Materials side is stale like a two week old borsch. What's up with using new lightweight polymers, reinforced by bamboo with fiber filler?

Bamboo has ridiculous tensile strength for its weight chuck five of those rods in the board and see how she goes.

Polymers is a new say in non toxic to work with materials with best strength to weight ratio.

There are examples of companies like Ortech using fiber (compressed straw) in airports etc, why not boards?

Or does surfboard industry hands on quick-snap, quick-buy boards?

Not the best, but still interesting development:

http://www.coastalwatch.com/news/article.aspx?articleId=5855&display=0&cateId=3&title=Sticks%20from%20sticks

My preference for glassing is currently water-based epoxy,with a water-based polyurethane finish coat. Very user friendly,and it gives me a clean,comfortable work environment .The stuff is so non-toxic you can almost drink it !!! But,I am totally open-minded on the subject of materials for sure....bamboo and polymers? any info or maybe website leads would be most welcome and appreciated !!!

I tried the woven bamboo sheet a few years back.....good stuff for impact strength on the deck ! - one problem =although it was just over 1mm in thickness,it took an excessive amount of resin to get above the weave. Your sugestion of using thin bamboo rods has got my cogs turnin ! I'm gonna make one soon . I'll post a pic when it's finished,thx!!

Good stuff. Water-based is the go. Too much petrol in product gives a head ache without the night out.

http://avesstudio.com/ - I've used it for some board repairs. A gnarly polymer of dough-like consistency. You can buy it @ sculpting shops in AU. Or ship order it from those guys directly to where ever. Even though board will be far from sustainable design still, it will be hell durable.

Also there are soy based urethanes, heaps of them come from insulation industries:

http://www.biobased.net/products/index.php

http://www.hgtvpro.com/hpro/nws_ind_nws_trends/article/0,,HPRO_26519_3679395,00.html

http://www.envirofoaminsulation.com/faq.html

Would avoid spraying perhaps. Liquid form is better to my liking.

There is also hempcrete:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hempcrete

But yeah, for answers, I think we might need to look into food (e.g. prawn chips for foam) and health (e.g. dentistry) industries. I found building industry to be a dodgehouse, producing and selling too many products which should not be on the shelves.

On bamboo:

http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=3&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbambus.rwth-aachen.de%2Feng%2FPDF-Files%2FMechanical%2520properties%2520of%2520bamboo.pdf&ei=WIJ1Sp-ROI2uswPSq7TtCA&usg=AFQjCNFNtPj3wkWeTIovPhSMSOildh-NeQ&sig2=p6BXCBiiYDIi46Ic3vMu6A

I reckon go thickest you can go, but no thicker. Been mulling over this idea for some time. It would be uber to actually surf one Good luck and cant wait to see the result!!!

I tried the woven bamboo sheet a few years back.....good stuff for impact strength on the deck ! - one problem =although it was just over 1mm in thickness,it took an excessive amount of resin to get above the weave. Your sugestion of using thin bamboo rods has got my cogs turnin ! I'm gonna make one soon . I'll post a pic when it's finished,thx!!

How did this one work out tigers?

hey !! , I been loggin on here for weeks priodically and theres been no action- nothing! I thought everyone migrated. anyway , still havn't got around to the bamoo rods yet , I got the suitable bamboo ( which is plentifull round here and free!) but I been side-tracked with other things.......soon I will start. There's a new polymer development available soon, which may have definite advantages for the surfboard industry .

Yeah, more posts you lot!

Hells yea, go with free stuff. Most of two component polymers seem to contain isocynates, which are pretty OK in general, but nasty when exposed to heat or still curing and emitting fumes (can lead to hypersensitivity pneumonitis and occupational asthma). So even though people who sell it to you say not to worry, use the stuff in a well ventilated place and wear good respirator/goggles and stay the fuck out while it is reacting.

Funny, just bought some Alginate (stuff derived from brown algie - kelp etc), looking for the most mild stuff on the market, only to get crystalline silica in the mix. And powder handling is hectic.

Hybrid-inorganic polymers................water-based!!!!!

You know, personally I would still dig alginate. From algage..just grow your board in the mold!

One of my favorite is shellac -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shellac

http://www.shellac.in/shellac_properties.html

Shellac is insoluable in water. As well as moldable, with application of temperature.

Bug poo-hemp-bamboo-algae gargantuan monstrosity is coming in town near you!