I ordered some fins from foam ez http://foamez.com/store/productDetails.cfm?prodID=299&prodIDCat=29 and as you can see they have that dull finish… but with everyones boards with glass ons the whole fin is covered in resin… when glassing a board I still dont understand the proper way to use the fiberglass rope and what not… getting it in place is not the problem… but how to run the cloth up the fin or however you go about doing that gets me.
Hi Bob,
Well let me see if I can Help, I have never had to do glass on’s but I have seen It done and think I understand it conceptually. One of the Swaylock brothers could give you more help but here goes anyway. The JC Videos (Glassing 101) also show how the fins are done so check those out if you don’t own them.
Basically, two pieces of fiberglass cloth go on each side of the fin blank, the fin rope is wrapped around the base to provide a nice thick strong attachment between the bottom of the board and the fin itself. So once you are all set up, your fin angles are good, this is all then saturated with laminating resin. That is why when you look at a board with glass on fins you will have this nice black fin that has a clear portion that extends out beyond the black portion of the fin blank at the base. Once the layer of laminated cloth has gelled but not completely hardened, the excess cloth that is sandwitched over the fin is cut away around the basic shape of the fin blank. Once that is all cured up then it is a basic coat of sanding resin, then finishing resin (gloss coat) if you want. Any other swaylockians feel free to correct or add to this.
Hope this helps, good luck
Tracy
hey marley,
i am sure there are others here who do it differently, but this is how i do it - some say cheating…
mark out your positions, pre-hot coat of course, then have some sort of cant angle tool for the side fins. even a piece of cardboard with the angle on it works. take one of the fins, and cut your fiberglass pattern to over lap the fin enough(1"?) to be able to trim/foil when you’re done, and extend down onto the bottom of the board about 3-4". you can also cut some roving to match the leading edge of the fin, if you want to add some extra strength to it - i usually dont with pre-made fiberglass fins. now, here is where i cheat. take a hot glue gun, put a bead on the line where you marked your side fin, and place the base in the hot glue while holding the angle tool to the fin, and hold for a second. once it is set, grab some 3/4" tape and secure it from the “top” to each rail. check your toe, and cant angle again, then repeat with the other fin. for the center, do the same, except, make sure it is perpendicular to the board. use your eye, or a square. once you get good at this, most guys set the fins down, tape them, and put some hot resin around the base to hold them. i seem to bump them when i try this way, hence the glue gun.
once they are all secured with tape - only one run per rail so you can get your hands in there to work, cut your roving to length. i usually make sure it extends about 1" past the leading, and trailing edge. saturate the roving with resin, then place at the base of the fin. pressing in with a squeegee. do one fin at a time if your nervous. get out all the air bubbles, making sure it is tight against the fin. the idea is to have a smooth transition for the glass to curve up from the board. once it is gelled you can trim some off if needed. now carefully take off the tape, and get your glass patterns, a squeegee, and 2" brush ready. dip the brush in some lam resin, and dab some at the base of the fin. set your pattern against the fin and brush some resin up the glass against the fin, and then down at the base where your patter goes out onto the bottom of the board. then, squegee it tight to the fin and board, working out your air bubbles. the do the same on the other side. be careful not to push the opposing side off as you do this. once they are done, and gelled up, cut the extra glass off. when cured, hotcoat the entire bottom with fins - can be tricky not to get puddles around the fins (maybe cheater coat the bases), and sand.
i think thats it. anyone else, please add to this, as my mind works well, but doesn’t always communicate to my hands…
it is good skill to have, even though fin boxes are much easier. plus you get better flex out of glass ons.
good luck, if i can do it so can you, or anyone for that matter…lol
Just about the same technique here, but I use 5 minute epoxy to set them. It holds a little stiffer than hot glue but if I use a really small bead I can still snap them off if they look funky 5 minutes later…
Thanks guys, without swaylocks id be f’d. Im a moderator over at the supra forum and the people there are no where near as helpful as you guys. I couldnt figure out the part with the rovings and running the glass up the fin on each side to cover the whole entire fin, but it all makes sense now.
simplest way to make/get rope is just to take apart the strands from scrap cloth. Long strands preferred, about 3 inches longer than the fin base.
The key to a good glass on job is to realize it is labor intensive, and you gotta take the time a care to do a decent job, all the way through.
I lay the rope and put the two layers up the side of the fin, at the same time. The glass over the rope helps to keep it nice and smooth.
Sometimes a cheater coat of lam, after the initial work, gives you enough resin on the sides of the fin to do a decent sanding. In the end, the quality of a glass on job has a lot to do with careful sanding.
How do you keep the rope from falling off the edge of the fin onto the board?
Howzit bob, The trick to keeping the rope from falling off the fin is to milk the rope after you saturate it with resin. This takes the extra resin out and makes it easier to work with, Also do a cheater lam coat like Honolulu said so when you sand the fins you'll be less likely to hit the weave, I do it on all glass on fins.Aloha,Kokua
Howzit Honolulu, You must have a hidden cam in my shop since I've used the cheater coat for forever when doing glass on fins, good trick yeah.Aloha,Kokua
Ah I see… so how many pieces of rope should be used? run a few along the side of the fin also?
Howzit bob, I use roving strands and 6 should be enough per side.Aloha,Kokua
Alright… thanks guys… one final question to go along with this… what type of fin to use for mushy gulf surf, just a regular thruster fin set?