who should i buy the blank from? i want the most user friendly foam there is. thanks erik
Is that a can of worms I can hear being opened?
If you genuinely want to know. The best blank for your first shape is the cheapest one you can afford to f##k up.
PU shapes easier than EPS and finishes better. Everyone has their favourite blanks. I know quite a few shapers who love the blanks that I hate.
i think Entity has it right on
Ask for a 2nd or a reject from your closest dealer.
Try stay away from blanks with holes/bubbles where you would put your outline.
If you can, hold the blank up to a bright light (fluro/sun) before you buy it. You can usually see hidden holes in the blank.
Have fun.
Keep in mind that a PU blank will be more expensive than an EPS one, but glassing EPS with epoxy resin is also more expensive than glassing PU with polyester. I mean, look at the cost of the finished board, not only that of the blank. Also think of minor differences: both foams won’t take colors as well if you plan any color artwork, light density EPS will suck water easily when dinged (but it won’t ding as easily because epoxy is stronger than polyester) whereas PU won’t suck much, etc…
be careful, groggy…it’s a disease!!!
Hey groggy, if you plan on glassing with epoxy you might be better off getting your first shape done in XPS, and make it stringerless. This is the blue or pink foam found at Lowes or Home Depot (there's a thread here on Sways about 'Home Depot' boards). It will be much more user-friendly than EPS (the beaded white foam), which will be easy to blow out large chunks from if you've never shaped before. I think there's some info and pics of someone building a blank from some of the XPS on www.surfersteve.com.
I built a number of my first epoxy boards with Home Depot foam, and can offer some pretty important tips about making them last:
Do not finish sand the blank finer than 60 grit.
Do not use light weight spackling compound to "seal" the blank - glass directly to it.
Do not paint the foam. If you don't want a pink or blue board, paint it with rustoleum after it's glassed and sanded
Do not paint the board a dark color, or leave in the sun out of water, a hot car, or a hot attic.
Include deck patches in the area along the rails you hold onto to duck-dive, as well as the area along the rails your thighs/knees clamp the board while sitting.
All of these tips have to do with preventing the glass from delaminating from the foam. This occurs from outgassing of XPS foam caused by heat, or mechanical compression. A strong, light, and lasting board can be made using XPS if you're careful.
Oh yeah - might be worth your time to shape completely by hand with a sureform planer and a sanding block no matter which foam you decide upon. An electric planer the first time around can cause some serious damage to your board and you.
Good luck!
Go with a PU blank and then you can glass it with UV poly resin. You can take your time doing both. I scored PU blanks as low as $10 and got some crappy ones for less. That helped me get a better feel for PU after working with EPS. I think PU is easier to work with.
The only hard part of using PU is skinning off the outside shell. Some blanks have a really hard skin and you’ll definitely want a power planer to do that. I’ve done it without a power planer and it added a ton of extra work.
Or go buy a beat up old board that is quite a bit bigger than what you want to shape for real cheap. Strip off the glass, and go for it. That’s how most of us learned back in the early days.