Been catching some waves lately? Awesome! More importantly, I’m on a mission to find the most eco-friendly surfboard out there and ditch the whole traditional route.
I’ve been diving into recycled foam, bio-resins, and even bamboo boards, but what I really want to hear is your experience. Anyone ridden these sustainable shred sticks?
I also check this : Green Foam Blanks = recycle your foam dust into moneyservicenow But I have not found any solution.
Wondering how they hold up? Do they catch waves just as good? Is shaping them a whole different beast? All things durability, performance, and the shaping/glassing process are on my mind.
i find this transition to eco very important.
where i am from 2 well known shaper houses allready shifted to 100% eco foam and biopoxy unless the custumer deamands pu resin but they wont budge on the block.
I recently gave a go at a TECCEL GREEN ( 70% eco blank).
sending you some photos for your consideration, shaping it was easy haven´t laminated it yet.
Cheers and good waves
I recycle EPS and XPS foam by cutting it into rectangular pieces then gluing them up and making a blank. I have also stripped and reshaped more than a handful of PU boards.
I have not bought a blank made from recycled foam.
I have not had problems with the durability or performance, but shaping is much harder. I have noticed that with XPS, lower density is better. I am making boards with recyled XPS cooler foam and I think the foam I am getting is too dense. It is very stiff and I think it has a negative impact on performance and paddling.
I am currently doing a test using the XPS and some very soft EPS I saved from furniture packing boxes. I plan to sandwich the light EPS foam between the denser XPS to get a blank that floats better.
I get the XPS as 1.5" thick panels that are hot glued to make a cooler for medicine that is mailed to my wife. The pieces are just under a foot square or smaller. I glue up enough pieces to make a rocker slice and then I glue up the rocker slices to get the width of my board. I make that blank narrower than what I want and add a 1" perimeter piece that is the full the length of the board. I have to do a lot of hand shaping to finish it. It can take more than a week to get the blank glued up. I glass the boards with surfboard epoxy and sometimes use old fabric my wife got from her mom and aunt. I also do balsa skins on the softer EPS foams I’ve used in the past.
I only do this because the foam cooler keep coming and they have to be recycled. They used to send real EPS Coolers, but we only get this dense XPS foam now. The white foam is EPS that was long enough to make a 6’ board, the grey foam is XPS. THe finished board is all XPS, they sued the send blue foam it’s all grey now.
I don’t know if they are available in the 808, but Arctic is doing a recycled Poly foam blank. Product name is “Polyola”. I know Arctic is on Oahu. I’ve been wanting to try one. When shaped out the foam color looks “old”. Info and photo’s on their website. Can’t say enough good stuff about Arctic. Been buying, shaping and selling their blanks since they started.
We can get Arctic blanks. Some of my friends started using then as soon as they were available and really like them.
I don’t buy regular blanks, they are too expensive for someone that doesn’t sell boards, but likes to make them. I used to buy blanks, but mostly EPS. I used to buy Marko blanks and I really like them. I have a handful of EPS slab blanks, and 3 poly blanks sitting around for boards when I want a really nice board.
I make my blanks for the cost of glue, and I can do really weird experiments without getting upset when they fail. I have more of those than I would like to admit, but I’ve learned a lot.
If we had more of the Agave that is large enough to make boards and easy to get to, I would be trying to harvest that. We have a lot of a similar plant, but the stalks are not big enough in diameter. I have made a handful of Balsa boards, but I only recently started riding them. I like the way they feel, they have a nice dampening effect.
Agree with Huck about surfboards that last a long time. At industry scale, that’s probably the best we can hope for. Most surfers do not need an ultra light board. Personally, my shaping has started with agave and I plan to stick with that for 4 or 5 boards to see how it goes. Continuing Arlosilva’s comment, you can get those commercial blanks in California now through a company called Agave Brothers Ranch, which imported them (yeah, there is some environmental impact to shipping 10k miles). I am in the process of making my first agave blank from scratch and it takes a very long time as well as some power tools, such as a thickness planer. I just cut down a stalk today that was 10" diameter at the base, thinking I would have a lot of material, and it was rotten inside. The process will test your commitment! Can’t comment on how long these boards will last just yet.
What type of glue do you use on the foam? I buy EPS foam sheets from Home Depot to make blanks. I have used gorilla glue and epoxy but have found that while shaping the glue seem is too hard and difficult to shape smoothly. I have looked for a good product that bonds the foam but haven’t found anything that works. I figured you must have found a product that works if you fasten together so many foam pieces into blanks. (Good on you for making the effort to do that!)
I use Gorilla Glue. I haven’t found a glue soft enough that will hold when you shape. I’ve used BBQ sticks before to hold the foam together when the foam starts to come apart.
I try to keep the glue centered in the area where I won’t be shaping. Sometimes I have to shape through it. When I do, I try to cut it out with a razor, or go very slowly with the planer.
I’m working on a board that has very soft EPS sandwiched between hard XPS and I have areas here the glue is going to be a problem. I am worried that the soft foam will tear, but I won’t know until I start shaping. I haven’t decided what shape it will be yet, a square tail, Diamond, or an assym. I will add a perimeter piece of foam once I cut the outline. My hip is messed up right now, so I don’t know when this board will be done.
I don’t recommend this method of blank making, but I keep getting these coolers in the mail and the foam will either be tossed in the recycle bin and never actually be recycled because I’m in Hawaii, or I can try to do something. The foam I get now is too dense for surfboards, and I had a box of soft EPS from furniture that I bought online. I’m hoping that the combination of the 2 foams will have the right buoyancy and feel better on the water. If not, I won’t be doing this anymore. A lot of work, and when things go bad, it a waste of time.
Yes it’s like i do for increase blanks wide for sup and sail boards because i can easly find 65cm wide eps block. I find it’s good with xps, i find easily orange or yellow 300kpa 2lb small board for cheap but i see i probably can find 500kpa slightly denser, may be better…
Arlosilva—. I like what you have done there with that Teccel Green. Nice cuts, smooth Finish. There are legends that have been shaping for years who can’t do cuts that nice.
