A surfboard blank is the central core of a surfboard. It is traditiionally made by combining two chemicals in a mould to form an air-filled foam core which is cut in half and has a stringer (a former, or stiffener) glued in to give the surfboard blank its rocker (banana shape).

 

Surfboard blanks are notoriously hard to make well, and the reject rate is high. US Blanks in the USA, a company formed after the market leader Clark Foam closed in 1995, are probably the world's finest exponents of quality surfboard foam blank construction.

 

Surfboard blanks come in many forms. The traditional core in the 40's was wood - usually Koa wood or a similar hard wood. The invention and refinement of plastic foams by Gordon Clark and others such as Joe Walker made surfboards lighter and far more manouvreable, setting the scene for 40 years of development and refinement in surfboard construction.

 

Nowdays foam cores can be a variety of materials, from the standard PU (polyurethane) cores, to EPS (expanded Polystyrene) to eEPS (Extruded Polystyrene) and variations of Polystyrene such as xEPS and  sEPS. US Blanks superfused EPS has helped Epoxy Surfboards become more popular as the cores are light, very shapeable and strong. Superfused EPS blanks have a tighter, fused cell structure, and are blown in moulds, rather than cut from large blocks of polystyrene as many cheaper versions are.

 

Seabase stocks a wide range of first quality stock blanks and a limited number of factory seconds (without Guarantee). Call for current stock, or go online for a full inventory.  

 
The US Blanks catalogue is available from our download section