hey ben i mainly like thrusters i prefer stiff thicker glass fins . i find they flex out to much with fcs plugs so prefer probox or the fcs fusion system. dont realy like anything plastic allthough the foam core ones are okay. i have done some quad setups and prefer the trailers more toward the stringer no or very little toe or cant. on my thrusters i like 10 degree of cant. i surf short boards at my hight or less and like the fins back at about 3.2 inches to 3 inches on the trailer with a 10.5 at the fronts.
...that's most helpful , [and , timely too !] , especially as my next board i want to make as a quad , and was thinking of having the back fins more parallel with the stringer ?
[i'm hoping 'moonie' will show me / help me do the 'vac baggin thang' , and that we can set it up with proboxes again , so's i can use my myriads [of fins]
cheers !
ben
[p.s. - ....stay tuned , i have a pair of fins in the works i think you may enjoy / get...er... " EXCITED " about , mr. silly !!]
I prefer contemporary modern shapes with a bonzer set up or single in line.
so loose and fast
be in mind “contemporary shape” sentence
I dunno why people use these set ups with retro boards or super big boards and pretend find more excitement (in “high performance”) than with their contemporay thin thruster…
these ones with rigid fins
main fins tapered out to tip and std thickness in the base
-now Im riding a fish (a modern one, and with my design of tail foil) with “2 in 4” fins
similar to the Pavel s speed dialer
–hello Silly,
if you like 10º and fcs plugs or like that
you would use H2 s (kind of a rip off from original Pavel fin) medium or large or a combo
I have been got very good customer feedback with similar template in several conditions
Above on my 9’1"x22.5"x2.5" balsacomp. My first ‘One Quiver Board’
Below is the quadset that works best on my 9’2"x23"x3.5" balsacomp…my latest and greatest OQB.
Sorry, I don’t remember all the questions… but
I like them the best from ALL the fins that I’ve made/bought (and I’ve tried all combinations) because the boards can turn faster AND when I get to the nose the horizontal parts of the fins HOLD the tail down!
Les
Sorry about the double pics…? don’t know how to stop it!
This is a worthy topic. Not enough is known about fins and their performance. What I don’t get are all the wooden lams. They can look pretty but they eventually suck water when dinged (especially plys). Am I the only one who catches his fin sometimes getting in or out of the water or just carrying it around? I can keep the deck and bottom almost ding free but the fin gets scraped or bumped all the time. The wood fins are cheaper in the beginning, but overall???
ps. I’m a single fin (flex) fan mostly, but also like how a thruster performs. Also I’m sold on fin boxes or fin systems. I HATE sanding glass ons!!!
Ben ben ben, well, my fave setups are twin keels, and 2+1. They just suit me and my surfing. Im not a radical surfer, so that might be why. I have a quad, though i surf it best with tiny rears up in the first fcs pluc ( one tabs, your orange ones mate! ), so it surfs a lot like a twin fin. I find it tricky with standard sized quad fins. I'm trying something different in my quad with the side fin panels you gave me. Very upright, not much base, like a H2, but without the crazy cant. Will update when my back recovers ( i hurt it the other day, no surf for a week d'oh! )
My 2+1 midlength is great as a thruster, really loose, but i like the drive of the 2+1 setup, and with a flexy centre fin, you can jam your back foot off the bottom, and it'll come up close to vert,as close as i can get a 7'10'' board to vert anyway haha.
Lokbox lbx2 in front 3.8 in back, quad. using them in all my quad micro eggs there are some on my blog. some how they hold and release when you want them to. I have them in Bamboo from 101 and they load up real nice on the bottom turn and are insanely light. My day to day is a 5’8 round pin egg. I hope this helps I like to see your fin posts.
So many good fins out there... I couldn't pick a ''favorite'' template, but some of the things I like are:
Big flexy high-aspect singles for longboards and hulls, they're all take-offs on Greenough's originals that changed the whole game....
Solid glass twinnies. from a 5.5'' base x 5'' deep that's as close as I'll get to a keel, to modern twins based on late 70s-early 80s. Nothing beats the feel of glass in those (for now).
Quads I like a large front, almost 5'', and a narrow based trailer close to 4''; both with skinny tips. Cored (lighter) fins for front, thin twangy glass for trailers.
Thrusters? If I was stuck with one set for the rest of my life I'd probably take FCS 5, just so all-round trusty. But I really like the Future vector 3/2 (kinked) I have in my ''good wave'' board, and there's soooo many other choices
When I rode the Griffin modfish I was very impressed with all 5 G10 masterpieces, if you're a fan of fins you gotta see his work.
Sorry no pics, chipster. I'll try and do better next time.
were they from chair backs ? skatedeck kicktails ?
did you steam ply to bend , then laminate ?
at the moment , i'm making smaller , thinner foiled fins for head high waves [for quad sets and thrusters ]
and thicker foil , bigger fins for head high and under ...
like you , Mike , i like 5 x 5 or 5 x 5 1/2" twin keel hybrid things , rather than huge twin keels .
having said that , i currently have a coupla 7" [base] x 4 1/2" blue tint keel templates drawn out and awaiting cutting out [i'm thinking of doing cutaway trailing edges , though ]....
also i'm on a 'hockey stick' experimenting kick at the moment , and a 'wildy' template [in different sizes and rakes , as SIDE fins . i've modified some existing '747' templates into 'Wildy's ]
the 'ellipticals' that you guys are doing , 'probox larry' , look like fun too...i've done one small side set so far , but am yet to finish the bases and ride them .....
Ha! Their molded, not solid wood. I’ll show you, below is a pic of the mold with a finished fin on top.
Les
… well! I can’t find the pic now… look in the Swaylock’s thread on ‘molding’ that schuz had on here last week.
I make a mold of the contour that I wanted, mold release on it then lay carbon fiber, balsa, release fiber, breather then vacuum bag everything into the shape. when it’s cured It’s removed and I foil it. Decorate and then two layers of 4oz glass on top. Put the base (just a tab now) i another mold to make the exact size/shape for my futures boxes.
i was thinking of making some curved fins using a plastic glass, a tin and /or bucket[s] for the curvature template . wax paper to separate them from the item used , tabs ???
The first set of curved fins I tried was a copy of FCS’s curved fins. The ones I made worked… but I thought they shoud have worked better. They have a continuous curve from base to tip.
I felt that if the fins moved straight away from the board like all other side fins and then curved in at the top … that worked better but I wanted a bit faster turning on my longboard.
The next set I added (subtracted! Ha!) the lower portion as a cut-away. That was IT! I LOVE them. I slightly foiled the inside on these. They ride GREAT.
The last set I made was 4", 5" and 6" so I can try more combinations. These were foiled only on the outside. They feel faster than the last ones!
To make the molds I took XPS, shaped it, glassed it, mold release, lay CF, balsa, in a bag and sucked the air out. Cured in hot box (120 deg F) then foil, s-glass over, mold the base tab… done!
Les
ps- did I hear your coming to California? If so… and you’ll be near central California (Monterey) give me a call!
