Hi all. Somethibg different.
've knocked up this monofin out of some scrap material.
I went for steel to attach the fin to the shoes. The bolts into the shoes are around 6mm wide and can hold a plate around 5mm thick.
Steel is heavy though. How else can I do this? I have some G10 but that’s heavy too. If I use only a little how do I best join it to the fin?
Calling epoxy maven gods. Do I persevere in composites or just go with steel?
K-
I would try a heavy piece of rubber (semi truck mud flap) to add a little flexibility (to save your ankles and knees) and help achieve neutral buoyancy in the water.
Sheet polyethylene or polypropylene?
~ 0.9-0.96 g/cm³
Maybe adjust flex with sheet thickness.
Why not a piece of epoxy slathered marine plywood?
All good ideas.
I would bolt things together to be able to modify it until the design is stable.
I would be concerned about how easy it is to get into, swim with, and get out of under water.
You could try polycarbonate, it’s the stuff they use fo bank screens so it’s smooth, light, stiff and tough, cuts with a jigsaw and easily glued and screwed to other materials.
Made this fin in 30 minutes.
Thanks! I like the polycarbonate idea! That might be strong enough.
I originally used paulowinia and glass but getting the detail for the small screw holes was too difficult and it didn’t look strong enough after I’d thinned the wood from 7 to 5mm
Always appreciate surffoils. What’s the thickness of that sheet?
6.5 mm. It goes straight into FCS plugs. I coulda polished the foiled edges but I like either totally clear or the translucence from a 400 sand.
There’s not a lot of thickness to foil but my belief is that about 90% of a fins performance is in the template…
Polycarbonate is a great product, Perspex shatters and breaks like glass but PC is amazingly tough.
