Hi. I’m doin a school project on making surfboard fins, and I hope to produce 3 fins alltogether,but which a e not made out of fibreglass
Has anyone got any ideas about materials i could use, so I could make them in a workshop
Has anyone made any fins before?Or knows how they could be made well?
If any1 has an info at all,please let me know,Cheers. Steph
Hey steph, Welcome to Swaylocks!
There is plenty of Info in the archives, but this should get you started…
Le Fin…
I made my fin out of Maple, but you may use whatever type of wood you like. The fin is 5.5” wide at the base, Has a rake of 4”, a depth of 7.5” and is 8” at its tallest point. To make the fin, take your stock and plane it down to about ½” thick, trace the template on the wood, cut it out with a jig saw (Leaving excess at the base to provide some wood to place into the clamp which you will use to hold the fin blank as you are foiling it.) Now file/grind/sand the edges smooth. To foil the fin, I used a combination of hand planes (one with 2 handles on either side of the knife- not sure on the name…anyone?), files, and electric sanders. When all foiling is done, sand the fin smooth and cut the excess off of the base. The fin should taper down towards the end and outwardly as well. there is a full-size template for this posted on the SINGLE FIN TEMPLATES post by ChipFish61 as well as some other great examples of other fins.
Cheers,
Austin
P.S. Fins are made well with a feel for symmetry and love 
"P.S. Fins are made well with a feel for symmetry and love "
er … shouldn’t that be "with a love for symmetry and feel " ??
That’s what I meant…
Do you know the name of that plane I mentioned above Ben? I’m drawing a blank…
-Austin
That’s what I meant…
Do you know the name of that plane I mentioned above Ben? I’m drawing a blank…
-Austin
nup ,
but while you’re drawing a blank , can you draw a few single fins up as well , for “the thread” , please ?
cheers !
"block plane " ??
nup…not a block plane.
"Has anyone got any ideas about materials i could use, so I could make them in a workshop "
foam
wood
perspex type stuff [?“lexan”?]
Rhino,
The name you are looking for is spokeshave. They are really handy for working the stringer on the nose as well.
Dave
" spokeshave"…
Spokeshave!!!
hey, that’s one of those things i have Craig, except mine’s a bit more “antique” looking.
I believe the tool you are refering to is a draw knife. Different than a spoke shave.
hey, that’s one of those things i have Craig, except mine’s a bit more “antique” looking.
like this…??
There we go, Spokeshave! This tool was ver usefull when foiling the backside of the fin, as the grain direction made it very hard to do with a normal hannd plane.
Thanks,
Austin
nup…not a block plane
draw knife?
try birch ply. not to bad foils easily enough.
i used fiberglass and made bonzer side runners in wood shop i just had to lay my panels up at home
also d- cell foam you could try then laminate it at home. Is this just for woodshop or are you trying to make fins for say a science fair and you are just doing the work in your woodshop class?
wood fins are a lot of fun to make - sandwich different colors for effect. However, different hardnesses will complicate the outcome, and different grain directions make things tougher than they need to be.
Some hints: the softer (lighter) the material, the easier it will be to work with. Balsa lends itself to this, as does some redwood if you get it with straight grain.
Grain direction is important from a workability standpoint.
Plexiglass can be difficult to work with since it softens when hot, so you can’t work it for long with machine tools. It has no grain to hang you up.
Plywood can look nice with all the layers and darker strips of glue. However, there’s that grain thing again.
Sharp blades make life easier.
Rough sandpaper (say 40 to 60 grit), wrapped over a hard block, is good for roughing out the fin, but change to finer paper (100 then 120 grit) later. You don’t need to be really smooth at the end, the resin needs some “tooth” for a good mechanical bond.