Why hasn’t vacuum bagging become popular with surfboards? From what I have read and talked about with a friend that makes his own surfboards and skimboards glassing with vacuum states plenty of benifets over hand glassing.
Please tell me.
For example?
Basicly, if done correctly, vacuum bagging will make a lighter stronger product, but requires additional skilled labour and some extra materials. Do you object to paying more?
well, I asked my friend about glassing someboards for me. I was talking skimboards, but I guess he was thinking I was farther along with shaping surfboards than I was. He Believed that he could V.bag up to 7’ with 6+6+6 top and 6+6 bottom in epoxy for around $200. with colors and a weight at or below a polyester board. He also offered hand glassing @ $150.
If it wasn’t for the shipping charges I would lover to have him V.Bag my own boards. Surfboards are out but the skimmers I can ship four boards for $25.
I was asking because of the benifets of V.Bagging and it just seams that surfboards are one of the few things that haven’t switched over yet.
I wonder the same thing. I’ve done a board this way and it definitely works very well. I only build a few boards a month, but if I was in the business, I would definitely use a reusable vacuum bagging system like this one:
looks like i will be waiting another 20 years for the world to catch up…
( burger(sandwich) king)
BERT
Quote:
.....( burger(sandwich) king)
BERT
it seems you are.
I think I know the name and principles of the vacuum technique you use. When I did a search on the internet for using this process to build boards, I found nothing.
well if Paul Jensen claims the stradivarius, you the ferrari, then I have the sleeper
Pretty much all of the custom kitsurfing boards are vacuum-baged epoxy. http://www.kiteboardbuilder.com/index2.htm Has a menu with links that cover the process extensively and with photos.
Here’s the page that inspired me a few years ago to try building my own kiteboards: http://students.washington.edu/rainer/
It also has a log of two sailboard projects, vacuum bagged with carbon and kevlar.
I know these are not surfboards, I assume the process is the same even though the layup and core material may be different - so it might be useful to some of you guys. Just been lurking here trying to get ideas for kiteboard designs that will work well with the “waves” we get here on Lake Michigan…
With custom surfboards I am NOT a real believer in vacuum bagging. That is unless your coring the skin like Bert is doing, and that has more to do with attaching the core material than vacuuming the exterior laminte. If your careful, you can get within 1/4 lb. using hand layup with the same glass schedule on a finished board. Hand layup is infinetly easier, cleaner and you don’t waste all the materials that you do when bagging a laminate. I would prefer saving the 1/4 lb elsewhere. Vacuum bagging laminates is most effective when your dealing with heavy, multiple layer laminates over pourous core materials. The results I’ve seen in the boating industry are amazing.
yea i prefabricate my skins as well .in an autoclave style setup ,that way i can apply mach pressure without killing the boards ,i can get my resin to glass ratios from 6 to 1 for standard hand lay up , down to 1to 1 …as well as that ,the glass resin and wood become one coz of being pressurised together and heat pressed…
to give an example of how light i can get a board i can build a 9’ longboard just over 8 pound ,a standard shaped p/u blank weighs 10.5 pound …so basically i can get a finished board lighter than the foam inside a conventional board…
regards
BERT
Dang; for an 8# 9’ (round nose longboard?) what is your glassing schedule? 6x6x6oz?
–4est
4wood6 bottom,6wood6x6 deck plus reinforced rails and extra patches nose ,tail,foot areas,more glass less resin…go the vac ,flex without cracking…basically i have more glass in my decks than what youd find in a whole standard board…
regards
BERT
I’m with you Bert. If you cannot get good results from vaccuuming, your doing it wrong.
Bert kind of makes my point. What he’s doing is not standard custom surfboard stuff. When I was working at Pro-Tech sailboards we did a similar lay-up to his. We would build the lamination core in the mold first. That gave us the opportunity to put a lot of heat and pressure on the exterior laminate. The interior EPS core would have never taken that kind of heat and pressure without melting. We would then slurry an oversized interior blank and close the mold in a hydraulic press. This gives an extremely strong/light finished product.
On the other hand, vacuum bagging an exterior laminate on a standard foam blank doesn’t save you much.
Burt. I would like to see one of thease 8lb 9 footers you speak of. Any chance? -Carl
http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/4065574901/eindex.html
Wasn’t sure if this was right first, but the clues of longboard airs, balsa/epoxy, 20-30% lighter, etc… helped. The report confirmed my suspicion. Bert, do you have other labels too and/or a better website?
regards,
Håvard
Quote:
http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/4065574901/eindex.html
Wasn’t sure if this was right first, but the clues of longboard airs, balsa/epoxy, 20-30% lighter, etc… helped. The report confirmed my suspicion. Bert, do you have other labels too and/or a better website?
regards,
Håvard
Impressive! 8lbs on a 9’0"
Too bad that out of reach for the rest of us. Hell a finish shape clark superblue probably weighs around that much.
What Bert is building is out of reach for many garage builder, true. The cost of the equipment alone ensures that. But a 9’ board built with 2# EPS with a standard 6 oz. bottom and a double 6 oz. deck will come in weighing 11 lbs. Just a couple lbs heavier than that Clark blank. This is easy to build and the extra performance is worth the effort.
There is a myraid of ways to make a surfboard but in the end it comes down to the feelling under your feet. I truly hated every vaccum bagged board we experimented with. They just didn’t…surf.
Carl, I’m sure it’s been done plenty of times.
In the sailboard industry, Mike Zaicheck easily makes strong 9’lbs., 9’ x 22" x 4" thick boards!! That’s almost 60% more volume than a typical longboard, and it is reinforced to handle much more rider abuse from this feet.
I have one, but it’s a production 11 lbs.er, made for a 200 lbs clumsy guy, so is heavier, thicker airex, and painted with a couple lbs. of white gloss.
I’ve made a few kiteboards out of layered styro, cheapo Luan ply, Elmers, and epoxy glassing with regular E 6oz. Weights ranged from 4-6 lbs., depending on # of foostrap inserts, and quality of the plywood. Of course, they are wakeboard sized.