Handcrafted wooden surfboards
In our small woodworking shop, "Das Evolut®," we've been crafting a wide variety of wooden items for many years. Our specialty is handmade cartoon figures for playgrounds. The toucan has been our totem animal from the very beginning.
"KINITOU®" is our latest passion project, where we combine professional surfboard construction with laid-back fashion and lifestyle.
Shape
KINITOU surfboards are handcrafted from wood, with heart, and with the goal of bringing the magic of surfing to life. Each board is unique, built in our workshop in Obing am See. While we may not have the ocean right on our doorstep, we do have the Bavarian Sea – Lake Chiemsee :-) We offer a wide range of designs from Brazil. Board shapes and sizes – tailored to your skill level, preferences, and height/weight – are available upon request.
Skeleton
The base is glued to an inner skeleton using a specially built press. After the nose, tail, and rails are assembled, the whole thing is planed into shape, and ready for the deck.
Deck
The deck is reinforced internally with cotton fabric to withstand the pressure from above, similar to concrete reinforced with steel mesh. The deck is then glued on at the gel point. Maintaining symmetry is crucial during this process, which can be challenging amidst the chaos of epoxy resin.
Colours
I make the boards with palowina wood – it's incredibly light and tough but rather unremarkable in its surface texture – so I wanted to experiment with stains. I learned a lot in the process, because when applying epoxy, you always have to sand the transition edges between coats. And consequently, you always have to touch up the stain. Even so, the mistakes are still visible in the end.
It's better to leave the edges untreated!
Coating
The epoxy coating process is relatively lengthy. Both sides are covered with fiberglass mat; the final layer after intermediate sanding is the hotcoat.
Fins & plugs
Each board has its own setup. The outer fins are mounted at a 5-degree angle outwards. Here, too, the boards are repeatedly re-expanded and sanded until the plugs are completely sealed. Finally, the boards are finely sanded and polished. All in all, including all the work and drying times, it takes 14 days to build a board. However, since I usually have other carving commissions, it typically takes me about 1.5 months to complete a single board.
