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FLAMA’S ORIGINAL TECHONOLOGY:
99% ORGANIC SURFBOARDS

FlamaClassic is the original concept that started my adventure in 2010 with some very simple yet optimistic goals: building 100% organic surfboards out of wood with the least environmental impact. Six years later we can say Flama has achieved many of those initial goals: we brought the technique as far as we could, perfecting it and trying to make lighter yet durable boards, and the test of time has proved that the FlamaClassic technique is totally trustworthy.

MAIN GOALS

>        100% organic and unglassed surfboards

>        building blanks to be hand-shaped

>        offering custom blanks at market price

>        best weight/durability ratio

>        simplest construction method with minimum energy consumption

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CONCEPT & MATERIALS

In essence, the building concept is the same used by Tom Blake in 1930 with his revolutionary hollow construction. The difference here is that we use paulownia wood. If Blake had known about paulownia perhaps the evolution of the surboard industry would have been a completely different story...

Paulownia
The lightest timber after balsa, but water-resistant.

D4 Polyurethane glue
A highly tested waterproof glue, self expanding, commonly used in boat building.

Wood floor varnish
We could be using more natural products like linseed oil or lanoline, but we’ve proved it’s easier to apply, cheap, durable and easy to find.

Bamboo veneer
We’ve introduced this technique recently to strengthen the deck and bottom skins. We discovered than when you glue 0,3mm of bamboo veneer at 90º on paulownia it becomes a bulletproof, super elastic material.

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 HIGHLIGHTS OF THE CLASSIC TECHNOLOGY  

>        FlamaClassic are 99% organic, wich makes them the most environmentally friendly surfboards and with the lowest carbon footprint that are being produced today in Europe.

>        The simplicity of the construction method of our blanks, toghether with a very low energy cost, allows Flama to produce hollow wooden surfboards at market price.

>        Flama boards are made of paulownia wood, which is water resistant and does not need to be glassed. The only products used that are not organic are poliurethane D4 glue and wood floor varnish.

>        Flama has been able to reduce the weight of their boards compared to other hollow wooden board systems, with the best weight/durability ratio.

>        FlamaClassic boards are very resistant and practically impossible to break in half.

>        The Flama concept focuses on building custom blanks for professional and amateur shapers; there is no best feeling than surfing a board you’ve shaped!

>        The shaping process of a FlamaClassic blank is the same one used on a PU board. Neither special tools nor specific learning are needed.

>        It is possible to modify certain details of the shape, even after being surfed on for some time: for example, the rail’s profile, the channels form and deepness, accenting a V-bottom,…

>        Ding repair is made with traditional carpentry techniques, and the materials –wood paste, poliurethane glue, varnish, etc– can be found easily. 

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BUILDING PROCESS   

The building process of a FlamaClassic has two different stages, wich allows us to commercialize both finished surfboards or blanks to shape your own surfboard:

BUILDING THE BLANK:

1-     the board is designed with a CAD program (AkuShaper).

2-     the inner strcuture is designed according to the board’s shape.

3-     the different elements of the board are cut and registered.

4-     rails are glued to the deck skin.

5-     the rails are chambered to remove weight and the ribbs glued.

6-     the board is milled with a selfmade router jig to give it a preliminary bottom rocker.

7-     bottom skin is glued on and the whole estructure is bended with a selfmade cold-press to give it its final rocker.

8-     the final outline is foiled.

SHAPING THE BOARD:

FlamaClassic blanks are shaped the same way and with the same tools than foam ones. Each blank comes with a shaping template, which allows to control in every moment and in any corner how far down you can sand. The blank has the rocker and outline already defined, so basically the shaping process consists on foiling the rails and deck and bottom contours. Finally the board is sanded to a fine grain and is ready to install fins and varnishing.

Check the instruction manual here.