Swell was off, wind was protected the point but water condtions were too fouled with salad to fish. Skim Boarding was on at 26th! There was a very accomplished fellow with a silver board. I asked him what kind of fiber it was done with. He said, “Techtanium”. I don’t know if I’m spelling it right.
He said it withstands compression and concussion better than carbon fiber.
Anybody know any thing about it.
These guys were rippin’! When it gets big there will be some huge face slamming on this beach. Worth a look when the tide is 5.0 and above for sure.
Drewtang did a couple of decks with the stuff; believe there’s pictures in the archives.
Pretty much just your standard glass with a metallic coating; I haven’t seen any numbers that indicate better performance.
Also available in colours other than Silver; have seen gold, green and red. Nitro Snowboards starting using the stuff (albeit in triaxial stitched form) about 4 years back.
Yeah, Texalium. Only for looks, no mechanical performance added. And a few people I know have used it only to have corrosion marks as soon as water infiltrated, followed by delamination…
Like you’ve heard, the stuff is called texillium, aluminized glass. It has all the same properties as glass except it sunburns like crazy. It turns from silver to bronze pretty fast. Which is no big deal, except it doesn’t do it under any clear laminates or logos!
I saw a Brewer gun glassed with the stuff at Icons in San Clemente. The guy working there said that there was a problem with the board. He said the board was glassed with Polyester and that the fabric is sized only for Epoxy like Carbon fiber is. The thing looked sweet though. If anything a nice wallhanger.
I’ve bagged a few boards with it. It’s the same as 6 oz. E except that it has the 2x2 twill weave pattern as high end cosmetic carbon cloth. The weave might make it a bit stonger. The stuff is very cool to look at just make sure to put the shiney side up, one side is a dull silver. The other trick is to not put anything heavier than 4 oz over the top or it will take away from the shine. As long as your using a resin or final coat with a U.V. inhibitor it won’t haze or turn color. If it’s dinged and water can get to the cloth the nickle coating will react with the salt water causing it to lose it’s bling and possibly delaminate.
The other consideration is that the nickle coating is very thin, any sanding into the cloth is a no no. For your high end boards you could layup precured sheets, cut them to size and bag them to the decks for a super high tech looking finish. If you lay it up properly the boards have a brilliant shiney 3d effect, super bling!
I saw a Brewer gun glassed with the stuff at Icons in San Clemente. The guy working there said that there was a problem with the board. He said the board was glassed with Polyester and that the fabric is sized only for Epoxy like Carbon fiber is. The thing looked sweet though. If anything a nice wallhanger.
That board looks bad as hell. The only time it’s spent outside was when it got moved from the truck to icons, so the UV factor hasn’t been put to the test.
The guys from Futures have some other related businesses in Australia, including one involving hi-tech fabrics. They showed me a couple boards they made using a really thin stainless steel cloth. That stuff has the same “bling” factor as the texillium without the UV issues. Plus it really makes the boards stronger. I’m going to have a few boards made with it and see how it works long-term.
That board looks bad as hell. The only time it's spent outside was when it got moved from the truck to icons, so the UV factor hasn't been put to the test.
The guys from Futures have some other related businesses in Australia, including one involving hi-tech fabrics. They showed me a couple boards they made using a really thin stainless steel cloth. That stuff has the same “bling” factor as the texillium without the UV issues. Plus it really makes the boards stronger. I’m going to have a few boards made with it and see how it works long-term.
The stainless steel fabric, who makes it?
What’s it compatible with -Polyester and Epoxy wise?
BTW, I didn’t think that board at Icons looked that bad. Then again, they had it hanging from the ceiling so I didn’t get that close of a look at it.