laminated Diamond Core

 Rail Profiles

After spending hours on Akushaper and Solid Works I have now produced a full size set of 'printable' files for the core and rails of the board. After much deliberation I have come to the conclusion that foam rails, whilst light, will be incredibly difficult to reproduce in my garage. I will have to produce a full size mould of both rails and make sure that the foam is blown at the correct pressure. The main idea behind this project is to get away from using unsustainable materials. Bio foam is the obvious compromise but the manufacturing time required to finish the rails to a high standard is significant. I have therefore opted for more of the board to be made out of timber. The board will still have a reusable core and replaceable rails (I have found a good off the shelf solution for attaching and removing the rails - details to follow).

The board rails will not be strip planked using the standard method, this would make the foam rails an easier option; instead i will be adopting an experimental method which is far less labour intensive.
Unfortunately life has got in the way of this project a bit so I Will not be able to complete the manufacture of this board until around April 2014. I have also not managed to take the DCore fins out for a test ride yet but intend to give them a go as soon as possible. 

DIAMOND CORE FINS

The diamond core rail system is still being developed as repeatedly drilling a hole with a tolerance of +/- 0.2mm proved to be difficult. I have developed another system that will be prototyped shortly but in the mean time I have been working on producing CAD files for 3D printed fins. The fins are made out of thermoplastic that can easily be recycled at the end of it's life. The fins are significantly lighter than conventional fins due to the lattice that makes up the internal structure. The fins have not been tested yet as not all files have been printed but testing is likely to occur within the next couple of weeks. Keep posted to find out how they go.

The fins below are straight off of the printer and are surf ready, addittional finishing could be carried out but it certainly is'nt essential.

I have recently tested the fins. They initially worked very well but one of them snapped off. I will probably try ABS next because it far stronger than PLA when produced through a 3D printer. The layered manufacturing method employed on a 3D printer clearly has its disadvantages and with current low cost machines the process is probably better used to produce a mould for the final fin.

I may also skip the ABS and go straight through to manaufacturing the fins out of BIO RESIN. This would mean a snapped fin would not be an environmental problem.

The Diamond Core vision is to design and make a sustainable surfboard that has a much longer life span than current, conventional surfboards. The patent pending design consists of a surfboard with a reusable core and rails that can be repaired or replaceable. The core is designed to be extremely strong and is expected to last many years. The rails however are similar to that of conventional surfboard rails except the foam and resin is likely to be biodegradable. The main idea behind the replaceable rails is to keep the overall weight of the surfboard as close to that of a current high performance surfboard whilst allowing a large part of the board to be durable enough to have significant longevity advantages. This unique design will allow users to repair or replace any damaged rails when required. The core itself is designed to be extremely strong and whilst damage may occur over time it is likely that any damage will be minimal due to the durable design (this obviously depends on many factors including where the surfer surfs and for what duration and frequency). Damage that is incurred can also be repaired.

The design will be more sustainable than the large majority of surfboards currently available on the market. Environmentally conscious surfers currently have a wide range of products available to them but the diamond core is unique in the fact that a large part of the surfboard is reusable. The other advantage of this design is that the cost to the consumer will be significantly reduced over time as replacing a set of rails will be cheaper than replacing a whole surfboard. The designer of this product surfs regularly (on average 3 times per week all year round). He has been surfing in excess of 20 years and regularly has to replace his main thruster every couple of years due to wear and tear (currently at the cost of £500 +). This is obviously damaging on the pocket but equally damaging on the environment. Surfboards cannot be recycled so ultimately they end up being put in to landfill. 

Another benefit of this design is the user could have interchangable rails allowing them to travel lighter (and cheaper with many airlines charging you per surfboard now).

Prototypes of D.CORE 1 are nearly completed and will be displayed on the blog prior to testing.