Greetings Swaylocks! I’m shaping my first board in over 30 years and need to know the steps in glassing in the Future fin boxes. I’ve read the instructions and they say 2 4oz. footballs minimum under the laminate. I’m I correct in assuming that I glass them in before I glass the hull? Thanks for any help, Cheers.
My advice is to get the installation kit provided by futures. It makes it sooo much easier and gives you step by step sequence from routing to glassing.
To answer you question: we prefer the butterfly, but the football patches work fine as well.
Future fins are the way to go.
Canuk
So are you glassing them in before you glass the hull? In the end I’ll probably get the full kit, but since I make jigs quite a bit anyway I thought I’d give it a try.
Yes.
Glass the fin boxes with lam resin FIRST, tape fin slots, then glass directly over top of the boxes.
Canuk.
Yes.
Glass the fin boxes with lam resin FIRST, tape fin slots, then glass directly over top of the boxes.
Canuk.
Hey.
I did my first future job a couple of months ago.
No need to buy the expensive installation kit.
1 - Make your own future templates. You will need two templates. The first to route out the main box hole and the other one to route out the shallow 2 mm hols that the lip sits into. Take your time doing this and do it right coz it will save alot of hassle later on.
2 - Route out the 2 holes. for each fin you should have 1 deep hole the the main body of the box fits into and another shallow but wider hole around that. Whe nthe holes are routed out the future fin box should sit in easily and the lip should be almost flush with the foam except for that small little rise on the lip.
3 - Set the fin boxs in with resin and leave them to set hard in place.
4 - Cover the slits (just the slits) in the fin box with maskign tape. Cover the fin boxs with an extra piec of 6 oz glass (anyshape will do really but the football is whats recomended). The lay up the glass for the entire hull and laminate as normal. Take care to remove all air bubbles from the glass around the fin boxs. Thats a mistake I made. As the glass is about to go off take a blade and cut the glass around the slit i nteh fin box and remove the maskign tape.
5 - You will probably need to gring down the area arounnd the fin boxs to make everything flush.
6 - When doing hot coat make sure to cover up the slits again with masking tape.
I am about to do my first Futures install. Do you have any specs or pictures of the jigs you made?
I tried to contact Future for info and didn’t get a response (pretty lame).
Don’t have them with me but I’ll try and dig them out tonight and send them tomorrow.
Brian,
Thanks for the detailed info! Do you mind posting those pics / specs on the site? I’m planning on going the Futures route myself and it would be helpful to have that in addition to what you’ve already shared.
Thanks,
Santiago
hello ALee, we use the system in a production setting and the installation sequence is as follows:
router holes into shaped blank,
airbrush as required,
use lam resin to glue boxes in place
place glass patches and laminate board.
(note that the last two steps combined in our setting, (ie. the laminator uses the same batch of resin to glue the pre-taped boxes into the blank as is used to glass the bottom)).
I’ve install futures a few times, but I always seem to get air bubbles around the fin box. I’ve tried to work the bubble out but it always seems to come back, I’ve tried to put some extra resin in the bubble and work it out but no luck. Any advice on getting rid of the air bubbles?
Here’s a trick I learned recently. I hate the future’s bubble, especially with epoxy. A friend told me that they were installing the boxes LAST, like FCS or most other systems. Not under the glass. I was skeptical at first, but several boards later I couldn’t be happier. No bubbles, no problems. I use 2" tape to hold the router template in place, but will probably make another jig to fit the LOkBox vacuum jig (I use that thing for almost all fin systems now). It was nice going from hotcoat straight to sanding, this way does add an extra step which sucks, but it’s worth it cosmetically. Now I look at boards in the shops and can tell who does it this way, I’m sure R dot does. Give it a try if you’re frustrated with the bubbles. Some people don’t get 'em but I sure did!
ps. one other problem this beats is routing through a perimeter stringer, if you’ve done 'em you know it sucks. This way the board’s already glassed and you’re not as worried about blowing 'em out.
so are you installing them after the laminate but before the hotcoat or after you hotcoat? if after the hotcoat are you putting any resin on after you install it? Thanks for the tip.
yeah, we’re installing 'em after the hotcoat, last step before sanding. just route like normal and sink ‘em with resin with a lil’ filler. just have to put down a dam, we use the FCS overflow stuff (always order extra and use it for everything:) but you could use the little tape dam origami trick.
ps. prep sand the hotcoat if you leave a build up for your edge, knock that down or it’ll mess up the install
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yeah, we're installing 'em after the hotcoat, last step before sanding. just route like normal and sink 'em with resin with a lil' filler. just have to put down a dam, we use the FCS overflow stuff (always order extra and use it for everything:) but you could use the little tape dam origami trick.ps. prep sand the hotcoat if you leave a build up for your edge, knock that down or it’ll mess up the install
Its going to be a lot stronger installing that way because gluing the box into place will be a lot better.
blakestah, I’m a dummy. I’ve re-read your statement and don’t follow. Can you be more clear? thx
I’m not understanding it either…
No glass over the futures box, just some resin and filler? Stronger?
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I'm not understanding it either...No glass over the futures box, just some resin and filler? Stronger?
It is not no glass over. It is route hole. Glue box in with resin/filler for 100% contact with foam. Glass over. Hotcoat. Surf!
The issue is how completely the box is glued into the hole. If you zip-zip glue the plug onto the unglassed blank, you typically do not make certain the plug has 100% coverage so that it bonds as completely as possible to the foam. This problem is EXACTLY why Futures created their stiffening rib system for thin-tailed boards. The box doesn’t sit stiffly enough in the foam.
But, when you use an overflow resin/filler combination, the box is glued in there tight. Then glass over. Then surf…
Thx, blackestah. I always thought that installing the box in the foam just held it until you could glass over it, and the real strength came from the glass over the edges of the box. It seems to me that no real strength comes from the foam in either method.
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Thx, blackestah. I always thought that installing the box in the foam just held it until you could glass over it, and the real strength came from the glass over the edges of the box. It seems to me that no real strength comes from the foam in either method.
It is still relevant. For example, FCS will now provide a high density EPS insert for installation into lightweight EPS foam cores, specifically because the foam does play a role in keeping the box cant stiff enough (which the glass is poorly positioned to do leverage-wise). Installing Futures with a full resin surround takes better care of this problem.
In my dead reckoning on the issue, the biggest variable is the width of the finbox close to max camber. We put the rotation in our fins at max camber because that is where the cant-tilt-stress on the fin is greatest. Even though my boxes are very short, they are wider than any other, and there is no strength issue there. Finbox width, perpendicular to the stringer, at max camber, is the principal determinant of the strength of the finbox, all other things being equal.
the issue, really, is whether the fin is going to tilt in cant on a turn. With FCS plugs, that is fatal, because the plugs will leak if there is flex in that dimension. With Futures it will sap drive from the fins IF there is flex. The full resin surround on the box will do the best you can do with Futures.
And yes I would sink high density foam for ANY finbox being mounted into low density foam (or better yet a STRINGER)