Sanded Australia: now producing fused carbon tape in Australia

Surfboard manufacturing supplier Sanded Australia has developed a thermal bonded non-woven carbon tape to be used in the construction of surfboards. And it's made in Australia.

Composite rail tapes have become an important part of surfboard construction.

With the rise of EPS/Epoxy surfboards, carbon rail, and stringers, tapes have become more function over fashion, as they help with the flex/strength performance of the surfboard.

"We are not the first to make this product for surfboards, but we are the first to get it manufactured here in Australia," notes John Dowse, owner of Sanded Australia.

"We are very passionate about supporting the Australian industry."

"In our business, we always look for an Australian option of the product before we go overseas, and sometimes we just work out ways to make it in Australia anyway."

"We gave ourselves a big challenge on this one."

"Not only the machine had to be purchased to cater for the manufacture of this type of composite in Australia, but we had to adapt the machine to make our tapes more eco-friendly (by getting rid of the throwaway plastic backing), straighter (carbon lays straight and flat), and easier to use compared to all the competitors' fused tapes out in the market."

Fused carbon tape: made down under by Sanded Australia

Increased Tensile Strength

Sanded Australia is pleased with the results and can offer individually styled, customized tapes from 40mm right up to 400mm deck patches with very quick turn-around times.

The major benefit of fused carbon tape is that you're able to create a product that can be laminated completely flat in prominent areas of a surfboard, which helps increase tensile strength and add less weight compared to other tapes.

The fused tape products aim to take out the extra steps that woven rail tape sometimes adds to the surfboard build.

The woven tapes get raised edges, which means glassers and sanders will have issues with resin build-up and sand throughs when finishing the surfboard.

The fused tape product sits almost as flat as a piece of paper, so the issues are reduced, and the production can be finished quicker.

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