Just something that has had my curiosity for a long time is shaping an agave board. I will randomly see some that just look amazing, and I would love to give it a go. When I have searched for blanks, I find nothing. It seems that a lot of guys just simply glue up agave pieces together and then shape that. But at the same time, I was in a shop here in FL a few years back, and swear that I saw an agave blank for sale. Anyone know if anyone sells agave blanks? Or if not, any recommendations on finding agave wood planks and how best to glue them up? Or finally, if you have shaped agave already, what are your thoughts on it? Thanks for any and all info everyone!
https://www.barrysnyderdesigns.com/agave-surfboards.html
https://www.surfer.com/features/agave-surfboards/
https://surfing-waves.com/video/11630_roots-the-agave-surfboard-build.htm
Heap of infomation out there, I have done a hand plane ans some agave tail blocks.
I have personally used Foaming PU glue.
The biggest issue for me is the clamps and the machining the wood from the raw stalks.
The video is really cool cause it shows the collection and the milling of the wood.
The Agave blank in the Florida shop was probably a “one off” someone put together and decided they didn’t want to shape it. I have seen Balsa, Cedar and Redwood blanks available at times but not Agave. Ever thought about doing one out of Hawaiian Wilwili? Would probably be a little easier to put together a blank. May not be as pretty as Agave can be though.
Thanks for the links! Ive seen one of those before. I was mostly looking to see if anyone knew of either someone who makes the blanks like I saw, or maybe someone who could suggest the best way to get the wood and glue it together/shape it/glass it here in FL. But I do appreciate the video especially.
I figured that it was probably a one off. But you never know unless you put it out there and ask! I haven’t heard of Wilwili, but would be open to such an idea. Some of the pictures I just saw still look like nice boards. Not sure if I can get it here in FL though.
Wiliwili is the Hawaiian species of Coral Tree.
I bet there’s Coral trees in FL. And I suspect there’s probably some big agave like this one down there somewhere too…
Jim Phillips second shaping video covers an Agave build
Good luck finding Wiliwili for surfboards. We had an invasive bug problem around 2006 and most of the old Wiliwili Trees were either killed by the bugs or cut down. It’s like Agave with the wild grain and it’s light but stiff. I managed to get some as people were cutting trees down, but the wood has tiny holes from the bugs. The big logs were cut into short segments, 4 feet or less, and the long branches have a lot of bends and twists. I milled the wider pieces and used it for veneers about 1/8" thick on several boards. It makes a beautiful nose or tail block too.
These boards have Wiliwili and Balsa veneers.
I like it shark. The Wiliwilli that lined the highway from Kihei to Kahului was like a strobe light every morning as the sun came up on Maui. A couple of guys got some of that wood when they were cut down. I didn’t know about the bug invasion at the time, but it was around that time (2006) when they were removed. So makes sense.