First, I’ve never posted here at Swaylocks… been following the forum the past month since the Clark thing. So hello all.
Second, background… I was a back yard builder and repair guy while in high school. I graduated in 1966 and the year after got my start as a production shaper for the Morey-Pope Company in Ventura Ca. Currently I mainly shape for Walden Surfboards in Ventura where I do about 1000 shapes a year. Almost all are tankers.
Third, qaulifier… Though I have shaped very few Walker blanks since the sixties and only one of the Walden models has used Walker exclusively, I would prefer to shape Walker foam than Clark any day of the week. For a number of reasons I’ve always preferred it.
So today of the 2 hand shapes I did one was a Clark 8’9 for a 8’8 and the other was a Walker 9’4 for a 9’0 So… FWIW and those interested here is a review of how Walker foam shapes and what the blank was like from my perspective. Your mileage may vary.
The Walker Blank had a 1/4" spruce ( I think ) stringer that had no defects and consistent grain direction. However there were some minor voids along the glue line mainly on the deck. The foam was very consistent with no density variation. No snail trails or porosity variation, no buckshot, no sponge. 3 small voids did surface on the bottom each were smaller than a thumb tack head.
Outlining showed that one side of the blank was about 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch wider. Though after outlining the thickness measurements remained the same from one side to the other. Surface of deck looked even nose to tail and side to side. Though the nose stringer glue up was stepped a little. Bottom surface looked a little uneven but shaped out without any extra work.
While planing the foam tore a little more than a Clark but not as deep. This blank didn’t have our rocker so I had to graduate a one inch cut into the tail for rocker. The foam retained density there. If I cut that much foam off a Clark blank I would have easily put finger dents in that area handling the blank during the remaining shaping process because of density variation.
Surform and sanding is where the difference really shows with Walker. It’s a breeze to finish. The foam seems dryer and doesn’t hold as much static so the foam dust doesn’t stick on the blank like Clarks. It doesn’t show scratches like Clark so you can finish with a coarse grit sand paper or screen and the blank will look clean. However, Harold Walker told me why the blanks don’t take to painting as easily as Clarks is because they needed to be fine sanded good same as the Clarks. Even though the Walker looks great finished with a coarse grit screen. The Blank will get paint in a day or two. I’ve asked our air brusher to let me know how it goes.
Over all the Walker didn’t take any longer to shape. Finished out really clean. Stringer was nice. The foam finished good and hard and holds a very sharp edge. Clark blanks feel and look sort of like a white cotton T-Shirt. The feel of Walker is more like pumice and when finished the look is like a sugar cube. And yes, if you run your hand over it fast the friction will give you rug burn. I didn’t have a scale to compare finished shaped weight but the Walker seemed a bit heavier.
Aloha,
Dennis Ryder
D.R. Shapes