two things…
Did you glass the board ? how did it turn out ? how did you go with the rails ?
Has anyone made fins from the stuff ?
I read epoxy resin might be good, because longer working times are needed .
Lastly, does anyone in Australia know where I can buy the stuff ? [and what $ per metre it costs , roughly ?]
thanks !
ben
Hi chip!
I haven’t had time to bust out a full vacation report for you yet (except for the one I posted on the other bb), but I had to get into this thread since I’ve been having “thoughts” again.
I’m thinking of doing a hemp lam, with glass over it of course, and it got me thinking… If you’re going to be working with alternative fabrics, wouldn’t silk give a better strength-to-weight ratio? plus, just imagine the colors you could laminate up!
Just a thought, anyone ever tried it?
Hey Shwuz,
I think I read somewhere that silk is not a good medium to use because of the lack of space between fibres, same as rayon etc.
Hemp may be the go but I wouldn’t know where to get it from, anyone had a go with Hessian or seagrass matting?
Could even be cheaper than glass.
cheers
Hicksy
Hi chipfish! I did glass that board with hemp and another one after that,and I’m thinking of my third hempboard now.
The first one was a pu blank using polyester to lminate the quite heavy hempcloth(dont know what weight)so the rails was superdifficult to do. But I made it making several cuts in the most
curved areas. The first one has only one layer on each side,and it turned out to be very weak
for impacts so it gets dinged easily but once it fell on the ground and it kind of bouced and the board was unhurt. It is heavy too,about four to five kilos.(6foot board) But it rides well and has a good flex to it.
The second board turned out much better,except for one thing. I used a lighter hempcloth,epoxyresin and Biodegradable EPS made out of corn(yes,I do care about our planet.)
For the second one there was no need for cuts along the curves because of the ligther cloth
And this time two layers on each side. I had never used epoxy before but much easier to work with hemp than poly. And instead of hotcoating it I put two layers of varnish, for weight savings but it didnt quite fill the weaves so will hotcoat my third one. This time the board turned to be much lighter and tougher than the first one. And havent seen any denting on the deck yet.
The only thing that is wrong with this board is that is has no vent plug so it has started to delam…
The next one will have one for sure !
Don’t have any pictures of the first one, but enjoy the second one.
Go hemp.
hey, thanks HEAPS for the follow-up , Yoshio…that’s a nice looking single fin !! [I’d like to ride THAT !!]
Where are you ?
Where did you get the hemp from ?
…was it more expensive than, say, 6oz or volan…or about the same as volan, price wise ?
It doesn’t look TOO brown, [the one I saw here once was WAAAY browner !!]…was the epoxy clear ? [and / or the hemp ‘bleached’ , I wonder ?]
nice job !!
I’d LOVE to see your next one…please stay in touch , eh ?
cheers !
ben
I am in Chiba,Japan and I got the hempcloth from my friend who owns a hempshop,
he sells stuff made from hemp and serves food made from hempseeds etc. Here in japan
hemp USED to be a common plant and you could probably see hempplants all over the country until the emperor got to far and america had to drop that bomb over Hiroshima and nagasaki to stop him (was that the only option!?) Anyway after the war this law about hempregulation came around so nowadays only a few people is growing the plant here in japan.
I payed 2000 yens(about 20 us dollars) per meter that was 150cm wide. Quite expensive I think.
The epoxy I used is a system three sb-112 made for board building and it is a clear epoxy.
I’d like to use greg lohers epoxy that everybody is talking about.
I think the color of the board is because of the eps I used, it had that yellowish color.
And I forgot to tell you that I used Bert burgers wooden fins for my fin,Thanks to bert.
Check out ecolution on web, I think they sell hempcloth made in hungary.
Go hemp!
good stuff…you’ll get waves to test it then !! lucky you …
ben
how big will your next board be ?
What about polyester? And when I say polyester I mean like the 70’s disco suits with big collars. Could you just cut them up and make some kickass inlays and what not?
Hemp is the answer…
…what the hell was the question?Herb
…finder of lost children.
… " what do you prefer smoking " ???
My next Hempboard is for a good friend of mine and it’s going to be a modern thruster about
6’2 with perimeter stringers 3 cm inside the rails…dont really know how to put them in though.
But the board wont be done until march or april.
I do prefer hemp…
Ben,
Whatever Jeff Spiccolli is smoking,will do.
…naw,I’m more picky than that,elephant?Herb
…all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy…
Yoshio! Nice looking board!! I’d also like to try that hemp - it looks like a fairly lightweight weave.
cheers,
Brennan
not sure if this would bee any use but the eden project in cornwall have made a eco board using balsa, hemp and resin from plant extracts. They also list their suppliers.
Unfortunately most of them are here in the UK but might be helpful
Hi Brennan! The cloth I used looks much like the 5.5oz Hempcloth that ecolution sells,their website is www.easterneuropeanhemp.com
you should really try it.
Woody waverider, Interesting site and article. I didn’t know about ocean green surfboards,I really like their enviromental approach. I’m trying to do what they are doing but all these new earthfriendly materials are not cheap, but that is not going to stop me.
Thanks for some good info.
Domo arigatou, yoshio.
Hi Yoshio, I was wondering how much for a oz. I mean what size cloth do you feel is good. I like the idea of using it.
I have found 6 oz and and up.
I thought you people were talking about leaves.lol
Thanks,keith
Hi keith! I have only used a 5.5oz and a much heavier an stiffer cloth(dont know the weight),but the heavy cloth was very hard to do the rails with.
So I’d say go for the lightest you can find and you should do cutlaps since the cloth wont go transparent like fiberglass.
You should go epoxy for longer working times and it’s stronger.
The 5.5oz was still hard to do but compared to the heavier one muuuch easier.
Maybe everthing will be easy with a vaccum bagging equipment…
Hope this helps,yoshio.
" Hi Yoshio, I was wondering how much for an oz…" …It probably sounds like one of my ridiculous comments, but in this case, I AM serious… IF you did a hot batch, and the damn thing starts smoking…well…you get my drift ?? [ ie : what does the stuff SMELL like ? would the neighbours / police come running ?] My guess is it’s treated with some chemical or bleaching or something, just so the ‘Otto’ dudes’ of this world don’t rush out and buy 10 metres of the stuff for a cheap [yet dangerous?] high ? what say you…HERB ??? AH YES ‘spitzer’ / = ‘smoker?’ …it’s all purple haze clear to me now…good name choice there, ‘BUDdy’ !!! ["L.O.L "] ben
Thanks Yoshio, definitely epoxy. Can you tell me more about the biodegradable eps you mentioned. I have no idea what the reg.eps is made from other than chemicals. But I am interested in protecting our enviroment.
thanks again,Keith