At this years wooden board day I was introduced to Lesley who had flown up for the day from Mac Masters Beach. Her friend introduced us and showed me a album of pictures of the boards she had been building and riding. Just amazing work.So I asked her to send some pics to share with us here.
Lesley riding her chambered 5ft 3" Mini Simmons.
" The latest one in the making is a shortened version (6’2”) of my 9’1 Mal, from an old outdoor Western Red cedar table from a rubbish pile, with Paulownia stringers (off cuts from some Alaia’s I made for friends) "
" I am putting a fin box in it, because I don’t know what fin or where to put it and I’m trying the Lanotec Timber Seal on it. I’m concerned the glue joins might not hold up seeing not much gluesurface area, being chambered (all the finned boards are chambered) and Western Red Cedar can be tricky to glue but want to keep the weight down."
" The Mini Simmons (5’3”) is from a packing crate so a variety of lightish weight timber, I finished it with Epoxy Resin and Bamboo cloth, which turned out more opaque than I’d hoped. It hid the grain a bit and added too much weight to it."
" The Alaia’s are from old Facia Boards of Californian Redwood, Linseed oil finish.
" The 6 foot fish is Oregon from framing studs and old bed railings, with Blackwood fins from a benchtop offcut. It’s a bit heavy but that’s what I had at hand. It’s finished with Bio Varnish "
I think this is the Simmons judging by the S deck , showing the extent of the chambering .
Black wood fins and a nice finish with the Bio varnish.
Another Californian Redwood Alaia showing off the great grain with the Linseed oil finish.
What a very talented lady indeed. She has some skills that many of us hope to one day find through or hours in the shed. I take my hat off to her and look forward to having her bring some boards to next years gathering. I would love to have Lesley as one our guest speakers at next years night at the Surf Museum on the Saturday night if she were willing.