Epoxy Surfboard

Are Epoxy surfboards cheaper than Fiberglass one’s?

I live in Australia, if that help’s.

Epoxy is more expensive!

Some points i’ll note are,

* Epoxy is still glassed in fibreglass, I think you mean epoxy vs polyester.

* OK, bit off basic info, Those surftech boards are made in a process of Vaccuum Forming or Samwitch construction. The reson Epoxy is mostly used is becease it is much cheaper to buy a Polystyrne blank (styrofoam) then a regurlar blank BUT Styro can not be glassed with Polyester that is why epoxy is used.

Back on topic of surftechs, the construction is, a Styrofoam blank with a PVC layer around it this has been glued on and then vacuum bagged.

What is Vacuum Bagging? Well basically its puting a board in a plastic bag and sucking the air out this can make a sanwich board…

IE: Styro and PVC in the surftech case or Styro and Balsa as some fantasic aussie shapers are making,

The other purpose of vacuum bagging that helps make a board lighter and stronger is that after the board has been glassed they suck the air out making a lighter and stronger bond between the two.

But really unless your getting a styrofoam board I would rather go Polyester.

So if its Surftech VS Regular, the two points too decide is….

Do i want i lighter and possibly stronger board? or do i want a great feeling easy to fix polyester board?

Traditional Foam (PU)

Pros:

- Easier for shapers to work with and customize
- Majority of shapers are currently more familiar with traditional foam/fiberglass characteristics
- Offers best overall feel and performs well in a variety of conditions both glassy, windy/choppy, and onshore surf

Cons:

- Delamination: Foam in older boards eventually absorb water turning them an unattractive yellow color and eventually causing death (delamination)

- Dings & Dents: Ding quite easily, pressure dents are to be expected which means you’ll really need to care for your board and keep it from hitting other objects including doors and other surfboards.

- Save Planet Earth: The process of foam manufacturing releases many harmful chemicals into the surround environment (one of the reported reasons why Clark foam shutdown). On the flip side, working with fiberglass is not as harmful as working with epoxy resins.

Epoxy Surfboards

Pros:

- Strength: Much more durable than traditional fiberglass boards. While most hand shaped epoxy boards will ding and pressure though to a lesser degree than PU boards, molded epoxy boards like Surftech are ultra durable. You can be somewhat careless with your Surftech and not suffer the consequences of major dings and bruises. Some even claim to be nearly indestructible like my Dave Parmenter twinnie. The fellow who glassed it with epoxy resin, Charlie Price, claimed that you could turn the board upside down and jump on it with no damage (I didn’t attempt it). I did drop that particular surfboard onto concrete while showering at the beach and the only visible damage was a small scuff mark. Had that been a traditional fiberglass board, it would have shattered and broken off a piece of my tail.

- Paddling Power: Epoxy boards have a significantly higher buoyancy than traditional PU boards. Often times a shorter, narrower, & thinner epoxy board will paddle as well if not better than your fiberglass board. Thus, you can surf a smaller board with better turning ability and one that fits in the pocket.

- Durability: These boards have less tendency to ding and after a couple years you won’t find yourself surfing with a board resembling swiss cheese. Polystyrene foam’s characteristics keep epoxy resin from delaminating, a common problem with traditional fiberglass boards.

Cons:

- Problems with windy/choppy surf: Epoxy boards work extremely well in smooth glassy surf but from my experience have proven to be quite horrible in choppy and windy conditions. I’ve taken this board out numerous times in slightly windy conditions (common in Hawaii) and due to the ‘floatyness’ of the board it seemed to catch every bump on the wave. Because these boards float very well, I never felt like the rail was engaged in the wave which forced me to back off on most of my cutbacks and turns. There have been times when my epoxy board left me feeling like a total kook and complete noob.

- $$$ It’s all about the Benjamins: Epoxy boards are considerably more expensive than traditional PU boards. Hand shaped epoxy boards are slightly more expensive than their traditional counterpart due to the fact that epoxy is a pain to work with. Epoxy mold boards from companies like Surftech will cost you an arm and leg. Most Surftech shortboard models start between $600-700 US with longboard prices going for $800-900+.

- Bad for Shapers: The process of making polystyrene foam used in Epoxy boards releases less harmful chemicals into the environment but is way more toxic for shapers working with epoxy resin.

Conclusion

While many surfers enjoy riding epoxy surfboards, I’d have to say that through my own personal experiences with them, I’d much rather surf a traditional PU board. While these boards do eventually lose their flex patterns and are more prone to dings, you can’t beat the feel of a fresh PU board carving and snapping on the face of the wave. Pumping down the line and banking floaters off the oncoming section feel alive with a traditional fiberglass surfboard under you feet. PU board also handle a wide variety of conditions from extreme winds, slight onshore surf, oil slick glass, to perfect offshore winds. I always regret taking my epoxy fish out when there’s even a slight bit of chop in the water. While I’m not against epoxy boards, I won’t another one until I find one that works like a traditional fiberglass board. Firewire claims that their parabolic railed epoxy boards work even in windy conditions, perhaps we’ll give it a go and let you know our conclusion but until then, PU is in and epoxy out.

9′-6″ New Epoxy Longboard Surfboard Funboard $425.00

9′-0″ New Epoxy Longboard Surfboard Funboard $385.00

7′-6″ New Epoxy Mini Longboard Surfboard Funboard $345.00

9′-8″ New Epoxy Longboard Surfboard Funboard $295.00

6′-4″ New Epoxy Retro Fish Surfboard Funboard $295.00

Surfboard NEW – 7′4 minimal – surf epoxy +Fins $276.53

Surfboard NEW – 9′2 LONGBOARD – surf epoxy +Fins $445.57

New 6′2 Epoxy Shortboard Surfboard Swallw FCS Thruster $295.00

6′8 Epoxy Feature Quad Thruster Fin Wing Tail Surfboard $425.00

6′10 Epoxy Retrofish Wood Keel Quad Fin Surfboard Surf $475.00

6′3 LOST shark eps epoxy surfboard $375.00

Surfboard NEW – 9′0 LONGBOARD – surf epoxy +Fins $94.17

RARE 9′ Clyde Beatty Jr Hawaii Kenji Epoxy Surfboard $777.77

Surfboard NEW – 9′2 LONGBOARD – surf epoxy +Fins $436.38

Surfboard NEW – 9′6 LONGBOARD – surf epoxy +Fins $440.98

FCS FG-5 Ultra Light Epoxy Surfboard Fin Set $63.99

FCS FG-3 Ultra Light Epoxy Surfboard Fin Set $68.95

Surfboard NEW – 7′4 minimal – surf epoxy +Fins $0.92

NEW SURFBOARD Hand Shaped EPOXY/EPS 7′6″ TOP QUALITY $409.95

NEW SURFBOARD Hand Shaped EPOXY/EPS 7′4″ TOP QUALITY $399.95

NEW SURFBOARD Hand Shaped EPOXY/EPS 7′0″ TOP QUALITY $379.95

NEW SURFBOARD Hand Shaped EPOXY/EPS 6′8″ TOP QUALITY $359.95

NEW SURFBOARD Hand Shaped EPOXY/EPS 6′8″ TOP QUALITY $359.95

NEW SURFBOARD LONGBOARD Hand Shaped EPOXY/EPS 9FT WOW $449.95

NEW SURFBOARD LONGBOARD Hand Shaped EPOXY/EPS 8′6″ WOW $429.95

NEW SURFBOARD LONGBOARD Hand Shaped EPOXY/EPS 8FT WOW $399.95

Surfboard NEW – 9′2 LONGBOARD – surf epoxy +Fins $1.15

Surfboard NEW – 9′4 LONGBOARD – surf epoxy +Fins $298.58

Surfboard 8ft Thermal Epoxy Compression BW/BJ Hybrid $381.99

Al Merrick Tuflite epoxy Flyer Surfboard 6′8″ $335.00

7S Surfboard 6′8″ – epoxy $340.00

Surfboard NEW – 9′6 LONGBOARD – surf epoxy +Fins $107.95

6′0 Epoxy Retrofish Wood Keel Quad Fin Surfboard Surf $465.00

Surfboard ding repair SOLAREZ longboard epoxy bag fin $5.99

DING ALL SURFBOARD SUPER REPAIR KIT GREEN LABEL EPOXY $22.45

SKIMBOARD 52″ E-glass High Quality Epoxy Surfboard Surf $119.99

11′10 EPOXY Stand Up Paddle Surfboard SUP Tandem Board $650.00

Surfboard Ding Repair Is Easy

It is becoming harder to just go out and buy a new surfboard these days with smaller tighter budgets and higher prices so learning how to keep that magic board in top condition makes more sense than ever.

If you own a surfboard your eventually going to get a ding, there’s just no avoiding it and sadly enough most dings happen in the home so be advised a protective board bag is where your board belongs when it’s not in the water. Not only will it minimize ding potential, but it will protect your board from the yellowing effects of u.v. rays.

These days many boards have an outer resin coating or “glass job” made from epoxy and that means the core is likely to be made from a type of foam that is very water absorbent, great stuff when it’s dry and the outer layer of resin and fiberglass are intact, big trouble if it’s exposed to water for very long. What happens is the water gets in between the foam core and outer resin shell then expands and contracts with temperature and atmospheric pressure changes to create delamination (separation) of the outer shell from the foam which opens the door to several bad developments.

ü Weight gain  – Heavy Boards Lower Performance

ü Weakening  – Wet Spots are Potential Break / Buckle Spots

ü Yellowing – Lowers Resale Appeal

These conditions add up to lower performance, higher risk of breaking and just a plainly ugly looking surfboard! keep this in mind as we cover the basics of a good repair job. For my repairs I use a non–toxic sun activated acrylic resin. I’m still careful not to get any on my hands and to work in very well ventilated area, outside if possible.

Work in the Shade!

• Prep is the first stage so make sure the ding is dry and all loose damaged material is removed.
• Then sand the area making sure to create a surface that’s clean so the new resin can get a grip for at least one inch or about 3 centimeters. Now it’s not essential, but if you have some masking tape you can tape around the outside of the repair area to maintain the work area separate from the undamaged area.
• Your ready to apply a thin layer of resin to the repair, but make sure your in the shade and position the ding so when resin is applied it won’t run or drip out of the targeted area.
• Apply enough resin to fill the ding and cover the sanded area then move the repair to direct sunlight.
• Ok, after 3 minutes more or less the resin is fully cured and ready go! Remove the tape if you like what you see, if not repeat the process to add a buildup until your satisfied. You can use your sandpaper to blend in any excess resin to the original form of the surfboard and you’re good to go!

Fixing a surfboard isn’t that hard, I mean there are some dings I’d rather leave to a pro, but most of the time dings are small and easily fixable. For some reason people find excuses for why they can’t do it so surfboard repair skills are always in demand, plus it beats the inconvenience of giving up your surfboard for sometimes a week or more and then paying at least twenty five dollars or more for someone to do what you can do in just a few minutes and a couple bucks! I found some really cool disposable kits online for just a couple bucks at phixdoctor.net and they fix like 5 dings! Now I’m the new repair pro in town.

About the Author

What matters to the reader about me I think is my surfing life which started in my teens beginning in Cocoa Beach, Florida, I moved to the North Shore of Hawaii in my early 20’s and created the first commercially available surfboard repair kit. My first customers were Local Motion, Town & Country and Hawaiian Island Surf shops, but before long I was supplying all the surf shops throughout the state and some on the mainland too. Life was good, I traveled to surf around the world in places like Africa, France and plenty of Indonesia. Eventually I sold the company to the states biggest resin supplier and returned to Florida getting into the real estate market, but never losing my creative side for surfing as I was credited in Surfing and East Coast Magazines with the creation of the first “SurfCam” an online camera site dedicated to providing live surf conditions of local and distant surfing spots in 1998. This was an invention that truly came ahead of it’s time because I couldn’t find advertisers to support it so the concept was adopted by established surf companies and today is a very important tool to many surfers daily lives.

http://phixdoctor.net/