hey guys i really need a tutorial on how to laminate wood fins and then glass them on to my board. I am making a wooden stand up Paipo board without any glassing. Just a hell alot of PU and Marine Varnish. So what i am planning to do is shape the wood fins and then laminate them and then tack them into place on the Paipo and then glass them on. So if anybody can give me a tutorial on what the materials i need and how to do somthing like this it would be greatly appreciated!
Why bother glassing the fins if you are not glassing the board?
Why not just rout a groove to glue the fins into?
So how exactly would i route a groove into the wood? And should i put in the fins before i put on the PU and Marine varnish?
A fin would be routed into the wood and glued in that way you don't need any fillets. What I don't understand is you are putting on PU and Marine varnish. I am not sure what you mean there. )PU - poly urathane ,foam ? Ply urathane varnish ? Tell me what you mean and help me understand exactly what you mean ?
I am going to apply wood sealer then a few coats of Poly Urethane varnish, and then about 10 coats of Marine Varnish. But my question was how i would route a groove into the wood. Like what tool would i use?
OK since you dont know what a router is and how to use it . maybe you would be better off makeing your wood fins and then glassing them on. In your case you would have to glass them on before varnishing. Now back to your varnishing. It would be a mistake to seal your wood with poly urethane and then varnish over it with marine varnish. Poly urethane has bonding problems with varnish and wood if not done right. Also poly urethane does not get allong well with water and sun light. I would not even consider useing it on what you are doing.Your best bet is to brush on three coats of epoxy resin and after 2 or 3 days, sand it smooth then you can start your marine varnish. Stay away from Minwax products , they dont have any real marine varnishes. Stay away from anything that says spare urathane varnish or poly urathane marine varnish. What you are looking for is a long oil varnish because they are very durable and you can sand them back and re varnish them when needed. The Varnish can is not going to say long oil varnish. What you need to look for on the lable is. Phenolic modified resin, Alkyd Resin or Tung oil . If there is Urethane or Poly Urethane anywhere on the lable stay away from it.. It should say Marine spar varnish, or Marine varnish on the can. Use clear gloss for building up 5 or 6 layer. There are some good thread from a couple years ago here about building wood fins .Try the surch button and see what you can find .
If you don't have a router, a sharp chisel and appropriate sized drill can be used to make the groove to hold the fin base.