Here’s a quote from a new label starting up in Texas…
Q. Is there anything different about the boards, other than the name?
A. Yes. Firstly, since the demise of Clark Foam, the board building industry has suffered and many people have been forced to make changes–some good—some bad. I was one of the fortunate few who was able to continue to get polyurethane foam through my friendship with Gary Linden and Harold Walker. Many others were FORCED to switch over to Epoxy technology and foam cores, as it was all anyone could get. Through this transitional period, a lot of press has been released pertaining to poly vs. epoxy and much of it has suggested that epoxy technology is better i.e. stronger, lighter and easier/safer to produce. Polyester surfboards have dominated the industry since the foam surfboard revolution began and wood boards became a thing of the past. Epoxy foams and resins have been around since the beginning, and from what I have been told, even before polyester, but after experimenting with both epoxy and poly materials, manufacturers of the late 50’s and early 60’s saw the benefits of polyester outweighing the benefits of epoxy. Those same benefits remain today: namely core strength to weight ratios, efficient construction times, materials costs, user friendly foams and resins and much more. Even today, most large scale board builders will tell you that epoxy technology has come a long way since the beginning and has it’s place in the industry, but the construction and riding characteristics of polyurethane cores with polyester shells are what their pro riders prefer and continue to ask for and what they still sell the most of to their average customer. Think about that for a second. I have experimented with epoxy technology on many occasions, and I commend out-of-the-box thinkers and designers for searching for and perfecting alternatives, but I have made a decision to move ahead exclusively using polyurethane cores and polyester resins for the right reasons, even though it seems to be more difficult to find people to assist me or even agree with me locally. If the right foam density is used, the right shaping techniques practiced and the proper glassing applied, these boards blow away any epoxy products out there strength/weight wise, performance wise and most importantly cost wise. I have consulted with every prominent shaper I know in the industry, large and small, and they all agree with and support these assumptions, even though most of them offer some forms of epoxy technology, due to demand and product diversity, but that may change soon. Remember you heard it here first, the true story about the safety/dangers associated with working around epoxy resin fumes, epoxy foam dusts and epoxy sanding dusts will come out soon and may shock and scare people out of their false sense of security when working around these materials. If unprotected, neither are safe but one is no safer than the other. The lack of “smell” associated with epoxy resins should be a red flag and not a proud proclamation. Second, all my close friends in the industry who also have suffered the same fate recently with technology changes, mis-information and consumer confusion, namely Gary Linden, Timmy Bessell and Max McDonald, are all teaming up together with me and sharing trade secrets, material sourcing, templates, computer programs and all the rest with me, so that I may be kept up to speed with the newest, best and most cost effective ways and means to build high performance surfboards. We all talk a couple of times a week about what is going on with the industry, design, materials and so much more. California is and has always been the hot-bed of surfboard design progress and instead of hearing about it a year or more later, I learn it when they do. These boards will reflect all this shared information. Senator Surfboards will be the best I can offer you. I now have a hand in the finishing of the boards too. Stop in Surf Specialties and see for yourself. The first batch is done and in the house!
Not to start another poly v epoxy thread, but I was under the assumption that epoxy is a stronger matrix material in nearly every aspect. Apparently not…
And apparently ‘every prominent shaper I know’ in the industry agrees that poly will ‘blow away any epoxy products out there strength/weight wise’…Is this just Madison Ave talking??
What are the dangers of epoxy resin fumes, epoxy foam dusts (??), and epoxy sanding dusts?
Should the lack of “smell” of epoxy be a red flag?
Just thought this was an interesting point of view…I wonder if anyone has encountered any serious safety problems or structural weakness problems in their use of epoxy…
JSS
Here’s the link:
