A while back someone asked me to do a how to thread on colored/tinted fin beads. I just started 4 new fins for our new noserider model and took some pics.
First thing was to cut and glue up the woods the way you want them.
Then cut and true it up to your design you want. I leave the fin unfoiled and about 5/8 thick for noserider fins.
The next step that I do is baste the edge with my colored lam resin and styrene 2-3 times.
The next thing that I do is make a dam from self sticking weather stripping foam on a sheet of glass. I use car wax to make sure the fin easily pops off.
After finishing the mold I start pouring layers of resin. About 1/8" thick for each pour so it doesnt crack. you can used milled fibers if you wish to make the bead a bit stronger, but I have found it clouds it up. When foiled the bead is going to be quite small and you will be glassing over it, so I never use the milled fibers.
Thats all I have for now. I will continue updating this thread as I progress.
Ok now the beads have been completely poured. I use a piece of 1/4" tape and a piece of 1/8" tape around the fin to make the 3/8" bead that I want. After taping I bandsaw off the excess. Right up to my tapeline. Here are some pics.
Next is to foil the fin. Pics will come as I finish the steps.
Well we got really busy and I dropped the ball. Basically after the last step I showed you laminate 3 layers of 4oz cloth on both sides and hotcoat both sides. After hotcoating sand with 80 and tack them on the boards. Here is a finished shot of the first one. I should have a few more shots this week.
