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For those unfamiliar with surfboard construction: A surfboard is made from a foam core, with a stiff polyurethane coated fiberglass wrapped around the foam. Th
by mlsu 4y ago
For those unfamiliar with surfboard construction:
A surfboard is made from a foam core, with a stiff polyurethane coated fiberglass wrapped around the foam. This is what makes surfboards lightweight but fairly strong. To make a surfboard, you first shape the foam by cutting and sanding it into the desired shape (shaping). Then you lay several layers of fiberglass cloth over the shaped foam and pour the resin over the cloth (glassing).
It's something of a craft -- the quality of shapers and glassers varies a lot. And there is no scientific "best" shape for a board, so it's completely up to the shaper to make a board that works. Nowadays many boards are CNC shaped, then finished off by hand, rather than being entirely hand-shaped.
Clark Foam manufactured the foam core, a.k.a. the "blank," which is a pre-cut piece of stiff foam that is shaped down into the final board.
- smackeyacky 4y agoDo they still have wooden "stringers" and whatnot in them? It's been a while since I looked at one.
- tjknoth 4y agoyeah usually, there are some stringerless constructions but they aren't super popular
- tayo42 4y agoepoxy boards are often stringerless and they're getting popular lately. a lot of alternative materials are being used, firewire and like dark arts with sharpeye boards
- gerdesj 4y agoHow are they getting longitudinal stiffness? Some sort of monocoque?
- tayo42 4y agoim not to sure about the details but these are some of the popular materials ive seen around lately https://www.firewiresurfboards.com/pages/helium-tech https://www.firewiresurfboards.com/pages/helium-tech their timbertek is popular too https://darkartssurf.com/ https://darkartssurf.com/ won the "stab in the dark" contest https://lostsurfboards.net/lib-tech/ https://lostsurfboards.net/lib-tech/ not a traditional stringer
- gerdesj 4y agoStringers or formers. It's quite tricky to turn a blank into a board. For me longitudinal formers are a great idea and add loads of stiffness and strength fore and aft.
- wyldfire 4y agoAre stringers like splines?
- _2uwr 4y ago[dead]