This interview took place in early 2023, be sure to check out @kara_boards on Instagram to see what they are up to now and the progress they have made since!
Hi Raul! Can you tell me a little about KARA Boards?
My name is Raul, founder and shaper of KARA Boards, a small company from Buchloe, which is very near the Alps and Munich. Me and my girlfriend Katha are mainly shaping handmade surfskate decks and balance boards and just established our small side business.
The unique feature of our boards is their beautiful, pure wood finish. Customers can choose between different finishing veneers like Walnut, Ash, Olive, Apple. etc.
What got you into building boards? How long have you been building?
My board building journey began back in 2020, right at the beginning of the pandemic. As an engineer I was feeling the major impact of the pandemic on the automotive industry, because I had a period of short-time work. So, I was on the search for a new hobby to cope with the free time that was being generated.
To understand why I decided to build boards, I think it is also important to know that I have been an enthusiastic ocean surfer since 2010. Since Bavaria does not have any ocean, I kind of tried to spend every holiday at coastlines that provide waves, culminating in spending 6 months on the Portuguese west coast in 2017 and 2018.
During the lockdown period I was suddenly forced to be a landlocked surfer for a long time. I missed the feeling of being on a board driven by ocean waves so much, that I made the decision to simulate this feeling as good as possible: and the idea of building electric skateboards was born. This was also a perfect supplement to my engineering background. During the process of building all these boards, I discovered that I enjoy the woodworking part of it the very most. So besides that, I started to build new kind of boards like surfskates, balance boards, or skimboards, trying all kind of different techniques, veneers, and looks.
What inspires you to create your boards?
I draw my inspiration mainly from our roadtrips with our old campervan, where we (my girlfriend Katha and me, Raul, together KARA) keep expanding our collective interests a lot.
We started to learn new sports like surfskating, longboarding, balance boarding, but also to deal with forces of mother nature like wind, waves, and snow on all kind of boards. We surf, skate, surf on rivers, wingfoil, pumpfoil, wingskate, dance on longboards, go hiking, skiing, and snowskating as much as possible. We are not professionals at all these things – but we enjoy them a lot. These are the things that make us happy.
All these different experiences helped us a lot to better understand and improve our self-made boards.
Do you skate? How long have you been skating?
Yes, me and Katha love skating regularly, despite having started this sport pretty late. As for me, I started longboarding just 7 years ago aged 26. One year later, I discovered surfkating and that got me really addicted. Lately we have really gotten into riding pumptracks. They are pure joy with a surfskate!
How do you use Roarockit products in the making of your boards? How did you find out about us?
I am mainly using your maple veneers, Titebond glue and two different Thin Air Press Kits. I use the vacuum bags to prototype new shapes and to produce very unique shapes for customers.
The advantages of the Thin Air Press are quite obvious. There is no need for a big and heavy mechanical press and only one mold is needed. You don’t have to cope with the tolerance and alignment issues of a two-sided mold. Also the pressure is spread very evenly. In my opinion all these aspects are perfect for prototyping boards.
I found out about Roarockit when I did a lot of research on different board building techniques. As a mechanical engineer I had plenty of knowledge concerning the theoretical and engineering background of composites. At the beginning, the challenge was to start building boards with little equipment and without spending plenty of money. Back then in 2019 I was still living in my flat share in Munich and I did not have a workshop. So, I started to do some research, mainly by watching Youtube videos of other board builders. One of the most helpful channels was Chris McCann’s channel called “Good Roads”. There is where I heard of Roarockit for the first time. The vacuum technique of the Thin Air Press was just perfect to start with. I found out that there’s also a European branch in France (Roarockit.eu), which made it really easy to order my first kit. The first board I shaped was the Old School Cruiser with a larger Thin Air Press, because I was already planning on building bigger longboard style boards. I still have this board and still like to ride it. It holds perfectly, even now after 4 years. Same goes for the Thin Air Press, it is still being used.
Any advice for aspiring board builders and woodworkers out there?
Don’t be afraid of making mistakes. The learning curve is actually steepest when making those mistakes. If a project doesn’t come out as expected, try different techniques and find out what works best for you. This process is a lot of fun and satisfying when it finally works out well.
If people wanted to find out more about your boards. Where can they see your creations and contact you?
You can find my boards on my online shop: https://karaboards.com
I just launched the website. I am quite proud of my two online board configurators for surfskates and balance boards. Go check them out:
https://karaboards.com/en/product/custom-surfskate/
https://karaboards.com/en/product/custom-balance-board/
Also you can check out our Instagram page:
Thanks again for your time, any last words for the readers back home?
Thanks a lot for your interest and I wish you all a lot of joy shaping and/or riding your boards, no matter what kind of boards you use, how you shape them, how good your riding level is, and in what kind of environment you use or shape them! Keep having fun and share and spread positivity!
Taryn O’Grady,
Roarockit Skateboard Company