Dick Brewer Balsa Surfboard Lamination

Dick Brewer shapes some of the nicest balsa surfboards out on the market today. We were able to observe Otis while he was laminating a beautiful Brewer balsa with glass on fins. The majority of the cost of these boards is in the blank and the shaping but during the glassing process the true beauty of the wood comes to life. Since balsa boards cost a premium it's even more important that the glass job is absolutely perfect. You wouldn't pay top dollar for a Ferrari that has a big scratch down the side of it, right?
Otis utilizes the Fiberglass Hawaii UV cure polyester resin and materials in order to cure the resin before the balsa has a chance to absorb the resin and to keep the glassing process moving along quickly.
Below are 10 simple steps to laminating a balsa board with glass on fins. For more detail, check out the video.
Seal the bottom of the board as well as the rails using UV cure polyester resin.
Laminate the bottom of the board with a single layer of 6oz fiberglass.
Grind the fiberglass laps with a 50-80 grit 8" disk.
Seal the deck of the board using UV cure polyester resin.
Laminate the deck of the board with a single layer of 6oz fiberglass.
Apply a hot coat, or sanding coat, to the deck of the board.
Flip the board over and grind the resin and lap line on the bottom of the board.
Tape your glass on fins to the desired tow and cant and then tack them on with laminating resin.
Apply your fin rope and fin patches to the fins in order to glass them to the board.
Trim the excess fiberglass cloth from around the fins.
Congratulations! You have completed a balsa surfboard lamination. shop.fiberglass...

[@islander4986]

Wallhanger? Display only? Beautiful board, but it seems wrong somehow to build but not surf it.

[@HistoricSteamTV]

I have restored 42ft wood boats that would be wall hangers if they could fit it in the livingroom.

[@HistoricSteamTV]

Bare handed hope he is not showering in acetone every day or MEK. Bad habits die hard ignoring them cuts back on surf time.

[@Druimmer]

i liked the narration, nice voice and to the point. It even made me feel i actually like the guy behind the voice...

[@MrDeadsurfer]

Yes, he belongs on the tour as a narrator.

[@mjstevenson911]

If you were building it to use, would you use two or three layers? Have you tried UV lights, like they use in the nail polish salons? Is sunlight better, faster or preferred for another reason?

[@olafhenke5654]

sunlight cures faster. Uv Box, depending of the uv resin mixture and W, takes like 4 to 7 min to cure. UV bulbs, lights, consume more power. End board is more expensive.

[@charlesschuster7963]

Sunlight is cheap and readily available. Lights cost and are easily found. Commercial glass shops use lights since they can't have their glassers carrying boards in and out of the shop.

[@davel4708]

If you're somewhere where it's often windy, cold, cloudy and rainy then UV curing outside is not going to work a lot of the time.

[@michelevitarelli]

No gloves? That's crazy!

[@charlesschuster7963]

Yep it's cuckoo-nutso. Polyester resin, including suncure, is thinned with stryrene, which causes cancer; the acetone he'll probably use to clean his hands has the interesting property, (besides being hideously toxic itself) of being able to carry the resin through your skin. Glassing without gloves is slow suicide.

[@ajm2193]

I always wear gloves and respirator even with epoxy and if you do get any on the skin use soap and water then if it dries let it wear off, acetone is a double whammy

[@shanepalethorpe3133]

Some of the best Balsa shapes I have ever seen or surfed are by Andres in Ecuador, he is an absolute master with Balsa Guns ! Heres one of his Fish Swallowtails in the photo to the left.

[@alvarogdelgadofdelgado6899]

De que material es el logo de tu marca? Es de papel?

[@wessmithp5560]

That chronic shirt in 2019

[@youyiulian4316]

I have a question about resine epoxy , please how much kilo of epoxy u need to finish the surfboard?

[@greetingscleo]

A beautiful piece of art!

[@SDBARTENDER1]

Chronic Cellars! Cheers!

[@kevscollection]

I am doing my first cedar board, I have done the first lamination and I am about to flip it and sand the lap. Do you only have sand back to 50 grit ? Will the 50 grit scratch show ? Also I am using polyester will styrene work on it to get rid of the white marks ? Thanks Kev

[@greetingscleo]

I want one!

[@Freddy-dg7dh]

What did you do with the overhang from the bottom glasfiber coat before applying the hotcoat ?

[@crispernator]

Really nice looking board to good to ride

[@palolovaly]

Oops sorry no boo...wrong vid..good vid

[@rowantony505]

I like the fins method

[@johnmcculloch5736]

PLEASE DO NOT use that clap crap music

[@krusher74]

calm down John!

[@palolovaly]

Boo