We recently engaged in a fun project creating a Glass Surfboard. I was inspired by a recent trip to Newport Beach, CA where surfing is a way of life. I spoke with a few surfers about our project, and we discussed interesting ways to capture the dynamics of surfing in a static glass piece.
Over and over the word “cutback” came from them, and from there I set about to create the aura of the cutback in our glass. Hand texturing the kiln allowed us to achieve the desired “cutback ” texture in 1.5″ thick glass. From there we fired and Nick Kosteck waterjetted the shape…about 8′ long.
We also wanted to illuminate the glass with 2 strips of LED’s…This way we can have the textures have contrasting colors to illuminate each side of each ridge. This technique really shows off the beautiful curves in the glass. To conceal the LED’s, we engaged the expertise of Doug Pringle of Pringle Guitars. Doug Pringle is a masterful craftsman, and creates hand-made guitars of the highest quality, and we were impressed to see him accept this challenge. His son Michael Pringle aka “Michaelangelo” and is in charge of our glass polishing, and gets his attention to detail from his father no doubt. It was great to see them working together on the zebrawood and maple rails for our glass surfboard. We also wanted to create a set of fins that implied another word we heard from surfers: “Shark”. So we decided to pattern our fins after a shark, and serrate the rear edges. After a few days of skilled fabrication, the resulting surfboard was spectacular. See the results below and judge for yourself.
A short video is available here: Downing Designs Glass Surfboard Video and here Downing Designs Glass Surfboard LED color changes
Doug and Mike Pringle
Glass Shark fins
Glass Surfboard Fins
Glass Surfboard
Glass Surfboard
Surfboard Nose