I posted this on another thread but I thought I’d repost as a new thread as there is some new information here.
EPS is a superior product that is right now going through some vast industry upgrades. We are starting to see that the 2# density stuff is rapidly becoming the standard everyone is using. Look around, everyone in FL, all the guys in TX and now everyone in Santa Cruz, which includes M-10, Stretch and Coffee. In San Diego, Mankind and Rusty are moving the same direction. Like JTroy said, everyone who’s using XPS is having issues with the stuff. They use that material because you don’t have to seal and most of the industry epoxy newbies think sealing is just too hard. Those of us who have made a living building epoxy boards know what sealing really is about. This is a 5 minute job using water based material that any high school kid can come in and do after school. It take almost NO SKILL to do. Back when we used XPS we ended up sealing it because that was the only way to solve the blowing problems during lamination. If I’m gonna have to seal, I’m gonna use EPS because it’s just so much better material.
Everyone will soon realize that the 2# density EPS is THE BEST FOAM MADE for making standard, shape and glass, high performance surfboards. It will soon be the industry standard over urethane. Why, because IT RIDES BETTER. Read what “Shaper of the Year” Stretch says in his interview, “None of my team riders ride polyester boards anymore.”
Insulfoam is also, right now, introducing foams of higher density as well. All the way up to 4#. So, if you want a superlight weight blank in EPS that’s a 2.5# density. If you’d like a supergreen, that’s 3#. If you’d like a classic weight, that’s 3.5# and for tow boards and heavy longboards you have 4#. None of the EPS foams over 2# density leak any worse than a urethane board does. Unlike urethane and XPS they almost never delaminate. Strength to weight compared to urethane is through the roof. It is VERY temperature stable and doesn’t need to be vented. Break strength on the same weight density is MUCH higher in EPS than in urethane or XPS. Sealing is the only small downside and should NEVER be the reason for using another inferior core material.
I started with EPS almost 25 years ago and every few years that industry comes up with new tech that improves the product. This latest product improvement, higher density foams, makes EPS everything that urethane foam dreams of being. And you know something cool. They don’t have this in CHINA!!! So get with it folks. Join the future where the imports can’t go. Build better CUSTOM product than they can produce out of a mold. Blanks are now available across the US, stock or custom built to your specs.
Segway in SoCal
Hydrofoam in SoCal
Resin Research in FL
Codacore in FL
Chafin blanks in TX
S-Foam in TX
Shuler Systems in OR
Sorry if this sounds like hype but the truth is staring you square in the face. The EPS guys just upped the ante and urethane is no longer, structurally or in terms of performance, a competitive product. The imports have no edge anymore either. A 2.5# density EPS blank with a 6 double 6 opaque laminate will make any Surftech look silly by comparison. And it’s CUSTOM!
And by the way, you want to change flex characteristics? You now have a choice of four different resins with four different flex patterns to choose from. Try that with poopie. Try that with a molded import. We have the materials available to take the whole thing back, right here, right now. Stop fighting with the wrong materials. Change the systems that need changing to make the best product you can make and stop wasting time on dead ends.
