ISSA - International Slalom Skateboarding Association

Does anyone know if G&S MADE FibreFlex or if the boards were cut out of a pre-made material available on the market? In other words, did G&S lay up the glas and maple and press it together or did they buy sheets of the stuff and cut out shapes and steam in kicktails?

I've seen since my early skating days how hunting bows are made from the same type construction and that's where "Bowtuff" gets its name. I'm just wondering if G&S bought the sandwiched material all ready to go from some materials supplier and then cut out boards from sheets of the stuff.

I've got no idea. But there is some nice footage of fibreglass Hobies being made on here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-g2GLSaLy0U at the 8 minute mark.

I visited Tayor Dykema in San Diego back in 1991 and they had old G&S decks on display.
They made the decks and cut them, so I belive that they also pressed them. But the fiberglass of the old G&S decks looks different than the newer bowtuff decks, so it might be another manufacturing process. Probably they used pre-fab fiberglass and then pressed the maple veneers. As the boards back then were flat with a slight kick and/or camber/rocker, there was not too much pressure needed to press the fiberglass into the molds; at least I would have done it that way......

The Botuff used in early Fibreflex boards (and also in the up to the end repops) is and was a pre-cured, oriented strand fiberglass product that was manufactured in San Marcos, California then trucked down to San Diego proper for lamination onto the wooden blanks. Older boards, including my 1978 TeamRider model, were produced by Larry and another in a Pacific Beach garage, according to Debbie nee' Gordon, who took one look at my board and dated it for production. There are only very small supplies of the product, and it has not been produced in years.

World Champion Lynn Kramer once worked in one of the mfg plant used by G&S/Fibreflex and made boards including, neatly, my Fibreflex 44Pin. The Pins don't use Botuff, but boards with it were produced around the same time, I think. Lynn has always had that engineer's eye for things, so she may be a good source for more information on Botuff production.

If that doesn't work, drop me a line ... ebasil@silverfishlongboarding.com ... and I'll ask Debbie more about it at ASR this week.