The 3D printed surfboard

Problem

Traditional surfboard manufacture is labour intensive and uses toxic resins that cannot be recycled at the end of the products short life.

Opportunity

Create a surfboard manufacturing process that can be automated with 3D printing while using biodegradable materials that decompose at the end of the product’s life.

Solution

Use XYZprinting’s newly developed large-format FDM 3D printers to print a lightweight surfboard frame using PLA, a biodegradable plastic made from corn-starch.

Lessons learnt

The 3D printed surfboard was significantly heavier than standard surfboards that use polyurethane foam. User’s mentioned that it didn’t perform as well as a standard surfboard. This will hopefully be addressed in the next design iteration.

My Role

Industrial Designer
Tools:BoardCAD, Rhino, Onshape, pen and paper
Date: July 2018 - Decemeber 2018 (7 months)
Team:Josh Campbell (Surfboard shaper), Yang Kura (video), Josh Dalgety (documention)
Deliverables: Exhibition ready surfboard, marketing video