POST 1
Dear Bert, here is the interesting aspects of basalt fiber.
In its’ raw neat form without a matrix, it is only about 12% higher in strain-to-failure than conventional e-glass.
I’ve had about ten little strands of this fiber since 1989 when a U.S. college student invented it as a final thesis.
Now 12% doesn’t sound that impressive, but as you know in composites, it is.
Here’s where it gets really cool.
No factory in the U.S. has ever been able to manufacture basalt fiber.
The temperature required is much higher than glass fiber.
PPG and Owens Corning have no interest in persuing it because they both have their own patents on different glass formulas which you may know includes many other ingredients other than just silica, many of them being carcinogen suspects.
The beauty of basalt fiber is that it is nothing more than dirt shoveled out of the ground, heated to a very high temp and pushed through very expensive bushings. Different tracts of basalt from around the world create slightly different properties. The best discovered so far are in former Soviet countries and a huge tract in Eastern Washington. Two independent companies in the U.S. have tried to process it and had meltdowns in the reactors due to the elevated temperatures. They’ve lost millions and basically sent some investors to the loony ward. I had opportunities to invest but luckily stayed clear.
Now here’s the very best part of the story…when you saturate it with epoxy, the strength properties grow from 12% higher than glass to 92% higher.
Most surfboard builders don’t think about this, and they shouldn’t, but it is really important to try to match a fiber’s elongation % with the matrix elongation %. This is why Kevlar and Carbon really don’t have much of a real functional use in sporting equipment that takes a beating. Basalt fiber is a perfect harmonic marriage with common street epoxies, while glass has a little higher elongation. So when basalt and epoxy load up, they fail as a unit instead of two lower energy failures.
Here is the good news.
The Russian Defense Program sunk heaps of cash into buiding three factories to build this fiber.
I am currently getting it in ball form and having it woven or knit into whatever patterns I need.
All of my knits are about 4 times heavier than you would want and very uni-biased patterns.
However if I can find a sample from about four years ago, I’d love to give it to you to try.
I had a 5oz plain weave processed by Hexcel’s looms.
The fiber is brownish-gold, but looks kind of like carbon when wetted.
It also doesn’t seem to itch!
Let me know if your interested in that or any other crazy future materials.
Oh yeah, the modulus is just an RCH higher than glass.
-Love D. Pumpernickel
POST 2
I’ll try to have a little sample woven to 4oz. or less by Hexcel.
The properties of basalt vary greatly depending on what tract they come from.
The current supply from Russia is the 92% stronger version at this moment.
It was tested by an independent lab at a university in the midwest.
I also have some futuristic skins that will probably be ready to release in the next year or so.
These have no epoxy or thermoset resin of any sort.
You will be able to skin a custom board on the spot in minutes and surf it immediately.
It will be very safe for the craftspeople and quite a bit friendlier for the environment.
Dig this; I can take a claw end hammer and beat this skin (at less weight than a normal glass job) and the claws rebound and don’t penetrate the skin.
However the foam I’m using does slightly deform, but just slightly. P.U. foam or styrene would be completely anialated. This foam rebounds.
I’m talking about beating it like a madman!
The blank molds (moulds down under) will be very expenive, so each step of progress must be very calculated or as you know , you can throw away alot of $$$$ very fast.
Totally recycleable foam though…
Here’s some food for thought…
did you know a bulletproof Kevlar weave is only bulletproof until you put epoxy on it.
A high modulus resin makes cracks propigate right through the fabric.
Your observation of concrete and glass is correct.
The epoxy and glass are mainly sticking together because of mechanical entrapment and a good sizing wash on the fibers as a primer.
Basalt dosn’t need a sizing wash!
This other skin that I’m developing goes years beyond the basalt technology.
Most of the shapers on this site will think it is too spooky to even think about.
However I’d love to keep some progressive craftsmen like yourself in the mix.
And here’s another benefit…
Asia will have no advantage with these new materials!
Boards will last so long that there will be value added to custom shapes and custom flexes.
-Love Delbert Pumpernickel