we are going to try to fill the middle of the fin with scrap fiberglass and see how that turns out.
hopefully it will fill up all the gaps.
we are going to try to fill the middle of the fin with scrap fiberglass and see how that turns out.
hopefully it will fill up all the gaps.
how many layers of cloth do you use on a fin usually?
ethesis,
depends on the fin thickness, but using 6oz, you can get a pretty good estimate by doing 1 layer for every .01 in thick. to make it easier, 3/8" thick fin do about 38+ or- layers cause 3 divided by 8= .38
that's how I do it anyway, and then use calpers to check fin panel thickness afterwards,
good luck
alright i been doin 20 for .4 in. thanks for the info
Hanalon,
How exactly do you go about glueing different woods together to make the style fin you posted here? I checked the archives. What type of glue/ do you need to clamp together?May be a silly question:)
thanks! Ive glueed up wood before to make longboard decks but never a side by side glue up! Also what types of wood can you use? Or rather what works best? Thanks!
I use waterproof wood glue (I forget the brand) on the edges and just use adjustible clamps to hold them together on the sides with a weight or board on top to prevent buckling. Wait 24 hours, trace out your shape, jig it out, and start foiling.
I used a variety of hardwoods on the fins in the picture. Anything from yellowheart, zebrawood, rosewood, bubinga, etc. Since these are glass-on fins, I have found that poly resin can delam a little with some of the darker, more exotic woods (due to the natural oils I guess?), so I’ve been glassing them on with epoxy, which sticks to anything.
ethesis, molded fins that have similar stiffness to fiberglass fins are made of a glass loaded plastic (up to 60% glass). I would try to put a few layers of glass on the outsides where the strength will do you the most good, and inject glass loaded resin. Or, if you have access, inject a glass loaded nylon.
As a practical matter, it is very quick to get a very nice foil if you layup a glass stack, let it cure, and foil it. With a few practice fins under your belt, you can go from glass scraps to surfing the fins on the same day. Turnaround time is very important for prototyping. So are good waves. Good luck.
I recently was trying to make a removable longboard fin using super sap CLR. I have a wood core, only about 1/8" thick. I'd made one with PU resin, but this was my first attempts with epoxy. I mixed up one batch of epoxy, and
laminated 8 layers of cloth on one side of the wooden core of the fin. I'd lay one cloth down at a time, wet it out, then lay the next layer down. I could feel some heat from it as it started to react, so I thought it was all good. But then it never hardened all the way. I thought maybe I didn't mix the part A and B well enough, so I tried it again on another fin I made, making sure I mixed it up well. Again, it never hardened. The only thing I can think is that there was so much epoxy in those 8 layers of glass, that it all exothermed at the same time and that somehow stops the reaction?
The reason I'm thinking the exotherming was somehow stopping the reaction
is because I made some lokbox fins a couple months ago, and mixed up a
small batch (Super Sap 1000), which covered about two layers of cloth,
then I'd mix up another small one, cover a couple layers, and so on to
around 7-8 layers of cloth. I did it that way so that I didn't end up
mixing up too large of a batch and wasting any, but regardless, I didn't
have any issues with those fins.
Hoping maybe someone can shed some light on this?
Im more of an engineer but you guys are great at lateral thinking and gathering materials together. great reading.
I think its best to start small and simple. grab some marine ply and make some small sides bites and use a box as the centre. once you get better and making the sides move onto the centre fin (double foil). I find if i focus on one thing i get a better result. Oh and like someone said before if your doing fibreglass fins, wear alot of clothing ive never ithced so bad in my life, this happened about a month ago and it was terrible …
hi mz !
did you get good results , using polyester resin on previous occassions ?
if so...THAT may be your answer ?
cheers !
ben