my fish is all shaped out and only needs to be prepped and glassed. now its on to making the wooden keel fins. A few questions : How wide are the keel fins supposed to be? 1/2", 3/4", somewhere in between?; Does it matter what kind of wood is used?; You do not gloss the fins correct? 2 layers of 6oz and a hotcoat and sanding right? Not fin related, but I dont want a leash plug in this board but do want to use a leas so i am going to try to make a leash loop out of fiberglass, how strong are these and what is your preferred method?
Hey bro. Fibreglass loops are strong as and real easy to make. Just make some rovings, then place a little object - I’ve often used a little bit of masking tape rolled up, 5mm diameter or so - where you want your loop to be. Place your wet rovings on top of the little tape roll, creating a small bridge, while fanning out each end to blend in with the deck. When cured, simply sand, making sure to smooth any little imperfections, and voila’. I’m sure there are pros out there who do this differently, but this works. And I’ve never had one tear out on me - leash plugs are an entirely different story. Good Luck.
Maz has nailed the method I use - you may find it easiest to use a pair of those throwaway hardware store vinyl gloves and do much of it with your fingers. hope that’s of use doc…
do you do them with lam resin before the hotcoat?
I generally do retrofits to older boards - for which I use sanding resin. Now that I think of it, though, it’d make life a whole lot easier to do 'em after the hotcoat and, if you’re gonna do a gloss and polish, after that as well. Much easier to sand the hotcoat, apply the hotcoat and gloss and polish without that leash loop obstruction in the way. I don’t believe there would be any significant strength difference. Though that’s me…you may prefer something else. Hope that’s of use doc…
cause thats what they came out to pretty much, more like 5/8" though.