I have two layers of 6 ounce glass and then kevlar on the rails. He may even have put a third layer of glass on the deck around where my feet go.

It has added a bit of weight to the board but I wasn't worried about that.

I have snapped two composite boards in the past (right between the footstraps) after boosting and my current board is still going after 18 months which is a record for me.

Cheers

Sh1tdetector

Get a third layer around the preferred foot positions everything in 2+2 is standard surfboard construction.
Wont make a lot of difference in weight if you get a good laminator to do the job.

i have a sic aord that i paddle surf and kite surf it, get i made as light as possible and to make it to the deck doeant compress i get this glass called(silver light flex glass) its like carbon fibre but only on the deck and is cheap. the brand is hedges, future people surf

michael r said...

i would get glassed on fins much stronger!

Only thing is they wont rip out without taking half of the bottom of the board with them and are not as good if you are travelling with several boards.

HI MonkeyFish,

Agree witht the Menace, epoxy is the way to go - much stronger and lighter than poly resin and a good laminator would be able to squeeze the excess out when glassing so no extra weight (its less viscous than poly resin).

As I understand the strength comes from the molecular bond in the epoxy, were poly resin does't have the same molecular bond strength or if any.

Re-glassed a snapped board with epoxy, can't remember the layer up but it really did not add much weight considering the I left the original glass on the board.

Cheers
Rich

I also have a liquid force (production board) which i ride now cause i have snapped the rest .its 3 years old epoxy finish on a standard blank, indentations under heel , i reckon i have done 20 footers of air at least above the wave, and still going strong. Epoxy has this quality where it flexes and doesnt crack , so no onion rings ,no water, no breakage. But its brittle too ! And they do snap . Depends what you expect the board to do with the riding you do. I bet ben wilson only rides normal glass boards for that awesome surfboard feel , down the line full surfing style. But if big mushy waves, and air /hi speed hacks are involved . go the epoxy finish, each to there own.

Here's a couple of shots of both an epoxy - tuflight and conventional fiberglass shortboard I converted.

Both boards get hammered under heel and along the rails on the right side of board, as most of my boosting is done goofy. I'm constantly repairing them and am currently working with a shaper to design a board that might handle the pressures of kiting but still be light enough to surf.

The conventional fiberglass board is my fav, I added another 2 layers of 6 oz matting to the deck and 1 to the bottom and re-inforced the rails under foot, and sunk in foot strap plugs. It's heavier than the epoxy but I could surf the epoxy as a normal shortboard, although I dont because I put full deck-grip on the board because of heel indents. So epoxy's will still be prone to heel indents.

Most of the shapers I've spoken to reckon I should just have a kiteboard, not an all-rounder, standard kiteboard (glass/carbon fiber) is 2 layers of 6oz on the bottom and 3 layers of 6 oz on the deck plus the heels/toes reinforcement - which will result in a board that is heavy compared to a normal surfboard.

I'm looking at working with a shaper to design a conventional fiberglass shortboard with carbon-fiber reinforcements under heel, along the rails, fin plugs (FCS) and strap inserts. Hopefully it can be the one board quiver? light enough to surf but strong enough to kitesurf.

When you pay on average $650 > for one of these things, you want to be sure it's not going to snap first session, the only guaranty a shaper can give you is; no refunds.