balsa
Smooth, porous blond wood, lighter than cork, grown mainly in Central and South America; the most popular core material for surfboards in the 1940s and 1950s. Surfers initially used balsa in combination with redwood; Pacific Systems Homes, a Los Angeles-based house-building company that dabbled in surfboard construction, built redwood-balsa composite boards as early as the 1930s. All-balsa board ...
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Phil Edwards and "Baby"Subscribe to view
Greg Noll Shapes a Balsa Surfboard, 1956Subscribe to view
Joe Quigg with balsa paddleboard, 1960Subscribe to view
Taj Burrow on balsa-railed Firewire surfboard, 2007. Photo: Tim JonesSubscribe to view
Yana Surf balsa boards, 2015Subscribe to view
Dale Velzy (left) and "roughing out" a balsa blank, mid-1950sSubscribe to view
Phil Edwards and "Baby"
Greg Noll Shapes a Balsa Surfboard, 1956
Joe Quigg with balsa paddleboard, 1960
Taj Burrow on balsa-railed Firewire surfboard, 2007. Photo: Tim Jones
Yana Surf balsa boards, 2015
Dale Velzy (left) and "roughing out" a balsa blank, mid-1950s