Growing

[eastcoastsurfshop]

Lol, working in the shop I've learnt a hell of a lot!

We try our best to keep up to date with whats happening in the surf industry but to be honest, since Clark Foam have stopped making blanks, everything seems to have gone crazy! Lots of people are all getting into the act, blowing their own blanks, experimenting with new technology etc.

I think when Clark were producing blanks, everyone seemed content where they were. As soon as that was taken away from them, they had to try different stuff.

I guess thats partly why theres a big surge in new type boards like the Aviso, GDecks, Flex EPS etc etc.

[surfsc77]

This may help un blur some of the lines between the types of board: -

SURFTECH & TUFLITE

Tuflite is the actual board by Surftech. It's name explains it best: it's a board that is tuff and light. The building process begins with a the creation of a plug (the form that is used to make a mold for each board), which is recreated from an original shape provided by the shaper. Then:-

1. An EPS blank is blown in the high tolerance mold.
2. A PVC sheet is heated and molded to fit around the EPS blank, void of any seams.
3. The PVC shell is pressed and laminated to the EPS blank with a layer of fiberglass resin.
4. Fin boxes and leash plug are installed and then the blank is sealed.
5. The bottom, rails and deck are all hard laminated then vacuum sealed for curing. This creates the smooth, seamless look and feel of the final product.
6. A very thin sand coat is applied to the board. Then it is sanded, painted and polished.

Lots of famous shapers have tufflite boards like Al Merick & Rusty. The plug is basically taken from one of their hand shaped blanks, laser scanned & created. This is then the mold for 1000's of boards exactly the same.

Pretty much all of these come out of factories in the far east.

It's woth noting that some guys are moving away from the Tuflite name & going it alone. Santa Cruz is one of these, they no longer associate themselves with Tuflite or Surftech.


CUSTOM EPS

EPS is usually open-celled foam which means that it resembles a Styrofoam drinking cup. This means that a blank is literally made up of billions of little beads that are pre-expanded to a particular size, then compressed and fused by steam into block or shape at a specific density. Open-celled refers to the fact that there is space between each bead and, in the past, that has been a big downer for surfers because as soon as a an EPS board was dinged, the foam soaked up water double quick. But now EPS can be engineered to densities similar to polyurethane foam, yet much stronger, and fused to be virtually waterproof.

Basically, these blanks are shaped the same (both by hand and machine) as the traditional polyurethane blanks by Clark and glassed with epoxy. The ending result is a production process that is nearly identical to that of traditional blanks, yet one that yields a lighter, tougher, more lively alternative custom shape.

There are lots of these coming out of the factories in the far east at the moment.

It's also worth noting that both these processes are far removed from the pop out process used to make certain plastic boards.

In one of the earlier threads a guy said "i call a popout any board mass produced (mostly overseas) by machines and sold here"

It's worth noting (again) that a lot of custom PU boards also come out of factories in the far east, such as Bilbo (a very old Newquay name!).

Everything is reflected in the price you are willing to pay & what & how you want to ride really!

With the boards we sell in the shop we find that theres pretty much a market for ewvery type of board! We do a lot of custom boards from British shapers, we also do the custom boards from the far east and of course we do the tufflites as although we do steer well clear of certain "plastic" boards!!!

It's a whole melting pot of different technologies, traditional and new, just gotta decide what for you

Hope this helps!

Mark
ECS

yeah, a lot of poly boards are pop outs too(7S, watercooled) and im against those too. you seem to know a lot more than me, i hope i get to be a library of surfboard tech like you one day!

[scuba steve]

Why are you against those surfboard manufacturers, is ot because they don't all surf?

Do you think the same when it comes to clothes for example, and buy from your local manufacturer?

[Jimi]

Also as an aside, I have surfed 2 different PU/polyester boards, produced by chinese factories and imported in bulk to Aus. I also know of at least 4 other people regularly surfing boards from the same factory (Westcoast is the manufacturer name), ranging from 6" fish to 9"Mals, with shortboards, and mini Mals in various sizes. These are made with a traditional polyurethane "blank" core, and are then laminated with polyester resin presumably in a vacuum bag mold for mass production.

All shapes are current, ie. my shortboard is a single to double concave, with moderate width squash tail, moderate rocker etc. The fiberglassing generally is of excellent quality, with no de-lamination at all, and similar deck compressions to my boards by local shapers. Impact resistance is the same as any other PU/polyester lay up board. Board weight is not noticeably different to local boards, and there is definitely no significant performance difference in any of the boards when compared to hand shaped/local boards on average surf for a surfer of average ability (I'm no pro, but not a beginner either).

If you regularly surf in a particular type of wave, or want a particular ride characteristic from your board then talk to your shaper. You will definitely get a board better suited to you.

If you simply want a board that will be pretty good in a wide variety of surf (like my shortboard is responsive and fast in small stuff, but can still grip onto the face of a steep 4ft close out (before I bail off the back)), then I have no hesitation in recommending these mass produced Westcoast PU/polyester resin "Chinese" boards. They are relatively cheap, and represent good value.

I can't say the same for all boards that come out of china, as some are total rubbish, but likewise I have come across some very poor local boards too.

[surfsc77]

Why are you against those surfboard manufacturers, is ot because they don't all surf?

Do you think the same when it comes to clothes for example, and buy from your local manufacturer?

thats the thing. if you want a pair of board shorts, you have to just settle with whatever is on the rack. they might be too small, or thin around the waist. it would be too expensive or impossible to have a pair custom made. so if we put all the shapers out of business by supporting china boards and not real shapers, then that customization will be lost or else very, very expensive.

[Jimi]

thats the thing. if you want a pair of board shorts, you have to just settle with whatever is on the rack. they might be too small, or thin around the waist. it would be too expensive or impossible to have a pair custom made. so if we put all the shapers out of business by supporting china boards and not real shapers, then that customization will be lost or else very, very expensive.

That's not a fair comparison, because board shorts clearly are not going to be made locally, plus they cater to a much wider market than surfers.

Realistically, if there were no cheap chinese boards, the local shapers would have a closed market, thus charge whatever they want, so the prices of local boards would remain very high anyway.

Even with the influx of cheap chinese mass produced boards, the people who would buy from a local shaper will still buy from a local shaper, because they need a specialist product.

As an analogy it's like saying that because you can get cheap chinese golf clubs, all the PGA pros will stop buying Callaway... Sorry, but it doesn't work like that. Callaway drivers are still the best in the game for pro golfers, and so it is with locally shaped surfboards for local surfers.

The people buying cheap chinese boards have no need for a finely tuned product, so the generic and cheap alternative is highly suitable, simply because it's cost effective and will get them in the water sooner.

It is even possible that people who start out by buying a cheap chinese import may find that they develop their surfing to the point where they need a more specialised board, and then they will go to their local shaper to get it.

[surfsc77]

good points.

im at a fickle time in my life, and i cant decide where to fall on this debate.