The surfboard shaping industry has changed dramatically since polyurethane (PU) became the world's most popular core.
Yes, computer numeric control (CNC) machines have been increasingly reducing production time, and alternative blanks such as polystyrene (PS), expanded polystyrene (EPS), and extruded polystyrene foam (XTR or XPS) have found niche markets.
However, most surfboards today start as blocks of petroleum-based foam. Shapers cut away as much as 40 percent of that foam, and much of it ends up in landfills.
Things are about to change slowly, thanks to the introduction of 3D printing hardware and, as SurferToday reported recently, 3D scanning.
Inside a workshop near Steamer Lane in Santa Cruz, there is a small company called Swellcycle chasing a new way to make surfboards.
The startup flips the traditional surfboard-shaping process by using large-format 3D printers to build surfboard cores layer by layer, using only the material needed.
It's important to stress this thing: shaping a surfboard with only the material needed and near-zero waste.
So, how does it all work?
The cores are printed from a plant-based thermoplastic made from renewable sources like corn starch or sugar cane.
The material, known as polylactic acid, is industrially compostable under controlled conditions and fully recyclable.
"Basically, made mostly from corn or sugar cane. Anything that can be turned into sugar," Swellcycle sustainability and operations manager Dr. Liesbeth Van Hassel told CBS News Bay Area.
Instead of foam dust and offcuts, the only leftover material is printer support plastic.
But before you mention the word "waste," there's a catch - Swellcycle shreds that material and reuses it in new products.
When a board reaches the end of its life, the core can be returned, broken down, and reborn again. The company's goal is a closed loop where materials stay in use and out of the ocean.
Inside a New Kind of Core
A Swellcycle surfboard may look familiar on the outside, but the real change is inside. Each board has a printed lattice structure that replaces traditional foam and wooden stringers.
The internal grid can be tuned for strength, weight, and flex, depending on how and where the board will be ridden - the type of wave, the size of the wave, the type of ride, etc.
Boards are printed directly from digital design files created in shaping software like Shape3D or AkuShaper.
Shapers can adjust dimensions instantly and reproduce the same board again and again with micrometric precision.
There is no CNC cutting and no finish shaping required.
After printing, the cores are laminated with epoxy resin, about 30 percent of which is biobased, making the boards waterproof and durable.
According to Van Hassel, the printed cores "hardly ever get pressure dings," a common issue with traditional PU surfboards.
The entire Santa Cruz facility, including the 3D printers, runs on solar power.
Swellcycle works with established surfboard brands such as Spina, Iconoclast, and Tigre Bona, and says more shapers are joining the lineup.
"We're developing tools to make manufacturing more sustainable," co-founder and CEO Patricio Guerrero said in the CBS report.
"You're actually laying down the material you need rather than subtracting it from a big block of foam."
Surfers who have tested the boards at demo days in Santa Cruz describe them as fast, fun, and comfortable to ride, even though they are built in a completely different way.
Scanning the Past
Not every great surfboard starts on a computer.
Many surfers have an old, beaten favorite board that is no longer made, or one that has been repaired too many times to ride again.
Swellcycle's 3D scanning service is designed for exactly that problem.
The company can scan a physical surfboard with high-resolution tools that capture shape and surface detail down to about 1/16 of an inch.
The result is a clean digital file that can be printed as an exact replica, scaled up or down, or fine-tuned for new conditions.
Shapers who prefer to work by hand can still do so.
They shape the board the traditional way, then bring it in to be scanned and added to the 3D printing workflow. From there, the board can be reproduced consistently without touching a planer again.
The same scanning technology is used on objects ranging from seashells to large sculptures, but for surfers, it offers something personal: a way to keep riding a trusted design, even as materials and manufacturing methods change.
At a time when tens of millions of surfboards are produced each year with little thought for what happens to them after they break, Swellcycle is betting that performance, precision, and circular design are truly part of the future of surfing and its industry.
Words by Luís MP | Founder of SurferToday.com
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