Posted on November 01 2017
As you may know we have Championed Basalt Fibre for years with its properties for surfboards. Yes we know it doesn't look as sexy as Carbon but with the added interest now coming in on the Eco boards "Golden Brown is the New black!"
So here's why Basalt:
Here is the interesting aspects of basalt fiber. In its' raw neat form without a matrix (resins), it is only about 12% higher in strain-to-failure than conventional e-glass. Now 12% doesn't sound that impressive, but as you know in composites, it is. Here's where it gets really cool.....when you saturate it with epoxy, the strength properties grow from 12% higher than glass in strain-to-failure to 92% higher. Most surfboard builders don't think about this, but it is really important to try to match a fiber's elongation % with the matrix elongation %.
This is why Basalt should be looked at for the real functional use in Surfboards that takes a beating. Basalt fiber is a perfect harmonic marriage with epoxies (Hence why we recommend using epoxy to get the trues strengths in all our advanced composites (Carbons, Kevlar and Basalt).So when basalt and epoxy load up, they fail as a unit instead of two lower energy failures - meaning they hold in together as much as they can until they finally fail.... together
Compared to Epoxy and Carbon - 2 different elongations 2 different Failure points.
A harmonic elongation reduces vibration - meaning in a surfboard - less vibration, less chatter
Here's the next good part of the story:
The beauty of basalt fiber is that it is nothing more than dirt shoveled out of the ground, heated to a very high temp and pushed through very expensive bushings to be spun into a yard which is then made into a cloth! So if you are looking for an ECO option Basalt should be considered
Have a look at our range! I'm sure there is something in our product that will suit your next Surfboard build!