Hi,
Am about to start shaping first boards (7’8" minimal and a 6’8" similar one for the wife) and am trying to find source for mesh screen eveyone mentions… despite extensive internet searches can’t find any in the UK (Live near Newquay).
Would appreciate information about any stockists, preferably in UK, but if not someone who would ship it to me.
Thanks
Chris
Chris-
We ship to the UK all the time so it’s no problem getting you what you need. Check out our Abrasives page for the various grits we stock.
Thankyou!
Despite multiple searches didn’t find your site - but I suppose that’s what Swaylock’s is about!
Thanks again,
Chris
Hi Chris
If you are looking for screen mesh then the poeple you need to speak to are SEABASE ltd. They have the mesh in 80 and 110 (or 120) grit.
I also live in the UK (Newcastle area) and I get 90% of my stuff from them.
They are super nice people and are always willing to help.
Their address is
Seabase Ltd
Unit 10 Seabase Ind. Est.
Treloggan
Newquay
TR7 2SX
01637 875 811
They also do Clark blanks and everything else you could wish for. They have a trade counter at this address so you can just turn up and have a look and buy what you want there and then. You don’t even need a trade account. I’m also sure they do free delivery within 100 miles of the HQ (but this may have changed, so please don’t hold me to that).
All the best and have fun.
Andrew
Mesg screen…do you mean drywall sanding screen?
If so they are available at any home improvement store.
I think some people call it mesh screen others shaping guaze, but it’s baiscally the stuff they use on dry wall, the people at Seabase will sort you out.
Personal I would stay away from anything availble in home improvemt stores or DIY stores in the UK. It’s generally not very good quality and often more expensive.
Nearly every UK board manufacturer gets their stuff from these people and so all the products are tried and tested. One less thing to worry about when you are starting out.
Also try Homeblown Surfboards blanks, they have a website it’s www.homeblown.co.uk they do production FCS fin sets (fins, plugs sticker etc.) and are the people to speak to for customised blanks here in the UK.
Again worth a look if you live in the Cornwall/Devon area. As they are based in Redruth. Super nice people also and I should have mentioned them in my previous post.
Andrew
Drywall screens are an industry staple in the states. Not sure why you think they don’t work in the UK.
You can get them in a few different grits.
What you do is take a new screen and crumple it up so as to lose the stiffness of it. Price is a few dollars for a package of three. Plus they last a long long time…I use one screen for four or five boards.
Drew
I think we are talking about the same thing Drew, in fact I would put money on it that the stuff from the two suppliers I mentioned is import the stuff in from the US.
I tend to stay away from items bought in home improvent or DIY stores as it has n’t generally been tested in the manufacture of surfboards.
I could probably find dry wall screen in such a store cheaper, but it may end up leaving loads of little particles of black grit behind on the blank that you never get out. So in the end you’ve gained nothing.
I’m always in favour of trying new products and ideas but I also stick to the old saying, If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.
Andrew
it doesn’t…i use drywall screen from any Home Depot or Lowes chain home improvement stores, and it works like a charm…it’s the exact same stuff you’d get from any “surfboard manufacturing materials supplier” at a fraction of the cost.
Are you buying this stuff in the UK? If so can I have a few trade names of this product.
My point is I have to send away for blanks/resin/fibreglass from the opposite end of the country in any case, so the cost of a few pieces of screen gauze isn’t that much when you take into account postage and packing not to mention VAT. and i know I’m getting something that will definitley work.
Like Drew said it lasts along time (i don’t even throw it out, I find the more worn it is the better it is for polishing the finished blank).
So for a couple of extra quid I get peace of mind.
Believe me this would be so much easier if I could find all this locally, but I can’t.
Thanks for your help though.
Andrew
it doesn’t…i use drywall screen from any Home Depot or Lowes chain home improvement stores, and it works like a charm…it’s the exact same stuff you’d get from any “surfboard manufacturing materials supplier” at a fraction of the cost.
There is other and better stuff out there, Our abrasives supplier carries a brand that off the top of my head escapes me but has Diamond in the name, Its by far better than the 3m and norton screens, and we get them for less than 1.00 each, Home Depot keeps better quality screens in the RENTAL area for the floor sanders, they are much better than the stuff in the paint and drywall section and cheaper they are bigger though like 16X22 or something like that. Try those.
Thanks all for your help…
Drywall doesn’t seem as popular in the UK as the US, perhaps thats why we over here find stuff hard to find…
The Seabase people look helpful, and they have a website now at www.seabase.ltd.co.uk
Thanks again…
Chris
“I use one screen for four or five boards.”
Not sure if I’m doing this right but I’ve been using the same screen for years and seem to like it better the more broken in it gets .
the good ones do last quite a while the ones from home depot etc seen to get dull really fast. I bought 1 50 pack in December, Here We have 2 shapers doing about 5 boards per day and we use the screens in the shop as well, I think we still probbaly have about 40 left. the better quality they do last quite a while,