PlusOneShaper. very cool , thanks for sharing. nice bonzer BTW . see Chip you can inspire people too 
Hi Plusone thanks for the pics, very easy to understand.
I have a question though. Do You have to adjust for any shrink factor with the epoxy resin?
I’ve been thinking about doing something similar with a Red X box but try to mould straight out of the box
Erik
thanks very VERY much for that , Plus One !!
Pictures speak volumes …
I can understand that a lot better than the amount of words that would have been needed to describe the process …just ask aqua !
It’s reassuring to see I was on the right track , then !
I’d like to see a set [if you’ve done any ? ] for fins unlimited boxes , as well , please ? … It’s the tab , screw hole, and pin hole which cause me grief sometimes .
Thanks Ben [‘Shippy’] …I hope what I do here , [besides the occassional raspberry cordial induced off the wall comment ], DOES help inspire / stoke / challenge / encourage others to give things a go
…I know I need a kick / encouragement to try new stuff sometimes , so I hope I can give something back to Swaylocks …it’s been a real inspiration to me in the short time I’ve been here!
Hicksy has made up a few ‘swaylocks inspired’ logos , I want to put one on my next set of fins [maybe the bonzer runners and back fin panel I’ve just layed up]. And then maybe the 8’er next…
ben
thanks so much…
i feel like shuch a fool… all the years i have spent trying to buiild percision router jigs and what have you to make fin tabs… i am trying this out asap…
it is posts like this that keep me coming back for more…
aloha
JJP
Another question too, PlusOne …
do you use chopped cloth and / or milled fibreglass mixed in with your resin you pour for the bases ?
cheers !
ben
Hola,
Be careful with plastics. I don’t know MAKROLON (polycarbonate), but some moths ago I built, using 1cm thick metacrilate sheet, a 40cm deep fin for my BIC TECHNO sailboard and it snapped at the base at the very first ride ( 1 day of shaping, foiling…23seconds of sailing).
I guess, cross forces in windsurfing planning conditions are a lot greater than on normal surfing sessions (Laird crazy rides apart). I still have the remains of the same metacrilate sheet at home. Maybe , it’s the day for start foiling a Nuuhiwa center fin for my longboard.
plus one, I’ve been hassling trying to get a solid way to put cant on my fins after foiling…you saved me mucho time. Thanks.
I was about to make my own fins for futures,and you come up with this…
Wonderful!!! Thanks for sharing,Jimmy yoshio shibata.
With the epoxy, the shrinkage has not been so bad. I’ve only had a couple of sets early-on where they were loose, so I back-off the number of layers of tape on the mold (in effect, increasing the width of the fin base). I ‘saved’ those loose fins by putting Solarez on the bases and sanding just a touch.
AWESOME…SIMPLY AWESOME!!!
PlusOne,
Thank you sooooooo much for this. I can’t wait to start my own. All the questions so easily answered…beautimus!!!
Sr Pato
Thanks so much for that George, I just make a set of ply keelfins and buggered the tabs. This guarantees a perfect tab. Now is Halcyon or Blakestah would kindly do a tutorial on fin foiling I’d be home & dry !
great post +1!!! i love that clear hi-tech look too…someday I’ll make some custom fins using your technique…
Very cool +1! Do you/anybody know if you can heat and bend/form “Lexan”? Also is there any reason you didn’t foil the fins before you set them in the epoxy? Just wondering. I like the looks of the Lexan. Think I might try it for the “Stingray” side fins.
Lexan will melt pretty dern easily. When I made fins out of it I just sanded it low RPMs and then finished it with a plastic polishing agent. Looked like an icicle. But all in all it was too soft to use at standard fin thicknesses (0.25 inches max thickness for thruster or 0.375 for single), and I went back to glass. Might be fine for a low depth fin or supercharger type fin, or one of those leetle fish trailers…sure looks cool.
How big are the fin bases for those fins?
those look awsome has me wanting to try something new.
Hey aquafiend,
yeah, the situation is kind of unique, I am molding some super-flex, low aspect fins (vanes) and it may mislead. Kind of wish I did some regular glass fins for the example but this batch was out of necessity.
I foil the lexan fins at the end because I like to keep the protective sheeting on until all the wet work is done. First batch of clear fins came out smudged. Now I peel the sheet off afterwards, even after rough foiling. They just look really trick. The fins are basically flat-sided.
This fin base molding works well with pre-foiled, pre-polished fin blanks (might want to sand the part that gets the resin though). Looks insane with pigment added if you are careful.
Quote:
This fin base moulding works well with pre-foiled, pre-polished fin blanks (might want to sand the part that gets the resin though). Looks insane with pigment added if you are careful.
This old greenish [?volan?] single fin I salvaged from an old $5aus dump special. I then f.c.s. tabbed it , for use in a diamond tail twinny I added back fcs plugs to .
Recently, I moulded a base to the tabs , for use with the f.u. type box in my ‘‘bonzer’’ . I tinted the base green . At present , it’s sitting at Hicksy’s , waiting for the ‘pin’ hole to get drilled . Maybe if Grant can borrow his work’s digital for the weekend , I can get a shot of it , hopefully finished . [At present , it is not sanded back , or glossed ]
the “bonzer” runner’s bases being moulded …
the moulding resin is PINKY coloured !! [and the tabs show through … from now on, I will pigment the bases ]
ben
Ahhhh yes, those pesky holes for the spring pins (roll pins). Need a drill press for them really. Use stainless pins- big marine supply stores got 'em.
You could go to a plastics place and get some fiberglass rod and epoxy them into an oversized hole rather than use metal bits.
I was using shades of grey on my fin bases, really cool on an opaque Ferrari red fin. Your colors sound cool, kind of like “Lollies” or something…
I guess there’s nothing stopping me mixing a red and white pigment or tint , to try to match the pinkish tabs …pink is a colour fin I’ve never made . [Alternatively , maybe a pinkish spraypainted foam-core glass set of fins ]
ben
thanks for the lolly coloured comment …it got me thinking …