Old Windsurfer material?

SmallWaveSteve · Post by **SmallWaveSteve** » Sat Feb 25, 2012 8:03 pm

I was curious if anyone knows what type of foam the old windsurfers were made from? (IE the big old ones that pop up free frequently on used vic like this: http://www.usedvictoria.com/classified- ... m_16606862 )
I've been wanting to shape some boards (surf/kite) and thought that might be a good source of inexpensive foam to experiment with (and keep it out of the dump) if they're polyurethane/polyster resin as opposed to eps/epoxy.
thanks!

downwind dave · Post by **downwind dave** » Sat Feb 25, 2012 10:52 pm

if that alpha is anything like an old bic, its a EPS core. watch for an old poly wave board with a clark foam blank like an orca, you can probably chop a nice fish outta one of them.

KUS · Post by **KUS** » Sun Feb 26, 2012 9:02 am

downwind dave wrote:if that alpha is anything like an old bic, its a EPS core. watch for an old poly wave board with a clark foam blank like an orca, you can probably chop a nice fish outta one of them.

I have an old poly 70L waveboard, not sure about the foam....also a delammed Roberts & HiTech, both epoxy tho and around 90L ....you could try to breathe new life into

SmallWaveSteve · Post by **SmallWaveSteve** » Tue Feb 28, 2012 12:00 am

That would be awesome! I'm thinking I should probably just stick to poly boards for now since I have a bunch of resin already (vs $200+ of epoxy to do one board).
I'll give you a shout once my midterm nightmare is over

rocdoc · Post by **rocdoc** » Tue Feb 28, 2012 8:29 am

Good on ya for thinking about re-cycling old poly windsurf boards.
I have done this and its not as simple as it sounds.

After you have torn/stripped off the old glass you are going to end up with a lot of fiberglas waste.
Then to get the blank down to size you will generate alot of sawn-off waste foam chunks. This would be a good time to try and recover the mast track and fin box for reuse. They are hard to cut out without going right through to the other side. Often the boxes come with higher density foam re-inforcement which requires removeing more foam. Don't know if its worth trying to get out the footstrap inserts if they are small.
Now you can start shaping to your desired new board (s).

I have always found it easier to shaped a production blank - what we used to call Clark foam blank before they shut down. Now many other sources of blanks with rocker, outline and thickness already in the shape.
Less work for you and less waste.

blackdogvan · Post by **blackdogvan** » Tue Feb 28, 2012 1:53 pm

If you do this I'd sure love it if you started a build thread & documented the process. Would be interesting to follow for sure.

SmallWaveSteve · Post by **SmallWaveSteve** » Tue Feb 28, 2012 3:31 pm

@rocdoc I figure if the entire board is destined for the landfill, may as well cut it down to 1/3 of it. (I was planning on cutting out rectangles around the mast track/fin box/footstrap inserts, and cutting similar sized chunks of foam to gorilla glue in/plug)
For an all out surfboard I'd probably just run with a proper blank, but I'm planning on doing a surf(ish) shaped kiteboard (so it'll be lower rocker, thinner foam/heavier duty) and wakesurf/skimboard style, so it hardly seems worthwhile to buy blanks to hack apart (and I'm not worried about the extra time involved)

@blackdogvan, I was planning on doing that already over on swaylocks (surfboard shaping forum) so they can put me on course corrections as need be.

SmallWaveSteve · Post by **SmallWaveSteve** » Sat Jul 14, 2012 6:29 pm

Well the first build was a success! http://www.bigwavedave.ca/phpBB2/viewto ... sc&start=0

Next I want to tackle something that will get me out for the ultra-lightwind sessions (along with my massive 15m kite); a kite race style board, and am trying to come up with a cost effective solution for fins (not keen on spending more on each fin than the entire rest of the build).
The fins are similar to speed fins I got with a donor board, but I'm in need of 2 pairs.

Does anyone have an idea of where one could find matching sets of fins? (preferably made of g10)
I'm not too fussy on the the shape or anything, not looking to be competitive (or even race at this point) just want to make a new toy!

GregK · Post by **GregK** » Sat Jul 21, 2012 1:14 pm

Maybe find a deal on a pair of windsurfing slalom fins ? Some US or Cdn retailer must have some at bargain prices ...

SmallWaveSteve · Post by **SmallWaveSteve** » Sat Jul 21, 2012 1:20 pm

Yeah I've been searching around, cheapest I've found is ~$70-80 a piece (before shipping).
From the research I've been doing I want something between 20-30cm.
The hunt goes on!

~~~~~4j~~ · Post by **~~~~~4j~~** » Sat Jul 21, 2012 2:42 pm

I'm not sure about the quality or how appropriate the shape is for a kite race board, but these glass SUP fins at MEC might be worth a look. $30 for the 9".

SmallWaveSteve · Post by **SmallWaveSteve** » Sat Jul 21, 2012 4:42 pm

Thanks! I'll look into that!
I'm using the term kite-race very loosely here, the RRD K-Free 60 is kinda sorta the direction I'm planning on going.
http://vimeo.com/37939744
Just found windance has 25cm freestyle fins for 50 a piece, so I may bite the bullet and go for those (I had been hoping to keep this a sub-$150 board like the other one was, but I don't think that can happen with the cost of fins!)

SmallWaveSteve · Post by **SmallWaveSteve** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 10:12 am

Does anyone know anything about the MFC freestyle fins, or freestyle fins in genereal? (ie. more flexible to release the water easier or anything like that, or is it strictly shape?) I dont want anything too bendy, but I'll have 2 or 3 of them engaged at the same time which will spread the load
(and any glaring differences between US and Powerbox systems?)

Old Windsurfer material?

Old Windsurfer material?

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