Anyone glassing Ice-9 foam with epoxy? What have been the results? Which type of foam (able, cane, mowses), what weight (feather, bantum, etc…), and what brand resin are you using?
You can do it with no problem. You have to put UV inhibitor in the epoxy though or the foam will go to hell in no time. Poly is cheaper though, and with UV catalyst you will plenty of time to work with it.
-Jon
I didn’t notice any UV inhibitor on any of the normal supply sites, Foam-ez, surfsource, etc, where can I get an inhibitor compatible with Resin Research epoxy?
I found a “UV Absorber” additive on the Resin Research site, but no seems to sell it. Is this something that is already added to the RR epoxy?
It is probably already in there, but get in touch with GregLoehr (here) to verify.
Yeah, I called up Sam Barker (RR in florida) and he said what I bought is most likely the new “CE” formulation, which already contains the UV absorber, but to call Foam-ez and confirm.
The RR epoxy that Foam-ez sells is not the CE formulation. They can order it, but it’s not on the site. They were also willing to get the additive for me, but I went right to the source and called Greg. He said he would send me the additive and tell me how to mix it.
It’s really nice to find that most people in this industry are helpful and willing to help each other. Even here on sways I’ve found people, who aren’t even in business to sell you stuff, are willing to give and help with no expectations. I don’t think this is as common outside the surf industry. For instance, I ordered my tools through an online hardware store and when I called up for customer service I was treated like crap. Just sayin’, I’ve dealt with the many other types of business and the surf industry tends to be refreshing from the rest of the world that only seems to care about themselves.
rdj, if you are planning to glass this board yourself, I have a bit of (backyard/garage) experience with RR epoxy and have some tricks (most, or all, of which is archived at swaylocks) up my sleeve that will save you a lot of headache and heartache.
I might also be able to put you in touch with someone who would likely do glassing-for-hire with RR (used to glass for a well-known EPS/epoxy local label) if you would rather hand it off to someone else.
Definitely want to learn to glass for myself, which is why I chose epoxy. My current (first) board will be done with PE, but the only way I can easily glass at home (townhouse) is with epoxy. My next build will be epoxy and then I may try Resin X. I’d like to learn and experiment in the realm of safer more environmentally friendly resins and become comfortable with these rather than get comfortable with PE and not want to transition later. But I do think it’s important to do this first board with PE to get that experience especially with Tom teaching me and I will probably do future boards with PE if I can find a decent outdoor space for ventilation. Everyone I talk to says that PE is more glasser friendly. Anyway, I will definitely pick your brain for help with the epoxy. I might even do a board in LL if I can find the space. Thanks!
I’m glassing my 6th ice9 and RR Ce board. They are the cane formula. Can’t say enough about the foam and the resin. The Ce seems to be easier to use then the regular RR. I think that it is a a tad bit thinner making it easier to laminate. Either way it is a super combo. I have to use multiple layers of 6 oz. on the eps that I’m used to glassing to get the same strength as one layer of 4 oz. on the ice9. The small amount of resin that the cane foam absorbs during lamination also makes for a super tight lam.
I did a short post a while back on a board I shaped and glassed with the ice9 and the Ce and haven’t had time to update it with pictures. I’ll try to get shots of the board after a month of hard riding to show how durable it is. I was a die hard eps/epoxy fan until I tried this combo. Now for all my personnal boards it is all ice9 cane. The big seller was the ride, it’s like night and day. I don’t even want to ride my eps boards any more. The eps boards paddle great but the ride feels dead and choppy. The ice9 feels solid and has a spring out of turns. But thats another story and this is your post. If you have any questions about the Ce an ice9 pm me and I’ll try to help you as best as I can.
Thanks for the info! I’ll definitely PM you if I have any questions!
bump…
epoxy resin over PU blank is my go-to when ordering boards.
I’ve been getting US Blanks, but Ice 9 should be kosher too. I’m not sure if
the density is relevant, but for the record I’ve used Blue and Green weights.
an epoxy lam is practically bullet proof compared to *esters and even if you
do get a ding, the core won’t go to hell or otherwise require a lot of fussing
when/if there’s a bit of water ingress which makes for a more robust board
which counts bigly when travelling and/or if you’re a procrastinator when it
comes to ding repair.
Why was this 10 year old thread bumped to the top? Ice 9 blanks had problems and are looooong gone. The end.
I guess I should have explained better. I just snagged 3 off Craigslist for 30 bucks each. Just for fun since they are sugar Cain infused and hard to find. I heard some good things and some bad. They seem very dent resistant .sanding was a work out as the paper would stick and not slide easy. I was just curious how they glass up
Here’s a before and after shape
A friend and long ago member here made a few boards with those particular blanks. The foam shrunk horribly. Perhaps you’ll have better luck. Don’t expose to sun or heat.
As I recall some of their blanks were ok, even good, but the sugar-formula “Cane” were pretty bad and the foam would not take heat well at all. Have fun, then ship them to alaska or something!
They are a friggn’ joke when compared to anything available these days. Millemmium, Arctic, U.S. Blanks, Marko, ALL are a vast improvement. I hope you aren’t t shaping these for customers. Because they will not be repeat customers. Lowel
Sorry man. My Apology. If $30 is all you can afford then I guess they are a “score”. These blanks were highly touted and talked up way back when by quite a few people on this site. I’d rather have a Clark second myself. Ice-9 is about the same quality as Echotech was. Not that great. The Aussie formulas that have been built on by people like Arctic and Millennium are light years ahead of the game. US Blanks got started in a little differant setting but great quality. Marko for EPS is fantastic. The problem with those early attempts at perfecting the surfboard Blank is the road chosen was not always the road to success. Beware of inconsistency in density, weight, thickness and profile. Also; Don’t be surprised if a glassed blank shrink wraps itself. Resulting in a double barrel concave down the length of the deck.
No worries mc ding.this is a personal board just for fun.I can get my hands on good foam but just had to have it,dude even delivered to my house in 30 minutes☺ .also testing some new colors out with acrylic diluted sprayed from a 18 gauge needle and 30 cc syringe.talk about fun and messy…heat is not a issue where i live just south of San Francisco 3000’ away from the pacific ocean and about 250’ in elevation so pretty cold here in the summer.
glassed her up yesterday with RR epoxy and no issues so far
