And…
Polyester resin cannot be used with EPS or XPS foam cores.
You can turn any density foam into 0.75lb or less with very little effort. Don’t have a formula, just a router with bit, two turn tables and a microphone.
Hahaha nice BB30!
Looks like you glassed one side before routing.
How did you glass the other side without getting sagging over the air pockets?
loving this.
all the best
I am familiar with the JQ and I think the heavier version would ride better - go for it!
Rout from bottom and try not to go through deck. Leave 5-8mm. perfect job for a cnc machine versus me.
First pic is a blank I made in 1998 or 99. Open cell eps 1.8 lb density. Almost threw it away dozens of times over the years. Totally was belly laughing at what the open cell beads do to you and your shop when you cut it. Blast from the past. Should have taken a pic of the havoc. Still better than PU of the day though.
Second pic to answer your second question. Hardwood planks. Tried this with balsa 1/8 stiff planks about 12 years ago and it was cool but dimpled in all the recessed areas. Gave it up as a bad idea until I finally got my paulownia import permit to try it again. Started board 5 yesterday. Getting it down. Paulownia is 2-3 times denser than the balsa I stock.
Charlie, you’re a freak.
Just clap your hands.
…no air valve bb30 ?
gortex vents from PeteC on certain boards for certain people.
This one gets a vent. 1 lb eps 9’5" x 29"x 4 1/14"
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Interesting technology. Considered something similar for longboard skate/mountainboard decks to get weight down from standard 4-5 lb decks, 3 or 4 years ago. For the most part, abandoned the idea for various reasons. I think about it from time to time. I thought about balsa model frame covering tissue (paper) but was sure sagging would be a problem. Still pondering ways to stiffen tissue before glassing. I figured I would need a press to laminate a wood skin.
Vacuum seems to be your specialty. Are you using vacuum to laminate the wood skin to the foam matrix? If so, how does vacuum affect a semi-hollow core board? Seems like that could cause some unique issues.
Seeing your tech triggered a memory of a member (name?) here who makes templates from sheet fiberglass layed up on a wet-out table. Seems like fiberlgass sheet might have possibilities with your technique. Could possibly allow the addition of color (etc.) to the sheet before laminating to the foam. Have you ever tried basswood skins?
No problem with vacuum bagging regarding the foam or wood. The adhesion of the fiberglass cloth to the inside wood in the hallow areas are more perfect than I ever imagined. The challange is to always have an joining end plank seam on foam. I have solved my problem with math. One solution is to make a whole skin inside fiberglass on the un violated blank with releash film protecting blank. remove skin and then hack out the blank. Then vacuum bag the skin to the hacked out blank. I think you could really maximize foam removal since you no longer have seams to worrk about. THis would take an extra step however. I am currently enjoying the challange the way I am doing it now. I just make my stencil cut out guides for the width of planks I am using. Ultimate goal is to be able to program in a cnc the optimal foam removal based on your plank width and length for a particular board. Totally doable, but want to get it wired by hand to see if it is necessary or worth it.
Paulownia is the lightest of hardwoods. Basswood is 4-6 times denser and Birch is 6-8times denser than my balsa I stock. I don’t think I would consider using denser than Paulownia.
Though all this is a new discovery for me, it all has to have been done before. I now have a purpose for blanks laying around that other wise would have been thrown away. Have a new simple system for bending balsa planks for rails now too.
In all seriousness, Charlie, what is the motivation for this? Is it that you have blanks laying around that are too dense to be otherwise useful to you?
Ultimate motivation is to stir the pot of ideas. Secondly I want to use paulownia planks and have super strong, super light, super cool looking boards. My first three paulownia’s are beautiful but way too heavy. My paulownia planks are at least twice as heavy as my balsa planks. Where can you save weight when your eps is 1-1.5lb? Shave foam, lighter cloth, less resin. Same as it always is. Having access to 0.75 lb foam would help solve it, but too expensive for me to get it here. My current 1lb blank I cut out last week is so light I don’t have an accurate enough scale to measure it. With the gouged out foam I can hold it with one finger. Finding limits for me I start safe and work down from there.
20 year old PU blanks are not useful. Even the ones with clark foam stenciled on them. Been on the EPS bandwagon way before it was cool. The" fiberglass versus epoxy performance" question has been answered in my mind decades ago. As the question begs, 99% don’t know the difference, understand or care about it. Still swimming against the norm and still having fun doing it. Enjoying the cool ideas and appreciating the craftmanship on this site.
My stock answer is that it’s a stupid question. Clueless, uninformed people don’t even realize that their “epoxy” boards are made with goddam fiberglass. It irks me even more when I hear it from the mouths of surfshop employees. If you don’t realize how dumb that question is, take up golf or shuffleboard. Surfing is just not your “thing”.
There is no such thing as a “fiberglass surfboard”. They are made with foam, and sometimes wood. </rant>
Amen.
You gotta start somewhere. The corporate surf industry thrives on the ignorance of the masses, and does everything in its power to promulgate myths, falsehoods, misinformation and disinformation. I like browsing surfboard makers’ websites, and am continually apalled at the dearth of any real solid information on surfboard design and construction, as if any and every design detail, no matter how basic, is some kind of proprietary secret sauce that they alone possess the recipe for. So when someone asks a question that betrays ignorance of the subject, it can be an opportunity to begin the education process.
The comment was called high brow humor. Sorry you confused it for anything else but that.
Sorry huck, it is not if someone asks, it is most everyone asks. Very few buy surfboards off the rack as informed buyers. Just think back to your first board you bought. I wouldn’t expect anything else either and don’t think badly of it. A simple explanation fixes it and a cellular level discussion is not necessary or needed.
Meanwhile, back in the barnyard, I mean backyard.
