So,
to the Socal crew
who’s your favorite blank co?
longboards?
shortboards?
ploy?
epoxy?
and where do you get em?
The one having the most fun??? Sorry, couldn’t help it.
JustFoam (hopefully back in business soon) and Bennett come to mind. Marko for EPS.
The best blanks for me are made by Homeblown - they now have afcatory out in San Diego - great to work with and theyve just developed a biofoam balnk thats even more eco friendly than their previous products…
Cheers
Richard
walker . . . old reliable
US foam or Bennett for poly…Segway or Marko for eps.Herb
My two cents:
Been shaping lots of different foam lately and so:
US Foam for fish style boards (great rockers & that Clark feel)
Bennett for shorts & big boy guns (crisp foam, planes great, no tears)
Walker for longboards, old school and HP (straight stringers mostly)
Haven’t tried Surfblanks, got two comming in, one long, one short.
Will report when they get done!!
King Mac is great foam too, very hard, not easy to get in LB/north OC
Brad at FoamEZ can get almost anything, don’t know about Basham’s, but they
should be able to. Still lots of different foam to try, so pick one and see for
yourself.
Some bad stringer work out there, check the blank then snap a line!!
Walker.
Shaped 3 rhyno 65s blanks so far - real satisfied, one is 6 months old and deck is holding up very well. Foam shapes real well, hasn’t yellowed, foil is excellent and natural rocker real good. Doesn’t hold custom rockers too well as they pull back to natural even with 3/16" stringer -foam is stiff (strong). For me better blank than clark 65r.
Hi Guys, I think you guy’s in the US will like Surfblanks. I used them for nearly 10 years here in Aus, Beautiful stuff. Very dense foam, so you can shape hard rails,concaves and fine detail etc without flaking. One problem I found is that if you convert to computer thicknessing/mowing or use a profile machine for production numbers (and then hand finishing rails, tails etc) the stringers are very dried out and tough and the computer shaper guys are hesitant to cut the stuff.
I've now converted to Oceanfoam down in Dromana, Victoria, Aus. Can't remember the last time i found a bubble. Once again beautifull dense foam, and it has a uniform density, no hard skin with a soft center. It dosen't compress on the deck's over the years either. No drain out or using heaps of resin. I've used pretty much all the Aussie foam and ocean foam since 2002. Ocean foam, Surfblanks, Burford, Bennet and Dion. I will now only use Ocean foam up to 9'8" their max size and then Surfblanks for 9'8" and over. Most of the other foam i've used till Surfblanks and O Foam are much lower density, and 'crystally' if this makes sense. It sucks up your resin causing 'drain out' dry glassing jobs.Hard rails and finer shaping, sometimes collapses while glssing making your work look amateurish. Ocean Foam for me, Two big thumbs up!!
I only use PU so I can only speak on that particular marterial. Just Foam, US Blanks and King Mac are at the top if the list. Just foam and US are very similar to Clark but not quite. King Mac is my favorite of all of them. King Mac mows very well, little dense but overall very good.
not in socal, but…
since clark, have shaped a fish and a hiperf longboard with rhyno foam and a 9’6 with VI foam.
like the rhyno. stringer is some sort of hardwood, and much more resistent than the basswood of a clark. VI seems to have a basswood stringer, but the foam is like a clark blue. found, much to my surprise, that it tore more easily than a clark…surform with a microplane blade…caught an edge i guess…
rhyno glasses very light, which the VI didn’t, and the rhyno is explosively white when glossed and rubbed out.
like the rhyno better, but found the VI very acceptable, even given the above.
ive just shaped a 6’4 fish and an 8’10 pintail with homeblown blanks which seemed very good but seems if i bought from seabase i could have more choice as they use usblanks and justfoam. any uk shapers got their preferences?
Homeblown
I prefer Walker and would choose Walker over any other foam when given the choice. I’ve never seen anything better especially for tints. That is only my humble opinion. For EPS, I prefer Craig Chafin’s “Powerlite” blanks out of Texas. Superior quality and stringer glue up’s to anything I have seen more local. The only drawback is the shipping costs. I have glassed a “Burford” blank, and it seemed very similar to Walker. I had no complaints about it at all.
I’ve switched completely to EPS…
I use The “Powerlite” blanks here in Texas…from Powerlite surf company. Craig can make you anything you want…
I have designed 2 of my own rockers that I use exclusively…
510K
and
64K
2lb EPS/Mahogany ply or PVC stringers
There is a link to his site from mine…
Krokus
Bennett, Burford, Rhyno, KM, Surfblanks are hard to shape but still good. All are better than what we had with Clark. Light, White, hold up better, dent less, last longer, and flex great. Surfboards just got way better.