Hi

This is a very cool idea. Using wool fiber as a replacement for glass. Makes me wonder if silk fiber could be used also. On my custom made double bass, the luthier, Jim Hamm, used a layer of silk between two veneers of maple for the curved sides to prevent cracks when the bass is 50-100 years old! Some of these natural fibres are very strong.

Cheers

Bob

www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12170459

There was a place in France making hemp fibre boards with bio resin.
Also I have seen Cork laminate

Carbon is "natural". Arguably we already have too much of it.

FRP said..
Hi

This is a very cool idea. Using wool fiber as a replacement for glass. Makes me wonder if silk fiber could be used also. On my custom made double bass, the luthier, Jim Hamm, used a layer of silk between two veneers of maple for the curved sides to prevent cracks when the bass is 50-100 years old! Some of these natural fibres are very strong.

Cheers

Bob

www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12170459

So much more to discover out there, some years ago I saw a program on the use and diversity of banana plant as an alternative to man made fibre. The csiro were investigating its potential as an an alternative, I just can't remember what they used as a resin but man it looked strong in their demonstration.
I see also it is used in Japan and probably elsewhere as an alternative to silk.
I applaud any company out there trying different materials to lesson the impact on our environment.

DEEPOceanboard said..
Hi All,

We have been experimenting with a bunch of natural fibres over the last year or so.
All are great, but it's just a matter of finding the best application for them.

Expect to see it in our range alot more, in the future.

If we can make the production and quality of our boards, better for all involved, why wouldn't we?

Cheers
Deep

I think the big issues are production and acceptance. You can get fiberglass cloth in pretty much any weight, width and quantity delivered to you within a few days, or if you have a nearby vendor, pick it up today. The cloth wraps and conforms to board shapes pretty readily without much in the way of special tools or processes. Customers don't have to be persuaded that it is just as strong as fiberglass. Getting enough customers to pay extra (due to production costs) is going to be difficult. Prices for the material won't come down until demand goes up. It needs a less specialized application first, like building supplies - shingles, maybe?

DEEPOceanboard said..
Hi All,

We have been experimenting with a bunch of natural fibres over the last year or so.
All are great, but it's just a matter of finding the best application for them.

Expect to see it in our range alot more, in the future.

If we can make the production and quality of our boards, better for all involved, why wouldn't we?

Cheers
Deep

When you say a bunch of natural fibre are you talking banana plant

Fiberglass itself isn't that bad. It is mostly natural products. It has a low Co2 level to make. If you take into account growing crops,water used,harvesting them etc to make natural fibers it has a higher Co2 level. Most countries make fiberglass so it is locally produced. Again if you have to fly a natural cloth half way around the world to make a bio board it's not bio at all. Natural fibers also soak up more resin.
I make wooden boards and looked into this quite a bit.
Epoxy is the bad thing. Even the "bio" stuff. The hardener is the worst. The resin isn't too bad. I even read a report that said a 5:1 mix epoxy was better than a 2:1 bio epoxy. It was probably written by the company making the 5:1 epoxy.It's still epoxy and once you soak anything in it it is very difficult and expensive to recycle. That means it doesn't happen.
There are natural resins but they are not clear or as strong so companies don't use them. Expensive as well.

Please explain why fiberglass is bad. I have read a lot of reports that say "Not Classifiable as a Human Carcinogen". It is classified as an irritant. You definitely can't say that for asbestos.
I am no expert and would like to understand why people think fiberglass is so bad.
As I said I think ( again I am not an expert in the subject) the epoxy is the bad stuff.

......all the stuff we stand on from the polystyrene core to the fibres soaked in esters, epoxy's, polyesters and cyano-acrylates and the wonderful foams of polyurethane and klegecell and dozens of other brand names to the acetones, thinners, wax and grease removers....the Q-cell and glasss balloon filler coats with multiple sanding pads, priming, wet sanding and 2 pack polyurethane finishes from production houses that may or may not have filtered production rooms pales into insignificance if they use a layer of natural flax fibre or you don't recycle your household waste....just sayin

www.sustainablesurf.org/ecoboard/