Archive for April, 2010
April 7, 2010 at 5:51 pm | Spongercity Interviews News
We wanted to learn more about the new Kinetic™ core from Mez and decided to ask the man himself Nick “Mez” Mesritz a few extra questions about the core. We’re pretty sure that everything you might have wanted to know about the core is in this quick interview we had today with Nick:
Spongercity: So it’s basically EPP but molded into a specific bodyboard core mold with better properties than simple EPP yeah ?
Mez: Firstly, EPP stands for Expanded Polypropylene, not Extruded PP. Expanded and Beaded PP are one in the same. Essentially, Kinetic Core is a proprietary EPP formulation moulded into a Bodyboard specific blank. JSP is the industry leader for EPP, and having created the stuff, naturally they produce the highest grades available.
Spongercity:How different is it from Beaded PP or from the EFC blanks that are also molded cores if i remember well.
Mez: I can’t comment too much on EFC, as I’ve not worked with it, but talking with a couple of shapers that have, they indicated that it was a lower density EPP. Which would make sense, as its touted for use in cool water temps or riders after a more flexible board. As I said before, EPP is Beaded PP, so I can’t say its different. What I do know is that the material we are using for Kinetic Core is the best EPP we can get our hands on.
Spongercity: Is the core available as blanks and then employees at your factory or shapers like you and Dan for example add stringer(s) and/or mesh ?
Mez: Yes, Kinetic Core comes in a blank form and we shape it to suit, adding stringers and/ or mesh if the customer requires it.
Spongercity: Is the Kinetic core similar to the classic EPP you used in term of buoyancy, stiffness and weight ?
Mez: Yes, we have invested a considerable amount of time, energy and cold hard cash to ensure Kinetic Core has all the right attributes in terms of stiffness and finished board weight, which determines displacement/ buoyancy. The one area where EPP excels over Propafoam is its superior compression set characteristics. Which mean’s it’s far more resistant to denting/depressions.
Spongercity: So the cores you work with now at your factory are the classic PE, the 3D core and the Kinetic core yeah ?
Mez: Correct.
Spongercity: In the 3D core is the PP part made from Kinetic PP or from other classic PP material ?
Mez: This seasons 3D boards will be made with a Kinetic PP top layer.
Spongercity: Is the Kinetic easy to laminate like the EPP with just a substrate in between the deck/rails/surlyn and the core ?
Mez: I wouldn’t say its easy, but lamination of the outer skins is very similar to how we fabricated the Propafoam.
Spongercity: Only boards made at the Mez Factory (such as NMD, VS, Pride, Sniper etc.) will benefit from this innovation or do you sell the core to other brands outside your factory ?
Mez: At this stage, only boards made at our factory will use the Kinetic Core moulded blank.
Thanks Theo.
Spongercity:Thanks Mez!
April 7, 2010 at 5:41 pm | Spongercity Industry, International, Interviews News
We wanted to learn more about the new Kinetic™ core from Mez and decided to ask the man himself Nick “Mez” Mesritz a few extra questions about the core. We’re pretty sure that everything you might have wanted to know about the core is in this quick interview we had today with Nick:
Spongercity: So it’s basically EPP but molded into a specific bodyboard core mold with better properties than simple EPP yeah ?
Mez: Firstly, EPP stands for Expanded Polypropylene, not Extruded PP. Expanded and Beaded PP are one in the same. Essentially, Kinetic Core is a proprietary EPP formulation moulded into a Bodyboard specific blank. JSP is the industry leader for EPP, and having created the stuff, naturally they produce the highest grades available.
Spongercity:How different is it from Beaded PP or from the EFC blanks that are also molded cores if i remember well.
Mez: I can’t comment too much on EFC, as I’ve not worked with it, but talking with a couple of shapers that have, they indicated that it was a lower density EPP. Which would make sense, as its touted for use in cool water temps or riders after a more flexible board. As I said before, EPP is Beaded PP, so I can’t say its different. What I do know is that the material we are using for Kinetic Core is the best EPP we can get our hands on.
Spongercity: Is the core available as blanks and then employees at your factory or shapers like you and Dan for example add stringer(s) and/or mesh ?
Mez: Yes, Kinetic Core comes in a blank form and we shape it to suit, adding stringers and/ or mesh if the customer requires it.
Spongercity: Is the Kinetic core similar to the classic EPP you used in term of buoyancy, stiffness and weight ?
Mez: Yes, we have invested a considerable amount of time, energy and cold hard cash to ensure Kinetic Core has all the right attributes in terms of stiffness and finished board weight, which determines displacement/ buoyancy. The one area where EPP excels over Propafoam is its superior compression set characteristics. Which mean’s it’s far more resistant to denting/depressions.
Spongercity: So the cores you work with now at your factory are the classic PE, the 3D core and the Kinetic core yeah ?
Mez: Correct.
Spongercity: In the 3D core is the PP part made from Kinetic PP or from other classic PP material ?
Mez: This seasons 3D boards will be made with a Kinetic PP top layer.
Spongercity: Is the Kinetic easy to laminate like the EPP with just a substrate in between the deck/rails/surlyn and the core ?
Mez: I wouldn’t say its easy, but lamination of the outer skins is very similar to how we fabricated the Propafoam.
Spongercity: Only boards made at the Mez Factory (such as NMD, VS, Pride, Sniper etc.) will benefit from this innovation or do you sell the core to other brands outside your factory ?
Mez: At this stage, only boards made at our factory will use the Kinetic Core moulded blank.
Thanks Theo.
Spongercity:Thanks Mez!
April 7, 2010 at 10:26 am | Spongercity Industry, International News
Mez factory launches new Kinetic Core™
After rumors of discontinued extruded PP core a.k.a “EPP” (the PP core most brands used for their polypro boards) most factories tried to find new cores they could use for their polypro boards to keep those boards in their range and offer a stiffer alternative than the classic PE core.
Nick “Mez” Mesritz recently announced that his Indonesian based bodyboard factory has switched all of their PP production to a new proprietary blend of EPP Expanded Polypropylene cores he has dubbed Kinetic Core. The core will be used for boards made at Mez factory (NMD, VS, Pride etc.)
Here are some more details and info abot the new core with Mez himself:
Why the switch?
When Pregis, the USA based packaging company, ceased production of Propafoam extruded PP core, the only viable option was EPP. A year or so back we contacted all the major EPP companies and began testing their foam to see who could offer the best material. We settled on Arpro® EPP from JSP, the Japanese company that pioneered the development of EPP in the 1970’s. In JSP’s own words, Arpro® is an engineered foam material, constructed by combining polypropylene resin with spe- cial additives, and applying heat, pressure and CO2 in an autoclave, where the material is formed into small plastic beads. These small, closed-cell foam beads are injected into a steam chest to create parts custom moulded into complex shapes using steam heat & pressure. The next step was to work with JSP to design our own unique, bodyboard specific, moulded cores.
What’s with the name?
Kinetic Energy can be described as “the energy of motion”, and while I am aware that true Kinetic Energy is directly related to speed and mass of an object, I liked the connotation of the word “Kinetic” and its relation to motion. We noticed during our testing phase that the Arpro® EPP had these crazy compression set characteristics, meaning that you would compress the material and it would spring straight back to shape. PE does this to some extent, but nothing like what we were seeing with Arpro® EPP. The recoil was off the charts, which can only mean one thing in body- board terms, and that is projection. Motion, projection, recoil, spring, call it what you want, but I’m calling it Kinetic.
What’s the difference between your EPP and other EPP foams?
I really can’t comment on anyone else’s foam. EPP/ BPP/ EFC, they’re all the same material, which is Expanded Polypropylene, albeit at different densities as specified by the customer. All I know is that Kinetic Core is the best EPP I have found and it gives me what I want in a PP bodyboard.
When can we expect to see it?
As they say, coming to a store near you.
April 6, 2010 at 10:17 am | Spongercity Magazines News
Riptide 175 is out now, it’s the readers poll issue with PLC on the cover, in WA shot by Calum McCauley. Such a nice shot!
There’s more than just the readers poll in it with Hawaii stuff, an article called “Pieces of the people we love”, another article called “The navigators” featuring Ash Bryant, Cade Sharp, Dave Winchester, Jose Marquina and Joe Clarke somewhere in the Pacific, and much more. Looks like another good issue!
April 6, 2010 at 9:58 am | Spongercity Moving Pictures News
Filmed by Nic Barclay – A sick 720 off a 1 foot backwashed’ wave: http://vimeo.com/10711649. Landed on the back of the wave but rotation is fully there and stylish! Awesome!
April 4, 2010 at 12:58 am | Spongercity International, Magazines News
THRASH’D & Movement Mag Collaboration Issue – Teaser – To be wtached here on Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/10648165
Can’t wait for the Mag to be delivered in the mail box !
April 1, 2010 at 1:35 pm | Spongercity Industry, International News
Joe Clarke is now riding for VS (the change isn’t that big since NMD is behind the VS project anyway). Jarrod Gibson is Joe’s shaper and they both designed Joe’s new board which will probably soon be available in stores.
Chad Waldron just released a Joe Clarke podcast episode on BOOM! and it’s really amazing with top notch editing and footage.
Joe Clark VS Jarrod Gibson – VS Project 4.0 Podcast: Watch it here on Vimeo.
Podcast Link: on iTunes is here if you wish to subscribe
Podcast RSS feed: is here if you wanna use the RSS to subscribe
« Recent news
