WA
2 posts
well i was told about a material called epoxy which is good for skim boards, could any ine give me help with this material compared to fibreglass
cheers
WA
12885 posts
Sounds like who ever told you, didn't tell you very well. You can't compare epoxy and fiberglass, the former is a resin system the later is a glass fiber, Try a google search on epoxy, that will give you the details. Or be a bit more specific here and we may be able to help. ie how do yopu want to make this skin board?? I thought they were just thick waterproof ply??? Or is weight an issue???
WA
6277 posts
I think what you're talking about is coating the ply with a thin layer of epoxy to make it waterproof. This is for a kiteboarding board, right?
Epoxy is a two-part glue, usually used to stick fibreglass to the outside of a foam blank on a surfboard. You can get it at woolworths (in small quantities) or ask someone who makes surfboards how to buy it in bulk. A brand name is Araldite, you've probably heard of this.
If you're only making a skimboard then go to Crazy Clarks, The Warehouse, or some of those discount places, you can usually pick up some tubes for a dollar or two. You can recognise it by coming in two tubes that you mix together. You won't need that many tubes, probably four (two packets). Spread it thinly and you'll be right. Put more around the edges where it will get sanded off.
Normal ply + cheap epoxy = much cheaper than marine ply.
If you're going to put footstraps on then you might want to drill oversize holes first, then cover the board, as that way the epoxy soaks into the hole and the ply doesn't get eaten out.
Also put your stickers and go fast stripes on before you epoxy the board.
hth,
Ben
WA
12885 posts
Hmm not sure you've got it nebbian, it's a skim board he's making not a kite board. these are thrown on the back of a retreating wave and jumped on, if you time it right you get a great slide along the beach.
The main criterea I would have thought was wear resistance, maybe kevlar is the way to go, but the resuling furryness might slow it down a bit. I certainly don't think epoxy is the answer as that tends to be soft and more easily abraded than say polyester, epoxy comes into it's own for strength to weight ratio, and if you're using styrene foam it's essential. But without some more detail from bonebag, it's hard to know just what he's trying to accomplish.
Unless there's some one here who is into skim boards????
WA
6277 posts
Ahhh that sort of skim board. Thought it might be some crazy kiteboarding term for something with no rocker...
I had a great time learning to do this a week ago, we had a skimboard which was made from perspex. The perspex was found on the side of the road, attached to some table legs, no rocker at all, throw it gently onto 1cm of water and jump on. Cost: $0!
No idea why you'd make one out of epoxy though???
WA
2 posts
i know some whole salers who sell epoxy skimboards, and i was wondering if i should go with the epoxy board or a fibreglass board??
QLD
5283 posts
epoxy is like chocolate.
there are different textures and hardness's.
sand wears down all composites, polyester(fibreglass)included.
just buy a skimboard and do the moves, you won't actually impress anyone, but if it feels good, do it!
you'll soon get sick of it.
WA
12885 posts
Sorry to be an old fuddy duddy on this bonebag, but you can't divide things up in to fiberglass or epoxy!!!!
I know somepeople do, but it's very inaccurate an leads to great confusion. As I said earlier, epoxy is the resin system fiberglass is the fiber. You can mix them together to make a composite construction. To discriminate between different composites, you should site the resin system and the reinforcing fiber.
In the surfboard and boating industries, fiberglass usually means polyester resin with fiberglass reinforcing. But if you just say "epoxy" it could mean anything, most likely, epoxy/fiberglass, but the reinforcing could be kevlar or carbon or a combination of all 3. But that's not the whole story, there's also the matter of what's under the epoxy fiberglass/carbon/kevlar skin, that's also very important. With out all of this, we can't give you any definate advise.
Never having used a skim board, I'm not sure what the desirable characteristics are. My guess is it needs to be very wear resistant, but that could be down to the paint job. If that wears thru, polyester resin is harder than epoxy, so should last longer.
But it's possible to make stuff lighter with epoxy/fiberglass by using light weight styrene foam, (polyester resin melts this foam). So if weight is an issue, epoxy could be an advantage, depends how the board's made. Is there a website for the various boards, maybe I can sus something out from them???
1116 posts
"I Love The Smell of Epoxy in the Morning"
