WOODEN SURFBOARD DESIGN
The design of our surfboards is heavily influenced by our commitment to preserving Mother Nature, but reducing weight, enhancing durability and ensuring performance are all key features of our boards.
Because if we can do things in a sustainable way while also making boards that perform, why not do it?
That’s always been our modus operandi and it’s worked so far, but don’t think for a second these boards are simply meant for decoration (although they do look great when hung on a wall). Our hollow, fibreglass-free boards perform in all types of waves for all levels of surfer, which means you can ride them knowing that they’re up to the task.
What’s more, this revolutionary design also means our boards are built to last. We’ve sold hundreds over the years and our customers all say the same thing: they rarely snap, repairs aren’t common and pressure dings simply don’t exist.
All of this ensures they continue to perform year after year (and maybe even be passed down to your kids).
OUR TECHNIQUE
OUR PROCESS
The process of crafting wooden surfboards is labour and time intensive. On average, it requires at least 35 hours from start to finish, which makes crafting timber surfboards more of an art form.
No matter what type of board we’re making though, it all begins with our state-of-the-art 3D surfboard design program. It’s here where we enter the parameters of your board into our computer. It then cuts the paulownia wood into exact pieces using an advanced laser cutter.
Next, we combine the wood with flax fibre – a blend of composite materials used exclusively by Kun_tiqi – using a vacuum bagging process. This securely binds the materials and ensures our boards are strong yet flexible.
After we glue all of the pieces together, the board is about 85% complete. But to get that perfect outline and finish, it still requires roughly 5 hours of shaping, planing and sanding. This is all done by hand and it’s at this point that you can really feel the board come to life!
OUR MATERIALS
In case you didn’t know already, we’re big believers in looking after Mother Nature. For this reason, we use eco-friendly materials whenever possible to minimise waste and lessen our environmental footprint.
All paulownia timber used in our boards is grown right here in Spain/Europe using sustainable farming practices, which means we needn’t ship timber from overseas. The use of paulownia wood also means we can create incredibly flexible yet strong boards, given that paulownia is lightweight and saltwater resistant. What’s more, paulownia is fast growing (6 – 8 years). And for every tree that we cut down, we plant another in its place.
We’ve also developed a boardmaking process that requires zero fibreglass. That’s right, nada, zilch, zip. Why? Because fibreglass – which is made of costly and finite sand – isn’t a friend of the environment.
Besides, we vacuum bind the paulownia with flax (the cultivation of which requires far fewer pesticides, insecticides and water when compared to other fibre) to further strengthen your boards and ensure they stand the test of time.
