Hi guys, Whats the trick/s to glassing up a wood fin (for glass on)with that cool crystal clear bead? Ive got some ideas but would love input from those that have already made some of the mistakes.
The wood is glued up, cut out, semi-foiled (leave a thin square edge) and sanded smooth? Mask off one side of the fin completely and on the other side, laminate a few sheets of cloth with 1/2"-1" of overhang. After it sets up, but before it’s too hard, remove the masking tape and clean up any drips and really ragged edges with a razor blade and/or dremel tool. In the overhang left from the first lay up, resin some saturated fin rope all the way around the outline of the fin. While still wet, laminate a couple of sheets of cloth and try to work out all the bubbles in the fin rope bead. If all is going well up to now, hot coat each side and sand smooth. Check out link for One World wood fins… they make some really nice ones for only $55.00. http://pluto.he.net/cgi-bin/suid/~onewrld/perlshop.cgi?ACTION=thispage&thispage=page4.html&ORDER_ID=191724521
Another method is to lay up a panel of 10 sheets of cloth, laminate wood on either side, cut out, foil and lay up 3-4 layers of cloth over the wood. This gives a nice glass edge (not really a clear bead though…)
What about making removable wood fins? Is the base attached seperatly?
Another method is to lay up a panel of 10 sheets of cloth, laminate wood > on either side, cut out, foil and lay up 3-4 layers of cloth over the > wood. This gives a nice glass edge (not really a clear bead though…) Thanks John - The glass rope technique was what I was thinking about. I’ll give it a shot and try like hell to get those air bubbles out. I could ( and probably should) buy a fin premade, but Im trying to make the log Im working on all my own.
I’ve added wood veneer to solid glass box fins. By leaving a small gap just above the part that fits in the box, you can seal the bottom of the wood with a few strands of glass when you apply the outer sandwich lamination. Determine where the wood should end by putting the fin in the box and allowing a little space above the channel - some boxes may be deeper than others. Just mask off the part that fits in the box so it doesn’t get goobered up when glassing. The foiled area will end up thicker than the part that fits in the box. Some wood box fins have wood core extending down into the box with about 1/4" of glass around the bottom edge and several layers of cloth on the sides to seal it. The tab with the screw hole and the area around the index pin need to be solid glass to avoid leaks.
Another method is to lay up a panel of 10 sheets of cloth, laminate wood > on either side, cut out, foil and lay up 3-4 layers of cloth over the > wood. This gives a nice glass edge (not really a clear bead though…) …I’m using a 1/8" clear lexan core between the wood… PaulJensen
…I’m using a 1/8" clear lexan core between the wood…>>> PaulJensen Bingo!!You got it.Hobie started doing this in the sixties.Another trade secret revealed (I forgot about it) crystal clear beads.How do you glue the wood panels to the lexan?Rough it and clamp it?I gotta know.
…I’m using a 1/8" clear lexan core between the wood…>>> PaulJensen Paul, Does the glass core go all the way down into the box? How do you build up the base so that it will fit snug in the fin slot?
Bingo!!You got it.Hobie started doing this in the sixties.Another trade > secret revealed (I forgot about it) crystal clear beads.How do you glue > the wood panels to the lexan?Rough it and clamp it?I gotta know. …Polyurethane glue (Gorilla or similar)… Paul
Paul, Does the glass core go all the way down into the box? …Yup… How do you build up the base so that it will fit snug in the fin slot? …fiberglass…
How do you build up the base so that it will fit snug in the fin slot? > …fiberglass… I was thinking that due to the lexan core these fins are glass on only.Am I wrong? Thanks