buying blanks

[swellguy]

Looking to buy a preshaped blank to then let a friend (boat builder) glass it for me. I have alot of faith in him, but he has no experience shaping. Just not sure where to buy the blanks from... the only supplier I have spoken to is Marko foam -price for 3 shaped EPS 6'8'' JJ standard is ~$170 US. I am looking for a fish in this length.

Anybody have a favorite supplier they can share? I am in NE US.

[tomcat360]

You can't buy a preshaped blank. That I know of at least.

Many are "pre shaped" where they have a general curve and rocker, but that's only to keep the density issues down, considering most boards are shaped relatively the same and the further in you go the less dense it is (on Clark, U.S. blanks)

I guess if you had confidence in me and it's not a really weird shape, I could do it for you. I'm in VA.

[kitesurfer]

Same this side of the pond too. A pre shaped blank is not ready for glassing as it still requires the rails, bottom contours and final scrub/sand doing.
KS

[el_timmo]

http://www.thegunstorelasvegas.com/blankAmmoa.htm

[jethrodog]

Glad to see you're helping Timmo.

[el_timmo]

sorry, couldn't resist!

[swellguy]

My naivete is showing but I am glad I know before I ordered. So are there any suppliers for fully shaped foam?

If not, how hard is shaping your first board? I dont have a good board to model it after since both my boards are longer than 6'8'' (7.8'' and 9'2'').

I can always borrow a friend's or figure out how to get down to Virginia to visit tomcat360.

[swellguy]

i found the section on shaping. not sure i have time to become addicted to something else.

[tomcat360]

The glassing is the hardest part. It's not too bad, just fundamentals and then a bunch of little tricks you pick up along the way.

I also got a big head start by getting someone to teach me, so I may be a bit biased.

If you want me to do one for you we can work something out. We could do the first ever SW handoff! Me to drifting, drifting to you! haha, maybe not, but I could ship. I feel like I'm trying to sell myself here, but I just kinda feel like shaping something and not having to glass it. Glassing has a bunch of little tedious work involved.

Ask your boat friend about what materials he is going to use. He might use vynilester and mat glass/triaxial/biaxial which will be VERY difficult to glass a board with, if not impossible. He'll probably get along best with polyester and straight 6 or 4.

[jethrodog]

My opinion, get Tomcat to shape and glass it for you BUT take a weekend off and maybe go watch him shape it. Then you can try your next one yourself. Nothing like watching someone do it to really see the ins & outs.

Why sell yourself, Tomcat, when I can do it for you

[tomcat360]

Looks like I've got a new PR rep!

[tomcat360]

Or a bit more locally....maybe you can tag along with these guys.

https://surfing-waves.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7649

Funny, I've never seen any PA guys on here, and now there are two in one week.

[swellguy]

Boat building friend said he would use MAS epoxy, anyone familiar with this and the right foam to use? He also plans to stripe the board with carbon fiber to make it really strong....

[tomcat360]

MAS is decent stuff. It is very good and strong, but it will not be as clear or polish up to the shine of a polyester board. However, if this guy does boats then he might be doing a good gel coat with color and all that jazz. I don't know exactly how those guys do that.

Ask him what kind of fabric he is using. I'm not sure how he's doing the CF, but more power to him if he can do it.

[swellguy]

he probably wont do to much of a paint job because the paint is really expensive - everything else he has at his shop. Will be doing a gel coat.

[tomcat360]

I meant pigment, which is relatively cheap.

Like a dollar or something for a 4 oz jar of white which will last for eh.....10 gallons or so.

[swellguy]

The waves ok in Virginia - i imagine they are similar to NJ.

I surf out of LBI - have been doing it for 3 years - wish i had started in HS and college when i had some free time.

Looking to plan a trip to CR - most likely in Fall 07 . Been anywhere good?

[tomcat360]

Apparently they are worse....

Virginia doesn't have much of a surf-able coastline. A lot of it is the Chesapeake. And apparently the northeast and the OBX soaks up a lot of swell. There is the eastern shore, which surfs pretty much like Maryland. Lots of clay bottoms. I've never surfed there however. Looonngg drive, so I might as well go to the OBX if I feel like driving a long way.

[jethrodog]

Looking to plan a trip to CR - most likely in Fall 07 . Been anywhere good?

Let me know if you make it to Costa Rica in the fall. Hopefully I will have my B&B there up and running by then.