…Congrats…great show!Herb
Thank you Herb! Stay tuned… a George Greenough interview is in the works!
You guys build some awesome hollow surf craft! BUT- Ive wondered just how much WASTE MATERIAL you end up with and what you do with all of it? Obviously the "cores" in your separate equipment are composed of nothing but air! As we all know, the "average" surfboard building project uses and produces serious amounts of substance waste/pollution involving resin, foam/dust, glass/dust, sandpaper, solvents/fumes, masking tape, etc. How do you guys compare with what youre building? For example one hollow wood board, or one surf mat? Do you save, reuse, throw away, incinerate, recycle? How much material is used, how much waste is produced and whats done with it is a VERY important subject which Swaylocks should be discussing. Mega kudos to Marc Kents (and guests) interesting radio program, "Let`s Talk Surfing! http://www.cool-net.com/letstalksurfing/
Ive wondered just how much WASTE MATERIAL you end up with and what you do with all of it? How do you guys compare with what youre building? one hollow wood board… Uses 2 sheets of 1/8" plywood…8 Board feet of Balsa / Cedar combined… …The wood waste is burned for heat in a fireplace…The planer shavings go in the compost bin…The glassing stuff isn’t much different than a foam board…I do save a lot of the cut glass for fins…And, since I’m using epoxy, there are way less VOC’s… On the environmental aspects, I think that the wood products industry is both good and bad…They do some significant land damage with logging(And I’m very aware of what a clearcut looks like, since I drive by them everytime I go to the beach), but the re-growth of the forests usually are well managed…After a few years a re-plant looks pretty healthy… I’m not claiming that my wood boards are any better for the environment than foam…That kind of claim would be an easy set-up to being called a hypocrite for a lot of different reasons…I’m as dependant on petro products as anyone, but I’m not dependant on the “surf industry” to limit my options as to what I can build… I don’t know that wood boards will ever be considered “green”, but I’m sure foam boards never will be… Paul 
For one surfmat… I use 110 volt electricity, approximately 20 square feet of military-spec polyurethane coated nylon, masking tape, a very small amount of liquid synthetic rubber and about 10 ounces of high viscosity polyurethane compound. I manufacture a rotary valve which contains industrial PVC, glass-filled polyester resin, nylon, rubber and a bit of pure corn starch. I design, create, modify and maintain nearly all of my equipment, including various hot and cold edged tools. The majority of waste is a few feet of masking tape, which I throw away. Remnant fabric is 99% saved for future use on various other projects. The high viscosity polyurethane compound and liquid synthetic rubber are used only in the quantities needed, no waste… VOCs are comparable to common air-cure house paints. I make the resin-filled rotary valve components from polyvinylsiloxane molds, which are reuseable through hundreds of cycles. The valves PVC elements are obtained from existing material which is modified through a process of gradual heating and cooling. The structural welding process I use is silent, dustless, odorless and clean. When one mat is finished, total left-over material barely fills two hands.