1st time shaping a board… anyone have ideas on what type of blank to get & where to get one… is Clark Foam no longer available? also looked at Marko Foam online. I’m looking at shaping a perfromance oriented fish or egg (about 6’8"-7’2")… thanks
were you live? would help if in ventura county area stopp by foam fins and fiberglass i can set you up with what you need at a fair price.
I’m in Oakland…
I’m in SF, and I’ve been going to Fiberglass Hawaii in Santa Cruz (831-476-7464). They have a good selection of glassing supplies, and decent polyester and polystyrene blanks. Stay away from the Elova blanks is my advice. I only used one, but I won’t do it again. If you can wait until next week they should have their first shipments of US Blanks in. They’re a new thing so finding definite answers on they’re quality may be hard, but several people from clark are involved with it and the word is that it’s going to be good.
Tap Plastics in SF has glass, but no blanks and is slightly more exspensive than FH.
Good luck,
Dan
what do you think they are going to be much better right off the bat? doubt that. will be delivering walker foam up to sf area shortly. santa cruz and everywere in between
where in SF will you be delivering walker foam?
pacifica area probably.
It’s could be just hype from FH, who obviously has a reason to promote their new product. Aledgedly they have some pretty key people from Clark. I don’t want to get anyone here excited over nothing, it is a new company and everything new needs some tinkering to be perfected. Just an option. Best bet is to call FH and hear their sales pitch if you want the details on it.
Anywhere specific in Pacifica I could look for Walker?
Dan
will you keep us posted on when? i’m starting to get all the materials i need together to shape my first board.
You can call Matt Ambrose in Pacifica and he can get you a blank and even rough it out on the machine for you. Search for his name in the “Industry Talk” section of this bb and you’ll find his contact info.
Svendsen’s Boat Works in Alameda is a great place for you to get started too. They stock UV Poly resin (will work with Matt’s blanks) in both laminating & sanding. They have some cloth, but the selection is not good. Tap has a store in San Leandro with great selection but slightly higher prices (although I still use their epoxy, like it, and its the same exact price as RR, Sys 3, or FGH). If you want some plain old 4 oz e, PM me, I have a roll in Oakland and could hook you up with enough to make your first board at my cost. I probably have an extra finbox and a squeegee for ya if you shower before you show up and don’t make fun of my tiny, messy shop.
Svendsen’s also has a deal with FGH in Santa Cruz. Talk to Mike at the wholesale desk. Anything they have in the SC store, including blanks, he can have delivered to his shop in Alameda. The truck goes twice a week, and at today’s fuel prices, its better to let them drive than you. 
Ben
thanks! that helps me a lot. i think i found his contact info. i’m out of the country right now but i’ll definately give him a call once i get back. are you in oakland or marin?
Surfcore USA in Fla. has great foam and shipping via DHL is cheap. Check to see what kind of stringer material they have available. Custom rockers and outlines available too.
just stay away from elova foam
You can get the foam, resin, tools, and anything else you need to build your board shipped to your door for a reasonable price. The key to saving on the shipping is to add more blanks since the shipping is a flat rate up to twelve blanks. We have alll the Walker blanks in stock and can ship out same day. Shipping only takes one day to Oakland. Check out www.foamez.com for all your board building needs.
thanks everyone for the info… should get me started
i’ve checked out foam ez. the only thing that’s holding me back from ordering some blanks is that i’d end up paying more for shipping than the blank itself. what goes on there? it says it would be like $145 to ship…residentially…otherwise, i’d totally be on it. finding the blank locally seems much more reliable and overall better.
JDM-
Yeah, If you order just the one blank the shipping doesn’t dollar out. But, if you ordered up to twelve blanks you would pay the same shipping cost and thus shipping would go down to less than $10 per blank! Even if you filled one box with four blanks (any sizes) your shipping costs would be reduced substantially. In addition, if you get the order shipped to a business address you would save $30 more dollars and again reduce your shipping per board. Lastly, anything else you order at the same time would ship at the same rate therefore making it more cost effective.
We keep all the blanks in stock so we can ship out same day and it would only take one day to arrive in the Bay area.
Just some food for thought!!!