Agreed on most of the above. Silane wets out easier and the weave doesn’t show. A tail patch is a damn good idea, before putting the fin on.
Set the fin this afternoon, and all went really well. I went with the Silane cloth Sammy, after quickly figuring out the Volan would be visible…duh!
Anyway, I had already done the fin patch when I laid up the bottom, so ended up going with rovings at the base , 2 x 6oz and 1 x 4oz, all full coverage…trimmed off the excess after it had kicked and feel very happy with the result… It is a lot of extra work which is fine, but for the next one, I’ll be charging an additional fee for the trouble. I heard today from my fibreglass supplies shop that a leading board builder down here charges an extra $200 for glass on fins…!
Thank you everyone for your input and advice…it is greatly appreciated.
The board I just did I made the fin panel and the fin for the board. Making the fin panel and the fin was a lot of labor even though it didn’t take much materials. Glassing the fin on, hot coating, sanding it, glossing it sanding and polishing all added considerably to the amount of time into the board. I could see $200 easy for a custom glassed on fin.
In that youtube video that was posted, the guy works with the fin just set and taped in place. I always set the fin with some resin and let it kick before I do my roving and laminations. That way I can make sure it’s square. I wouldn’t want to work around the tape strips, and would definitely knock it out of square.
I agree with Phebus. That guy’s technique in the Youtube video is a recipe for disaster. Always tack the fin down, then glass.
That youtube vid was scary… It always amazes me why people make messy jobs more difficult than they have to be. For the sake of a few mls of resin and 10mins kick time, you can work freely and safely without the risk of moving the fin off square. But each to their own I guess.
Thanks for that…!
yeah, yeah, yeah…my bad. I tack the fin down too, I just didn’t even notice that he didn’t do that in the video. My bad.
Hot glue gun for tacking fins. Put hot glue on the base, set fin on it’s mark. With one free-hand set a square against it. Hold steady until set. Eyeball it as well. Lowel
I tack my fins with resin. Kicked hot.