Hi all. I did a longboard a while back and my biggest problem was with the glass-over style finbox. This is the 10" center-fin longboard type box. The sealed center section sticks up quite high and I had a hard time getting the glass to lay down over it. I did slit the glass but it came out pretty messy. I figure there must be a smooth way to lamiante with this stype box. i just don’t know what the technigue is. Note I am using RR epoxy. I am about to do another board and I would appreciate any suggestions.
It goes in AFTER glassing and hot coat…
I do it after hotcoat too, but if you insist on doing it befor lamination then roll back the cloth before wetting, then pour resin over the boxand roll clothe back then lam as usual
I tired to post the photo but this type of finbox is designed to go in under the lamination. here is the blurb from Ofishl:
“The O’Fish’l 10.5” Fin Box is the strongest fin box on the market. It
is made to be installed under the fiberglass saving a step and adding
strength. Just route the hole directly into your shaped blank, resin
the box in, slice a slit in the cloth at the top of the box, glass over
it, and sand off the cover. White box (fin plate not included)"
the photo is here:
http://www.foamez.com/ofishl-105-fin-box-white-p-545.html
they say to slit the cloth which I did but still had trouble
aerosil+resin ... should solve you problems!
But if you ask me.. avoid underglass installs .
tilted, canted, off centered , bad looking fins and installs... don't ask!
Here is what I do with standard FU boxes. Easy and strong but it does take some extra work and I’m not sure they do it when doing production work.
Glass the blank both sides. Hot-coat deck so it can be put on racks without any special protection. Route out the hole for the fin-box in the bottom (it’s a good idea to protect the whole bottom with a plastic film for instance). Install the box as usual, i.e. with a fin or dummy in the box so you can visually check for verticality. Let cure (I usually wait untill the next day). Position two pieces of wood (same thickness, a bit higher than the part of the box that sticks out. Those will be the guides upon which your router will travel. Set the router bit so that it barely touches the fiberglass cloth, then do some light passes along the top of the box untill it’s pretty much flush with the bottom of the board. Some finish hand-sanding will make it perfectly flush. Do some overall cleaning (a blow gun is your friend there), then laminate a piece of glass over the box. Hot-coat bottom. Sand, etc…
Sorry…assumed it was an F.U. box…
Never done the O’Fishl but seems like if you do the slit then go back at it when the resin is just starting to gell and do some better cuts with a razor or an Exacto knife around the crowned part you would then be able to get the glass to sit flat on the box.
Thanks for the replies guys. We’ll see how it comes out. I pretty much have to install under glass because I had the blank shaped by a well known surf shop owner. I only wanted to do the coloring and glassing since I can’t shape for beans. He supplied the blank to me pre-routed for finboxes (lockbox on the sides) and 10" longboard box in the center. After my first experience, I would have probably used after laminations methods but it is what it is.