RealSurf Surfers' Forum

Anyone done an whole board in Texallium cloth? I am seriously thinking of giving it a crack. Worked with Kevlar before and it's not supposed to be as nasty as that stuff. I have this vision of riding on a pointy, silver cloud... might even put clear polycarb fins in to complete the effect.

I can only get 6 or 8oz... tending toward one layer of 6 top and bottom, epoxy with polyester sand / gloss over the top.

Thoughts?

i don't know squat about making boards, but there's some stuff about using Texalium on Swaylocks which i found when i googled it re. the fins.
general consensus seemed to be it was a b itch to work with, and ended up super shiny and got hot when surfing.

dUg wrote:Anyone done an whole board in Texallium cloth? I am seriously thinking of giving it a crack. Worked with Kevlar before and it's not supposed to be as nasty as that stuff. I have this vision of riding on a pointy, silver cloud... might even put clear polycarb fins in to complete the effect.

I can only get 6 or 8oz... tending toward one layer of 6 top and bottom, epoxy with polyester sand / gloss over the top.

Thoughts?

Silver carbon fiber (aka Silver Texalium) is actually aluminum coated fiberglass. Looks just like 3K 2x2 twill carbon but in Silver!

could this be what you are talking about

alakaboo wrote:got hot when surfing.

Well... that's pretty much sealed the deal then.

huie wrote: Silver carbon fiber (aka Silver Texalium) is actually aluminum coated fiberglass. Looks just like 3K 2x2 twill carbon but in Silver!

could this be what you are talking about

Yep Huie... that's the shiz... Hexcell Texalium. Doesn't only come in silver though... also red, blue, and gold for that full bling look. Walk through the pits at the V8 supercars and you'll see loads of the stuff.

FCS H2 fins use the silver cloth in the lay-up.

dUg wrote:

alakaboo wrote:got hot when surfing.

Well... that's pretty much sealed the deal then.

huie wrote: Silver carbon fiber (aka Silver Texalium) is actually aluminum coated fiberglass. Looks just like 3K 2x2 twill carbon but in Silver!

could this be what you are talking about

Yep Huie... that's the shiz... Hexcell Texalium. Doesn't only come in silver though... also red, blue, and gold for that full bling look. Walk through the pits at the V8 supercars and you'll see loads of the stuff.

FCS H2 fins use the silver cloth in the lay-up.

hey dug ya got a link to that suplier i am going to crank up my r t m mould
wonder if they got basalt

i have two boards that garrett made me in silver texalium..6/3 quad and 6/8 thruster.i had them in bali,and they both look a millon dollars..the boards went the same as any other boards ive had from chriss..ive had the full range from eps,full carbon, 2nd blanks etc..the quad is lighter ..iam not sure if its a 4oz but the 6/8 feels like 6oz..ive had them in the full heat and no probs.there fun to blast kooks with the reflection! japs where all over them!..the weave in the glass is abit shonky but they seem pretty strong ..the deck on the quad around the fins is starting to crush..same as all my boards,apart from the carbonfibre which gets so hot you can hardly touch it..the blackbitch is 4yrs old 4 trips to indo and heaps of time in the Qld sun.no probs apart from a groms fin to the middle rail..tried several ding repair fellas,but still crys some water from the ding,has the valve to let built up air/gas out..i reckon texalium adds a bit of class and thats about it..chriss garrett is one of the greatest shapers in the world and a great bloke to boot,so give him a ring and he will gladly give you the word on all things surfboards

silvafish wrote:apart from the carbonfibre which gets so hot you can hardly touch it..the blackbitch is 4yrs old 4 trips to indos

How do you find wax lasts on the board compared to standard construction due to the extra heat absorption? I have a red fibreglass board that loses wax at a far greater rate,

well its a drama to keep it cool,but when the cream melts off and the beeswax base hangs in there,its hard as a rock..would love to try the old ampol wax on it! iam not into deck grips and always have a chunk off tropical sexwax in my boardies,this board has copped a flogging and still no dents apart from rock/reef scrapes,also was born a thruster and after a couple of years,reborn into a quad via garrett..my great grandkids will ride this board i hope oneday

^^ silva, best advice I ever read regarding heat problems associated with carbon was to have the resin pigmented white... won’t look special but will keep it cool

So Ric, did you shape that tail because it was the hardest shape you could think of to glass?

You do love a challenge don't you.

Gibber, that car topper is a great little boat.

Steve can go out to the shelf on his own, but for lake and estuary it looks a beaut.

creased the silver quad in pretty small but chunky waves,did a little bump jump over a wave no where near any sort of air,not one to break or crease any bords in years,maybe not much flex?took the bling off this board!

so how do the innegra glassed boards surf ?, performance ? flex. etc...??? hearing negative things from people who know boards.....( not about strength s much but perf )

oldman wrote:So Ric, did you shape that tail because it was the hardest shape you could think of to glass?

Influenced by one of the touring Brazillians who does kite boards. Seems to work.

Mark, recently finished a new one for myself with only 2oz Innegra on the bottom. Rode it for the first time yesterday at NO BANKS (Curl Curl), too early to tell much of anything, and neither I nor the board would be considered high perf.

Deck of the mal I did is not standing up as well as I thought. 2oz E + 2oz Innegra + 6oz E. Firm blanks still play a BIG part.

Thanks olds, am taking orders if you're keen

I gave muz at base some 2oz for use on one of brooko's boards and got some good feedback. The shape was a bit different to what he usually rides so is a clouded result as far as performance goes unfortunately but it do go ok
Biggest issue for base was the economics of producing boards with this cloth, well the uneconomic nature of using this cloth.

I got some great strength results ( after initial very poor result but may be due to poly resin and possibly soft foam ) but I am keen to hear what it does to perf when using big amounts ( full bottoms and or decks ) , I am keen to hear how it effects the flex and the feel of the boards ride.
RV, the one you are unhappy with strength, is that poly or epoxy ? I think it works much better with epoxy from my few boards...

huie wrote:epoxy under vacum with non woven fabrics r t m looks like feral dave and very few others cheers huie

Getting warm Huie....

pridmore wrote: RV, the one you are unhappy with strength, is that poly or epoxy ? I think it works much better with epoxy from my few boards...

All polyester, MP... epoxy is a bit problematic in too many ways from my limited experience. In fairness, I should do another using epoxy. May be some time I will.

Still put it more down to blank rather than glassing. The compressing hasn't worsened to that extent despite being ridden often and the board seems to good have good flex in spite of the carbon bottom and rails.

Still fiddly to work with Innegra if you ask me, depends on your expectations I guess.

Edit: I meant to say the compressing HADN'T worsened