Kiteforum.com

Aloha,
Starting to plan out my board shape, materials etc, Pretty well settled on a foam core with poured epoxy rails & vacuum bagged epoxy layup. I was wondering from people who've had experience what do you see being the main differences or advantages between corecell and divinycell? I can get both pretty easily and I've worked with corecell in the past but this would be my first time making a board out of it. Before I go buy a sheet of one or the other I'd like to hear peoples experiences using these materials and which one they recommend and why.

I wouldn't bother with the poured rails with divinicell. Not that you won't get dings, it's just the dings don't matter because the core doesn't absorb water at all. I've used divinicell parts where the glass had been completely worn off(sand had worn the fin tip) and I kept using it for YEARS with exposed core, no rot, no delamination. Go with no pour, get dings, and fix them at your convenience, the next day, month, or year...

The only reason most people pour rails is becasue if they do mess up a rail the board will absorb water and delaminate...

I use the H-80 divinicell. Handles nice. Not to prone to sucking up raw resin when bagged. I can't get either easily but could get the H-80 slightly less impossibly. I'm jelly. Oh and if you can on the epoxy rails try and get all the bubbles out. If you figure out how to vacuum degas it I'd love to hear your technique. I find using a catheter tip 2oz syringe to work ok.

I don't know the ability to shape the rail and reshape it is nice. If you want to get ding resistance abs is nice. Ram it into piers no problem. Drop it going into the trunk. No problem. If you want to get crazy and are using full carbon skins the poly urethane is nice. Might cut down on vibration a bit. Bit toxic and prone to bubbles. If I use it again I'm rigging a vacuum degas setup for sure... and mixing smaller batches. Stuff kicks off fast at high temp in large batches.

I have only every used AIREX and works very well with poured rails. I did a test sample before my final pour and the poured rail with AIREX was solid. It would be impossible to separate without breaking the foam core. AIREX is a little more expensive and it does tend to make the board feel a little dead same could be said for Corecell/Divinycell. Trying a balsa core next.

Ding resistance ABS is king. Epoxy rails less so but pretty resistant mind you. Bubbles are a issue but you usually find they will settle in about the top 1mm of the pour after curing. After final shaping sanding they pretty much gone.