Have you ever watched surfing on television? The technology that goes into surfboards to help their riders stay secured and in control on the face of the wave has progressed immensely over the years. But you probably didn’t realize that one of the tools that help surfboards get their critical shape are abrasive tools, many times they are diamond abrasives.

At any given moment, there’s a good chance that you have the opportunity to watch a sporting event unfolding on television, Typically it’s, football or baseball, but on some occasions you get the special opportunity to witness a surfing competition.

Eastwind Abrasives has provided diamond abrasives for many clients, including a surfboard shaper in California who needed the perfect abrasive discs to give his surfboards the glassy finish he needed“The Eddie,” a big wave surfing competition only held when wave faces in Waimea Bay, Hawaii reach a minimum of 30 feet. In either case, the level ofprecision and quality available in modern surfboards continues to push the sport forward – and better materials and tools have enabled surfers to accomplish more than they ever thought possible in the water.

While surfing contests are a testament to phenomenal athleticism and skill, one of the undeniable unsung heroes of the sport is the surfboard. At the same time, it’s also the tools used by surfboard shapers that help make modern surfboard shaping the high precision art it is today.

In the past, Eastwind Abrasives has had the opportunity to contribute to this sport, all the way from Vermont. For example, when one of our clients in California was researching materials for his own line of surfboards, he contacted us for advice on the best abrasives to use. Ultimately, after some consultation, we supplied him with 8” resin bond disks in various mesh/micron sizes along with resin bond hand pads s to help him shape his boards and produce the smooth glassy finish he needed.

For years, surfboards have been shaped with a variety of tools, including foam planers, calipers, and sanders – but that is not to say that innovation hasn’t allowed the sport to achieve a higher level of precision and performance.

One of these tools has turned out to be resin bond disks and diamond abrasives. Before and after “glassing” the surfboard with the resin that will form it’s hard outer shell, abrasives like resin bond disks play a major role in effectively working out imperfections and sanding away excess resin without gouging or damaging the finished product. By taking advantage of diamond abrasives, surfboard shapers get the clean, attractive, and hydro-dynamic glass-like surface they need with sanding materials that work more efficiently and last longer.

So what are resin bond discs?

Resin bond discs are coated in micron-grade diamonds secured to a tough and durable resin, which is in turn connected to an aluminum plate or a foam hand plate, providing a much more powerful option for surfboard shapers around the world.

After the outline of an unfinished board, known as the blank, is finished. The shaper then goes over the board with a power planer to give its surfaces the contours it needs. After shaping with a hand planer, the board’s surfaces are sanded with  sand paper to give it the smooth and even surface it needs. However, recently sand paper has been replaced more often by diamond abrasives, which allow greater efficiency and longevity.

Because of this, shapers that create a large number of surfboards have found that diamond abrasives (like resin bond disks) have been an ideal innovation.  At the same time, not all shaping allows the use of power tools for sanding. Sometimes shapers need more precision and control. For this there are also abrasive hand pads for finishing and polishing surfaces quickly, effectively, and carefully.  Because these hand pads are geared towards hand-use, they have a foam backing that allows them to easily conform to the sides, or the rails, of the surfboard. This makes hand sanding the surfboard faster, more effective, and much easier.

So as you can see, quite a lot goes into the creation of the surfboards you see at the local beach and on TV, whether they are ridden by professionals charging massive walls of water the size of a house or everyday surfers around the world. From our position in beautiful Vermont, all of us at Eastwind Abrasives are proud to have contributed in some way to a sport that makes the most of nature.