Which blank do you like better and Why; EPS or Poly? What are the pros and cons of each? I’ve been shaping EPS and getting ready to place another order and curious what everyone thinks / recommends.
Thanks.
Which is better? Blondes, brunettes, redheads, or raven haired?
EPS can be lighter, need stronger skin, ride harsher, need watersealing, might need a valve (depending on volume), need epoxy resins, and different contruction techniques, and the ride is ....different.
PolyU is usually heavier, can be glassed lighter depending on density, don't need valves, survive a few session with a leaking ding, use poly or epoxy resins, ride smoother, and for most surfers, feel at home.
What's imporant to your surfing?
Personally I don’t like eps or epoxy boards but…
From what I’ve ridden I like epoxy over poly much better.
In our shop all of our in house shapers have all but stopped using EPS foam. We dumped a ton of inventory of eps 2 months ago and are about to dump more.
They have both switched to epoxy over poly.
One of our heavy epoxy glassing accounts is doing the same thing.
Just my .o2 on what I see from a shop standpoint.
I personally prefer poly over eps. i like the feel of the way it rides better and it shapes so much easier. I’ve only shaped a few eps boards and didn’t really like them. I say order a poly blank and see how you like it. You may find out you like it alot more over eps, i sure do.
I always liked EPS, lighter with a higher volume board and better feel for me. At 6’2" and 200 lbs it’s definately the go. Smaller guys seem to prefer PU. The edges sink easier. Not a problem for me. I agree with Acqua though, glass everything with epoxy, rides better, lasts longer.
PU is so much easier to shape than EPS. For a garage hack like me, it feels like I’m cheating…
Do you you the boardcad program? If so, do you have a machine that shapes?
I agree that PU shapes faster and easier. But… if you don’t have the luxury of getting the ideal close tolerance blank for a particular shape, and you’re trying to get a shape out of a blank that has the wrong everything, EPS is your friend. You’ll never overshape or tear EPS. Meaning… the final product will have the three D’s: Dent, ding, and delam resistance!
I started using PU blanks but switched to EPS in an early stage. I like the way they surf.
I am a small guy so had to tune the rails a little bit. Bit more difiicult laminate but once you’ve got it dialed in it’s no problem.
And the waters I surf in sweden are almost freshwater so EPS sure does the thing.
I’ve been surfing strictly EPS for over 6 years now. I just like the dymamics and it’s livlier in the water - I for me. I like shaping aggressively and quick too. That’s just me.
For everyone who says EPS is harder to shape than PU. You’re using the wrong tools.
Question: If EPS became the de facto material in the 50’s as PU/PE did and all you knew was EPS, what would you say about shaping PU and glassing with poly today?
~Brian
I will NOT use PU. It is toxic whereas EPS is almost edible. The waste can be spread on your lawns and gardens and when it is burnt it produces ONLY Carbon unlike PU where if she burns up … don’t be downwind!
I rest my case. 
This is all verifiable …Google is your friend [apparently] Do you know where EPS comes from? Let me tell you … when you next drive past the petro refinery… look up at the smoke stack … see that flame up there… That’s about the place where Styrene [GAS] exits and is returned to the refinery made into a liquid refined into pellets [solids] exported to foam blowers who extrude it into large steel boxes with tiny little vent holes through which steam is utilised to expand the pellets into the solid mass called Poly Styrene, Styrafoam OR EPS. It’s a by product of the oil industry low tech and needs no additive solvents or other ‘exotic’ chemicals.
Perhaps this is why EPS is way lower in price EH? And also why, Clarke Foam decided, hounded by the EPA, to shut down , which in turn created the great interest in EPS from the beginning.
EPS will win this war. If not … some cellulose will. … and if I’m not mistaken, it’s already in the pipe.
I not only want an end to the PU but wish also that we make Fibreglass go away forever.
It makes me itchy.
Cheers.
There actually is a second product besides COx that is created by burning styrene: WATER (H2O)
“Styrofoam” is the Dow trademark name for extruded polystyrene (XPS).
EPS is expanded polystyrene.
Polystyrene = polymer of styrene.
Styrene is synthesized from benzene.
Benzene toxic? Just add a teaspoon to your tea daily?
Quanta wrote:
"Do you know where EPS comes from? Let me tell you ... when you next drive past the petro refinery.. look up at the smoke stack .. see that flame up there.. That's about the place where Styrene [GAS] exits and is returned to the refinery made into a liquid refined into pellets [solids] exported to foam blowers who extrude it into large steel boxes with tiny little vent holes through which steam is utilised to expand the pellets into the solid mass called Poly Styrene, Styrafoam OR EPS. It's a by product of the oil industry low tech and needs no additive solvents or other 'exotic' chemicals."
I always understood reacted TDI or MDI foam to be an inert compound, edible if you really wanted to. Certainly a dust respiratory hazard, as is any thing you sand or grind on, including EPS foam. I use both EPS and TDI PU foam and really have no preference. Given that both products are the result of chemical reaction of some nasty compounds, I can't see one being better than the other environmentally, although EPS is easier to get to the recycler if you are near an EPS manufacturer.
Here's a Google search item:
Fully reacted polyurethane polymer is chemically inert.[25] No exposure limits have been established by OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) or ACGIH (American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists). It is not regulated by OSHA for carcinogenicity. Polyurethane polymer is a combustible solid and can be ignited if exposed to an open flame.[26] Decomposition from fire can produce mainly carbon monoxide, and trace nitrogen oxides and hydrogen cyanide. Firefighters should wear self-contained breathing apparatus in enclosed areas.
You certainly don't want to burn either type of foam as it's nasty stuff coming off the fire. If you've ever hot-wired EPS, you know the importance of adequate ventilation and respirators.
PU foam all the way. We can have a debate over which resin to use over PU (I’ve used both) but there is no question that PU foam is the best to work with. Epoxy glass job over PU foam makes for a nearly indestructable board.
the best is eps core covered by hard acrylic foam, but its about at least 30 working hours per board…
"Gonna go round in circles....gonna fly high like a bird up in the sky....."
Shake it down...shake it down now...................
/
Quote........ "Styrofoam" is the Dow trademark name for extruded polystyrene (XPS).
EPS is expanded polystyrene.
Polystyrene = polymer of styrene.
Styrene is synthesized from benzene.
Benzene toxic? Just add a teaspoon to your tea daily? ........Unquote.
Ok .. so there is some confusion over Extruded or Expanded. To me EPS is expanded Poly Stryene. The stryene I'm talking about comes as a gas from that smoke stack. I don't know nothin about no Benzene. Maybe there's some more confusion for the mix.... for instance Poly Carbinate is called Lexan inside the US and in countries like Australia "Styrofoam" is another Americanisation for Poly Styrene.
Be that is may, In 1994 after an article appeared in the courier mail newpaper about my timber veneer SB's I was phoned by a fella who had just got permission from the EPA to use timber and EPS as coffins ...No kidding. He had all the paper work but I declined the offer to build them for him ... just felt a bit creepy. About this time I visited the factory in Brisbane where the EPS was blown and right in the middle of the floor I witnessed what became of all that foam [off-cuts ] returned to the factory. They had this big pot is the best way to describe it, over which, was a couple or three 20mm metal grids stacked apart and very red hot .. they simply droped the refuse over the grid and it dropped down below as cubes to be collected later and placed back in their container like steam blowing boxes where they were mixed with new pellets to create what you might call supper low grade recycled EPS. .... All this in the open air inside the factory.
OK that stuff stinks under hot wire for sure but I'd far rather a sauna with EPS than PU.
Cheers! ;)
Polystyrene is a polymer of styrene, and Styrene is styrene, regardless of your location on this planet. Styrene is made from ethyl Benzene (alkylated Benzene).
Styrofoam is a general term we yanks (the masses as a whole) also use for EPS products. It is a generalization of a Dow Chemical product (XPS) trademark name – Dow is multinational.
Use the foam/core material available locally to build the surfboard design in your mind that wants to take 3-D form. Better to make a surfboard with it than something else. Ride what you like.
Surfboard construction evolved around commercially produced materials that are readily available at affordable prices.
Maybe someday a good surfboard core material that is innocuous to our planetary ecosystem will be developed …