Cloth and resin together are what shapers call "glass" — the cured material that surrounds the foam core. The shape determines how a board surfs in the first second; the glass determines whether it's still surfing the same way five years later. Most builders will tell you about the shape. Most builders cut to the cheapest sourced glass on the materials side because customers rarely ask. We do it differently because the materials *are* the board on a long enough timeline.
This guide is a deeper companion to the [Glassing Schedules guide](/build-guide/glassing-schedules). Where the schedules guide tells you which layers go where on each board category, this guide tells you what those layers actually are — the four weave families used in surfboard construction, what they do, and why the choice between them matters.
Cloth + Resin = "Glass"
Old-school terminology was "fiberglass cloth" or just "cloth" — the dry woven material before lamination. Once the cloth is wet out with resin and the resin kicks (cures), the resulting laminate is "glass." That's the term shapers use in the bay. This guide uses glass throughout (S-glass, warp glass, E-glass) to match how the build crew talks about the material.
Two pieces matter for every weave decision: the fibers themselves (what the strands are made of, which determines tensile strength and stiffness) and the weave (how the strands are oriented and packed, which determines how the cloth lays on the board, how much resin it absorbs, and how the laminate handles flex). The four weave families below differ on one or both of those axes.
E-Glass — The Industry Standard
E-glass (the "E" originally stood for *electrical-grade*, since the fiber was developed for electrical insulation in the 1930s) is the standard fiberglass used in surfboard construction for decades. It's affordable, consistent, easy to wet out, and forgiving in the laminator's hands. Most surfboards on most racks worldwide are made from E-glass.
Weights we use — 4oz is the most common; 6oz is the heavier choice when impact resistance matters more than weight. There's also a 2oz version that BoardLams uses as the substrate for printed custom logo lams — when a customer orders a custom logo, the artwork is printed on a thin 2oz E-glass carrier and inlaid under a regular layer of glass during lamination.
Working characteristics — easy wet-out, predictable working time, lays around rails cleanly. Per [Greenlight Surf Supply](https://greenlightsurfsupply.com/blogs/news/an-explanation-of-the-different-fiberglass-types-used-in-surfboard-construction): "4 oz. E fiberglass cloth is the most common cloth used to glass a surfboard. E-glass is easy to wet out with polyester or epoxy resin and laps around the rails easily."
Where it sits in our schedule — E-glass is the workhorse on the bottom of most builds and as patch material under the fin boxes and tail. The bottom of the board takes less abuse than the deck (no foot pressure, only water contact and occasional rock or reef hits), so E-glass on the bottom buys durability without paying for the premium weaves where they wouldn't earn their keep. The Whiteline brand we source most of our E-cloth from carries it as 1522 (4oz × 27"/42"), 7533 (6oz × 30"), and 416B (7.5oz × 30") via [Fiberglass Source](https://fiberglasssource.com/blogs/blog-post/surfboard-fiberglass-fabric-types).
Warp Glass — The Strength Variant
Warp glass is still E-glass *fiber* — the strand chemistry is the same as standard E-cloth — but the weave is different. Standard E-cloth has equal strands running in both directions: warp (nose-to-tail) and fill (rail-to-rail). Per Fiberglass Source: "individual yarns in a 50/50 construction with equal strands going in the 'fill' direction (rail to rail) and 'warp' direction (nose and tail)." Warp glass shifts that balance — more strands run nose-to-tail, fewer run rail-to-rail.
Two effects fall out of the weave change:
1. Directional stiffness. A board flexes most along its length when you press down on the deck during a turn or weight the tail off the lip. More fibers running in that direction means more break-and-buckle resistance. Per [Greenlight](https://greenlightsurfsupply.com/blogs/news/an-explanation-of-the-different-fiberglass-types-used-in-surfboard-construction): "WARP glass has more fiberglass strands running lengthwise (parallel to the stringer) providing more break and buckle strength in the board."
2. Cleaner finish, less resin uptake. Warp glass lays flatter on the foam during lamination, which means it absorbs less resin to wet out fully. Per [Fiberglass Source](https://fiberglasssource.com/products/4oz-x-27-warp-whiteline-1579-surfboard-fiberglass): "lays flatter on the board using less resin to saturate, the end results are a lighter finished surfboard." Warp also holds resin tints especially cleanly because the tighter pack of nose-to-tail strands keeps pigment evenly distributed.
Weights we use — 4oz and 6oz, depending on the board category. Whiteline carries warp as 1579 (4oz) and 2414 (6oz).
Where it sits in our schedule — warp is on every Lundquist build, on at least one layer. It's the structural backbone that resists flex fatigue over years of riding. See the [Glassing Schedules guide](/build-guide/glassing-schedules) for the per-category breakdown.
S-Glass — The Premium Structural Weave
S-glass (and its brand-name cousin S-2 Glass®) is a different fiber chemistry from E-glass. The "S" stands for higher tensile Strength, achieved by reformulating the glass with magnesium aluminosilicate instead of the calcium-aluminoborosilicate base used in E-glass. The fiber was originally developed for aerospace and ballistic-resistant composites, where the strength-to-weight ratio matters enough to justify the higher production cost.
Tensile strength comparison. Published numbers are consistent across sources but worth quoting directly:
- E-glass tensile strength: ~3,400–3,445 MPa per [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_fiber) and [Prince-Lund Engineering](https://www.princelund.com/glass-fiber.html).
- S-glass / S-2 glass tensile strength: ~4,600–4,890 MPa per the same sources.
- Stiffness (Young's modulus): E-glass 76.0 GPa, S-2 glass 85.5 GPa — about 12% stiffer.
- Difference in tensile strength: roughly 35–42% higher than E-glass at the raw-fiber level.
- Performance in real laminates: [AGY](https://www.agy.com/s2-glass/) — the company that holds the S-2 Glass trademark — publishes that "S-2 Glass fiber offers significantly more strength: 85% more tensile strength in resin-impregnated strands compared to conventional glass fiber" once the fiber is wet out and cured.
In surfboard-industry terms, [Greenlight](https://greenlightsurfsupply.com/blogs/news/an-explanation-of-the-different-fiberglass-types-used-in-surfboard-construction) frames it as: "4 oz. S-2 fiberglass cloth is rated 20% stronger than standard E glass" — a more conservative number that reflects how the strength advantage shows up in surfboard-relevant load patterns (not pure-tensile pull tests, which is where the 35–85% range comes from).
Working characteristics. S-glass behaves similarly to E-glass for the laminator. Per Greenlight: "S-glass is a bit 'stiffer' than E glass or WARP glass but laps around rails fairly easily." Wet-out is clean, working time is predictable. The board comes out either lighter at the same strength, or stronger at the same weight, depending on the schedule.
Production process. S-glass is washed cleaner and oven-cured to a more consistent finish than E-glass — the higher production cost shows up in the cleaner weave and more consistent resin uptake.
Where it sits in our schedule — S-glass is on the deck of most Lundquist builds, paired with warp glass. The deck is where the board takes the most beating: foot pressure during paddling, heel and toe loading during turns, the press of a hard front-foot bottom turn. Premium weave goes where it earns its keep. Per [Greenlight](https://greenlightsurfsupply.com/blogs/news/an-explanation-of-the-different-fiberglass-types-used-in-surfboard-construction): "Laminating a surfboard with S-2 fiberglass cloth will greatly decrease heel dents and dings if glassed on the deck wrapping the rails."
A note on Whiteline + S-glass. The Whiteline brand we source most of our E-cloth and warp from doesn't carry S-cloth as a Whiteline product — S-cloth in the surfboard supply chain is sourced from BGF, Hexcel, and AGY-direct distributors, not the Whiteline product line. We source S-glass separately from the same outlets that supply the rest of the high-performance composites industry.
Tensile Strength In Customer Terms
Tensile strength is how much pulling force a material can take before it breaks. Picture a rope: the more force it can take before it snaps, the higher its tensile strength. S-glass fibers can take roughly 35% more pulling force than E-glass fibers before they fail at the raw-fiber level, and roughly 85% more once they're wet out with resin and cured into a laminate.
On a surfboard, that translates to:
- More resistance to pressure dings under your front foot, where the deck takes the most cyclical loading.
- More impact resistance from a heel-press during a hard turn, where the loading is sudden and concentrated.
- A longer service life before fiber fatigue starts to soften the deck and the board loses its crisp ride feel.
The premium materials don't make a board surf better on day one. The shape does that. The premium materials are what keep the board surfing the same way on day 1,000.
Volan — The Aesthetic Option
Volan is the original surfboard cloth. In the 1950s and 60s, before the surf industry had its own cloth supply chain, builders glassed boards with cloth pulled from boat-building and tooling supply houses. Volan was that cloth: a heavier weave (typically 6oz or 7.5oz) finished with a chrome-salt treatment that gave the cured laminate a distinctive greenish "Coke bottle" tint when the resin saturated through it.
What it is, technically — Volan today is still E-glass fiber, finished with a chrome-treated sizing that produces the green refraction. Per [Shapers Composites](https://shaperscomposites.com/fibreglass-cloth/volan-cloth/): "Volan Fibreglass has similar strength properties to E-Glass, and is most popular in 6oz." Available in 4oz, 6oz, 7.5oz, and 10oz weights from multiple suppliers ([Greenlight](https://greenlightsurfsupply.com/products/volan-fiberglass-cloth), [Fiberglass Source](https://fiberglasssource.com/products/bgf-10oz-volan-cloth-7500-38-inch-125-yd-rl), [Sanded Australia](https://www.sanded.com.au/products/volan-6oz-fibreglass-cloth-39-inch-wide), [Foam EZ](https://foamez.com/product/7-5oz-volan-cloth-30-wide-per-yd/)).
What it does — the chrome treatment doesn't add structural strength over standard E-glass. It's an aesthetic finish. The green tint reads warm under clear resin and ages beautifully on retro-styled longboards, single fins, and traditional fish.
When to pick it — if you want the period-correct visual, particularly on a clear-resin or transparent-tint longboard build. We offer volan as a tail patch upgrade on any board for the heritage look. It's not a structural upgrade; it's a styling choice with a 70-year provenance.
Why Same-Weight, Same-Weave Layers Don't Touch on the Rails
This is the laminator-craft reason our default schedules pair *different* weaves rather than stacking two layers of the same cloth.
When two glass layers wrap around the rail, the cloth from the deck overlaps the cloth from the bottom in the rail bond zone. If both layers are the same weave with the same fiber direction — say, 4oz E-glass on the deck and 4oz E-glass on the bottom — the overlap is two parallel layers of the same cloth pressing against each other through cured resin. Three issues can show up over time:
1. Resin uptake interaction. The second layer can wick resin from the first as the laminate cures, especially in the rail wrap where capillary effects are strongest. Uneven cure on the underside of the bond can show up later as small voids or cloudy patches under the finish.
2. Same-direction flex stress. When fibers in two adjacent layers run the same direction, the laminate flexes as a single thicker unit rather than two cooperating layers. Under repeated pressure cycling — every paddle stroke, every turn, every duck dive — same-direction layers can develop micro-fractures at the interface that wouldn't develop if the layers had complementary fiber orientation.
3. Optical interference. Two identical weaves laid over each other at slightly different angles can produce a faint moiré pattern visible through clear resin in raking light. Not structural, but visible to a customer who looks closely.
Lundquist schedules avoid this by pairing different weaves in the rail wrap. A typical deck has S-glass on top and warp glass underneath (different fiber chemistry on top, different weave geometry underneath); the bottom has warp glass over E-glass (different weave geometry on top, different fiber chemistry underneath). When the deck and bottom layers meet on the underside of the rail, no two adjacent layers are identical. Cleaner cure, cooperating flex, no optical interference. See the [Glassing Schedules guide](/build-guide/glassing-schedules) for the per-category layer order.
The Lundquist Standard, In Brief
The full schedule for each board category lives in the [Glassing Schedules guide](/build-guide/glassing-schedules). For materials direction:
- Deck is where premium weaves earn their keep. S-glass paired with warp glass gives the deck the strength-to-weight ratio that resists pressure denting and the cooperating-weave geometry that holds up under pressure cycling.
- Bottom is where E-glass plus warp glass plus reinforcement patches at the fin boxes carry the duty without paying for premium weaves where they wouldn't earn it.
- Finish is sanded by default for shortboards, twins, and most mids; gloss + polish on longboards and as a premium-tier upgrade on any category.
The schedule scales heavier on bigger boards and customer-stepup builds — see the schedules guide for the per-category layer-by-layer.
Why We Pay for Premium Glass
We use premium weaves on every board we build, even when the customer would never know the difference. The reason isn't day-one performance — most surfers can't feel the difference between an E-glass deck and an S-glass deck on the first session. The reason is years three, five, ten.
We want our boards on the used market years from now and recognized as boards that lasted. Most builders cut to cheaper glass because the customer rarely asks and the cost shows up in the margin. We do it differently because the reputation of a custom shaper is built one schedule at a time — and the materials are the board.
If you have questions about which schedule is right for your build, or want to upgrade beyond the defaults, [message us](/contact) and we'll walk through the options.