Now you probably understand why I restarted finFoil from scratch.
With v1 I’m trying to add as much functionality as possible without adding text or buttons. I want the interface to be as simple and intuitive as possible.
And offcousrse as performant as possible. (maybe you noticed that it uses all the cores on your machine to calculate the contours in parallel)
It is not using the graphics card yet, so there is definately room for improvement there.
Right now I’m working on getting the contours more accurate at their top (you can see some bad interpolation there), while still maintaining the performance of the real time editing.
I think a good output format would be DXF (good format as most CAD/CAM systems can read them in and spit them out) describing the profile (x,y) of each elevation (z-axis). This could be processed into a file for each layer -like Emil did with the laser- or put together to mill one side of a fin with a 3-axis system.
Would be great to have files that I could use with my CAM software. Currently using CATIA to create the 3D models but that’s way slower than your tool. Not interested in selling any fins though.
It’s soooo simple to use. Add rulers so we know where we’re at and an area calculator and that’s probably about as much as most of us backyarders need. Thanks for your hard work.
Good work, Hans! Not trying to hijack your app- but if theres any interest I could upload my grasshopper-file for Rhino. It generates any surface, poly or nurbs - ready for milling - or 2d curves for laser-cutting like I tested. The script is a bit messy,but can be organized a little for ease of use… It would not work as Hans app though. It needs a licensed version of at least rhino 4.0.
I|m very excited, and will be cnc-milling some fins for myself in the near future.
I dunno if this is a stupid thing to ask for but an indicator for the rake or sweep would be cool, too. As well, AKU and Boardcad have that sliding bar that shows the widths at any given point - on the horizontal axis that would be good for tuning the fin template to get that even taper in fin area from base to tip.
I’ve got some scrap 1/16 G-10 here. I’m gonna use your program today to build a 4-layer stack to see how that works for handfoiling. Psyched.
I don’t know sht about CAD engineering or fin design, but FCS includes fin area and sweep in their fin descriptions.
Boardcad shows volume and thickness distributions using those lines in the outline mode. Or where AKU has their summary down below the main screen showing the different dimensions and rocker numbers and volume and such - put a couple more fields there for these attrbitutes.
Knowing the fin area is interesting, particularly when designing fin sets that include staggered designs. If I want 30 square inches on the rail for a quad set I can design the fronts at 16 and the rears at 14. Or take known values from one combo and tweak them for a new combo.
I only handshape but I already use AKU and Boardcad to do my designs because they enable me to aim for my volumes, foils and and distributions. For someone who lacks the thousands of hours of experience it takes a lot of the guesswork out of it. I never wonder if my volumes or the float will be what I’m aiming for because I know what they’ll be before I even select my blank.
finFoil v0.x uses the naca 4-digit profile which is has proven to be good in low Reynolds flow applications like surfboard fins. It doesn’t claim to be the best foil possible, but is definately a good one.
finFoil v1.0.0.120 is defaulting to a foil that just looks good. But there will be possibilities in the stable releases to use other foils that have proven their usefullness. This app will never claim “correctness”, but it is a tool to help with foiling the fin you want to create.
But it will always be the user’s responsibility to create a good fin with it.
