Found a story with some pics.
http://www.transworldsurf.com/surf/article/print/0,15371,609264,00.html
Looks kind of interesting, almost hollow inside.
But how do they get the two core bits together?
/Erik
I think they use Chinese glue which is made from kidnapped dogs. The cores are then sent to Czechoslovakia where they are glued together by indentured political prisoners. The glued cores are then shipped to France in boxes fabricated from rain forest plants and whale byproducts. The boxes and cores are then irradiated for extra strength.
Czhechoslovakia doesn’t exist anymore, other than that I think You might be onto something!!!
/Erik
On the serious side, given what I have read about the S-Core, the tolerances on the surface skins of the blank are very close to that of the anticipated finished board. In essence, each core is made to basically mirror the final shape, and each core is custom built for that particular board. As such, that would seem to allow for only two types of boards to be made:
- Low volume, high $$ “team” and experimental boards
2.Pop Out type production boards which can be exactly duplicated in great number.
Either way, where’s the translation to you and I?
Maybe someone else knows more and can enlighten us. This is just my impression.
“Almost hollow inside”? Yeah! Actually I thought the most interesting part of that piece was about Angourie…
http://digitalstar.com/dalesolomonson/OriginalImages/450528ORIG.JPG
[url]http://digitalstar.com/dalesolomonson/OriginalImages/266729ORIG.JPG
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I have a friend, Warren Pfeiffer, who makes his home in the country near Yamba. He`s very fortunate, choosing from several excellent breaks in the surrounding environs… surfs almost every day… a former edgeboard kneelo, longtime friend of George Greenough, and one of the most experienced mat surfers in the world.
Well I did have a similar S-Core blank. I have a new one coming as well. Board was alil weird but was a sick shape. Basically it is hollow to an extent but it is filled with resin. It doesn’t really add weight to much. The board is then hallow and is pretty damn durrable. Well thats at leats how my blanks have been.
Hey you guys, my buddy busted one of those boards yesterday. Big South swell is still rocking up here. (Santa Cruz) I hope some of you guys got some. Anyways, I think he is gunna let me have it, if so I will be disecting it with pictures for a Swaylocks forum soon. -Carl
Anyone know if you can get them in the states yet? How about a estimated cost?
Quote:
…Basically it is hollow to an extent but it is filled with resin. It doesn’t really add weight to much. The board is then hallow and is pretty damn durrable…
That doesn’t make any sense.
Anyone know what fin systems are used on these blanks?
so far ive seen them with fcs, futures and fin solutions.
Yes I do realize how my post really made no sense. Just alil burned out. Anyhow yes eventhough it was semi hallowed and filled with resin then glassed again it was not to heavy. I have never really checked the board out till 2 days ago when I was repairing one that bubbled up from being locked in a car at sebastian inlet for an hour or so in the light. Anyways basically picture a surfboard blank sliced in half and then put resin and clamp them back together. Thats what the blank is like. My boards were designed to be used with the Future Fin setup with the Vector fins. I personally feel that they lock me in to much on the wave like channels do. So I prefer to use the FCS Foil fins in the other boards that I have FCS and choose to ride the FCS over the Vector fin from Futures. I have boards that are pretty much identical so I choose the FCS. My boards were shaped from EPS foam from Loehr and using his Resin. So if you know his stuff you know how it can be “Filled with resin but still be light.” The price of these boards are at least 100$ more then a regular shape. In my experience in riding them I don’t really get turned on by them. Not every shape works for everyone thats why there is so many diff shapes and shapers. So thats all I have to say. If somone knows more post or post pics.
I’m a friend of Mookie, and I can tell you that despite his horrific (typed) grammar and spelling of the written English language, he is actually pretty eloquent in person and knows his stuff regarding boards and board design.
Mookie, I would not mind checking out the board you have. I suspect that unless it is unlike anything else GL has done in the past (that I have seen), it is not going to be akin to an S-core. While contemporary boards start as a chunk of foam and get shaped and glassed, the S-cores start with the laying down (by hand) of multiple layers of glass and carbon-fiber cloth in a mould to create the deck of the board, then foam pillars and other I-beam structures are built inside the shell, and then the bottom of the hull is built on and around all that.
I also believe close-tolerance S-core blanks (essentially unglassed S-core boards) are offered to shapers too, but it is not as simple as ordering a Clark blank in that the person who will eventually finish shaping the core has a big hand in the creation of it in the first place- ie the core is custom or custom-like in that a mould is used to create the “blank”, and the shaper further customizes it.
For a good idea of what goes into the building of an S-core, check out the bonus DVD footage from the new Taylor Steel flick “Campaign”. I thought it was pretty intriguing and impressive, IMO.
Hmm, I just read that linked article. Perhaps the S-cores don’t acutally start with the laying down (by hand) of multiple layers of glass and carbon-fiber cloth in a mould… perhaps that was the creation of the mould itself. I’ll have to research more, and check out the board about which Mookie speaks. Regardless, it is obviously an approach different than the carve the foam and then glass it up technique that is the standard today. I’ll investigate more and would love to hear other’s thoughts on the S-cores. It’s late and I cannot think anymore right now 
Holy smokes! I just found a shop in England that has them for sale. They are close to a $1000 usd. That’s insane. I know stuff is more expensive over there anyway but, I am estimating that they will be close to $700 usd when they do come out over here? (Is that a safe bet?)
And they come with FCS, no option for others, atleast that’s all this retailer offers.
For convenience here’s S-Cores Homepage
ok call me ignorant…what are the main benefits (performance or reliability advantages) of S-Core blanks? They’d better be substantial if youre gonna pay
much more for them. Are the advantages worth the additional cost?
FCS fin system on a $1000 high-tech board???
Kinda like putting tractor tires on a Formula One race car.
(Edit of my “invisible” post).
S-Core will provide a different surfboard, a higher performance product. This won’t be for everyone but there will be some who will like the ride. For them $100 more will be worth it. I for one would pay $100 to surf better… that’s a no brainer.
Ok, based on my limited knowledge of S-core, Im assuming that the
performance gains are primarily from reduced weight. Im now
shaping/using EPS/Epoxy boards (thanks RR) and I can relate to the gains.
The last EPS blank I shaped weighed only 2.5 lbs.
But isnt there a point of diminishing returns when it comes to board weight?
Particularly when similar benefits can be had with EPS/Epoxy at a lower cost?
No the whole point of creating the Score wasnt weight but controlled flex characteristics.