Help choosing Wood in South AFrica????

[Nepptune]

Hey Guys

Very new to board building... Hope y'all can help out. I am in South Africa and am wanting to start building a board. I'm looking to put together a little mini type board, similar to the Gravity Mini, but flat, no camber, no concave ( starting small!! )

After reading through some of the threads, it seems that Baltic Birch is the way to go...only problem is its impossible to get down here in South Africa!!!

Does anyone have any ideas on a substitute which may be available down here?? I can get hold of Maple Hardwood, in 3/4 inch as well as Beech.... Would these work at all???

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks and respect

Nepps

[mox]

this is a bit hard, but I will give this a shot maybe 2nd week of december, I will be using bamboo fibers, i am at the point of searching what adhesice will i be using to get this laminated, i have my email address at the bottom, lemmi keep you posted.

[jmclure]

For a mini your probably ok with any plywood that has alot of plys to it. Just count them. If it has at least 7 plys to 5/8 inch or 11 plys for 3/4 inch you should be fine. If your talking about solid wood you will also be fine for a mini. I've made one out of solid 3/4 pine.

[thepinkpantherpm]

hey neptune its me from Gravity forums....
i think maple is good, if im not mistaken its used for shortboards and alot of other boards (my carve 43")

[lettucefresh]

Go with vert-lam. from your 3/4 hardwood (use maple and something else, preferably a darker wood for asthetics) rip a bunch of 1/2 inch pieces on your table saw. So then you will have a bunch of strips of wood 3/4 x 1/2 x whatever your board length is. Lay these on their side ( so they are 3/4 across) and glue and clamp them with some bar clamps, and clamp them down with some wailers to prevent buckling. If you are going for a mini, 1/2 hardwood should be plenty thick enough, but experiment.

[confusious]

hey nepptune,
there is a guy on here named justzoos, hes also in south africa, and uses native wood from down there, you should talk to him and im sure he could give you advice and tell you everything you need to know about what to get down there. he makes some sick speedboards, but im sure he could help you with just about anything youre looking for.

good luck, and share the stoke

[Nepptune]

Hey Guys

Thanks for all the info!! Confuscious thanks for the heads up about justzoos, I'll see if I can track him down, maybe he is in Cape Town and I can hook up with him and learn some stuff from him!!

Thanks guys, hopefully I'll have pics of the project to post in the New Year.

Nepptune.

PS: Is their a thread anywhere here that y'all know about that kinda breaks down all the vocab and slang/Abbreviations used on this thread? As I am COMPLETELY new to all this building it would be great to follow the threads and actually understand what y'all are talking about!!

[lettucefresh]

If you're unclear on something, just search the forums for it. ex... v-lam, vert lam, vertical lamination.... just try the words you don't know and something will always come up.

[lettucefresh]

If you want to make anything besides a flat plank, you will need to start working with thinner and thinner vert-lam construction. If you can make "sheets" of hardwood composed of 3/4 inch by 1/8 inch strips of wood glued together, they will be thin enough to laminate with bends. just a thought, maybe try it once you are 3-4 boards deep and ready to get more advanced.

[Nepptune]

Thanks for the info guys, sounds good.

Lettucefresh, thanks for the heads up about vlam and lingo, and on the best way to start off.
Got the old man on board for the project too, be good to have some family time over the holidays stuck in the workshop with the oldman making a board or two!!
He is a perfectionist and a great wood worker so hopefully I'll be able to post some pics of somethin puuuuuuurrrttttyyy in the New Year.

Thanks and Jah Bless