Friday, March 20, 2009

More Progress On The Grain and New Balsa Fish



View More Photos Here
Photos by Dan Lewis and Dennis Murphy

Since the last time I was up at the Murphy Ranch and did a post on the Grain board the weather up there became too cold to work on the board. The next phase was to build the rails, which consists of a process of stacking 1/4 inch long strips of wood one on top of each other to make the curve of the rail.  The process is borrowed from wood boat building and is referred to as the bead and cove method. Meaning that each strip has a concave bottom and rounded top.  The bead fits in the cove and lets the wood lock into place with the help of the glue.

The barn it is being built in wasn't heated and the cold temperatures made the risk too high for cracking the bead and cove strips.  So it sat for a few weeks until recently when the weather warmed up and they could get going again.

I haven't seen the progress yet in person but was fortunate enough to hook up with Dennis and chat about its progress and get these photos.

While Dennis and Dan were waiting for the weather to warm up for the Grain, they started a little side project to keep themselves busy. To my shock they surprised me with some photos of their next project, a scrap Balsa and 100 year old reclaimed redwood 5'10" Quad Fish. The board is chambered out and is set to weigh in at 10 pounds glassed. That is most likely the weight of a glossed and polished 6' fish. The redwood used is from a recycled water tower on his property. The wood is surprisingly light on it's own because of the age but once chambered it is exceptionally light.

Here are a couple photos of the project. Keep an eye on the Murphy Blog for more details and it's progress.

Glued and rough shaped. The swallow has yet to be cut.

Murphy In the Ranch Shaping Room

Fresh Spring Grass, Redwood and Balsa

View More Photos Here
Photos by Dan Lewis and Dennis Murphy

Some More Of The Last Swell

Cardiff Green Room

Style'n Floater

Classic Off The Top

David did his best to get around during this last swell and it paid off.  He got some amazing shots.  Here are a few that I liked.  You can see more at Surfline and Transworld Surf.
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