Preface
After you have read the piece below you might be wondering where I am coming from re my attitude to the American surfboard industry. This may help.
I have still have California friends I first met in 1960. I was involved with an American surfboard maker, Gordon & Smith, for some years in the mid to late 1960’s.
When I opened my small Palm Beach, NSW factory in 1964 I used Clark Foam exclusively, made by Mike Johnson in Maroochydore, Queensland.
I bought my first Clark Foam gun blank from Bosco Burns at Haleiwa in 1968. I shaped and glassed it on two chairs in a beach front Pupukea house so I could ride Sunset.
My company imports and sells American made products, and has done so since 1972. I have sold JPS fiberglass cloths for more than 30 years.
I did have a problem with (some, not all) travelling American shapers. The problem ones were those who demanded the weakest, fastest cutting surfboard foam they could get, when stronger, higher performing in house foams were available. They had no consideration for the end user, only their pocket.
People like to blame Gordon Clark for providing a weaker, softer product but it was the shapers who encouraged him to go that way, they did not have to buy it! Stronger foam was always available, sometimes at lower prices, but there were only a few like Craig Sugihara (Town & Country) on Oahu who made the effort to get it. Gordon’s large mould range and great service kept most people happy.
I first shaped balsa in 1958, EPS in 1959, then PU in 1960. I have used a great variety of cutting tools to handle these surfboard cores. For modern foams I am especially impressed with grit barrel planers. Shaping becomes more like sculpting.
If an American shaper can get something out of the piece below, I will be very happy for him/her, whatever foam blank he/she chooses.
Shaping strong, resilient foam - long version.
Over many years, in countries outside the U.S., surfboard performance and durability have been major issues, before price. This made blank choice a primary consideration.
Because there was choice, shapers would test all available foam for end performance and it was invariably the surfers who decided what rode the best and held up the longest.
In a sense, events of the last year have forced American shapers to play catch up.
American shapers now have to/are able to choose from at least twenty new blank makers.
Although Surfblanks foams are new to many American shapers, Surfblanks is not a new blank maker, Surfblanks Australia has been around since 1968.
Surfblanks micro cellular foams (inc Teccel = Surfblanks Brazil) have been designed for the surfer - not the shaper!
The foam’s resilient molecular structure gives life (spring and memory) to very light boards. Surfers immediately pick up on the liveliness (responsive feel) of a core material. This liveliness can be compared to that found in new snow skis, snowboards or a springy skateboard.
Composite makers spend endless time and dollars looking for the spring that feels alive under the surfer’s feet.
Surfblanks achieved it (spring) decades ago without the massive cost addition of composite skins to protect the core. Light density Surfblanks foams glassed with good cloth and epoxy resin make a very impressive product - if you want to go that far.
A basic glass job of warp weave cloth and well cured polyester resin (UV catalysed especially) will make a very functional shell for Surfblanks foams.
It is the American shaper who will have to get his/her head around how to deal with Surfblanks resilient foam structure. Long time shapers, especially those who once shaped balsa have no problem adjusting to Surfblanks foams. Those who struggle are the new generation, and they may even be ‘cutting edge’ shapers. It is so because they may have never known anything else but Clark Foam. Totally understandable!
There was a time when shapers believed you did not need a strong blank for US mainland waves since they were generally considered as small and weak. This has changed for at least two reasons.
Shortboarders are now punishing their equipment with aerial surfing.
Northern Californian surfers are now riding powerful waves like Mavericks.
Shapers outside America and around the world have been using Surfblanks foam for decades.
They know that slow revving planers with dull blades, taking deep, fast cuts will never do the job. Yes you can do it with a sharp bladed Skill with shallower, slower passes.
A spiral, grit barrel Hitachi/Makita is ideal - you have access to them in America.
Grit barrels require no sharpening - ever! And they will cut finer (3 - 6mm) stringers.
There is no resin in a Surfblanks glue up to gum up a grit barrel - there is only foam and wood.
For those who are looking for a shaping machine with no cutting limitations - the APS3000 has been exceptional for all PU foams, EPS and balsa. The cutting head is not inhibited by any known, modern surfboard material. With normal use the APS3000 cutting head never needs resharpening, nor replacing.
It is common knowledge in the broader (world wide) surfing industry that the easier a blank is to shape, the poorer its compression (dents) and tensile (snaps) strengths will be.
Surfblanks has the technology to produce a ‘lazy shapers foam’. However it would require the corruption of a product that has been developed specifically for the enjoyment of surfers, and it won’t happen!
I understand that there will be shapers who will never shape Surfblanks, for whatever reasons you can think of.
I also understand that given a choice, surfers will choose to ride Surfblanks. It is the surfers I am interested in! Their response is evident in this and other forums.
Alternative, fast shaping, dead core, 1970’s style, soft foams are readily available if the shaping transition is too painful.
