Seems to me that foam quality has improved since the demise of Clark. The blue Surfblanks America , green and blue Surfblanks Australia, and the Rhino blanks all shape real well and resist denting a hell of a lot better than Clark’s blue foam. ( I used 2 green Surfblanks America and the one I rode dented up real badly in a few sessions). They were all glassed by the same shop and seem to also resist dinging a lot better. BUT now it seems all the better quality blanks are molded for machine shaping - thicker and ‘different’ rockers and are a lot more work to shape than the close tolerance blanks - pre ‘machine age’ style. Seems a lot tougher to get the right rocker for one offs from these new ‘one size fits all’ blanks. Guess you loose some - you win some. Curious about other’s experiences.
I’ve seen the “new” urethanes. I’ve weighed them as well. Clark blue was lighter than anything I’ve seen since the closing and Clark had two weight’s lighter than blue. Granted I haven’t seen everything but I used to weigh every Clark blank I shaped before glassing and the newer blanks I’ve shaped since 5/12 are all in the Clark Green range. So there’s a reason why their stronger than the Clark blue. Their heavier.
Clark weights:
Green 3.05 pp cubic foot
Blue 2.85 pp cubic foot
SL 2.55 pp cubic foot
UL 2.35 pp cubic foot
A 6’ shortboard is about 1 cubic foot. The boards I’ve shaped lately from urethane all were over 3.25 lbs. That’s as much or more that a Clark green. I used to be able to get a 5.5 lb. finished board using a Clark blue with a 6 bottom and a 6-4 deck epoxy laminate … with fins. I’ve tested a number of the urethanes lately and I’m not getting close to that.
Any comments? Get out those scales. I’d like to know who’s really the s#&t.
?
No comments … even from the blank guys?
Greg - I used to use clark blue and the blues i’ve bought from rhino, surfblanks america and surfblanks australia after glassing are the same weight as the clark but more impervious to denting. I also used a surfblanks australia green and that is better than the clark blue and it’s a lighter blank. (under their system).
My Latest board is a surfblanks Australia blue blank with a 4oz bottom 2 x 4oz deck with back foot 4oz patch and comes in at 5 1/2 lbs with fcs fins. dims are 6’0 x18 3/8 x 2 3/16.
resin is ATL Kinetix epoxy lam and filler.
Deck is pretty much unblemished and I usually crush them after a few surfs.
The surfblanks green are extremely light but the deck looks like the surface of the moon after one surf.
I think Midgets green blank with your epoxy and 6+4 deck would be an excellent combination.
I’m also pretty impressed with the Bennetts Australia blanks I’ve gotten lately. I’ve been using the green Bennetts ( which I think is the same density as the surfblanks red ) and shapes well and seems really strong.
Speaking with one of the directors of Nuplex who said they developed some new gear for Bennetts, he reckons Bennets are now making the best foam in the world.
Big call.
We’ll see how they hold up.
Daren.
I think epoxy/polyurethane is an excellent combination. Can’t feel any significant difference between epoxy/pu and polyester/pu in terms of surfing it. And the deck is holding up much better as well. As for more machine friendly, I’m not sure if Bennetts have changed their moulds or not. It’s been a bit since I fully hand shaped a board.
I got around to shaping one of the 10’4" Bennet blanks I got as part of a sample pack from Pau Hana. I shaped it down to a 9’3" and glassed with double 6 deck and single 6 bottom. With a fin box and glossed both sides it weighs about 20 lbs. That seems consistent with what I was getting with Clark Blanks.
I make no attempt to squeegee every last drop of resin off the blank when glassing. In fact, I glass them on the heavy side but they typically don’t self destruct… immediately anyway.
Using a Rockwell 653 with a new spiral cutter, it tore some chunks when shaping. If I slowed down, and took less of a cut, it didn’t tear at all. Other than that, it seemed solid, consistent, and white.
Not really good input as I didn’t weigh it at the beginning.
FWIW.
No comments … even from the blank guys?
Gee Greg, I have been thinking all p/u was s#&t. LOL
SS
Surfblanks Australia green is very light/strong and certainly out of reach of any Clark product. There is also a Surfblanks Australia yellow you can get if you are keen for the lightest around. I got mine from Matt Ambrose in Pacifica.
The molds of Surfblanks Australia are still the same as years ago and they are a great compromise between machine and hand shape. What do you expect from a master like Midget…
The strongest/lightest board I ever made was with a Bennett but they sold me real bad foam the next few times.
Saw a claim for a 2.1kg board on the Surfblanks Australia website, check it out
http://www.surfblanksaustralia.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=50&Itemid=77
Another name Miki Langenbach. How many people can you be?
Try not to sound to German you are very easy to pick.