To avoid the ever problem of deck crushing from average use on a board, does anyone think it would be possible to inlay a more dense sheet of foam between the stringers in the high problem areas of the board? I mean, router out an area thats prone to crushing and inlay a peice of the denser foam that Clark Foam makes, between the stringer on both sides, close to the rails.This could be done with a router and a jig set up.,glass/or glue the two peices of foam making a “perfect seam” …and finish the Blank as normal. This would cut down in added layers of glass keeping down the weight… Has anyone tried to experiment with this idea or has done this type of design. Would it work? or is this just a unobtainable idea , Let me know what you all think. Roger Brucker
Roger: Hybrid foam construction using polyester material could certainly be done and perhaps some strength to weight benefis could be achieved. The sailboard industry and and others have been using this technology for years as applied to polystyrene and epoxy products. Another thought might be to explore the use of hybrid cloth materials and/or lamination resins to reach the same goals. See Thomas Hast’s thread on Carbon/Kevlar fabric used with hybrid resins or vinylester products. There are cosmetic flaws and cost issues that don’t make these products practical for production surfboards but for special application they are very attractive. Does anyone have any experience to share on using hybrid cloth or resins? Tom Sterne>>> To avoid the ever problem of deck crushing from average use on a board, > does anyone think it would be possible to inlay a more dense sheet of foam > between the stringers in the high problem areas of the board? I mean, > router out an area thats prone to crushing and inlay a peice of the denser > foam that Clark Foam makes, between the stringer on both sides, close to > the rails.This could be done with a router and a jig set up.,glass/or glue > the two peices of foam making a “perfect seam” …and finish the > Blank as normal. This would cut down in added layers of glass keeping down > the weight… Has anyone tried to experiment with this idea or has done > this type of design. Would it work? or is this just a unobtainable idea > , Let me know what you all think. Roger Brucker
A good idea, used by European windsurfers back in the early 80’s. As you suggested, they routed out high stress deck areas and inlaid very strong high density foam in its place using vacuum bag technology. However if you are going this route, you may as well use a light weight EPS foam core rather than Heavier Clark Foam, and completely wrap your blank in high density foam, as your strength will now come from the tough “skin” (a composite High Density PVC foam, epoxy and fiberglass) rather than from the core or blank. Sorry if I haven’t explained this very well but take a look at a “Surftech” advertisement with their diagram that shows the basic concept.
Might that not make the board weak where the stronger foam meets the standard foam?