Boards that "die"

[alakaboo]

Huie and I are playing around.....i hate the feel of a expoxy

interesting. I love epoxy resin but don't like eps.

is that what you mean?

actually i mean that i don't like super light boards.
light is good, alive
super light just feels odd in turns.plus i reckon they snap leashes

[booradley]

Bloody Hell! I wish I'd posted this before I took off to the Ment's a few weeks ago. Great info.
I took an old favourite Epoxy Dahlberg that never lets me down but this time it felt very ordinary but as Fong alluded to, perhaps the "tools" and tradies analogy is in play.
Mind you, I'm usually riding beachies here and there was reefs exclusively - a factor?

[steve shearer]

all due respect JD but the ding issue is a deal breaker for me and a helluva lot of guys around here I talk to, most of whom tried epoxy/eps and went back to Pu/pe. If you're surfing rocky pointbreaks your board will get dinged.
I've seen guys in Indo with Eps/epoxy boards totally out of action because they couldn't get the water out of the board with the humidity.
Like I said guys trudging back from the Point without a wave ridden because a nice rock had torn a hole in the bottom of their FW and they couldn't surf it. If that was a pu/pe; no drama. As long as you haven't torn out a fin, surf now, fix later.

pu/pe: cheaper, easier to fix and a smoother ride.

If they are glassed decently they last fine. I've got thirty and twenty year old poly guns that surf fine. Heaps of life in them.

But hourses for courses. Just seems to me like the whole eps/epoxy bandwagon has kind of come and gone and most people now are in a sober position to understand the pros and cons.

Braithy: pros get more than 3months out of a four oz poly on a super light blank.

[tootr]

Some timely stuff for me as I am looking to resurrect a magic old Dain Thomas quad fish that is in very good shape, except for the deck caving in and taking water around the foot areas, esp. around the thick stringer as Speedneedle mentioned. In the back foot area the stringer was soaked, but the board has been in the garage for a few months to dry out.

So, sand back, fill the dents, and put a layer of six ounce on each foot area??

Or is there another way? Advice appreciated.

[speedneedle]

Tootr-

It's likely that the wet area of your stringer may need to be exposed by sanding to remove the glass over it, so it can dry thoroughly.

The absolute worst case scenario I've encountered with a customer and a dinged epoxy board is that it's had some wax bunged in it on a boat trip and been repaired properly later at home.

So for the confidence of anyone who has or may sometime have a JD, or any other EPS board - Again, water in your ding is not a freakin' tragedy.

Keep some tape in your car - go in to use it if you have to. I've never missed decent waves just because of a measly ding.

EPS does'nt rot, and water comes out the same way it got in. And fixing dings is not rocket science. Challenging at times, but not rocket science...

This one went on to see many more happier sessions!

Get your dings fixed in a timely fashion, whatever your board is. One thing I have seen is that a neglected rail ding can be the weak point where a board, when put under stress, will snap.

[Beerfan]

all due respect JD but the ding issue is a deal breaker for me and a helluva lot of guys around here I talk to, most of whom tried epoxy/eps and went back to Pu/pe. If you're surfing rocky pointbreaks your board will get dinged.
I've seen guys in Indo with Eps/epoxy boards totally out of action because they couldn't get the water out of the board with the humidity.
Like I said guys trudging back from the Point without a wave ridden because a nice rock had torn a hole in the bottom of their FW and they couldn't surf it. If that was a pu/pe; no drama. As long as you haven't torn out a fin, surf now, fix later.

pu/pe: cheaper, easier to fix and a smoother ride.

If they are glassed decently they last fine. I've got thirty and twenty year old poly guns that surf fine. Heaps of life in them.

But hourses for courses. Just seems to me like the whole eps/epoxy bandwagon has kind of come and gone and most people now are in a sober position to understand the pros and cons.

Braithy: pros get more than 3months out of a four oz poly on a super light blank.

Steve, you live near a powerful rock bottom point so a heavier poly would suit your situation. If you surfed smaller average beachies often extra glass would surely take away some of the liveliness you're after for smaller beachies ??

[Beerfan]

The argument lite boards are best is very funny.


Surfing is such fad driven.

a properly glassed board....finished properly ( does anyone know how gloss coat any more?) Will surf just as well for the average punter.

And last ten time longer

But fong, you're making an assumption about the average punter. I'm an average punter, and used to like solid boards. Glide, drive carve. Then I discovered light weight boards ( well made, non corky light weight boards I should say ). I can turn them faster and harder. Maybe not better, but I enjoy them much more. The bonus is they're pretty tough too, so I can keep that same board a lot longer, which means I spend more water time on the same board, and can actually improve my surfing. In the short time I've had my JD's I definately surf better than I used to. I turn faster, tighter, and surf lighter in my feet. I'm not busting airs or anything, and don't want to. Just the basics of surfing, but just faster and tighter. Rehab depending, I'm hoping to get a round tail quad from josh, as I'd like to again, turn tighter, and faster. Why?, because improving your surfing is addictive, and the better you get, the better you want to get. That's just my opinion anyway, and lighter boards help to get me where I'd like to go.

[speedneedle]

Thanks Beery.

The EPS/Epoxy vs Pu/Pe debate has been going on for as long as I can remember, courtesy of some absolutely stellar surfers in Florida in the early '80's, such as Bill Frierson and Greg Mungall, on stupidly light EPS/Epoxy boards by Greg Loehr. (Who happened to be a one-time workmate of mine.)

In fact, interestingly, the very first foam core boards were EPS/epoxy/ply wood sandwich composite, by Bob Simmons in the 40's - half the weight of the Balsa boards common then, let alone redwood.

So EPS/Epoxy pre-dates Pu/Pe by over a decade. As for bandwagons then, well maybe I'm actually more of an ol' timer. I see enough point of difference with my boards to claim that rather than a bandwagoner, I'm more of a stand-alone.

Absurdly light boards are no longer my biggest priority, and in fact I do get requests for more solid tonkers for cruisy crew, but the weight question is answered by the best surfers - two absolutely identical 6'1 squashtails, one in double 6oz, the other a throwaway weight. Which one will the pro find best?

Beerfan's testemony is that point trickling down to the average punter.

The debate's not going to be won on the weight of opinions. I have long opted out and just gotten on with my orders. Crew come back for more and I have as much work as I can handle alone.

As I said earlier, the search for the best possible surfboard foam goes on.

JD

[crabmeat thompson]

Braithy: pros get more than 3months out of a four oz poly on a super light blank.

Yeah, but I surf about half as well as a pro, not even taking into account the massive sweeping generalisation of your comment.

eg If Kirra is on, I've seen Joel and Mick break a board just about every time they wipe out. Joel once did 4 boards in a morning sesh out there. Like the board Joel surfed in the final at snapper, he'd been saving and hanging onto for the last 4-months. Never surfed it for fear of creasing it, saving it for that crucial moment (like a final).

And fong ... dear old misguided fong. All boards serve a purpose. You're tripping out (or only ever shoulder hopping, straight line trimming) if you think the magic board doesn't exist. Gloss jobs ride like dogs imo, skimming & sketching over the surface rather than cutting through it like a sanded board. The friction of the board is compromised by a gloss board. It's sheer aesthetic, with zero function.

Snapping a lite board -- in 6ft and under conditions) round in the pocket, paddling into waves, straight line speed, responsive under your feet (top to bottom, rail to rail), and pumping one is so much easier & more effective than a big heavy 6+4 glass job (pig's of boards imo) ...

The bigger waves, you need the weight of heavier glass especially if its choppy. Heavy boards in small conditions bog and are slow.

[Beerfan]

Good to see you're still loving the dart board you got at bondi when you first came out here loofy

[Indo dreaming]

For me lighter boards feel like they go better especially in small waves, but i admit there is possibly a degree of "in you head factor" with boards (and surfing in general) and a big factor for me is the weight of a board if its light to me it feels fresh and new.

If its got a bit of weight even before i hit the water, id probably be in a slightly negative head zone, maybe its because as a grom my boards always got heavier as they got older, with water getting into them or just extra weight from repairs.

Every now and then i strip my boards of wax clean any wax off the bottom or rails, even my leggy (with foam dust or flour) then give them a clean with a slight abrasive cleaner, wash it clean let it dry and put on a new wax job, even after doing this i normally have a good surf, its like riding a new board that i know well.

[Indo dreaming]

Fads aren't always a bad thing, wider shorter, longer narrower, crazy rocker, channels, quads etc

As long as you dabble in them and enjoy the change/experience, sometimes they pay off and sometimes they don't like the high rocketed low volume boards of the 90,s, but every time we go through a fad i think surfboard performance and knowledge all-round moves forward, sometimes it might be two steps back, but ultimately its three steps forward.

But i guess some people enjoy change and others like to stick to what they know or like.

I wouldn't call epoxy a fad though, personally im a huge fan, not so much for the performance aspect (i don't find the feel to be much different like some) but more for durability.

On average i get one new board a year and still keep peace with the missus, before i could never really have more than a two board quiver, now my boards last three times as long (if not longer) which allows me to have a four board quiver.

Regarding the Tomo thing, maybe the "vanguard" model wouldn't suit the average surfer as its a pretty HP board, but his other models like the "Nano" are much more versatile board.

[JSB]

I had 2 balsa eps boards that I creased within 3 months I was spewing because they both surfed really good and had waited just over 6 months to get them. Went back to pu because cheaper and faster to get, but I haven't ruled out getting another in the future. Oh and yeah I would be shitting myself every time I went surfing a reef.

[alakaboo]

Surfed a lightweight quad poly board this arvo, must be getting on for 5 yrs old
almost as good as new.
wood skins are good

[batoes]

Im not being negative
about any type construction. But surfing is highly fad driven.


Look
At
This months fad the tomo.. Total joke for the average surfer.

Just throwing it out there..... But u can use poxy resin on poly blank

And in a strong offshore....... A heavier board will out surf a lighter one. Horses for courses

Tomo was 2012, dude. It's gumtree 70s pintails now.

[Cuttlefish]

And a full bushranger beard.
Ned Kelly....2014.

[alakaboo]

Cuttlefish why in the name of all that is holy did you feel compelled to post at 3:22am about bearded men?

[el rancho]

For me lighter boards feel like they go better especially in small waves, but i admit there is possibly a degree of "in you head factor" with boards (and surfing in general) and a big factor for me is the weight of a board if its light to me it feels fresh and new.

If its got a bit of weight even before i hit the water, id probably be in a slightly negative head zone, maybe its because as a grom my boards always got heavier as they got older, with water getting into them or just extra weight from repairs.

Every now and then i strip my boards of wax clean any wax off the bottom or rails, even my leggy (with foam dust or flour) then give them a clean with a slight abrasive cleaner, wash it clean let it dry and put on a new wax job, even after doing this i normally have a good surf, its like riding a new board that i know well.

Al Byrne said he could improve anybody's board if they let him go to town on the bottom with a block of wood and fine grit sandpaper, which is true, i.e. the last part of shaping a board is actually the sanding job it's given.