to achieve the optimal balance of strength and surfboard weight. The chambered shavings make great mulch and can be recycled for a variety of uses. Depending on the surfboard design, stringers have been integrated throughout the process and custom nose and tail blocks are also added.
Once chambering is complete the planks are glued together again and the final shaping and fine tuning of the surfboard occurs. Graphic designs, logos and other visual elements are printed to rice paper or other laminate materials and laid into the board during the glassing process.
Making a custom wood surfboard is an art. Our master craftsmen have decades of experience shaping surfboards and a keen eye and sense for what makes a great wood surfboard.
To speak with someone at Yana Surf and get your questions answered about a custom balsa wood surfboard please call us at (800) 525-6731 .
