hockey stick fins / ? "mini hatchets" ?

[fins]

hi !

 

  I'm just putting them together on one thread, as lately , I've had a few questions from people about them .

 

[background....

Firstly , I give accolades to one Blair Mickeljohn , here in perth , west oz , who I chatted to here out in the water one day , back in the 1990s.

 

 I was intrigued by the homemade kneeboard that he was riding , and when he flipped it over , I got my first view of hockey stick fins ...all four of them ! ]

  It was , then , quite a few years before my next glimpse ...fast forward to the 'lost' video [yes video] 5'5 x 19 1/4"  , where Tom Curren rides [?at small kirra , perhaps?] a thruster that he and greenough and his neighbour mark thompson help Tom shape / design . This board featured three hockey stick fins , that mark thompson [daniel's dad] had for him .....

 

  cheers !

 

  ben

[fins]

Okay , first off ...

 

 this photo will hopefully answer one of the questions asked ....

 

  these fins always seem [to look ] bigger than they are !   [ ?  perhaps because of the elephantitis-like  'head' on 'em ?! ]

 

so , anyway ...

  these are the dimensions of the quad setup I've been riding , and thoroughly LOVING lately , in the fatarse Walden 'CD4'  [those are 1"  grids , by the way , that they are photographed on ...on this screen , it's almost to the correct scale ...is it on yours ? ]

 

These have been documented on the 'my fin tinkerings' thread , previously , too, of course !

 

 

              cheers !

                ben

[Royal]

i was also very intrigued by the same set of fins on curren’s and then on a board DVS made for Rastovich that had Mark Thompson’s fins on - which I didn’t know of at the time. I took the grinder to a set of keels, and instantly the board was more responsive, without seeming to lose any noticeable drive. I liked them so much, I asked Rainbow to make some to use in all my fishes.

RP gave me a template that he got from Greenough and told me to play with it on my own. Never got around to it, and in the move back to the US, I LOST IT!

While I still have the keels, I never played with the concept on more normal fins. I reckon it would work really well. Spent about 3 months with WJ around, and he broke out all sorts of fin templates, with science and 1st hand experience on them which was super. He explained how the flow of the water isn’t just linear along the bottom, but moves out of the rocker plane diagonally, as well as climbing/following the leading edge/template until is breaks free. Makes you wonder why fins have so much reverse curve in the tips - meaning why they curve back on themselves so much…

Anyway, he had this kind of boomerang fin, but not as much area forward, although that makes a lot of sense too. And, he was saying it was the most responsive, and free running fin he’d made. But, it was too responsive for use on the rail. Maybe the hatchet style fin, since it is laid back more, is less twitchy, but has the same benefit?

Just a guess.

Would love to have/make a set myself, but with the kewl kid kool aid klub worshipping the media kings, with no knowledge of their own histroy, I’m not going to do so for obvious reason…

[shushka420]

Fins - what type of foil do you put on these?? Is it still an arcing foil the way you’d do a normal fin or do you make it follow the “elbow” of the fin? 

[fins]

....thanks for that , Royal / Rob Lion !  

 

  make yourself a set or two again , for sure ! 

 

Keels ARE a really good starting point / template , for converting to these fins , I find !

Having made a few keel sets in the past  , and now I'm not riding "fishes" [ and I'm really not a big fan of keels , anyway !] ,

I have the 'raw materials' for some more 'hockey stick fins' , for sure !   

 

by the way , Rob ... who are 'WJ' , and  'RP' ?

 

  'Shushka' ...

 

hi mate , thanks for asking !

 

 So, in answer to your question ... 

 here is the [slightly embarassing] foil shot , that I deliberately left out [....for that "e" word reason ... haha]

 

When my brother Simon /  aka : 'Lazarus' [here on sways ]  first saw photos of the templates [prior to holding the actual fin ,  while here] , his comment was [of course ! ] ...

 

 "must be "fun" to foil , eh ?" 

 

yeah , right ...

 

"fun" ?!  ...haha 

[ ...that would be 'fun' , as in 'interesting' [challenging] , rather than enjoyable ....or ...the "funny haha" , kind of fun[ny] . ]

 

 I'm guessing that the foiling is maybe why a 'few' people don't do them ....

 

hopefully , I will also try a few different [ / ?'better'? ] foils on them , as well as , of course ....

 

different ...

               sizes [already !]

               shapes [already !]

               rake [already !]

               materials [already !]

               thin / thicknesses [ these below are Josh / 'speedneedle's  ones  .... "very thin , and flexy " , he said]

 

  For the next set ...

  not having to deal with material inlay being exposed around the edges ,  and bases [and hence , sucking in water ?] , is why I want to do a few more resin tint , ? glo in the dark ? , and even ...clear [ " ??!! yeegaaaads , chip , ya gone 'conservative' there , fellah ?! " ] ones , some time in the future , too ....

 

But , that said about this previously pictured quad setup [in the Walden]...

 

 ... I have YET to try a matching [same-sized]  back fin , for a THRUSTER setup , in my other [narrower-tailed ] boards . I wonder how THAT would go , for instance , in my 9'4 mal , during the coming summer ? [...soon find out , I guess , eh ?!]

 okay ,

  ...to be continued.....

 

       cheers !

         ben

 

" I am a FINSaholic "

[shushka420]

Nice - it looks like the beef of the foil follows the centerline on these? Looks fun, I can’t wait to make myself a set!

[Royal]

hey chipper,

 

started small…

cut got bigger…

 

 

ended up as this…

 

 

still have these from my friend tim stafford to play with…

 

may just have to fire up the grinder again now thanks to you!

 

 

curses under breath as i’ll be awake dreaming of fins now…

 

[fins]

...good on ya , 'Shushka ' ...DO IT !

 

from [originally, a ] keel ,

 .....to a ' cutaway keel' ...

... to a "hockey stick fin" ! ....

the 'glo' in the dark one[s] ....

 

 

[fins]

classic , Rob !  

 

..... many  thanks for that !

 

make the cutaway even 'bigger ' , and you will arrive at hockeys as large as the ones dan thommo rides in the ASL 'home' dvd bonus section  [I'll see if that footage is on youtube   ....if so , it might win a few 'converts' , eh ?  :)  ]

see the large WHITE template in this photo ?  that is 'about' the size of thommo's ones , from what I could work out 'off the dvd ' ....]

 

 

   wow ...those ones of Tim's are GREAT ,  eh ?!  [are they the "tu[r]buncles" , or whatever they are called , mate ?]

 

  them , as hockeys would be " WILD , maaaan !"

 

  yep , as you can see from the above photo , many of my 'hockey sticks' began life as twin keels , then cutaway keels

 

 Another modification [this one failed , a bit ] ...

 

  here is a windsurfer back [finbox] fin [? a ?? " mini-hatchet" type fin ?], that I absolutely butchered [unfortunately] , waaay back in the 1990s.

  I quickly discovered that a grinder doesn't do too flash a job , on this ?lexan? material .... "watching the meltdowns"  lalala  [sigh] ....

 

Luckily , I have kept ONE  still,  to be used as a fin box one . Could be fun with two hockeys as sideys . [yet to try , but....   heheh] 

Originally , there were THREE  [finboxes] ones , in a windsurfer I found on a roadside verge council collection day , last millenium .  That one , I CAN  use [and have !] ,   from time to time . They are very THICK fins , though ....

 

happy 'cursing' , as you dream of fins now , "Rob the lion "  :) 

  [is Joe your 'bro' ?  I ask , because good ol' Bowie sang about HIM , YEARS ago now [? on the "Heroes"  album? from memory ?]

[fins]

another modification I tried ,

 

this " operation "  was on a pair of old M7s that I found in a smashed-up board one day ....

 

....because it wasn't that big of a difference to the original fin , I didn't feel much change in how it rode [tried these in the 6'6 Walden , and the 6'11 Richie West boards]

 

I had also [?around the same time , from memory ?] made myself  a similarly outlined carbon fibre inlay version ....

 

 These ones were a bit stiffer ...

 

I'll have to see if I still have these , because it 'might' be interesting to combine them with the smaller [depth] , and bigger tipped version 'hockeys' that I'm riding now , maybe .....

 

 

[fins]

the setup Rowan rode , north of here , a few months back ...

 

he did WELL on them !

 ...considering that it was the first time he had ever ridden a short , wide , thick 'fish' , and a quad setup on ANY board !

[nocean]

Great , made myself a template based on a keel too a while back but never got round to making any but hopefully get them done soon,

What do you guys reckon about template, maybe more tip or lower cutout? 

 

[fins]

groovy Noe !

 

  maybe try it as is , and see if you like it ? .... is my call ...

 

  if you lay up a glass version , the beauty of that is , you can always fine tune it.

 

(perhaps , for example , with a narrower base , at a later stage ?)

 

  let us know / show how it goes from there eh , please , Noe ?

 

    cheers mate !

 

  ben

[fins]

" yeehaaa!! "  for 'youtube' ,  eh ?!

 

  ... I JUST found that footage of young Daniel Thomson , that I mentioned earlier

 

  watch out for the big "hockey stick twin fins "  [carbon fibre , on the carbon fibre  fish he is riding in Vicco ... Around 1m9s, then 1m49s , then 1m54 secs ...

 

  the REO he does , at 2m36 seconds ? ... watch it in slow motion ...be AMAAAZED !!

 

 .... ENJOY , crew !!

 

Daniel RIPS ,  no DOUBT about it !

 

....    here   it is !!

 

  cheers !

 

  ben

[tynemouthmatt]

[img_assist|nid=1063339|title=twin2|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]

 

 

 

 

Imade these from a set of rfc lokbox keels. Love drive they produced. Eventually took them off this board in exchange for a single fin as found it to be a little tracky. Still have them lying around, will shape a board around them one day

[fins]

woohoo

 

  good on ya , Matt !

 

  [they're coming outta the woodwork now  , eh ?!]

 

how angled in , or otherwise,  were they , Matt ? [ it's a little hard to tell , from that photo's angle on the board]

 

  I hope you DO make another board for them soon ...

 

..... 'cos .....they sure are FUN ,  eh ??!!

 

  cheers !

 

  ben .

[tynemouthmatt]

Toed in 2deg and had a 4deg cant…from memory

 

They were definately fun, think the board was just a little too wide for them.

 

Just finishing off a Tomo inspired board today, have gone for a shirt of bonzer/keelzer fin set up. If that doesn’t work out i’ll put the hockey sticks on it.

[fins]

.... cheers , Matt ,  I look forward to seeing it , sometime !

 

  hey Noe ,

 

  'serendipidity' strikes ....again ?!

 

  the hockey  stick template that you just posted here ??

 

....'IF' this is the actual size of YOURS ,

then...

  it fits perfectly on the recent bamboo panels I  layed up , so ....

 

 

 

[ a bit of good 'luck' , eh ?   ....Just like how your two 'twinzers' fit perfectly on that OTHER [hemp] panel that I have here ... nice when things 'work out ' like that , eh !]

 

 ....so , to be continued ....

 

here's hoping that "maybe"  I will be able to have a ride report on your template  [?soon ?] , after all ? [ that is , 'if' the waves permit , of course !]

 

:)

 

  cheers !

 

  ben

[nocean]

Great Ben, if you like i can send you a template when I mail you the other stuff aye, Can make one out of cardboard or other , but the one you did looks pretty close anyway,

cheers

[fins]

cheers Noe !

 

  yep , if you wanted to do that , that would be great , thanks !

 

 I will include a coupla different templates with what I send you , also

 

  could be fun to try your template , it has a bit more rake , more base area , and less depth than the front ones I'm currently using , so maybe more hold and more drawn-out turns with it ?

 

  I shall see ...

 

  have to try them as twinnies too, perhaps , to get more of a feel for what a PAIR  of them will do !

 

.....next ones I make , I might lay up with the sways logos  that kensurf sent me

 

cheers !

 

  ben