Why Don't Polys Delam like they used to?

[EastCoastBrah]

15 years ago every poly i had delammed in 6 months

switched to epoxy for a while because of it

switched back to poly and now my boards are holding up for years with no delam

 

[Duffy LaCoronilla]

Clark Foam.

 

[EastCoastBrah]

Clark Foam.

that was around the time they went under. So you're saying clark foam sucked? Why did everyone use it and have a heart attack when they went under?

 

[Duffy LaCoronilla]

that was around the time they went under. So you're saying clark foam sucked? Why did everyone use it and have a heart attack when they went under?

Because he cornered the market and fuckked people over if they didn’t play by his rules. Clark had a monopoly. His product suffered from lack of innovation because of it.

People flipped when they were shut down (for flouting air pollution regulations) because he was supplying over 90% of blanks in the US and 60% worldwide.

 

[Duffy LaCoronilla]

PS: I’m not saying it was entirely clark foam that was causing delams. When all the new foams started popping up shapers and glassers had to adjust to the new foams and the foam companies had to come up with a product that would be accepted.

Shapers were so used to Clark foam so any new foam had to have good/better final product to offset the annoyance of the shapers, sanders, glassers dealing with the adjustments.

all of these things together created the environment that produces better overall product.

 

[EastCoastBrah]

Because he cornered the market and fuckked people over if they didn’t play by his rules. Clark had a monopoly. His product suffered from lack of innovation because of it.

People flipped when they were shut down (for flouting air pollution regulations) because he was supplying over 90% of blanks in the US and 60% worldwide.

interested to hear more about what he did?

So basically he had a monopoly so he didn't need to improve the product, then when he went gone people came in with new, better foams that don't delam?

I'm surprised the Australian foams hadn't taken some of the U.S. market share since they possibly were a better product?

When I switched back to polys and told the shaper about my delam experience he said "polys dont delam anymore" and i thought "yea right". It's amazing to have a board last years instead of falling apart at 6 months, it's a drastically better product.

Interesting stuff

 

[EastCoastBrah]

I also wonder if epoxy would have gotten as much of a foothold if not for the clark foam delam issue, i probably would never have switched.

 

[jkb]

One of the contributing factors (I think) is that Clark Foam was known for having a hard outer crust and a softer inner core. If shapers removed too much of the outer crust on the deck, the foam would be much softer and lead to huge pressures that would delam.

I don't know for a fact, but I get the sense that the PU formulations of today are a bit more uniform in density.

 

[Duffy LaCoronilla]

I also wonder if epoxy would have gotten as much of a foothold if not for the clark foam delam issue, i probably would never have switched.

John Bradbury and Davey Smith were shaping epoxy boards in the 80s using “hydro foam”.

John’s son, Josh is shaping boards now for a select few….

Creative Freedom John Bradbury Hydro Foam Surfboard - Shred Sledz

Greetings, Shredderz! We are starting off 2019 with a bang. Featured here is a lovely Creative Freedom / John Bradbury Hydro Foam epoxy surfboard, which was shaped likely during the Eighties. For more on Bradbury, feel free to check out the Shred Sledz Deep Dive here. John Bradbury was a highly...

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[Duffy LaCoronilla]

One of the contributing factors (I think) is that Clark Foam was known for having a hard outer crust and a softer inner core. If shapers removed too much of the outer crust on the deck, the foam would be much softer and lead to huge pressures that would delam.

I don't know for a fact, but I get the sense that the PU formulations of today are a bit more uniform in density.

The density from inner to outer changed.

I was told by more than one shaper that the main reason you could never duplicate a board was because of Clark foam’s inconsistent nature and the use of one piece wood stringers made every board have different flex characteristics.

 

[surfwhere]

"...today's foams are better, competition helped that, something about Bob Hurley, when the Clarks were compressed the crustiness allowed easier separation, that made them delam and harder to fix than now ..." from the phone just now while he was checking it and giving a play by play of a kid named Milo on one of his boards in a NSSA event that had taken over his peak, was gonna paddle out up or down the beach, undecided

 

[caelho]

As I recall Clark was dealing with the epa and new regulations. He had to change his formula to be compliant. As I remember at the time there were lots of boards that had issues with blow throughs, tiny little holes from the foam gassing after being glassed. This might have been a factor in delams, along with all the other info mentioned.

 

[JDJ]

Lots of great insight here. Often when people talk about PU/PE being a post WWII tech that isn’t innovative, they’re overlooking how much better the foams and resins are today compared to even 2005 when Clark Foam shuttered.

 

[tedshred]

15 years ago every poly i had delammed in 6 months

switched to epoxy for a while because of it

switched back to poly and now my boards are holding up for years with no delam

Interesting observation. I would assume it was a me thing because I’m not a broke kid anymore riding 1 board till it self destructs. But now that you mention it I rarely see any on the used rack with delam either.

 

[Sharky]

You’re old and decrepit now?

 

[GromsDad]

As I recall Clark was dealing with the epa and new regulations. He had to change his formula to be compliant. As I remember at the time there were lots of boards that had issues with blow throughs, tiny little holes from the foam gassing after being glassed. This might have been a factor in delams, along with all the other info mentioned.

This. Boards were pretty bad the last few years of Clark. Boards also don't break left and right like they did during that time frame. I started tinkering with making boards in 1989 making one or two boards a year for myself. I only made about 8 boards with Clark foam. The next blanks I got were from a company called TecCel out of Brazil and that foam was so much nicer than the Clark blanks I'd shaped previously. Got a couple of batches of those before US Blanks came along.

 

[EastCoastBrah]

"...today's foams are better, competition helped that, something about Bob Hurley, when the Clarks were compressed the crustiness allowed easier separation, that made them delam and harder to fix than now ..." from the phone just now while he was checking it and giving a play by play of a kid named Milo on one of his boards in a NSSA event that had taken over his peak, was gonna paddle out up or down the beach, undecided

who's this from?

 

[EastCoastBrah]

As I recall Clark was dealing with the epa and new regulations. He had to change his formula to be compliant. As I remember at the time there were lots of boards that had issues with blow throughs, tiny little holes from the foam gassing after being glassed. This might have been a factor in delams, along with all the other info mentioned.

but it wasn't a new thing, they always delammed afaik. And the new blank makers have the same regs? at least the ones in the U.S.

 

[EastCoastBrah]

Interesting observation. I would assume it was a me thing because I’m not a broke kid anymore riding 1 board till it self destructs. But now that you mention it I rarely see any on the used rack with delam either.

i knew it for sure because im 50lbs heavier

 

[Sharky]

compared to even 2005 when Clark Foam shuttered.

Had written a business plan, gotten a bank loan and bought a brand new shaping machine when asshole pulled the rug. Nothing to cut and loan payments to make. Then I was cutting a dozen different blank formulations and every rocker was a mystery. And we were way better off without Grubby. Good riddance.