I spent the last 6 years of my life developing a precision-shaped aluminum honeycomb surfboard technology.This was the subject of my senior design in Materials Science & Engineering at UPenn. Over the years, I was able to work through all of the technical challenges by collaborating with aerospace and motorsports advanced composites fabricators in Southern California.Below is a picture of a cross section of the board and more can be found on my company’s website www.varialsurfboards.com and the Facebook page that’s linked to at the bottom.
Honeycomb is extremely stiff through the core, but is very flexible in bending. The theory is that the core provides much more stability for the fiberglass skins than foam, preventing the skins from buckling before they reach their compressive strength.Honeycomb doesn’t add any bending stiffness to the structure, so we can dial in whatever flex the rider wants using computer analysis.
I know they experimented with honeycomb in surfboards in the 1970’s with the Wave Corporation and Aquajet boards.However, as I understand it they were just using those materials in a thin layer under the skin of the board and that the core itself was mostly hollow.Our design uses shaped honeycomb through the entire core of the board.
We are just now starting to publicly tell people about our technology.I’m excited to hear what all of you think.
I've been a surfer for 15 years. I grew up in Santa Barbara with my business partner and good friend, Parker Borneman. Parker surfs at a pretty high level, so he's guided a lot of the design. We've got some video footage of Parker testing one of the boards on our website.
yeah… I think a couple of “test boards” go a long way in determining how we feel about this new technology… and remember surfers are scared of change- look the continued use of PU since the 50’s and we still use wax on our surfboards…
We are setting up a demo day in Southern California for later this summer. If you're interested, send an email to info@varialsurfboards.com with your contact info and the subject "VARIAL DEMO DAY" and we'll put you on the list.
I agree that surfers are resistant to change. Our design approach was that we wanted the technology to feel as much like foam and fiberglass as possible while being lighter, stronger, and more responsive. Every pro we've had try one has taken to the tech. Check out the video of Brad Ettinger on our website: http://varialsurfboards.com/?page_id=7
Thanks for the interest and great questions. Here are some answers.
can you buy a blank to shape yourself?
This technology requires a lot of special equipment to make, so you won’t be able to buy a honeycomb blank and shape it.However, we’ve had a lot of interest in that and we plan to come out with a product that takes advantage of the honeycomb core structure and can be shaped.
make fins with it?
Yes.
does it last forever?
These boards hold up really well, much better than a PU foam board.
does it ding?
Because of the resin we use and the way we make our skins, they are extremely tough. In 5 years of testing these boards we’ve only ever had one ding that has taken on water. The aluminium honeycomb is extremely strong (you can't indent it by pushing on it with your finger no matter how hard you try), but it will pressure ding a little under big impacts. Right now, we're tailoring these boards to pro surfers and most prefer a little pressure dinging because it allows them to break in the deck of their boards. For people who don’t want pressure dinging, we can also make these boards with precision-shaped Nomex honeycomb. We can make the aluminium honeycomb boards a little lighter than the Nomex boards.
does the glass bond well to the core?
Yes.We are using the same materials that they use to bond the skins to the honeycomb cores of rotor blades.
double layers of 6 oz. glass, or....?
The actual laminate schedule is a trade secret. But I can tell you that it is fiberglass and epoxy.
how much do the boards weigh?
The 6'1" x 18.5" x 2.25" SurfRx boards we’re making weigh about 4.6 lbs.
have you tried a longboard with it?
Not yet, but we plan to.
What kind of foam is on the rails? What type fabric for the skins? Hope you have a durable product.
The type of foam and the fabric are both trade secrets.
No one has ever made a precision-shaped aluminum honeycomb surfboard. The added complexity and cost of manufacutring is worth it because of the performance advantage over foam surfboards.
Any type of woven fiberglass would work for fixing dings. You wouldn't fix a pressure ding in an aluminum honeycomb board. The pressure dings are shallow and other than providing a little more traction for your feet, they don't have an affect on the strength or performance of the board. If you want a board that doesn't pressure ding we can make these boards with a precision-shaped Nomex core. The aluminum honeycomb version can be made a little lighter than the Nomex core boards.
When I rode for W.A.V.E. Hollow, I wanted a lighter more high performance board. THey were. using Nomex honeycomb but gave me an aluminum honeycomb board.
It worked well after I had convinced John Bradbury to make a 7’6" for them and advised him to make it thinner then the other models that were being done because of the increased floatation. But yes, the board did dent. I ended up getting drilled on a late take off one big day at El Capitan putting my knee thru the deck thereby sinking it.
