I just finished shaping a 6’ 3" board, its my first board and im pyched!!! Maybe you guys can help with some easy questions: What size/type of fin box and fin would you guys recomend. Any advice on fiberglass for this type of board. Weight?, Number of layers top or bottom? Thanks for any feed back. Kev
I just finished shaping a 6’ 3" board, its my first board and im > pyched!!! Maybe you guys can help with some easy questions:>>> What size/type of fin box and fin would you guys recomend.>>> Any advice on fiberglass for this type of board. Weight?, Number of layers > top or bottom?>>> Thanks for any feed back. Kev Cool I remember that day. I don’t know what type of shape you made egg , or more of a doc lausch type shape but regardless. I made a 6’3" egg and used a Harbour 8.5 flex fin works great. The only mistake I made is I didn’t put the fin box back far enough. It’s at 6" from the tail so my fin is all the way at bottom of the box (10"standard box). I made a 6’ 5" diamond tail and put the box at 4.5" from the back and used a Dale Dobson standard 7.5 (fins unlimited ) I glassed all my singles with 6oz top and 4oz bottom seems to work fine not to heavy but enough extra weight to get some enertia going. It’s fun to see how quickly you can adapt to the different style of boards . Surf half a session on your single then jump back on your thruster. It won’t help your heat surfing but it will make you a better overall surfer. After a while you should be able to jump from single to a high performance thruster to a fish to a longboard and be grooving in about two waves.
I would go with the Fins Unlimited fin box. As far as size and brand of fin, you’ll have to do some experimenting in those areas. The good thing about the fin box is that it lets you play with different fin sizes and templates. You may want to start with an 8 inch fin and go from there. The position of the fin in the box is also very important. When I got my first board glassed, I decided to go a little heavier just in case I some areas were accidently over shaped. Deck= 1 layer 6oz + 1 layer 4oz. Bottom= 1 layer 6oz.
I just finished shaping a 6’ 3" board, its my first board and im > pyched!!! Maybe you guys can help with some easy questions:>>> What size/type of fin box and fin would you guys recomend.>>> Any advice on fiberglass for this type of board. Weight?, Number of layers > top or bottom?>>> Thanks for any feed back. Kev Install as long a box as you can so you can move the fin up and back. This is just as important as the size and shape of the fin.
Install as long a box as you can so you can move the fin up and back. This > is just as important as the size and shape of the fin. Thanks for all the suggestions. I will definately keep them in mind. I gotta another easy question: Im getting confused on the different layers that go on the board Ok. there is fiberglass, laminated layer, the Hot coat mix, the Gel Coat, the Gloss, any I have missed. What exactly is the “hot coat mix”? In the case that all of these are used. What’s first…last, etc. Before I think i know how all this works…Im trying to acheive the basics, so I hope this didn’t fall into the “stupid question catagory” thanks for the help. K
Thanks for all the suggestions. I will definately keep them in mind. I > gotta another easy question: Im getting confused on the different layers > that go on the board>>> Ok.>>> there is fiberglass, laminated layer, the Hot coat mix, the Gel Coat, the > Gloss, any I have missed. What exactly is the “hot coat mix”?>>> In the case that all of these are used. What’s first…last, etc. kev, fiberglass cloth comes in different weights. 4oz, 6oz being most common used. most surfboards have two layers of cloth on the deck and one on the bottom. Either same weight or mix of the two. The lam layer is just the cloth with lam resin. that is resin without wax additive. After you have done both the deck and bottom with a lam layer, you then hot coat the board. this is basically lam resin with the wax added. You can add it yourself or you can buy “sanding resin” which already has the wax added. The wax enables you to sand the board smooth. Lam resin doesn’t sand to well so the wax is needed. (when i say wax don’t think candle) I am sure you will get better explantions than mine. Its really not to hard once you get it figured out. More questions? Just ask, these folks on here are great help! Good luck ed
Ed, thanks for the explanation!! Thats what I was looking for…now i understand!. Time to go buy the stuff. Do you recommend the pre mixed hot coat, or should I just mix it myself. thank again, k
Ed,>>> thanks for the explanation!!>>> Thats what I was looking for…now i understand!. Time to go buy the > stuff.>>> Do you recommend the pre mixed hot coat, or should I just mix it myself.>>> thank again, k Kev, being the quack I am, the fewer chances I have to screw something up the better. If you can buy it premixed, do it. One less thing you have to worry about. good luck.
Kevin, see if you can find a copy of the glassing 101 video. Sometimes It’s cool to see something done before you try it your self. Good Luck!