14 posts
I saw a windsurfer made of a plastic heatshrunk cover over blank - not glassed.
What material is this exactly? PVC? ?
How do they do this? heat vacuum?
Recon it could work on a SUP?
I went closer to the old board and the skin had split
- so I peeled it away a bit n looked under.
Just contact glue and foam (surfboard not polyst.- it seems)
no glass - wood etc.
Wondering the name of the plastic??- or should I cut a piece off and burn it to get a smell test going.
seems like the top was heat bent over the rails and the bot. deck just glued flat to meet the top deck edge
VIC
17570 posts
Sounds like the way they made Windsurfer and Bombora boards.
Pretty heavy and a bit flexy but should work ok.
Greg at Windgenuity should know all about this.
I'm pretty sure you'd need a mould.
DJ
VIC
5127 posts
I think it just looks like heat shrink. There are actually mats of glass and kevlar and wood and epoxy and stuff under the plastic.
Starboard has a range of Tufskin models that are plastic coated.
The plastic is very impact resistant (doesn't chip) but not very abrasion resistant and it gets dirty easily.
QLD
2039 posts
The old Bombora's were roto moulded and then blown full of foam after the skin was completed, this is why they had a big plug on the tail of the boards. Very durable, but as anyone that owned one of thier "perfomance" models will tell you (I use the word perfomance loosly) on a hot day the rocker would start going a bit flat and you almost had to bend them back into shape.
It sounds like you are talking about ASA or Tufskin construction. Which is basically a thermoformed plastic skin that covers the board. This construction is still glassed underneath the plastic though, the ASA skin is just for added durability.
