Yard Sale Find?

While crusing some yard sales I came across what appears to be a chambered 10’ surfboard, some sort of Tom Blake copy. I asked the owner and he told me his father got this board from a Princeton engineering Professor back in the 50s. The prof was said to have built this back in the 30s. It was in their garage untouched until the present owner decided to refinish it to its present condition. It has a brass drain plug in the tail and weighs about 70 lbs. Is there any way to identify this board?

My brother ask me about this board 6-8 months ago,he was told it was a Tom Blake and sent me pics to see if i could confirm that. The gentleman who own it painted the board and added the lams that are on the deck. I told him with out seeing it in person it would be hard for me to tell, but what i was told and could see looked like a home built not a Blake. Hopefully someone on here can give you more insight. If you don’t mind me asking what did you pay for it?

I Have seen That Board on Craigslist for sometime now.  Since he is in NJ I don’t think that is a  Tom Blake Board. Maybe a Blake designed board made for life Guard duty on The Jersey Shore. Blake published Plans for a board in Popular Mechanics . Lot’s of people made their own board off those plans.   The guy ruined that board by painting and replacing the old stickers.  You would have to remove the drain plug and get an LED camra lens into the board to see if this really is something from the 1930’s or a newer board.  An Original Board would most likly would have been varnished or Shellaced 
No expert I just think this really needs to be investigated before any money changes hands.

I don’t think it’s a Blake, or even made from Blake’s published plans.      Blake boards had a brass drain plug setup, with his name cast in the metal.      That thing might, might I say, be worth one or two hundred dollars, to a user.      I sure don’t think it’s a collectable item.    Classic ‘‘buyer beware’’ situation.

That’s exactly what I told my brother, and I think he offered the guy $250 just for a wall hanger.

Agreed. It looks like someone’s poorly executed interpretation of what they thought was a Blake design. Pretty clunky looking.

 

 

I’d say that was $200 too much.

http://www.grainsurf.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=881

Some old magazine reprints and commentary including a couple sets of Blake plans.

-J

His money not mine. …

I agree though I wouldn’t pay for it. I’d rather make one

I can’t find the guys ad on Craigslist so it must have sold. His asking price was pretty high maybe $2,500 or something like that.