Hey Swaylockers. I recently came upon something in the Forums where someone didn’t use a stringer. I was wondering if a stringer was needed in order to create a successful board that works.
Wood stringers are nice, but can be replaced with paper glueups, extra glass patches, speed beads, or vinylester resins (more flexible, will break in time).
Are you using styro or poly foam? Both work without stringers, but common sense says extra glassing a must.
of course not, just so long as you recognize that the board will be a lot weaker and will likely snap.
I would be using a polyester foam.
you could…it just doesn’t make any sense. people might want to leave out the stringer if they want an ultra-light board. if that’s your intent, you’d be better served using EPS/epoxy than a PU blank in the first place.
Thanks, would that mean I would need to buy a different resin. I have currently only been using the clark foam blanks and poly resin.
Clark blanks or homemade? Homemade is usually less than 1/2 as strong.
An extra layer of 6 and 4 should cover any weakness from lack of stringer, but would add about 1.25lbs. minimum.
Twisting would be more of a problem to overcome.
Stringer gives a nice resting place to lay your half templates on.
Stringerless prolly best reserved for small, weak, outside breaking mushball waves.
if your goal is to make an ultra-light, high performance board, then use an EPS blank with RR epoxy resin. from this, you have the option of stringer or no stringer…stringer = stronger, no stringer = lighter…but even with a stringer, the board will still be lighter than if it were made from polyester resin on a Clark blank.
So, are you saying Clark Blanks are not very good? What should I do now, now that I knwo that I’m going to be using a stringer in all of my boards?
let’s try taking this one back to the beginning…
what exactly are you trying to do? what kind of shape do you have in mind?
I was thinking of a Swallow-Tail. 6’ x 21" x 2 1/4". That is going to be my next shape. Exactly where could I get some good foam to make future surfboards without having to buy Clark Foam Blanks. Also, are the Clark Foam Blanks good at all, because I’ve only been using Clark.
What is your “good”
Clark blanks are the standard for 95% of the blanks for boards made in the USA.
“Good” is a very subjective word.
I was just curious if there were blanks that I was unaware of that were in a way better than the standard Clark Foam blanks that I’ve been using.
Try Walker foam blanks, from what I’ve heard, excellent for logs.
Clark Foam is primarily what everyone uses…some Californian loggers prefer Walker, but they aren’t as widespread as Clark. there is nothing wrong with the Clark blanks you’ve been using. however, if you wanted to try something else, such as EPS/epoxy…you could swing by any home improvement store and pick up a big piece of EPS foam and make a cheap (but workable) blank from which to shape a surfboard…or you can order a better EPS blank from a place like Sfoam. “better” is a subjective term…but there are other options…they aren’t necessarily better or worse…just different…and they may or may not be more suited to whatever it is that you’re trying to accomplish with your next board.
I’m currently making a 6’3"x20"x2" hybrid/thruster design using a stringerless XPS core, carbon fiber, and epoxy–my first experience with any of these 3 materials. So far the carbon fiber has been easy to work with, should be finished this weekend, I’ll keep you posted with the final results. If I break it my first time out I will be very sad, but I think it will be strong enough.
Hey,
That’d be good if you could tell me how it rides. Thanks…
I think the stringer also plays an important role while shaping the blank : it provides stiffness and helps you with symetry.
Really ironic that I should read this post. Today I went to Greg Loehrs factory in Florida and met one of the best people you could meet on this planet! His name is Sammy. To get back to the subject of this post, they are using pvc for stringers. After seeing the amount of flex that the stringers give the boards they have there (combined with the resin product) I was totally amazed! Someone on here once said “it is just my opinion.” I will say “the tour of this facility and the product that is produced there has really opened my eyes to a different world!” Sammy thanks for the tour! My compliments to you and Greg Loehr! art
yeah, man…i’m goin’ to see sam next week…need resin!!!