Howzit!
I’d need to know which foam density is to prefer for building an eps surfboard. The company I can get this stuff from offers 4 differnent densities
~1 lbs/sqf , ~1,3 lbs/sqf , ~1,6 lbs/sqf , ~2 lbs/sqf.
The question now is which one will be the best weight to strengt ratio?
thx
geef
stringered? stringerless? what do you plan to do with the glassing?
Howzit!
I’d need to know which foam density is to prefer for building an eps surfboard. The company I can get this stuff from offers 4 differnent densities
~1 lbs/sqf , ~1,3 lbs/sqf , ~1,6 lbs/sqf , ~2 lbs/sqf.
The question now is which one will be the best weight to strengt ratio?
thx
geef
the strongest will be the 2lbs density. Glass it with 4/4/4 top 4/4 bottom and youll have a strong board.
Anything below 1.5-2lbs you need to bump up the glassing schedule unless you use it for sandwich construction. I don’t think there are any valid reasons for using less than 1.5-2lbs unless less weight is the main goal. In addition it’s easier to work with, soaks up less resin, saves money by not needing as much glass which saves money on epoxy, etc. I just checked the volume of a generic 6’2" in aps3000, it’s a little less then 30 liters which is roughly the same as a cubic foot(!). Which means you could in theory save a pound by using 1lbs instead of 2lbs. But then you would need to beef up the glass some. And since a finished shortboard that size propably weights about 6-7 pounds or more anyway, most of the weight goes somewhere else. But there is alot about this in the archive. Try searching for ‘Greg Loehr EPS’ in the archive.
regards,
Håvard
Howzit!
About the stringer, I don’t know yet. Got to search the archives first to see which way to go.
I was tending to use the 1 lbs block. Good thing that I asked…
Thanks for all the input
geef
What type of board are you building (shortboard or long)?
With a short enough board and higher density you may get away with no stringer.
The higher density 2# is easier to shape because it’s more rigid and doesn’t bend easily while shaping. The low density 1# can be difficult to work with, especially without a stringer.
I have built only two EPS boards, one 1# and one 2# and preferred the 2# for ease of shaping and being able to go with a more conventional glass schedule.
Howzit!
I was planning on building both out of on block (that block is huge 13’x1’x1’). I’M tempted to build a stringerless shortboard due to it’s flex, but fear the perfect glassjob I would have to lay on it to keep it strong. The longboard would get a nice stringer, just because I think a nice longboard needs one.
Another thing I probably should be opening a new thread for:
Has anyone of you ever used one of those geofoam blocks (www.geofoam.com)? Would be interesting to hear some comments on those.