Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Materials for Surfboards


Here at HSD we offer a variety of materials for our surfboards. All boards are hand-crafted in the USA by surfers.

Poly boards- these are traditional boards made from polyurethane blanks and polyester resin. The boards are lightweight and durable, but not indestructible. Dings can be fixed with epoxy or poly kits. We recommend these boards when performance is key, as many people like the flex and "life" of poly boards. It takes about a week to glass a poly board, but with solar catalyst this process can be done in 24 hours, but it'll cost you. The base price we quote you is for a poly board.


Epoxy- these boards are made with expanded-polystyrene (EPS) blanks, epoxy resin, and x-glass. Epoxy resin is stronger than polyester resin and doesn't give off as many VOCs (not as stinky) so some glassers prefer to work with it. The blanks are lighter and therefore you can get stronger glass without making the board heavier. Epoxy boards are more durable than poly boards, but still ding and when they do you need to make sure to get them out of the water ASAP. Dings can only be fixed with epoxy kits, the styrene in polyester resin will eat away at the foam. Epoxy resin tends to yellow, so we recommend keeping the board out of the sun completely for at least 5 days after the last coat of resin goes on. We recommend these boards for people that don't use board bags, really like light boards, or need extra float.


Eco-boards- this is the greenest construction we offer. We special make the blanks with at least 30% post-consumer recycled EPS, FSC certified bamboo stringer, and laminate them with a linseed epoxy resin. Everything can be washed up with soap and water. The boards are lightweight and strong and don't get those little cracks where heal compressions happen. Dings can be fixed with regular epoxy kits. We make sure that the companies we source these materials from do their best to run a green business. We recommend these boards for everyone.

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