An Australian start-up business is working to identify a
suitable 3D printing material out of which to create its surfboards.
AAP reports that Disrupt Surfing, which started last
year, said boards were an item that was suited to mass customisation.
“We think you need to be able to customise the
boards to a person’s exact skill and personal preference in design,” CEO
Gary Elphick told AAP.
The major obstacle to be overcome was to come up with a
3D printable material that was the right weight and strength, and which could create a
product that was structurally suited to use in the ocean.
It is in partnerships with an unnamed Chinese company
to try and develop this.
“For a commercially available thing, we’re probably looking at 18 months to 24 months,” Elphick said.
The custom surfboard company began in the first half of
2014, according to a profile last year in BRW, and currently designs and prints prototype boards
in Sydney before sending design files to Thailand or China for manufacture. Elphick
described it as similar to Shoes of Prey’s business, but for surfboards.
Disrupt was among the class #2 intake of Telstra’s muru-D business accelerator program. Participants in this received six months
of mentoring and $40,000 in seed funding in exchange for a 6 per cent stake in
their business.
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