Another foam count down.

Most everyone knows by now that Walker Foam closed their operation down the week before Christmas. So all the guys that have been using Walker will be counting down their inventory of Walker Blanks until they are all gone. It happened with Clark and now with Walker.

For me…. I’ve only got about a half dozen Walkers in stock. Funny, I still have about 3 Clark blanks. Not that the Clarks are anything special… just the few I have were for styles of boards I really do very little of so there they sit. The Walkers on the other hand will get used up quickly. I liked Walker foam very much but they weren’t my only supplier so I like everyone else will just move on.

Not all surfboard foam is alike. Densities vary, blank selections vary, deliveries or will call only suppliers. Glue ups, stringers, rocker curves all play into what board builders go through when dealing with foam.

If you make a certain model, say a high performance long board, the blank that is usually used for that model needs to be accommodating to the over all shape of the board. If I have to change to a different 9’4 blank it will not have the same foam volume or thickness distribution as the one I was always using before. So I will have to work up a new routine for shaping my high performance long board out of a different blank than what I’d been using. It’s difficult and time consuming to make blank changes and have repeat ability. Changing blanks all the time messes with your consistency. Which is why guys find a foam they like and stay with it.

Now if you have blanks machine cut, which I don’t, it’s not as big a problem. Still you have to get a blank that the board you want to make will fit into but, the machine does all the hard milling and getting the foil and rocker all done for you.

Fortunately there are a number of foam suppliers now and I’ve got a couple that are willing to work with me and the particular stuff I want for my boards. Thank God, and the foam guys.

D.R.