Have you even gone to introduce your neighbor or a close friend to someone that you know but you just can't remember their name? This creates an awkward situation in which I usually retreat to saying "dude" or "man." This unfamiliarity is usually sprung from a lack of effort from my part. Now imagine you knew that person for a long period of time and could never remember their name, there would most definitely be some form of disconnect in that relationship. Now imagine you raised a child from infancy to adulthood. Do you think that you could forget their name?
Building a surfboard is nowhere near as important, difficult, or rewarding as raising a child, but since this is a surfing article and not a parenting forum it might be good to try and stay on topic. Building your own surfboard will most definitely give you a healthier respect for boards and board quality. In our culture we are often many steps removed from the origins of a products that we so passionately desire. If you are not going to build your own surfboard, there is still some good news. Surfboards are one of those things that we actually still have the opportunity to be right there amidst the action of production.
Putting forth some effort will bring reward. Knowing the names of those you have daily interactions with should be expected. I come across many people who surf daily and are good surfers, but couldn't tell me what their board is really made of. They don't know their board's "name." I can't tell you the name of the neighbor you can't remember, but I can tell you some basics about the makeup of the board that you are riding.
Forms and shells are the two most basic ways to describe the breakdown of a surfboard. A board will have to have a shaped form in which a rigid watertight substrate is applied to. Even hollow boards had a form at one time in order to gain the proper shape. This form, in it's rough state, is typically called a blank. The blank is what the shaper forms into a surfboard shape. Blanks can come in different materials. Two commonly used materials are polyurethane foam and expanded polystyrene foam. Both have their goods and bads, and are equally valid forms for constructing a surfboard.
Shells can be frustrating for a hungry sea otter, but are a necessary element of the surfboard. The typical way that the shell is applied is though the use of fiberglass cloth and resin. Fiberglass cloth feels a bit like a silky fabric, but is actually the poison oak of all fabrics. It can easily cause a rash or irritation if is gets rubbed onto your skin. You doen't want to smoosh your face into a big ball of fiberglass cloth hot out of the dryer. What fiberglass cloth lacks in comforting characteristics it gains in strength and ability to endure abuse and resist water damage. The cloth itself is pretty useless until it is saturated by resin. Resin is basically a specially formated glue that hardens the fiberglass cloth and adheres to the form or shaped blank that you are using.
Resins that are commonly used are polyester and epoxy. After the cloth is placed over the board, the glasser, also called a laminater, will apply the resin and spread it evenly across the entire board. This is called a hand layup or hand lamination. A final coat of just resin is added at the end of this process to enable the board to be sanded or polished to a smooth finished surface. At this point you could put your face on the board and not have to worry.
Although this is definitely not the full name of surfboards, it is assuredly more personal that "dude" or "man." Look into designing, building, and or taking an active role in being connected to the production process of your next board. This effort will not go unrewarded and the name will remain fresh in your memory banks.
(This column is a rerun from August 2010 - Paul and Katie are taking a break this month.)
