the question makes no sense. most of my boards are epoxy (resin) and fiberglass (cloth) Every EPS board made has both epoxy and fiberglass
PU blank and epoxy! Best combination imo...love the spring of the epoxy. Or, even better, poly blank and resin-x! All my customs are made with this combination and i've found they are extremely durable (and I am rough on boards) and lively--even after a 6 months!
Yeah..I agree...ive made a couple poly blank /epoxy resin boards myself. When you think about it it makes a lot of sense...poly blanks are easy and fun to shape, and epoxy resin is stronger, and easier/less smelly to glass with.
Unless I'm doing resin color work and a gloss/polish finish, I'm using Epoxy. Lighter, stronger, less toxic, easy cleanup... slow kick time for the garage guys to take it easy and get it done right. For big wave boards, I like Epoxy over PU for the added strength, weight and feel. But for small to medium surf, EPS/Epoxy all the way! Light cores with heavy glass jobs on these boards. They come out lighter than a 2x4/4 PU/PE and two to three times as strong. Classic logs: PU/PE. HP longboards: EPS/Epoxy.
That combo is the only way I will go with it, but I wont do it anymore. I went back to the PU with fiberglass setup. Just better overall performace with me... Not as durable, but in many other posts, I have voiced the issues that I have with the lighter, firmer EPS epoxy. Maybe I just never fully got used to it, but they have spun out and crapped out on my in too many larger wave situations. I feel like a potato chips skimming down a water fall on bigger days with epoxy boards... They have their place for sure, but in good waves, I have to go fiberglass. Im sure all you shapers could set me straight on my misconceptions, but after testing a few different boards for months at a time, this is what I concluded, as a surfer, not a shaper.
And yes, Im sure the ninital post was reffering to the Tuflite style, plastic hollow feeling epoxy boards.
Those real light Epoxy boards like Surf Tech, Boardworks, and NSP are tough on a day with a stiff off shore wind. In those conditions they get hard to paddle and drop in - I guess because they are so light. My experience is with a longboard.
i have to say epoxy. i have to epoxies and one is a tuflite flyer i hate it. it has no flex really and is thick which is good for some stuff. then i have a green room surfboard shaped in wilmington by jimmy keith he has been researching his epoxy and found a magic mix that is basically a special bond between the foam and the fiberglass. which makes it very strong very light and doesnt yellow. out of these 2 shortboards i gotta say jimmy keith as it is true that his boards are very strong if it can break my nose in 2 places. merrick aint so strong. but i would have to say epoxy all the way.
ive ridden eps boards... not really a fan. theres nothing like a poly blank i my opinon. i love resin x. i have 2 boards done in it with poly blanks. awsome flex and durable. i love the stuff every custom i will buy in the future will be glasses with it.
I'm sure anyone else who reads this will have no idea what you are talking about. I am his surfing buddy/classmate, so I know what he's talking about. Let me translate. He has two "epoxies." One of them is an Al Merrick flyer Tuflite wich he claims has no flex and is really stiff. The other epoxy is shaped by Jimmy Keith (he also shapes for Greenroom) is actually an eps core with aerialite fiberglass cloth. The resin is Greenroom's micro-brewed epoxy designed sepecifically for their cloth so that the flex characteristics are on-par if not better than standard pu/polyester systems, and they resist uv damage and are overall more durable. He then goes on to say how the Greenroom board must be very durable to be able to break his nose (body part on face) in 2 places, without the board being damaged. As for my own opinion. I also own a board shaped by Jimmy Keith, and he probably makes the best epoxy shapes on the East Coast for sure. And it's great that it's epoxy resin and not pop-out sandwich crap, which I think has given the majority of surfers a misconception towards "epoxy" surfboards. Plus, if you're a garage shaper and/or do a lot of ding repairs, epoxy has next to no odor, and is actually pretty easy to use, as long as you don't mind your dings to not be color-matched. Also, it is wise to work with epoxy at room temperature with low humidity. When there are shapers out there like jimmy Keith, I don't know why anyone would want to buy a polyester surfboard for the same, or even more money (yes, I see those $700 CI sticks hanging in the surf shops). Especially local guys in the Wilmington area. First off, you can drop buy his shaping bay and TALK to him about what board you want, and he's a really nice guy to work with, plus you got the durability of epoxy. Honestly, if you can find a shaper who uses epoxy the way Jimmy does, there's nothing to lose... and more to gain. Most people can't afford a new board every few months, so it's only logical to go for something that will last a while, heck! i've been using my board for almost year (I got it in march of 09), and i've only gotten a few dings, which I repaired almost immediately. Functionality-wise, my board is as good as new.
i'm still riding pu/pe...tho my father swears by eps. the so-called "epoxy" boards that surftech, boardworks, & the like are utter crap. they're not surfboards, they're pool toys at best.
Personally i like epoxy. Ihave a 5'8 custom chemestry and a 5'10 byrne tuflite and the tuflite is stiff but i really like it because it is really fast and easy to paddle. The chemestry is really light but i havent surfed it much.
i had a custom 5'7 chemistry with glass ons, and it was the best board ive ever had... mine was 5'7x17.5x2...............i miss it
