fish demension questions...

i’m making my first classic twin fin fish for a friend. the blanks come in friday. heres the demensions i got so far…5’6" nose-16 1/4… tail-16. i think i am gonna make it '10" pin to pin. heres my questions, 1) how far up the buttcrack should i go? i don’t want it to be to high, but still real retro feel. 2)how wide should i go with the center point? 20? 22? what are you guys thoguhts? 3)how far should i move the center point up on this fish? i think i am gonna go with either 2 3/4 or 2 7/8 thick, because he’s not a very big kid. hes about 5’7" 125 lbs, his shortboard at the moment is a 5’10" modern fish tail, i’d say about 2 1/8 thick. the board will be ridden in florida beach break with a eventual reef break. i dont think i am gonna throw a leash plug in it. id hate to see that, bastard will have to learn to keep hold of it. thanks fellas and where should i buy soem wooden fins from? sicne i’m givin it to him for material cost, he might be able to spring for a nice set of fins on such a sweet board. dj

buttcrack --8 1/2 inches deep 21 inches wide and width tip to tip 12 inches and place fins 6inches up from tip straight and parallel to stringer.maybe get fins from paul jenson they look very good.

oh and how about 2 3/4 thick?

I’d go in excess of 5" , maybe up to 7" with ensuring that the tips had plenty of curve so that its ability to puncture would be blunted.

there are some pic’s of a lis in archives.i would get as close to those as i could.His design has stood the test of time don’t you think?It’s been copied a couple times???

for fish fins you could check out paul jenson at http://www.hollowsurfboards.com/fins.htm and if you’ve never seen one of his board you’d best check them too. http://www.hollowsurfboards.com/fins.htm

In “Surfboard Desin and Construction” there are details on a Lis Fish. The board is 5’5" and the wide point is 20.96" 3’ up from tail tips. The tail tips are 13" apart and the split goes up about 6.5". Tail width is 16.92" but nose width 12" back is not available in diagram. Nose width 5" back is 10.8" and 11" back is 16.48". The fin placement is 0.5" toward stringer from line drawn straight up from tail tips. Fin is parallel and trailing edge 5" up from tail tip. Fin dimensions are 5" X 9" and foil is not mentioned. Skip Frye does them with symmetrical foil. Thickness is 2.5" at widepoint, 2" tail and again, not given for nose 12" back. Rails appear fairly boxy but that’s subject to interpretation. Hope that helps!

Paul Jensen’s keel fins are basically identical to Lis fins in the book.

true Ames has that template for RedX it might be Clyde’s template

thanks for the info! i’ll probably be asking some more questions on fin placement once i finish glassing. i think my final dementions, unless soemthing changes are… 5’6" x16 1/4 x 20.5 x 16 x 2.5 i’m gonna stick with 10 from pin to pin, and i think ill go probably about 5-6 inches up the crack, depends what seems better once i egt shaping. i am gonna try and keep the rockers real flat, with maybe a tad bit in the nose. i thought about making the rails boxy, but i hate boxy rails and so does the soon owner, so i’m not gonna make them to boxy. as for fins still lookin! i checked out pauls and have befor, and they look rad! but, he’s just a cheap ass highschool kid. so i don’t think he’ll be springing for 80$ fins. im sure when i offer him that he’ll say 'we dont need fins" or some smartass comment. anyone know where i can contact rich halycon? thanks dj

the demensions in that book are for what year Lis?He was constantly making small changes like all shapers.The boards he makes NOW are of course much EVOLVED from the 1967 fish kneeboards. I once rode a 5ft 7 inch fish at perfect 8ft hanalei.I have yet to go that fast since-very flat rocker and thinner.you will have to find the combo that you want.

I just took a lis-style retro fish I shaped (first board!) up to Moonlight Glassing in San Marcos, CA, and they had a pair of Lockbox retro fish fins that the owner said Gerr had designed for a Rob Machado retro fish they were just glassing for him. I had them get a pair for me from CI for mine. You might see if you can get a pair from CI. They look pretty sweet. Same dimensions as the big marine ply keels I was going to make, but in a removable.

yeah, that would be cool. but a couple reasons why not, 1-because it’s sucha classy board, i think removables look tacky on it. doesn’t blend in as well. and 2- i havent got around to buying the future kit yet. if i had the kit i would probably do it, as it would be much cheaper, and quicker. anybody got any ideas on where to buy some fins? i was looking at pauls, i really like them, and if it were my board, id shoot for em. but the kids cheap, and hes scrounging up money as is, wouldn’t want him robbing liquor stores. thanks dj

Take a surform and sand paper and planer. Get some nice plywood (i just used some scrap wood in my attic) and get to work. Its pretty fun to make 'em, i made mine and they turned out fine.

Josh, Did you say you were getting keel fins in a removable system? Whats Cl? Could you elaborate please? I’m interested in removable keels. They are fun to make from plywood scraps. I make two 9x5’s from scrap. There going on my current fish. I still want a set of Paul Jensen’s. A removable system would be fun, too. Thanks

c.i.= channel island also, how about a twin fin setup for bahne? anyone heard of twin fins i can buy somewhere for a bahne box

What are you going to do on the bottom?? A full single concave through the whole bottom??? modern double barrel or flat???

nose 12 inches back is 16 inches and foil on fins has always been both sides and on newer boards fins are 6in from trailing edge to tips.Also there has always been a very sharp-hard bead from tail up1/3 of board. thought I could help.

The fish diagram I got dimensions from is from an older book… 1975.

For whom ever you are making the board for, yourself or others make the board about the hieght to your eyes up to your full hieght. Toby told me that was a general rule back in the day.