Glassing on big fins

General Discussion
1

Hi everybody.

I need some tips to make the glass on process of big home foiled fins easier.

I struggle with the following :

centering perfectly the fin when sticking it to the board (not easy to
be sure because the fin is wide and big and foiled, which makes it
diffiult to control levels)

  • having a nice round base of resin on
    the base (fin foil being much wider then 4 layers of 6 oz, the tips of
    the base are king of sharpened when sanding)

  • coating the fin :
    the wax styrene (hardener) slowly slides down while the hot coat and
    gloss coat are drying, and the tip of the fin takes more time to dry and
    stays a little sticky.

Hope you can help.

Thanks !

2

you can lay the board down on its side so the resin will not flow down the fin from gravity

3

Try a hot melt glue gun to set the fin before laminating. A couple of drops usually does the trick. If the fin has a wide base, maybe three or four drops will keep it stable.

4

Also you need to use glass rope around the fin’s base. This will create the “nice round base” you’re looking for.

5

in summation of all comments,

 1. Attach fin to board, I use tape  brought from under the board, wrap once around the fin tip then back down otherside to rail. Get it how you want it, then brush some lam resin around base. Remove tape when off.

 2. Double check alignment. either knock off and re set or move forward.

 3. THe build up at base is rope and glass, not resin alone. THe key is getting that rope to stay put.

 4. FLip board over to do the hotcoat on the fin. Gravity is your friend when working with resin.

6

thanks for the input.

I didn’t detail it, but of course I use rope at the base of the fin.

7

tblank,

I like the glue idea. I normally do lam resin, but hot glue hardens faster. Any type of glue you prefer? any that won't work/or not compatable with PE resin?

thanks

8

Tacking on fins troubled me for a while before learning this technique. Take basic lowes/home depot clamps and set fins exactly where you want them. This allows plenty of time to set the fin dead center on the stringer after basting the base of the fin with resin. Setting the exact cant on side bites is accomplished easily by jacking up one side of the clamps with shims. Simple and painless.

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9

mudybeach,

that is genius...so simple, and it looks much easier than tape. thanks

10

ASteve, just your everyday hot melt stick that comes with the gun. Sets up fast and comes off easy to re-set.

11

IMAG0732.jpg

 

priceless,,,,,

impressive!

 

Muddy, your scarrin me,,, LOL (pun)

12

wow that’s great mudy, thank you so much !

plus basting the base before setting the fin is also really helpful !

13

I forget who posted this years ago, but it makes the process very simple. My first board I held the fin in place for ten minutes hoping I set it correctly… What a maroon…lol Thank god for Swaylocks!

14

double post..

15

Hot melt glue is instant set. Eyeball the fin, drop a couple of drops of glue, press down, release. Tape off fin vertical or canted whichever is required. It is as easy as that. No fuss on muss.

Credit where credit is due; this was passed on to me by Tim Phares of Fluid Drive. Say what you want, but this guy is one talented shaper/artist.

16

T-- is right  on this one.  No glass shop should be without a hot glue gun.  I've done it using ALL of the other metods described above, but once you start using a hot glue gun you don't need tape or clamps..   If you are worried about it moving while you have a beer the clamps are a good percaution.  The putty that you get from FCS works well while a fin is setting also.  I always keep a big glob of that $#!t around the shop.