Dom's fish

Our friend Dom De Pietro shaped his first fish with the help of Ryan Burch. It’s a 5-5" ( x 20 1/2?) and made from a Skip Frye template.  It's the first poly board he has shaped (after building 4 Alaia wood boards).  His friends at Hot Sauce glassing in oceanside helped Dominic laminate the board. Dom is a great surfer. Can wait to get some shots of him on it.

I Love Performance Shortboards

They make amazing handplanes. 

Thanks to Dom Di Pietro for the donation. These will go to good use.

Dom's Alaia Test Drive

We featured Dom De Pietro's handy work a few weeks back with some photos of him making his own Alaia. Today I got some shots from his first test drive.

This is the third Alaia he's shaped, but it's the first he's made using the real Paulownia wood from Oz. He is digging this board over his others because the Paulownia is lighter and has more floatation. According to Dom this new board glides much faster and turns easier due to the reduced weight. It also paddles much easier than the Alaias he made out of Douglas fir.

Like any stoked craftsman, as soon as he finished making a wood board, he's already starting to think about the next one he's going to make, and the different design changes he wants to try out.

We'll be keeping tabs on Dom to see what he makes next. Keep up the good work Dom and keep sending us photos!

Home Made Alaia - By Dom De Pietro

My friend's son Dom has been busy making his own Alaias in his backyard. This is actually his third. He got Cyrus' Tom's Plantation Creation  a while back and has been on a mission. His first two were made of pine until he got to ride one of his friend's Paulownia powered boards. After feeling the float of the Paulownia he went up to see Jon Wegener to score a blank for his next board. 

Dom is a ripper on foam boards and it will be fun to see him dial this board in. 

Dom with Paulownia blank purchased from Jon Wegener

Cut it out. 6-4

Outline inspired by the Peanut model.

Sanding the tapered rails and concave

Ready to ride after two coats of boiled linseed oil.