I recently saw a guy who made standard single fins by hand using 4 oz cloth. That seems like a lot of layers to achieve the right thickness. When I used to make fin panels I always used 10 oz. What is/was the industry standard for making fins in the 7" range and up. Like those you would find on a 70s single fin or even longboards. I’m talking about the style that fits a standard FU box.
?
I thought 6 oz was the standard (new standard?). I use whatever I have saved up from laminating boards. I’ve mixed up 4 and 6 cloth, and I used a funky 8 oz cloth that always ended up opaque. Seems like 8 or 10 oz would make a better clear fin. I haven’t figured out how to do that yet, my attempts at doing a cloth inlay with clear over that always come out cloudy and never clear.
30 layers of 10 ounce, was what FU used.
That’s the funny part. I asked him why he used 4 oz and he said he gets better clarity that way. Seems counterintuitive. More layers means more random alignment of the fibers.
Thanks, Bill. That’s what I was looking for, the spec used by fin companies… I recall my 10 oz panels being right in that ballpark. It’s been a while.
The FU process, was to do 10 layers at a time. Even if it was a clear fin, single color, or multi-color. If done too thick, in one batch, it would get too hot and warp crack or craze.
Why not start with 10oz and move to 8, 6 then 4 on the last?.. I donno, I’ve never made fins.
anyways…
I think a lot of guys now use 6oz glass.
or 8oz volan (I think it really weighs like 7.4 but is sold as 8)
i find that the more layers I can get the better/cleaner foil I can get.