Vacuum Bagging

Talk to the guys at Coil, Mike and Kirk have it dialed in! Search Coil Ride Report on Swaylocks. Mike has a thread that you can communicate with him on.

 

The only vacuum bag I'm concerned with today is the one I'm cutting open containing that sweet sticky icky icky oooooooooo weeeeeeeee!

 

My buddy swears by Cannibal boards. They have that vacuum bag tech if I'm not mistaken. Says they are super durable.

 

I've never done it, but a local shaper here on Delmarva has been vacuum bagging hand shaped EPS/epoxy boards for years. I've checked out a bunch of them, and have friends who ride them. The strength to weight ratio is phenomenal because (i believe) that method of glassing allows building the board with additional layers of cloth on the deck and bottom and the vacuum bagging compresses the lamination and draws out excess resin so that even with the additional cloth, the board is lighter. The greater strength in the glassing exterior allows a lighter density EPS foam core further reducing final board weight.

 

Word!

 

I will repeat this--if I want to reduce the weight which can be accomplished by ANY method by a shaper, I will go take a pee before suiting up and be lighter. If I want dramatic results in weight loss, I opt for the excretion method, i.e., gate # 2.

 

Yeah, but don’t forget your Metamucil!

 

I'm right there with you Barry...for oldsters there is literally no problem that cant be solved by a good pee or poop.

 

My first question is why are you interested in vac bagging? I assume you're talking about epoxy, correct?

 

Beats the crap out of building SURFboards to do only airs....
Point being--there is a point of diminishing returns with excessively light boards.

 

I have done it one some repairs and it works great, especially for delam repairs.. I have used it on many different types of repairs and always comes out nice... and the boards justs end up feeling tighter as well when done since I think it seals up the board and creates a slight vacuum inside... but this is all speculation. Plus my methods are pretty crude, using an old vacuum and such... I'm sure the process could be improved

I wrote up a threade on here with pics and everything some time ago, maybe use the search function if interested.

 

I really agree with that to the point that I am actually liking riding heavier boards lately... we were surfing some choppy chest hi waves in Fla and my friend who surfs really good on one of those tomos said he felt like the board was too light with all the chop and not pushing through the water well but my heavy fish wasn't struggling with all the chop....dunno

 

Didn't want to pirate the thread, but since we're already going there I wanted to add that I'm one of those guys that believe that a little weight is a good thing.

 

I willingly pirate any thread. Most threads are initiated by morons, cover moronic subjects, and truly need to be put on the path to better discussions, so pirate away!!
In a good wave with great offshore upholding walls, some weight is a GREAT thing, unless....you are one of those morons that should be kitesurfing instead.

 

Barry thought this was bagging and ugly chick to have relations

 

There is NO such thing as an ugly chick--upside down they all look the same!!

 

I agree, I have some epoxy super light boards and some old school heavy glassed boards. The heavy ones work better when there is some chop. My epoxy boards make me feel like I'm bouncing around for the ride sometimes.

I really enjoy a heavy old school longboard. Nothing beats the speed and momentum you feel.

 

I feel like it makes a lot of difference what you want the board to do. I've ridden longboards made of alternative materials that seemed like the lightness kind of hindered things. Less glide both paddling and going down the line with a bit of texture, and seemed to feel different in holding a clean line, and not in a good way. For just about any waves over shoulder/head high i don't mind the extra weight of a traditional board.

More frequently, I find the weight of shorter boards - lets say 6 foot or so and under - cuts the other way. I'm mostly riding shorter boards in smaller softer waves, and extra weight seems to serve no benefit and just seem to bog everything down. Turns seem to require more input...input that breaks plane and slows you down - the last thing you want when the wave doesn't have much push to begin with.. Also heavier short boards seem have a larger turning radius, and small waves don't really have space for drawn out turns.

I have had a bunch of little boards in the 5'4" 5'8" range that i think would benefit from EPS/Epoxy vacuum bag build to make them lighter but I don't know how to build one myself, and so far I'm not willing to spend $750 on a vacuum bagged board for waist high waves. I do plan to get one some day.

 

Last I checked you can get a Coil for $600 base price, $100 deposit. That was a couple years ago, doubt it’s changed.