I’ve searched around and i found a little about this stuff, but could someone tell me if they have used it on boards with good results after a long period of time, and if anyone knows where to get this stuff in the San Diego area?
thanks
-chris
I’ve used it on test boards over the years. Strong stuff especially when you can match it to a properly washed fiberglass. The physical properties are superior just about across the board (no pun) except for one important one for my business- clarity. It always had a brownish hue. Pigment would probably help but my area of specialty is high-performance shortboards that are usually clear/sanded, so I never committed to a 55 gal drum to get the price down. If you take delivery from RevChem, they have it on their trucks, if you are smaller board-builder, then try Diversified Materials Company in La Mesa, CA.
Hope this helps.
While I haven’t used it for boards, I have used it in boat work - a few things:
It’s stronger than standard polyester resin, but it can have that pinkish-brown blush you can get with inexpensive boat yard type polyester resin. If appearance with a light pigment or used clear is gonna be a criteria, it’s not your best choice.
I do not believe it’s compatible with polystyrene foam, should be fine with polyurethane or isocyanureate ( which Iam sure I misspelled) foams. Using it with some of the more exotic foams like the PVC ( divynicell) types might be kinda interesting, as the stuff might have a solvent effect opon the PVC similar to the effect conventional polyester resin has on styrene foams - the vinyl doing a number on the vinyl like the styrene thinner in polyester resin does a number on the styrene foam.
As to where to get it? http://www.fiberglasswarehouse.com/vinylester_resin.asp right in San Diego. They also might be the people to talk to for better info than I have, as the vinylester I used was doubtless from a different manufacturer via a different company, etc, etc… I should also note that they have epoxies too.
hope that’s of use
doc…
I don’t really care about the colors, but thanks for the help, I’ll check them out.
-chris
I’ve owned a board which was polypropylene foam with vinylester/spectra laminate… extremely strong… it was made by www.tombstonesurf.com…
It had problems with temperature tho’…expansion…
[=1]I first started using Vinylester resin in the early 80’s. I was working at a production boatbuilding factory. We started using in the hulls as protection against osmosis. It has a very high resistance to chemical attack. Today it is still used widely in the boatbuilding.
I’ve been glassing my old school boards with it for about 5 years. Mainly to get that old look. As stated by others it has a brownish tint to it. As far as strength goes. It is far superior to poly but not as strong as [ 2]properly cured epoxy. It is completely compatible with poly. I lam with vinyl and hotcoat and gloss with poly. Some suppliers recommend that a slow reaction cataylst should be used. As it tends to gas a little when mixed with normal reaction catalyst. You will need to do cutlaps. I have not tried colouring it.
My boards have held up really well. It is no different to handle than poly. The gel times are slower. Not a problem with PVC foams. It will attack polystyrene foam. You should be able to purchase it from any composite supplier that supplies the boatbuilding industry. I’m in Australia so I can not help you suppliers in the US.
Some people will say it needs to be post cured. It will cure at ambient temps no problem. (Aust) US winter? Maybe. Or at least glass in a heated room. Hope this helps.platty.[/][/]
Seems like an odd combination. You have two items that don’t like to bond to anything. Spectra (basically HD PE) and PP foam? VE does have good adhesive properties, but not that good.
VE has same backbone as Epoxy, however most VE’s are not designed for ultra thin laminates used in surfboards. Harder to drive through the cure with VE’s, so proper promotion and catalyst levels are absouletly needed. Heat cure will drive up the physical properties on a VE as well. Why not just use a surfboard grade epoxy?
The VE resin that I am using was formulated by one of Australias leading composite suppliers. This resin is fine with thin film laminates. See data sheet in attachment for specs. It is a Dow Corning Derakane, so it should be available in the US.platty.
Some years ago I purchased, by error, a small can of vinyilester resin from a boatbuilder in Barcelona. I fixed some dings on customers boards, using MEKP as usual (I thought it was PE resin), and they came OK.
But one of those boards needed a complete tail re-build, which I did with foam+glass+1" resin tailblock for protection. The resin tailblock had some fibreglass chunks in it to prevent cracking. The strange thing was, after some days of curing, the resin tailblock remained strong but flexy. If you held the board vertically on its tail, you could leave it falling from a height of, say, 4" or 5" from the floor and then it reboundedn when hitting the floor, like one of these rubber balls the kids throw to the walls, celinings and floor taht remain reboundind for some seconds.
I went back to the boatbuilder and asked what the hell he had sold to me. “Vinylester resin, of course!!”
Nice material to work with. I’d try it again if it was easy to find here in Spain.
Gunshy to jump in, as I juked wrong in the Coreex thread…
As with Platty, vinylester resin mid '80’s, ASD BobMiller shape 8’10" slalom board with M2 cloth. Tinted light green to hide the natural color.
Strong, dented a little easy, stiff with the cloth, very very dead feeling, but maybe not without, double stringered windsurfing board!
Rode lots of Revelations/Phantom days with that one, kinda heavy at around 19 lbs naked, deep V channel bottom, some pics at HanaleiSurf&Sail around the wall in Haliewa.
Left it on Oahu, never ordered vinylester again.
The guys at 'yards poking, picking up, thumbing, and inspecting it, was first vinylester they’d seen…HaroldIggy, TomCastleton, EdAngulo…