By no way did i invent the material just gave a name for marketing or branding for my own label boards while doing that others took notice of it. They wanted it also. The patches have the look that i was looking for as a builder. I’m not gonna become a millionare pushing patches :) Just putting it out there for others. Some poepl keep their R&D and stay tight lipped with what they have. I just choose to promote the product. Not looking to ofend anyone in the R&D department. Like fins, anyone has the opourtunity to foil there own fins, i choose to buy mine pre foiled. Some things make life easier, its whatever you are willing to deal with. Anyone can make there own patches. Im just doing the hand work.
I think you’ll find that most of these plastic load dispursers would work the best when they are sandwiched between 2 light glass layers of 4oz. or less much like the plastic film in panes of shatterproof glass…
Try impact strength comparisons between gridlox’s between the glass and those that are directly on the foam…
Good deal, ive done both so far. as far as squeeze test i didn’t see much difference. I will do a hammer tests pannels tommorow between the gridloxs and ribz carbon fiber and post results. I have to agree with you though it makes sense to be sandwhiched between the two layers. Main reason i had application between both layers, is to account for the possibilty of a bad sander. Most production guys dont have that problem, but it was just a safe guard.
Finally we’re talking about new high tech material applications here… It’s refreshing…
Huie has some very good examples and knowledge in this area…
I just call all this stuff … “poor man’s innegra”…
You being a fireman know about breaking auto glass… The sandwiched plastic film in some of the new bomb resistant windows used since 9/11 prove the science… You kind of want to keep your impact layer high up in the lam reducing damage to the inner glass to foam bond…
Carbon is actually very good at this load dispersion, as it acts like a hard plate that spreads the load out raidially…I have kiteboard foot strap plate bindings that have either a large carbon or plastic base… They are the most effective because the plate is floating on the outside of the laminate spreading the load out to a much larger footprint…No heel dents or delams with these, ever…
If you were to laminate one or two layers of 5oz.carbon to the bottom of a standard traction pad then glue the pad down to the board you’d have the ultimate heel well/dent preventer…
Nice thing about the impact plate being suspended over the boards glass laminate and not within the laminate structure is the fact that it has less effect on flex because it’s only bonded to the board with a flexible glue similar to contact cement… A truely floating impact plate would be ideal, but how to impliment it?? Perhaps velcro…
Try this hammer impact test:
Laminate 2@ 6oz. pieces of carbon or carbon kevlar together and let them fully cure… Then masking tape them to the top of a surfboard laminated with a single 4oz, deck… Hit the patch plate with the hammer and see what happens…
I’ve been using kevlar for some time for the same reason as the plastic gridlox is used now… It works great in this application, probably better, but yellows (turns yellow brownish) in the sun and becomes slightly stiffer as well as being harder to work with…
Here’s a of photo of a carbon reinforced foot strap plate/pad …The footsrtap screws hold the otherwise floating plate to the board so the board still flexes independent of the pads…
I’m actually applying mine under both layers of 4oz cloth, Ill have some picture strength comparisons between the gridloxs and the carbon fiber ribz tommorow. I have wet out the ribz patches and the gridloxs patches and they are both weighing in at the same weight. One of the major dirrences im seeing right now is the way the resin is contatined in both products. The carbon fiber ribz is maintaining the resin in long parallell lines along the carbon fiber strips. The gridloxs is trapping the resin in hundreds of tiny hex shapes. The carbon is very stiff in flex motion with the resin runing parallel with the carbon, but with the gridloxs resin is traped in the many hex holes almost like i beams running from the blank through the gridloxs to the fiberglass, this is not as stiff as the solid resin bars runing on the rail. Im by no means a composite scientist but im just passing the practical information ive have seen personally and through feedback with the gridloxs.
could someone explain these rail patches to me? ....I have seen them on Merricks and a few other shapers boards recently
what purpose do they serve? is it for strength? flex? In 25 years surfing I have never broken or seriously damaged a board in that spot
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Hi Josh. I Love your Shapes. I love your paint work. And I love your glass jobs. 10 years fixing surfboards. I'm not seeing extra ding repair in the patch area. Now that FCS went to boxes I'm seeing way fewer repairs in the fin area. Very few surfboards break where you have patches. I am fixing top name boards with patches but I don't see the need for extra strength where the patches are placed. Noses and tails get fixed most......Stomp pads hide lots of stuff...rail dings are random. tails get lots of damage from storage and transportation....If people buy it...go for it!
Surfboards are an art form, everyone has a unique eye for what they
like. Granted ALOT of it is driven by surf media, hence why over a
1000 views on a topic like rail patches. The patches were a new path to try this year for me. I stumbled upon
the material going for a unique look for my boards. As i started
showing it around fellow shapers and customers wanted it. My custom
orders pick up quite nice to. I know im falling into the fad of patches
but at least it a different material than what most if not all rail
patches ive seen. Shapers that ive dealt with using the gridloxs patches
are marking the board price up 10.00 for the patches. So the few extra dollars is passed to the customers who have been stoked on the looks of the
patches and never even questioned the extra charge for them; they just
wanted the patches. So the shaper is actually making a few extra
dollars on their boards and getting a fresh look to their boards. Tail patches are what everyone’s got going on right now, who knows how long it will last. Like evrything it goes full circle . With my customers If they ask for what is trendy right
now my job is to deliver it. If not my competitor get the business.
Ive seen this 1st hand with shops that carry my boards, if you don’t
stay up with what is trendy right now boards will sit on the shelves or
be slow movers.
A few weeks ago I decided to hang around one of my
retailing shops for a few hours. My goal was to just observe customers
and see what catches their eyes, what they gravitate to. Boards with
rail patches where being looked at the most . So the next batch of boards i did for the shop rail patches it is. Put a spring in my sales for that week. Go figure???
I'm still working in the back yard. I see the boards at the shops with the patches. You are a Swaylock's success story. Most people on here don't know that. Grumpy old men like me gave you a hard time and now you are selling really nice surf boards in shops. More power to you! Time for me to go back out to the shack and fix the leak in my vac bag....
Thanks man, I consider myself lucky to of have a really good mentor shaper who took me his wings for a few years. Im always picking up new things along the road, i just try to keep a level head and be as inventive as i can. Sways is a wealth of knowledge if you spend the time!
Heres Gridloxs video of Surf expo 2011 shape off winner Mike Whisnant,
of whisnant surfboards! vid showing how easy the gridloxs wet out along
with not having to do mulitple steps like you do with carbon to get it
to stay in place-
. So the next batch of boards i did for the shop rail patches it is. Put a spring in my sales for that week. Go figure???
