Paulownia lumber and milled strips! The planks are 27mm thick (1 1/16″ thick x 6″ wide x 96″ long) The 27mm thickness is unique in the commercial paulownia market here in North America and is essential for maximizing yield with minimum waste. We ship material that is 96″ long which is the longest material that can be ship via our shipper (FedEx Ground Home Delivery)
Here’s a bit of Ken’s story in Ken’s words:
“I began working with wood again in Sarasota first as a hobby to free my spirit of the stresses of a busy career in 2015. Though I enjoyed immensely the process of restoring our 1957 Fleetform runabout, it was not the same as starting with raw materials and creating something original. As I had not had the ability to focus enough time on my creative outlets, the need to create again was growing…but this time I wanted to focus on creations that allowed the user to interact with our beautiful natural world on something natural and hand-crafted.
Here’s a bit of Rory’s story:
Rory was born in Monterey California and came from a military family that moved often. His coming of age years were spent on Kauai Hi where he learned to surf. Rory’s dad and granddad were both woodworkers and he feels it’s in his genes. Rory is a super creative individual and started making art at an early age and has always found it to be a peaceful refuge from everyday life.
If you have been thinking about building a hollow wood SUP and like “All Around” shapes, our “all around” line up of SUP’s is ready to build! The Buddha “all around” comes in three sizes: 12’ 5” x 34” x 260 liters of volume (up to 280 pounds or 128kg), 11’ 5” x 32” x 226 liters of volume (up to 260 pounds or 120kg) and 11’ x 0” x 32” x 216 liters of volume (up to 210 pound or 95kg). These shapes are designed to accommodate a wide range of paddler sizes and skills and can be a great option for building a highly versatile board.
The recessed deck VLZ 14’ x 23” is a race board for those paddlers wanting the very fasted shape available in strip planked hollow wood construction. The 27″ wide is also a very fast touring version of this shape. This is a cutting edge design with a highly refined bottom shape which will produce a fast and stable board for it’s 23” width. This is a board that is best suited for experienced builders and paddlers and is designed for primarily flatwater paddling.
I sometimes feel a bit guilty about voicing the merits of paulownia wood for strip planking since Clearwood Paddleboards sells paulownia lumber and milled strips. But the fact is that paulownia wood is simply the very best material available if you want to build a light and strong hull. The weight to strength ratio is exceptional as well as its “workability” in the woodshop environment. We have found paulownia wood to be an easy to work wood that both cuts and sands cleanly. If you would like more information on paulownia tomentosa you can find it here: http://www.wood-database.com/paulownia/
If you would like a free sample of paulownia wood, please contact us and we’ll get one right out to you.
Building a lightweight hollow wood board of any style can be a challenge but, in the end, not that hard if you choose the “right” materials. The very best wood for building hollow wood boards is a species of wood called paulownia tomentosa. Pauownia t. has the perfect blend of weight and structure. Availability of this species in North America is limited but it is available on a limited basis (I import and resell paulownia t. on my website at http://clearwoodpaddleboards.com/product/paulownia-lumber/). I always have it available for those hollow wood board builders that value a lightweight board. Paulownia tomentosa is approximately 2/3’s of the weight of many other commonly used species for strip planking hollow wood boards.
Tool requirements for strip planking a paddleboard are simple; a basic set of hand tools and a few basic power tools are all that is required. The enhancement of our woodshops with a more diverse set of tools is something most woodworkers strive for, but strip planking is simple and the tools that you need to perform most of the strip plank build tasks are as well. What’s the most important tool in the wood shop for strip planking you ask? I’d say the sharpening stone! Block planes and chisels are used extensively in strip planking and sharp tools are a must. Hand tools such as a Japanese pull saw, a low angle block plane and a basic assortment of decent bench chisels will go far in getting your strip planked board built. The ability to keep your plane iron and chisels sharp is the key to success with chisels and planes, and there are many simple and inexpensive ways to accomplish this task. Dull tools don’t perform well, aren’t fun to use and can be dangerous.
Hollow wood paddleboard construction techniques are common to many different hull shapes. The build method for all the boards I design is strip planking. Strip planking, for those not familiar with the process, is the application of strips of wood to a framework that is in the shape of the board (or boats, among other shapes). Many rowing shells were built before the advent of epoxy, fiberglass and carbon fiber technology in this fashion and were “state of the art” until modern plastic technology became the norm. The basics of strip planking in the case of paddleboards is slightly different than kayaks or canoes in that the entire framework stays inside of the board. The structure of a strip planked paddleboard is semi-monocoque https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semi-monocoque, or in other words, a “torsion box” type of structure. A “skin” that remains attached to a subassembly, such as a light framework, is incredibly strong…think aircraft wing.
Paddlers that have been around the paddling and surfing sports for any length of time likely know prone paddleboard background and also know the basics of how various sports relate. Prone paddleboards are the very most basic paddle craft on the water. The element of simplicity, versatility and cross-training possibilities for prone surfers, plus the pure fun of paddling, bind prone paddling to all the other paddling sports.