Epoxy vs Glass

[MattJD]

Hey,

Been out of the water for approx 10yrs, hitting 40ish (dont look it), was riding a Diplock (when he used to shape for Nigel Semmens), want to get wet again, am gonna have to get a mal/mini-mal in case of drowning, but it seems nearly all entry level boards are EPS.
I remember EPS used to be rare, maybe everyone was too traditional.
I have seen a company called NSP, but have also heard they are cheap Chinese factory made, and would like to stay a bit more local, maybe O'Shea.
Any pros/cons to EPS/Epoxy?
Cheers.

RIP AI

[billie_morini]

All fiberglass boards are made with resin. We're accostumed to polyester resin, which produces a board with a little flex. Epoxy resin is cheaper and cures harder. It's what the mass-producers are using. Even intermediate surfers can tell they don't flex as much as a polyester resin board. Is that bad? Not to many mortal surfers. To the professional surfers, it seems to matter. One reason I like epoxy resin boards for beginers, wives, and kids is because they are more duarble than polyester resin boards. If I'd begun surfing on an epoxy resin board, I'd probably be happy with it. After all, many wooden boards do not flex and it's kind of nice to have less damage when hitting rocks or dropping the board on the asphalt.

The real bummers in buying mass produced boards (which most epoxy resin boards are ["pop outs"]) are 1) it takes money away from local businesses that support our sport, and 2) it gives money to a conglomerate interested in onl profit.

[broken_board]

Epoxy boards are stronger. Epoxy can deform much more elasticity than polyester, which means that it will not graze and form micro cracks like a polyester board will.

Billie _Morini, Epoxy is more expensive than polyester resin.

Dude, if you are going to get a mal or a minimal definitely fork out the extra £100 or so to have it made in EPS. If its made right you will end up with a lighter, stronger board than if you went polyester. Quite a few local shapers will make you an epoxy board now, but not all.

[billie_morini]

Oh, yes. Broken_Board is correct. Epoxy resin costs more than polyester resins (by a factor ranging from 2 to 4). For example:

one vendor's 5 gallon price for polyester resin: $140
same vendor's 5 gallon price for epoxy resin: $355

You do have to make sure you compare apples to apples because you can find variation in price depending on which quality level resin you are comparing.

What I meant to say in my previous post is that mass produced epoxy boards are sold at lower prices than non-mass produced polyester boards.

The mass quantity makes profit by volume rather than higher mark-up per board. I would guess, too, that a manufacture making thousands to tens of thousands of pop-out boards, gets their epoxy resin for a price equal to that of polyester. I'll further bet that in the countries where these pop-out boards are mass produced, epoxy resin can be purchased for lower cost than in the US or UK.

[Surfbum23]

how cal i tell if my board it Epoxy or glass, im pretty sure its glassed but not a 100%

[kitesurfer]

how cal i tell if my board it Epoxy or glass, im pretty sure its glassed but not a 100%

Not too easily, unless you know what you are looking for which unfortunately is not easy to describe. Post up a photo of a close up of the tail, showing the stringer and the foam, assuming of course the board is not painted and we can all make guesses for you.

KS

[Surfbum23]

Alright ill get a photo up as soon as i can