Well folks
The downwind board project will hopefully move forward in 4-6 weeks time or so. In recent days I've been thinking do I build a male plug and infuse the bottom skin & rails using 200g carbon either side of 3mm PVC core (10mm for the standing area) and build the board hollow except for a longitudinal bulkhead down the centre or do I go down the standard EPS path of construction? There's not a lot of cost difference between the MDF for the plug and surfacing compound and the EPS, but the net result has to be far stiffer and lighter than the standard EPS construction?
What say you all?
a 3 mm thick PVC sandwich will be stiffer and stronger than eps , eps will slowly drink water if the thinner skin is punctured or cracked but inevitably float the same in the short term , If the sandwich board is punctured it will sit noticeably lower in the water , but any ingress can simply be poured out later (assuming you have a bung hole) , ps you can buy lighter weight stitched carbon from Ironbark composites down there and just save the 200GSM for the centre section
Ps If you want to infuse thin foam (and a thin laminate) you will need to buy the foam perforated and use a flow media over the top of the laminate (I have done it myself)
Im running the same program magillamelb and will also be starting my hollow carbon SUP in a month or so!
Be interested to see how we go!
I'm familiar with infusion foam and the process Latman and it should make for a pretty stiff and light structure. I've used Ironbark previously and find Dick really helpful.
the simplest way to infuse would be using 1.5mm Soric LRC (core infusion) , but it would be heavier than 3mm PVC foam i think , Lavender composites in Brisbane also sells a few Versions of Amorim cork sheets , It looks good but my tests told me it needs epoxy resin.
