Hey fin guys,
Has anyone making tab based systems tried making toe in adjustable in this manner? see diagram
To change toe - you detach fin from tab by undoing the screw, rotate, reseat fin and screw together again.
Cheers,
Pinhead
Actually quite a clever design. Would there be a demand to justify the effort?
I like it. Not sure if you could use such fine teeth as it would be prone to stripping, but I think you’re onto something. Viking fins did something similary but was limited to only three settings.
Swivelfins is similar, but with a taper on the splines.
You might also check out the work of Edge Fins (kauaistyle - Clyde Rogers) and the Four Way Fin System from South Afrika.
Oh…also…sabs from here (swaylocks) posted a quick tutorial on how he makes fins with adjustable toe-in. Lots of relevant designs to check out.
Blakestah,
I have 4wfs and I like them. I’m thinking about this as a means of retrofitting existing systems.
Losos,
You’d have to have fine teeth otherwise the increments of toe angle change would be too big. I was thinking you’d use stainless steel for the seating system.
If you went steel, you might be able to pull it off. Plastic wouldn’t stand a chance at that resolution. Although, even with the limited ranges of toe adjustment, you could really feel a difference in performance with the viking fins and those were cheap plastic.
The tab on the fin would have to be longer to be sturdy(especially for keel type fins) and then it wouldn’t be able to rotate within the cavity of the box. Cool idea though.
Nice attempt, however you have a flaw.
I have a pattent pending fin system very similar. When I toe the fin in, I can still keep the back part of the fin in the same or different location, 1-1 and 1/16 inch.
Blade,
Sounds exciting, show us if you please.
RED-X are similar:
I like the design, but you’d need the plug & tab to each be a full circle. Even though you’d never adjust it all the way around, with your system, once glassed, you wouldn’t be able to adjust it at all because the flat sides’ corners would project past the gaps in the side of your female gear.
And full circle brings us to Sabs’ design which doesn’t even have the teeth, just a set screw…
Actually I was thinking you’d rout out a small space in the slot the tab goes into to allow for the overhang of the fins seating mechanism.
What I’m hoping for is a system that I can use to dial in toe for a particular shape with popular fin systems/foils. Be good if the major fin system makers offered something like an adjustable toe system just for shapers, that worked with their regular foils.