Fish Fin Thickness - how much is too much.

General Discussion
1

I would love to hear some thoughts about keel fin thickness on a lis fish. Specifically, how thick can I make double foiled fins?

The fins I made are for my first board and I am looking for fins that will give me a good base to experiment with in the future. My main goal was to have identical fins and I am damn close. I used some 1/2" birch ply and used the old school keel template from the 1977 book. It’s 8 3/4" by 5". I double foiled, about 80/20.

The problem is that each time I try to motivate myself to glass them I get the nagging feeling that they are too thick. The vertical cord thickness is about 3/8", 30% back. With glassing I am looking at 1/2" thick fins. I have searched and searched (This is the most amazing Fin thread i found) and I know that a thicker fin will give me more wood to work with to help me avoid any “dead” areas on my contours, and therefore will release the water more efficiently. But at what point can you say “Thats too thick, dumbass.”

I will post some pics of my fins tonight if I get the chance.

Fin me.

2

My Gephart double foiled keels are 3/8 inch measured with my homemade calipers. My homemade keels are about that thickness,too, but look thicker that the Gepharts. In other words, not foiled as nicely. The Geppies are from True AMes and worth the money although I encourage all to make their own. Tons of stuff in the archives, too. Mike