Here’s a set of keel fins I’m working on right now. I used Gorilla Glue (which I’ve never used on fins before, but I wanted to test is properties). Any comments or suggestions on the Glue?
Anyone use that Elmers Polyurethane glue for fins?
I’ve had good luck with Tight Bond II wood glue on fins, but I thought I’d give the Gorilla a shot.
I’ll be foiling them tonight and Laminating them with epoxy tomorrow.
More pix soon.
And some more photos…
Nice work. Re PU glue vs. others, my only thought is that the expansion of PU might be a little more difficult to control, but if that was a real problem you would already have encountered it. Out of curiosity, was limiting the number of laminations to control the appearance? I’ve seem some really good work in foiling keels out of plywood, but no matter how skillful the craftsman, the end product always seems to have “randomly wavy edges” that IMHO detract from the cosmetics. I’ve given some thought to the possibility of designing the fin in a CAD program, producing templates for each layer with an “alignment hole”, then cutting and gluing up the results from veneer. In some ways that would be tedious, but I’m not sure it would be any more so than foiling by eye, and I’d like to see if the exposed contrasting wood edges would look any more precise. What do you think?
-Samiam
Hey I use the Elmers PU glue for gluing up stringers, canoe paddles and wood fins. I love the stuff and I used it to bond balsa on to plexi-glass for fins. It’s cheaper than Gorilla Glue also.
I hope this helps.
D
I haven’t laminated them yet… and after foiling… I definitely ended up with some “random wavy edges” in the foil. I’d like to see the end product of that CAD idea you mentioned. That sounds like something that might solve some of my problems.
Okay… I have it too, and should have used it… Next time! Thanks for the reply… and nice fins! Great pics!
Dave (Kawika)
Kawika,
Is it me or are your fins foiled differently on each side? I’m looking at the lam lines in the ply and they appear to be different on each side. I love that template. Looks like a Gephart. Mike
kawika: great looking keels. are you going to glass them? they deserve a nice clear glass halo i reckon.
I haven’t laminated them yet… and after foiling… I definitely ended up with some “random wavy edges” in the foil. I’d like to see the end product of that CAD idea you mentioned. That sounds like something that might solve some of my problems.
The “random wavy edges” can be taken out with a wingblock with some 50 grit wrapped around it. What I mean by wing block, is a foiled block of balsa, flat on one side and the other side rounded so that looking at the end profile, it looks like that of an airplane wing. Anyway, the curved side of the block works really well on the inside curve of a foiled fin. Even with the wavy edges, your fins look bitchen. I’d just go with it.
Rooster The latest pics are just of one fin, but yes, each side of both fins are foiled differently on each side. One side has more foil than the other. I didn’t really want a single foil, yet I didn’t really want a double foil…I was going for the best of both worlds just to see how they ride… and as for the Template… I tried to do my best Geppy impression, so I’ll take that as a compliment and add a big THANKS!
Sweet…thanks for the tip!
These were for a friend as a birthday gift (requested by his wife), and he wants a layer of glass on them so he can have them glassed onto a fish that another friend of his is shaping for him. Any suggestions on the glassing schedule, weight? Resin or Epoxy?
Kawika,
Your fins are sweet. My comments are intended to be a compliment and observation. I don’t do this well enough to criticise anyone. Mike
The “random wavy edges” can be taken out with a wingblock with some 50 grit wrapped around it. What I mean by wing block, is a foiled block of balsa, flat on one side and the other side rounded so that looking at the end profile, it looks like that of an airplane wing.
I love the tips that come out at swaylocks, nice one surfthis!
Kawika, your fins look great. Now you’re ready to glass have you read the B.Burger how-to thread? My fins are 10Xs better since I started doing them like this:
Tom
When I glass wooden fins, I lay a couple or three layers across both of them on the inside (flat side) of the fins and laminate them with resin. Then carefully flip them and lay them on wax paper, and laminate two or more layers on this side. Hot coat and slice with a razor blade after it starts to kick, or wait till the whole mess kicks and cut them out about an eighth or quarter inch around the fins with a jigsaw and refoil. Since your fins are sort of double foiled, you could just laminate one side, let it kick, then do the other, then cut out.
As for resin types, if the board is being glassed with polyester, use that for laminating. If epoxy, it doesn’t matter as much, but I’d use epoxy on the fins as well.
I laminate them a little different. I paint lam resin on the wood as a seeler before applying the fiberglass. I use one layer of 6 oz on each side with a fiberglass roving bead around the edge. When I glass them onto the board I use another layer of 6 oz(makeing two layers of 6 oz.) and “football” shaped glass pieces with a roving base. Roving under the fiberglass sheets. Hope that makes sense and this has worked very well for me. Mike
It looks like maybe I should clarify a bit. My “wavy edges” doesn’t refer to the laminations themselves. Just about all of the craftsmen here who do these fins get that part perfect. But in the process of foiling them by grinding and sanding, inevitably the angles vary over different parts of the same layer(s). That produces sort of a “smeary” effect where the apparent thickness of a layer varies. My question/proposal was to find out of that effect could be minimized by cutting the layers to very nearly the “after-foiling” shape and assembling the layers carefully using alignment marks. In theory, the only after-assembly prep step would be to chamfer the edges of the laminations, and depending on lamination thickness and the amount of glass and resin to be applied, that might even be optional.
-Samiam
