Hi all. Thanks for inviting me down this very wonderful rabbit hole. This foiling game is a wonderful head wrecker eh, so many things to explore, experiment with and spend those hard earned coins on……it’s almost too much for my tiny old surfer mind to comprehend haha.
Apologies if this has been already dealt with elsewhere but I couldn’t find anything specific. Where to buy XPS blanks, specifically in Europe? There seem to be a few options in the States but mostly EPS and even these have some pretty weird and wonderful rockers.
Cheers, and thanks! Jim
Check out your local hardware store and look for XPS insulation, here in France most of the big chains have them. The bigger panels will allow to make a small-medium size board from a single block of foam. If you are going for a longer board such as a sup or downwind board you might not find something big enough and have to glue some together (works pretty well from what I have read on different foil board builder groups).
I buy Danopren XPS at Leroy Merlin.
First board i used 2500cmx4cm and glued them for an 8cm thick surfoil.
Next one i will use 8 or 10cm panels
, these are available in shorter lenght (unless you buy a pallet) so i will glue them lenghtwise too).
I made a serrated jig to increase contact surface.
For gluing strongest IMHO is Epoxy or Gorilla Glue,but messy ,heavy and a pain to sand.
3M Super77 is less strong but ,light,easy to use(spray) and sands fine.
I use a bit of GGlue away from areas that will need sanding and 3MSuper77 on the rest.
Edit: a single diagonal cut might be easier to do than serrated…with the hotwire and guides it should come out ok.
