I have been making boards on and off for the last 10 years, I've lost count on how many I have made but I think over 10 for sure. Just like surfing making surfboards is additive. It's cool to see your quiver grow and improve your surfing and shaping abilities. Besides you can custom shape the board to the waves to your local conditions.
If you are worried that making your own board is outside your skill level, don't be intimidated. Anyone with some basic tools can do it! It is very rewarding to take raw materials and end up with a surfboard you can ride.
Even if your board doesn't come out perfect it will still be totally ride-able.
When I first started getting into making board I had no idea where to start, I did a ton of research and just started by buying some foam at Home Depot and started shaping.
I came across the website www.swaylock.com and it is an excellent resource for surfboard builders. The forum is very friendly and other builders are willing to help, just remember to use the search feature first before asking a question.
This Instructables is a video series on how to build your own surfboard from scratch. The purpose of these videos is take you step by step in helping you make a surfboard from scratch with raw materials. The intended audience is the beginner builder and I will try to go into as much detail as possible. I will add details and some pics to each step/video in the Instructable where I think it is applicable.
The first decision you need to make is will you make your own surfboard blank or make your own from scratch.
The board I am making is completely from scratch from block foam, you can also buy your surfboard blank and skip the first few steps for making the rough blank. This surfboard will be made from "styrofoam" and epoxy resin. The steps are similar for making a traditional polyurethane surfboard and polyester resin.
The rough breakdown of how to build a surfboard is the following: