Re: Strike one more vendo - Clark Foam is gone

[Rich S.]

"Richard Riley" > wrote in message
...
> Anyone who's built a Vari Eze or a KR knows how nice Clark foam is to
> work with. They've shut down.

A friend of mine owns this company. . .

http://www.xydroid.com/

I'll bet they could make just about anything a guy wanted out of foam or,
they'll sell you the machine to do it yourself.

Rich S.

[Bob Kuykendall]

Earlier, Rich S. wrote:

> A friend of mine owns this company. . .
>
> http://www.xydroid.com/
>
> I'll bet they could make just about anything a guy wanted out of foam or,
> they'll sell you the machine to do it yourself.

That's a general-purpose foam shaping machine. Mostly good for EPS and
EPP, and not much good at all for producing the raw materials.

The trouble is that Clark was the supplier for a really nice blend of
polyurethane foam that nobody else seems to make. I don't think that
its rocket science to make the foam, so I figure that someone's gonna
step in and fill that market niche before it's a crisis. My money is on
the Last-a-foam guys up north.

The real problem is that the domestic surfboard manufacturing industry
has been struggling against low-cost imports from Asia, specifically
Vietnam. And now, with a shortage of foam board blanks, the locals are
poised to lose a huge amount of market share because they just can't
get the materials to produce. It's unlikely they'll be able to get any
of that market share back when the foam or a reasonable substitute does
become widely available again. Sad times all around.

My bet is that the Clark guys have been seeing the handwriting on the
wall for a while now, and that now is as good a time as any to throw in
the towel while they can do so on their own terms.

Thanks, Bob K.

[Rich S.]

"Bob Kuykendall" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>
> That's a general-purpose foam shaping machine. Mostly good for EPS and
> EPP, and not much good at all for producing the raw materials.

Aha! Unnerstand now.

Rich S.