Making the woodyboard is an exclusive process that Mike Bless has designed and created.

First, hand select different species/availabilities of wood.

Next, based on the wood selected, begin the design and layout of wood colors and stripe thicknesses.

Cut wood to the selected design thickness, smooth out all edges to be glued then glue every piece together using multiple clamps.

Next, unclamp and machine one side to a smooth flat surface to create a foundation to measure from.

At this point begins the process of creating the “rocker.” Imagine the bottom rail of a rocking chair, unlike the rocking chair the board rocker has an ever-changing radius. For example, the middle section of the board will have a flatter curve than the nose and the tail sections. The top of the board rocker is altogether different from the bottom rocker.

Once the rocker process is complete, the perimeter shape is cut out. This must be done as symmetrically as possible to give a great “out line” or look to the board.

The next step is to start the very complex “ever changing” curvatures to the “rails” this is where the board will undergo the most critique from the potential viewer (particularly if he/she is a surfer).

After all of the rough shaping is done the hand sanding process begins. Unlike a light weight foam surfboard the wood cannot have any final “cross grain” scratches in it, this means that the wood needs to be sanded in a direction parallel to the strips of wood, this makes things difficult when trying to final shape the rails, especially the nose and tail areas.

When the board is completely shaped it is then ready to undergo the finishing process. This begins by sealing the wood so that when the thick resin is applied “out gassing” or air from inside the wood does not come out and form a bubbly and bumpy surface. Some woods need to be sealed differently than others such as the acidic or oily exotic woods.

The next step is to apply two coats of thick resin to each side of the board. This is a 4-step process, as each coat needs to dry before the board can be sanded and then turned over to do the other side.
Once both sides are finished, the board will receive a final sanding preparing it to go through the polishing process, where the board is buffed and polished to a brilliant shine.

After the polishing process, the board will be critiqued to start a matching design for a fin that will be built and later attached to the board.

The fin will undergo all the above process except for the “rocker” cutting.