NATURAL CURVES SURFBOARDS
  Surfboards | Design | Surfing & Media | Surfcast | About NC | Custom Orders | Contact
   
  SURFBOARD and DESIGN GLOSSARY

DEFINING ELEMENTS in SURFBOARD DESIGN
   
  SURFBOARD An object or device designed to ride waves.

SURFBOARD DESIGN Identifying and working with the performance variables in shaping and construction of surfboards.

STRUCTURAL SANDWICH An arrangement of materials with a lightweight, low density core and a thin high density skin.

FOAM SANDWICH SURFBOARD A surfboard with a light weight low density polyurethane or EPS foam core wrapped with a thin high density reinforced skin of polyester or epoxy resin and fiberglass or other glass reinforcement fabrics of various weave, weight, and finish.

VARIABLES The design elements and features considered in a surfboard's design.

ROCKER Dimensional curves along the bottom, top, and rail of the surfboard usually referenced from nose to tail.

BOTTOM ROCKER Dimensional curve along a straight line down the center of the bottom of a surfboard.

DECK ROCKER Dimensional curve along a straight line down the center of the deck or top of a surfboard. The area defined by plotting bottom and deck rocker defines the profile or foil of a surfboard from nose to tail.

PROFILE Distribution of volume created by the relationship and juxtoposition of bottom rocker and deck rocker.

FOIL Distribution of volume and thickness in a surfboard nose to tail and rail to rail creating lift and reducing drag.

FOIL - PRIMARY Distribution of volume and thickness along the center of a surfboard from nose to tail.

DECK FOIL Distribution of volume or thickness from rail to rail of a surfboard. The deck foil also varies from nose to tail.

RAIL FOIL Distribution of volume or thickness along the rail of a surfboard from nose to tail.

RAIL ROCKER Dimensional curve along the rail of a surfboard. This curve follows the outline and the bottom of a surfboard's rails. The curves relative to a surfboard's bottom rocker and rail rocker define the bottom contours of a surboard.

BOTTOM CONTOURS The nose to tail and rail to rail configuration of the bottom of a surfboard. Bottom contours may be flat, convex, concave, or a combination of these features.

DECK CONTOURS The nose to tail and rail to rail configuration of the deck of a surfboard. Deck contours vary nose to tail from flat to crowned, and rail to rail from boxy to crowned.

RAILS Transition area between the top and bottom of a surfboard designed and configured to hold a surfboard in the face of a wave.

RAIL PROFILES Section shape of the rail. Rail profiles vary in configuration and features. Primary profiles are boxy and crowned. Rail volume varies from relatively thin, to medium, to thick for all configurations.

TEMPLATE The outline of the surfboard.

BLANK or SHAPED BLANK The core of the sufboard. From ancient to contemporary designs surfboard cores have been solid wood, transverse braced hollow wood, solid balsa wood, chambered balsa wood, polyurethane foam, EPS foam, and extruded styrofoam.

STRINGER Wood, foam, or reinforced composite material glued into the center of a blank on a vertical axis. Stringers provide a crucial "I-beam" element to the core of a foam sandwich. They reinforce the ultimate strength of a surfboard by holding the top and bottom skins of the foam sandwich apart.

FIBERGLASS Fiberglass is a type of reinforced plastic using glass fiber woven as fabrics of various weave, weight, and finish used as the reinforcement in a fiberglass resin composite. Other reinforcing fabrics include carbon fiber and kevlar. When combined with a resin system the resulting composites form the high density skin of a foam sandwich surfboard.

RESIN Resin is a material used for structural engineering applications. Resins are vicious, liquid polymers. Their benefit centers on their ability to transition from a liquid into a solid structure. Resins are used as a strengthening and bonding material with fiberglass reinforcement materials as a composite to create the skin of a surfboard. Surfboard construction uses both polyester and epoxy resins.

COMPOSITES Composites are materials made up of individual components, whose combined physical strength exceeds the properties of either of them individually. In the case of composite laminates, there are two basic elements involved - fibrous reinforcement, fiberglass or other fabdrics and resin. These two elements are not meant to be used exclusively, they are meant to be combined. In doing so, they bond mechanically and chemically to form a high density skin of a foam sandwich surfboard.

GLASSING SCHEDULE The arrangement of resins and reinforcement fabrics in the skin of a surfboard.

CURING - POT LIFE The length of time a catalyzed or hardened resin, polyester or epoxy, retains at a viscosity low enough for it to be manageable.

CURING - POST CURE Exposure of cured resin to higher temperatures and to improve the mechanical properties of the resin in the skin of a surfboard. Higher temperatures for a specific time give epoxy resins their maximum post cure. Polyester resins post cure primarily with elapsed time.

MECHANICAL PROPERTIES The properties of the core and skin materials of a composite that contribute to the ultimate strength and durability of a surfboard. These include bond, compression, flexural, impact, shear, tensile, and thermal strengths. These properties increase and decrease with the materials used in a surfboard's construction.

ULTIMATE STREGTH The measure of the ability of a surfboard to absorb energy. The maximum strength and durability achieved by a surfboard's construction.

FATIGUE The failure of a composite's or a materials's mechanical properties as the result of repeated stress.

STRENGTH TO WEIGHT RATIO Strength to Weight Ratio The relative relationship between the weight and the ultimate strength of a surfboard. Custom surfboard construction allows functional application of foam density, stringer, glassing materials, and glassing schedule to build a practical surfboard. Surfboards may vary from an ultra light high performance shortboard to a heavy XXL guns and tow boards, from a light weight performance longboard to a classic heavier reproduction of a 50's - 60's era longboard. Most surfboards feature a moderate and sensible strength to weight ratio for recreational oriented shortboards, mid length boards, and longboards.


 
 < top of page >