Is there such an animal and does it work?
Not yet ready for laminating but i think there is some ding repair stuff available
The ding stuff is actually a urethane and doesn’t work real well. UV epoxies are just not there yet. We’ve done some work and there are a few problems that just can’t be sorted at this time. One is yellowing which hasn’t been solved at all. The other is price. Expensive as hell … too expensive for boards right now. There are also some high solid UV cure acrylics coming on line but right now the chemistry makes for a soft resin which isn’t what we need and again the pricing is still wayyyy out of line. There are also some urethanes but these are even further off the mark for our use. There are also methacrylates which contain stuff we don’t want to get in to. I’ll be suprised if you see anything out of any of these in this decade. I’d actually be surprised to even see them in the next. It will happen someday but it’ll be down the road a piece.
Yep, that ding repair stuff is crap… does not adhere/bond well and sands horribly. I gave up on it a long time ago.
To me the idea of a UV cured epoxy just sounds ludicrous.
Isn’t infrared not UV the speed curing part of the formula for epoxy?
Shouldn’t the focus be on what works?
Are you testing with infrared lamps from the hardware store?
There are whole industries that bake things from food to building products.
Ovens are a proven technology. Component heating tunnels are available right now.
Anywho. We’ll be riding transparent aluminum boards long before UV cure epoxy.
Here’s the money quote:
“ALONtm is virtually scratch resistant, offers substantial impact resistance, and provides better durability and protection against armor piercing threats, at roughly half the weight and half the thickness of traditional glass transparent armor, said the lieutenant.”
For the rest…goto
Seems to me that everyone is so used to using light to cure their product that they’re just having trouble switching over to using temperature instead. It’s just not easy to reinvent how you do things. The transition process, though it will have it’s hitches, will in the end turn out to be a good and educational one. We know the product is superior when done right. So for those that are up for it. Get on with it. I’m sure we’re gonna see some really great boards in the very near future, just for what I’ve seen in the past few weeks.
No worries, Rich
Exactly.
Well put, Rich.
Trouble switching.
No pun intended:-)
Within the educational process is perhaps room for experimentation.
In the end we are basically only talking about a difference in wave lengths. Not unlike the Am and Fm wars in radio. If anyone over 45 remembers the controversy that Fm stations generated in the 60’s when they became more available and part of the underground, they know it’s not unlike the polyester v epoxy upset. The quality of radio and the format change from all ads and blab to almost no ads nd long tunes w/o break was incredible for the times and instrumental to the expansion of rock and American culture. Perhaps there is one specific wavelength within the spectrum we call infrared that cures epoxy faster? And, if so, perhaps isolating that could speed things up considerably. And what about microwave cure? That is a heating system that has industrial applications. And contrary to myth, microwaves do not cook from the inside out, so maybe that’s another place to start looking for high speed epoxy cure.
I read that thread started by Matt Biolas on that other forum. On the one hand, on the surface, Matt just seemed to be throwing dishes, because he has promised 600 boards he can’t deliver. But look a little deeper and understand the implications of his situation. I’d be upset too. But blaming everyone else isn’t going to get the boards made nd he’s not blaming, he’s asking questions. When he has more problems than ever he comes to his market and asks questions of it. Now that is smart.
Why? I really don’t think he thinks anyone is listening and he is just doing that. Listening. He has bought the whole listening issue to the front. There is more trouble ahead and he knows it.
I think that post should be required reading. Everyone should listen to him very closely. I mean it. Because he knows that polyester is next and he’s smart enough to be scared shitless. Bad as things are now for the entire industry they are going to get worse. He’s a marketing genius, so where else you going to get that much insight into the mind of a surfboard shaper/marketing genius? It can be scary, I know, but we don’t have to live in it. He does. Bet on this! If anyone is going to solve these problems Matt Biolas will be one of them.
Think of it this way for every problem every backyarder is having transitioning to make one board, Matt has 600 times that problem and a short time frame to do it in. So if he is feeling a problem before it hits be damn certain it’s coming.
And Matt if you are reading this, I think Greg is more of an Alfalfa type. If you ever get a chance to know him I think you will agree:-) Invite him over for a surf and I bet you will want to put him on your team. If it’s rebels you like he is the biggest rebel there is and for the longest time. He’s been outrebeling everyone, including LOST, since before LOST was a dream. Before LOST, your partner rode Greg’s Ocean Avenue boards. It’s time you guys figured it out. Your company is already East/West. If ever there was a match!
…Think about the potential of his ability to promote combined with your ability to promote. All that ability combined together… The potential is unlimited.
All need to realize that Matt and many others, are hoping for a white knight out of this. As El said things are gonna get worse and Matt knows it too. Altering technique is what is at issue. Many of the glass shops haven’t altered technique in 25 years. Many even had trouble changing to UV cures. Many never changed to those. It isn’t as hard as you make it when you refuse to change. That’s the problem. Once you accept that there will be change then it’s not so bad.
But the future will involve change, that’s for sure. The very near future for the big boys may involve hiring tech guys. There are a whole lot of knowlegable folks out there who could be available. In the case of Lost, I’d be thinking that way if I were them. I know at least two other biggies who have done just that. If your knowlege is a bit lacking in an area, hire the help to get you up to speed. Lots quicker and cheaper than trail and error for years. Just depends on whether surfboard guys can swallow that much ego. The smart ones will.
Garrenteed we will never return to where we were. Too many things are changing and the whole world is looking at the oppritunities that face us. More players make for more ideas which make for more change. In the end the US board builders will end up making better boards because of this.