just talked to the new KingMac rep/distributor and he was saying that the company he used to work for (just foam) went out of business and that Ice9 just went down too. i had heard that just foam was headed out but i was very surprised to hear about Ice9. they always seemed to have quality product and if there ever were any problems the SC rep Kip would always address them in a timely manner. i was wondering if any of you so cal folks had any more info- seeing as you are closer to the source.
i also heard that US Blanks was in in bad shape. we have been noticing some decline in their quality lately in the shop; the blanks are gassing really bad and blow throughs have plagued some boards from lamination to polishing. just today i had a board that gassed out along the stringer through two layers of 6oz despite several attempts to back fill. after everything went off i hotcoated over the blown throughs and they continued to gas through the hot coat also. any other glass shops have these problems with US?
but if US goes down and it is true that Ice9 is out than that will leave us with only two manufacturers; Surf blanks America- which has a solid product- and KingMac which i have heard very little about (i bought a few blanks from them today so ill see how they go). i just really hope that the industry doesnt go down the same track as before with Clark.
As far as I know, JustFoam is not totally dead, but it
seems that the cost of making foam in the US has got
Scott on the ropes. He is talking about moving his production
offshore, I hope he doesn’t give away his formula, as I think
he was the closest to the Aussie foams in whiteness and the
closest to Clark in flex while making a durable foam.
Don’t know about Ice9, will try to get some info from the horses
mouth & post up. As far as I know, US Foam is ok, as it is the
go to foam for most of the big boys. The company with the deepest
pockets is always the one that lasts thru any recession. Most
shops are not selling boards here on the west coast yet, but as
the water warms, sales should go up. As a small builder, I have
a few early orders which seems to tell me that things are going to
be ok if we can just last a few more months. Just my 2c, waiting to
hear from Surfding, he has his finger on the pulse in the OC!
Haven’t seen any King-Mac here in Hawaii in Quite awhile. Heard months ago that they were done in Baja. You are probably buying the left overs, not recent production. You can probably gather a little more info about others from the recent thread “What American Foams Don’t Yellow”. Lowel
finished up this USBlanks 6’3EA Red yesterday, looked at it tonight and fully bummed to find these 3 sets of ‘worm holes’ appeared on the bottom. first I’ve had these, but the buckshot holes have been pretty standard in my short limited experience.
Are you buying a second? if it’s a first US stands behind their product. The photos that you posted are mild from what I have seen compared to other foams out there. I like the way the US Red formula surfs. Shrinking foam and yellowing are more scary. I haven’t seen any worm holes in first quailty blanks only in seconds. Putting the blank in front of your side lights in your shaping bay is a good way to check the foam before you start cutting. Reject the blank before you plow. If it’s a second live with it!
I agree that those are relatively mild defects. I’ve seen worse in Clark first quality blanks. There are ways to deal with those if you choose but most guys just leave 'em alone. I’ve even seen planer chunks and stringer plane leftovers worse than that on finished boards in showrooms.
Fiberglass Supply sells a UV putty specifically designed for filling foam defects. Just fill the holes, scrape it flat and laminate - don’t bother trying to sand it flush.
Item #
Solarez Microlite-White, Clark Foam Repair Putty, a white putty of high strength U.V. cure resin and super lightweight additives that effectively repair Clark Foam. Gels in 30 seconds, curing in 3 minutes, but only when exposed to sunlight. Upon hardening, it provides excellent sanding and fairing properties.
it’s a First; I like the USB red formula too it’s all I use. But the longer holes are about an inch long and very noticeable. I heard that they’d replace it but of course I have to give up the finished shape, right?
the worm holes haven’t been that big of an issue for us, they usually just get floated and they are ok- besides looking a little weird. the issue with US was more along the stringer, ply wood is more problematic no matter what the foam but the last few batches of US seemed to gas really bad- they were all first quality.
tyrant- i’m very glad to hear that you guys are still up and running, i love the mowses formula, it makes great long boards and the custom rocker system you guys got going is great. one question though; where is Kip?? he hasn’t been answering his phone, i think i remember him telling me he was going on a trip but i thought that he’d be back by now. i had an order for some custom shorties and i wanted to add a few long boards to it as well.
the rep i talked to from KingMac said that this was new production, said he got all the big san diego guys on board with it but who knows
From what I know of PU it’s a real bitch to get consistent foam without minor flaws. Aside from that, no huge deal in my experience. Just glass over and sand. See a little bit of this sort of thing on the Bennetts (Oz) blanks now and again but not much. Only tried a couple of other manufacturers with mixed results. When your blank(s) start to shrink is when life gets interesting.
Sorry to be off topic, but your outlines are so clean it’s not funny. Any tips for templates??. Everyone you post is absolutely clean as a whistle, no bumps no lumps. Love seing your shapes mate. Keep it up.
We need to embrace the Blank companies that are still standing! Most of them are trying so hard to do a good job. We need to stop bashing their efforts.
US Blanks as a great staff of Professionals and are always working on continuous improvement.
Surf Blanks America have seemed to maintain themselves and are keeping it together.
King Mac has a much smaller production than they started with however it seems they are hanging in there.
ICE 9 as paid some serious dues and have improved greatly since their inception.
All of these companies have sacrificed greatly to provide PU blanks to the industry even with the financial crisis that we are in. With respect and humility I say thank you to all of them for having the guts to keep their doors open even in this opressed market. To be in the board building business is a hard road to pave especially if you have shapers as customers who may or may not pay their bills? They have a tuff customer base plus all the garage experts beating them up? They must all have thick skin?
I wish them all well and hope they can keep standing!
