I know yall read that humungoid post about surftech and that titled “you should all read this if you care about custom boards”, who else believes the theory that if a board is under 2 1/2’’ thick is is prone to snapping?? I see a lot aof boards are made under this thickness which makes me think twice?
keep up the good work.
tom (NZ)
I love these 50-50 questions! (flips coin…) OK, I say it’ll snap.
Seriously though, doesn’t the strength and thickness question depend a lot on the length of the board? A 10’0" longboard at 2.5" wouldn’t stand a chance in real surf overtime. But a 6’ shortboard for small waves? Lots of us take that bet. I’ve got one that’s 2 1/4 and I bet it’s only that thick for a square foot in the very middle of the board, if that. Hasn’t snapped yet. Of course now that I’m too old/out-of-shape to surf it unless it’s perfect out there, it’ll probably last forever!
composite strengths are proportional to the square of the thickness, stiffness proportional to the thickness cubed. Surfboards are mostly simple I-beam composites, glass over stringer/foam.
So, from 2.25 thick to 2.625 thick you gain 36% in strength, and 59% in stiffness, and about 10% in weight. All other things equal. Snappage is pretty sensitive to thickness.
No aspect ratio? how easily can you snap a full length pencil?How’bout half length? How’bout a little knub? Do you do critical floaters? Do you surf heavy waves?
2.5in is pretty thick for anything under 6.5ft…ok for around 7ft…thin for 8ft…very thin for a 9…
Assuming we’re talking about a standard shortboard here with a durable glass job - then no, it wont break.
Aloha
Bryan
so many variables in the equation.
thickness. length. type of glass (epoxy vs poly). type of construction. number of layers of cloth. type of cloth. sanded or gloss finish. sort of blank. who glassed it. conditions where you generally surf. skill level. etc…
but…all things being equal for any two boards…the thinner one will have a greater propensity to snap before the thicker one.
depends on material, glass schedule and lenght of the board. has anything to do with stringer material/thickness?
I say it won’t snap. Jack
Yeah, sure it’ll “snap” if you get in to the wrong situation. But then again, what really matters is how strong the board is built. But more strength (usually) equals more weight. Thicker stringers and extra glass will reinforce a thin board no problem, just take a look at wake boards and snowboards… lots of glass + wood cores at 1/2 inches thick and they don’t ever seem to break. But in this lighter = better reality, hell yeah it’s gunna break- I’ve got kids that are riding 2.5, 2.25 and 2.125 and are buckling/ breaking their boards in a months to two months time… But we are talking air to the flats, air to the flats, floater to the flats, airdrop to the FLATS the F*()&(*^&King FLATS… I don’t know why those kids can’t seem to land on the frigging transition more often! Sad to see… and you can bet there is a lot of folks out there trying to make a stronger board. -Carl
Carl, where do they usually land?..in the flats? lol
