I read recently where some people were having problems with Safari Foam shrinking after glassing. I purchased a couple of Safari’s while in Florida a few months back (9’1" and 8’8"). Before I invest time and expense shaping and glassing these blanks, I need to know if anyone has had good results with Safari. Also, does anyone have a idea of what causes the shrinkage. If it is a reaction to the resin, wouldn’t fine sanding to 220 grit and painting the finished blank help. Thanks.
It’s not that all Safari blanks were shrinkers, just some. I’d go ahead and cut them,
once you get the skin off and down into the blank(s) you can look for weird cell structure
that might indicate trouble. Spots that may shrink will usually look different; either a shiny
patch or larger cells. Look for soft spots as well. After you shape them, set them aside for
a few days and then inspect. You might save yourself the trouble of glassing a doomed blank…
The shrinkage is a foam problem, nothing to do with the resin. If I were a chemical engineer,
I could tell you the exact technical explanation. In laymans terms, the foam is not properly
reacted, or the mix or pour was botched.
Mike
I’ve shaped a few hundred and it has had its moments. It shapes fast so don’t over shape. Its a little on the brown side when next to brand x and z. Could be whiter but glass lite. I know they are working on making them whiter. All and all They surf the best of them all. they have a real nice feel spring!! Soft foam take it back and ask for another please… Go Surf
Safari Foam is notoriously bad . They have dumped their rubbish all over the globe ! They have now resorted to trying to sell cheap blanks to China . I don’t care what anyone says the blanks are bad . They say they are trying to better their product but at the expense of hard working shapers . Why save a few dollars and have the headache of trying to explain why the boards are shrinking , delaminating or pressuring after one surf .
good to see some words on safari foam…
ive been offered these blanks dirt cheap (half the price of homeblown) and stayed away.
must be sh1t if their cheap.
cant say anything else cos i only use HB blanks… awsome service from ppl who know and will try and help/answer dumb q’s and charge a ikkle fee for profileing a blank on the machine
Hi there Mike,
have you shaped any more Safari stuff recently? It’s just that they’re in NZ now and it sounds like they had some issues.
For what it’s worth - shaped quite a few of their longboard blanks in Florida. They shape really nice, the foil and rockers were good, and only had one bad spot in one blank after 30 or so … the price was VERY good, so it helped as far as getting better as a shaper (I did quite a few in a short period of time). I sold them super cheap, and told my customers they were basically seconds. The only thing that drove me crazy were the crooked plywood stringers. I can’t stand plywood for stringers anyway, did you ever hold a piece of narrow plywood and bend it? Weak, weak, weak! It might have linear strength, but side to side it’s way bad! I’m sure as the glue up dries they’ll b-e-n-d!!! Too bad really, the price was good, and like I said, they shape really nice … I’m sticking with Blair, King Mac, and Bennett!
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Hi there Mike,
have you shaped any more Safari stuff recently? It’s just that they’re in NZ now and it sounds like they had some issues.
The first post-Clark PU that I shaped was a Rhyno, and I remember by the second planer pass I was going “this is some GOOD stuff”.
That became the standard by which I evaluated other urethanes. The only Safari I shaped never even made it to glassing.
That is past now, and I have no recent experience with them. The blanks you’re seeing in NZ may not be anything like what we got here.
So I’d suggest giving them a chance, you never know… Just do a board or two and keep an eye on them before you order 25 or something.
I have shaped and glassed a fair number of the newer Safari blanks and have had no issues or problems with them.
The earlier Safari blanks my local supplier was basically giving away with a warning that they would likely shrink.
Caveat emptor. The old ones I would only suggest for planer practice, but the new ones are not bad in my opinion.
I picked up one awhile back and let it sit up in the garage rafters for about a year. Before shaping I set it outside for direct sun exposure for a few days. The tailblock area shrunk down while it cured up in the rafters (nothing happened in the sun) but since my template was placed ahead of that area I shaped it anyway. I put the shaped blank back up in the attic where it undergoes a wide range of temperature changes. So far everything is looking good… no twisting, no distortion and no shrinkage.
I’m going to try glassing it with Resin-X.