I have a few yards of 4oz cloth that isn’t wide enough to glass a board with. I was thinking of using it to make a longboard fin. Can I use 4oz cloth though, as every fin tutorial I have read they use 6oz. normal or 7.5oz volan cloth?
If I can use it, how many layers of cloth should I use for the fin? Again, all guides I have seen use heavier cloth. Thank you for you help.
36 layers of 6 oz for box fin
23 layers 6oz for fcs tabs
26 layers 7.5 oz for box fin
19 layers 7.5 oz for fcs tab
4 oz guess would be 45 layers for box fin can be done or a mixture 4 and 6 ounce…
If you need some reference for ‘dry’ thickness of cloth, try here:
https://www.uscomposites.com/cloth.html
Fin lams are usually ‘juicier’ (trending towards more resin) than board and other weight-saving type lams. So the real world results will probably be less layers and more resin. Off the cuff I would deduct 10% of the calculated dry layers, lam a panel, and measure the results to influence the next panel. A little too thick might be better than a little too thin…
Cheers to those who laminate panels, I always meant to-even bought the old beveled mirror- but have yet to go after it completely from scratch. I did laminate some black FR4 sheets into tab fin panels.
PS If you want to go two steps deeper down the rabbit hole, start a spreadsheet:
Wow, that chart is super helpful thank you! Thanks for the help both of you.
What you have to look is final quantity of fiber you need. More or less 6+6oz = 4+4+4 = 12oz fiber. In facr the 3x4 should be better because you can lam each layers wet on wet, 4 oz is easier to well saturate, and you can rotate 45° center layer wich is better for isotropic strengh. But it cost more and take more time.
