The View from the Shop: Modernizing a Timeless Craft
It’s been a whirlwind since the sawdust first started flying at Terrapin, and I wanted to take a moment to share the journey of these hollow-frame wooden boards with the community that’s been cheering them on.
What started as a fascination with sustainable design has evolved into a full-blown mission: proving that you don’t need foam and chemicals to create a high-performance, beautiful board. Here is a look at where we’ve been and where the tide is taking us.
1920s Soul, 21st-Century Precision
The heart of our process is a tribute to the pioneers of the 1920s, who first engineered hollow "cigar box" surfboards. While we’ve adopted that classic internal rib-and-spar architecture, we’ve traded the heavy, hand-cut cedar of the past for high-tech Paulownia wood. This "miracle timber" offers an incredible strength-to-weight ratio and natural water resistance that those early shapers could only dream of.
By pairing these century-old construction methods with modern laser-cutting and advanced epoxy resins, we’ve moved past the "experimental" phase. The skeleton of the board is now a high-precision framework—light enough to shred, but built with the structural integrity of a fine aircraft wing.
Community & Partnerships
One of the highlights of 2026 so far has been seeing these boards in the wild. From showcasing at local events like the Taste of Folly to collaborating on world-class designs, the feedback from the lineup has been invaluable.
We’ve also been hard at work making these builds more accessible. By partnering with international suppliers to bring professional-grade wood kits to the U.S., we’re helping more builders start their own hollow-frame journey without needing a massive industrial shop.
What’s Next?
Universal Board Templates: We are rolling out new "skeleton" templates organized by shape families. These serve as a high-performance foundation for each style, allowing for deep customization of the rails, rocker, and tail so you can tailor the final board to your specific local break.
The Maker Series: We are launching a new interview segment within this newsletter. We’ll be sitting down with fellow wooden board makers and small business owners to discuss the grit behind the craft—exploring the unique challenges they face and the motivations that keep them moving forward in a foam-dominated industry.
The Workshop Expansion: We are looking at ways to bring more people into the craft through hands-on kit demonstrations.
The salt air is calling, and there are plenty more boards to skin. Thanks for being part of this ride.
See you in the lineup,
The Terrapin Team