just wondering if anyone out there has made a 9’ board out of 1lb eps, or is it even possible.
i have a supplier near me and all he has is 1lb. i know you can do a compsand with 1lb but what if i put like three stringers in it? or just a heavy glass schedule? much appreciated
will
Triple 6 oz deck, double 6 oz bottom. And seal the blank first.
If you knee paddle, add a deck patch. If you install a finbox, cap over it with another layer of glass too.
Otherwise, no problem.
That will be getting very expensive.
And I don’t think you can glass 3 layers of 6 oz at the same time with epoxy and get a good bond to the skin.
Your board will pressure dent like hell.
Just try to find a 2lbs.
You can wet out two layers, then put the third on top, then wet that out. Warm up the resin and it works fine.
well cost isnt a problem i get all my materials for free except for foam so theres no problem there. ill be using a slow cure resin and everything well be put into a vacumm bag.
Since we don’t know where your located. I will assume your on Mars. So If you get free epoxy & glass on your space station, why not send a shuttle craft to Segway composites and have them transport a few blanks with your next provision run. I think minimun shipping is for 100 drackmas, so if you get a few blanks you will be set for a while.
Plus I’m assuming this wonder block of 1 lb foam isn’t in the shape of a blank…so your going to have to get your Martian helpers and make a hotwire to cut it? Plus your going to have to make a rocker template?
Get the 2 lb, you’ll be a much happier little green man.
well cost isnt a problem i get all my materials for free except for foam so theres no problem there. ill be using a slow cure resin and everything well be put into a vacumm bag.
Oh, you have access to a vacuum pump??
Then go sandwich! You’ll be having a much better board.
i will be doing a balsa sandwich on a 6’ fish with somthing crazy for the top skin, no hints youll have to wait till i have some pics. the 9’ board is for a friend of mine and im thinking of doing poplar instead of a ton of glass. well see i have to talk to him first to see what he thinks. the company that i get the foam from only carrys the 1lb, i ask if they carried the 2lb and they said it had to be special ordered i didtn ask for a price but im sure it comes with a special price.
greeting from uranus its the little green man. ya i get stuff for free the resin is system 2000 and its the expired stuff my company gets rid of, and its still good i have done one board and some fins with no problems. and the 1lb eps is a block 8’x4’x8" so i will be hotwiring it.
That will be getting very expensive.
And I don’t think you can glass 3 layers of 6 oz at the same time with epoxy and get a good bond to the skin.
Your board will pressure dent like hell.
Just try to find a 2lbs.
I’m not sure about bonding to skins, but bonding only to foam works fine. I’ve glassed up to 5 layers of 6 oz. glass at one time, and only have experienced a small air buble/delamination the size of a 1" long sliver of wood (about 2mm wide). Wasn’t much of a problem to do either. And Godzilla couldn’t break the deck!
The problem with so much glass is that you make an uber stiff surfboard. There is something to flex, and after a few failed abortions of surfboard you come to realize that the core need to be made of something that is lightweight but maintains some strength. You can’t pile up glass on the outside of a surfboard and expect it to be a higher performance board. You need to walk the balance act of a strong core and a resilient outer skin, but have consistent flex paterns throughout the board. Super stiff rails with 8 layers of glass will surf like a 2x4. Even if you can get your hands on some 1.5 lb you’d be better off.
There is such a wide varity of EPS foam. Is it recycled material, or is it a virgin material, how small are the beads? Is it boat dock foam, or is it especially produced for surfboard type applications. All questions you will eventually need to find answers for.
We can only suggest and try to steer in the right direction. I’d ask your supplier a few questions, then decide if the 2lb is really that expensive.
It can’t be that expensive on Mars?
Agreed Resinhead! I was just pointing out that if 5 layers is possible all at once, 3 is a breeze.
A personal note here. You can glass the thing till “kingdom come” but the problem is going to be having to protect the thing from the heat. Even the tightest fused 1lb EPS will still start breaking down on a sunny day sitting on the beach for as little as 30 mins. (first hand knowledge, arrgh!) So if you go ahead with your project be careful of old Sol when you get it out of the garage. Keep it in the shade when it’s not in the water.
If you want the board to last, leave the 1 lb for compsands only. Performance LB’s less than 2-1/2" thick in 2 lbs will be prone to snapping unless you use very heavy glassing - in which case you be better off using a poly blank and 4 oz. glassing. The ride would be better and the weight almost the same. After three years and lots of boards, I’ve given up on ultralight performance LB’s with EPS/glass, and moving on to compsands.
ya i think im going to go with the compsand for the 9’ LB just need my friend to cough up some cash for that. resin head as for the foam its boat dock foam i believe i havent cut into it yet but i did take a sureform to it and that seem to cut pretty nice and i took some 220 grit and it sanded fine. also it is virgin its not regrind. for each individual beed there not tiny but there not the huge ones like you see on the recycled crap. a friend shaped me a blank last year sometime that he got off line and i would say it is no different than the stuff i got.
i will be doing a balsa sandwich on a 6’ fish with somthing crazy for the top skin, no hints youll have to wait till i have some pics. the 9’ board is for a friend of mine and im thinking of doing poplar instead of a ton of glass. well see i have to talk to him first to see what he thinks. the company that i get the foam from only carrys the 1lb, i ask if they carried the 2lb and they said it had to be special ordered i didtn ask for a price but im sure it comes with a special price.
Poplar veneer? Dang that is nice… should be bombproof…
AAAAARRRGHHH I want a thickness planer…
ya table planners rule. im just going to rip 4 inch wide planks as thin as i can on my table saw without messin the wood up and then put it through the planner if i have to. poplar is deffently the way to go for compsand for a bigger board. i think im going to do the rails in poplar to, well see if not then cherry or bass wood, only thing bass wood is a little more exspensive.
alright so i hot wired my friends 9’ blank, so far so good no problem cutting the foam. i mad a 30" bow using some allthread and a piece of 1 1/4" red oak as my handel and strung a piece of guitar wire. as for power i used a power source out of a computer that i modified to charge lithium polymer cells for my model airplanes. it produces about 1.5 amps witch is perfect for a 30" bow. only down side is the foam only comes in 8’ sheets so im going to do 6" of wood in the nose and 6" in the tail, and they both will be chambered to save weight. i took some pics last night and hopefully have them on tonight. this weekend the perimeter rails will be going and the nose and tail.