Hello Mike,

If you buy a kit then all the hard stuff is already cut. I'm not here to make a sales pitch, but the CNC routed parts fit together so well that it's well worth the money to buy the CNC routed frame. You can drill holes in it if you like for lightweight, and you will have to add 1/4" strips around the frame for gluing to, so you'll still get plenty of enjoyment with the build process.

Just a note, you do not have to have bead and cove strips to build one of these. You can do it easily with square strips. The only tight curves are on the rails. If you do a stripped rail as opposed to a solid laminated rail then you want to use 1/4" strips. Also note these things can get very heavy. I suggest using balsa as much as possible, especially the bottom where you won't be putting much abuse on it. I'm shooting for 30 pounds with this 11' x 30" SUP. My 8' x 24" longboard came in at 20 pounds.

If you decide to build one make sure you read up on the specifics of wood surfboards. For instance, a wood surfboard has to have a vent to release the air pressure that builds up when air temperature and pressure changes. Without a vent it will inflate and delaminate! The Grainsurf forum that I posted a link to has a wealth of information and it's a bunch of good guys like we have here on the kayak forum.