Here is my latest project. Thanks to Rooster for helping me shape it over at the Rat Turd Lab. It may have a plague inspiring name, but it is actually a pretty sweet setup.
Shown below is the board in its current state. I am now trying to decide what type of fin setup to use. Originally, I was thinking about making it a thruster. Then I got to thinking about maybe going with a single fin or maybe a 2+1 Widowmaker setup. Please help me decide.
Here is a fin that I made a while back. I like the contrast of its color with the blue board. This is what got me thinking about going with a single or 2+1 setup.
It's hard to go wrong with a 2+1. The Neal Purchase set-up would be hard to beat but you might consider installing some side plugs and the short FU center box so you have room to make adjustments.
Even with glassed-on sidebites you can make center fin changes and adjustments that will allow you to alter the ride to your own personal specs. With 2 center fins in your quiver you can cover a huge range of waves with a board like that.
With trailing edge of sidebites at around 15" from the tail and a box that starts at 5"-6" from the tail you'll be in the ballpark.
If you pop a 10.5" centerfin box in there and make that nice wood fin removable, you can use one of the FCS longboard finbox adaptors to experiement with different configurations.
I used this on my latest 7’1" mini longboard thingy and found it was most fun as a Thruster with an M7 centerfin and M5 sides.
I designed the board for a 7.5" flex fin with sidebites but just found it a little looser and had better cutbacks with a differnent setup. Still fun as intended but better more me as a tri-fin… good to experiement with fins!
Those finbox adapters with a center box are the killer set up. I have a 6’7" round pin that I can ride as a single, a 2 +1, a twin, a thruster, a quad or a 5 fin. With a little adjusting it works pretty good in all configs (except twin). Very adaptable for any waves.
It sounds like going with a 2+1 setup is the favorite at this point. That is good, because I was leaning that way already. I am a bit reluctant about installing a fin box, however. The main reasons are: 1) I will need to buy a finbox, and 2) I will need to make a new fin to go into it. Number one is easy enough to solve, but making a new removable fin is pretty time consuming. Sure… I could buy a new fin but I would rather use somethat that I made myself.
I guess I really should have phrased my question differently. Here it is again…
NEW QUESTION:
I have this blue board that needs some fins. I have a yellow 8" wooden glass-on fin that is ready to go. I also have some wooden glass-on thruster fins that still need to be foiled. Will the 8" fin work with this board? Would it work better if I added some side fins? If so then how big should the side fins be, and where should I place them? Alternatively, would the glass-on thruster setup be preferable?
Lemme see… I think the basic question is “what setup do you most prefer?”
At 7’6" it could be any setup you have the energy to install.
+1 on the comment to the effect that its good to try different fin setups. Wish I’d done more of that myself, but I’m reluctant to spend for fins when I make most of my own stuff.
A forum search might turn up a good way or ways to make that wood fin fit a box. I never had the energy to do so myself. Wood fins are MUCH easier to make as glass-ons, than it is to create a good-fitting glass box fin. So much so that (except for the work to do a good installation) that a wood fin is almost an expendable.
2+1’s are nice and smooth, fun choice for forehand point surf. Don’t have the punch off the bottom or top, or backhand power a thruster does. I rode two DT’s, 7’6 and a 7’8, each with 10" fin box, front Future boxes. Tried many fin combo’s, always went back to either balanced thruster combo, or 4.5 sides and 4.75 rear. Much better all around set-up then the 2+1 proved to be.
So here’s a vote for glass-on thruster fins.
BTW, Neil Purchase Jr. moved on from 2+1 to quads couple of years ago.
Its funny, the 2+1's i have setup as a thruster ( except my 9'1'', never tried ), have all surfed great, despite the fins being so far forward. Though the boards have been midlength. Loosens em right up, without losing drive.
I have an extra Bahne box and several fin choices you are welcome to take. You’ll have to swing by for a surf and then out to the lab, though. I don’t remember if you met the newest addition to the Rat Turd Lab. His name is Rat Cat and he’s been KILLING EM! Nice set up, too. Mike
Hey man, 2+1 equals lots o fun! You can still use your fin too! I believe green light surf supply sells kit for your fin. When I’m designing new boards with a thruster set up I sometimes use a center fin box to dial in the exact position I want for future repeat shapes. As was previously mentioned, you also get a lot of options in fins and set ups which yields a versatile board. Above all have fun! Do experiment. I’d definitely use the box though because if this is the first board you have shaped on this template you will probably want to make adjustments to the fin position. Its way easier to loosen a screw and move the fin if the board is too loose or too stiff than to grind off a glass on and reposition it 2 or 3 times.
I would add a longbox about 3.5" to 4" from the tail. Then add the sidebites at about where you’d set thruster side fins. Start with it as a single with the fin further up in the box then work it back to feel the difference. Then add side fins to feel the difference. Finally you can put in a thruster set and see how that feels. 7’3" is long enough for a fun single or 2 + 1.
I make copies of my thruster center fin that fit the wider single fin box. I don’t trust the FCS adapter. On some I have the rear of the fin past where the fin goes into the box to be able to get it further back and still have the leash loop at the back of the box. It doesn’t take too much of cuttings from glassing boards to make a small fin.
I prefer flatter boards as single fins, more rocker as tri fins. That’s just me though. Your board will probably go faster as a tri too. p.s looks fun tooooooo !
Here is a pic of a fin that has worked out well for me in 2+1 set ups. I'm really not sure what center fin sizes are available in standard thruster configurations. This one is 4 3/4" tall and seems to kind of fill the gap between a true thruster and a 'fin dragging' 2+1 that has too large of a center fin. Like Sharkcountry recommends, it has a cutaway base along the trailing edge so it can slide way back in the box. I generally have this one available for when the waves are small and have another fin between 6"-7" for when the waves are bigger. With those 2 fins in my quiver, any 2+1 board seems to have a wider range.
Good shot John. That’s exactly how I make the smaller single bottom. I just copy whatever fins I want to use then I have a true Thruster set. Not that hard to layout a small sheet of glass big enough for a couple of fins. I’ll draw out the shape on some paper then tape that to a flat board, place wax paper over that and I just lay out enough glass to cover the shapes I draw. Wet it out about 5 sheets at a time until you get the right thickness. I only wet out the area that I want to use and leave the rest dry. I place wax paper over the layup then another board and then a bunch of hollow tile blocks to compress it. Been using a dremel tool with a cut off wheel, but the dremel gets hot. I bought a new small grinder and some cutoff wheels to make more fins. Worse part is the foiling. I use a belt sander held in my bench upside down. Sometimes I use my 7" sander. Just figure out a way to collect the dust and you’l be fine.
Flatter tail rocker on the singles seem to work for me, but flatter rocker or smoother over all with just a touch more in the nose tip is what I seem to like the most right now.
If you use a longboard for a while then jump to the single you won’t have any problems. You can stand tall and turn easily. Step back to make a sharper turn, or forward for a full rail turn. Just push hard for the full rail turns. When we were younger we’d move the fin back on bigger days or in heavier waves to stiffen the board, then forward for smaller days to loosen it up. Just moving the fin will do so much to change how the board feels. Changing the fin does the same. Can’t do that with a glassed on fin without a lot of work.
For the side fins, I’d use Pro-box. It adds lots of options when you go to 3 fins.
Is this going to be Sand Dollar board by any chance??? Are you going to be there this year?
I have a 7-4 that I made to be ridden as either single fin, thruster or 2+1. I tried all the set ups and ended up using… The little sidebites with the thruster center fin. I never spin out and it’s by far the loosest set up.
My two cents - make the 2=1 set up and all the different fin set ups until you find what you like… and have fun in the process…
OK. So, I decided to sit on this decision for a week. I’m now ready to go with all of your advice and not glass-on my fin. I do feel compelled to at least shape my own side-bite fins. Shown below are some fin blanks that have been sitting in my drawer for about a year. They have a 1/16" layer of G10 sandwiched in the middle.
Rooster. I’m going to take you up on the offer to help me install the fin boxes. It will have to be after Easter, though.
Liillibel: I do have a a site reserved for the Plaskett Creek weekend. I plan on bringing it and hopefully my next completed project.
This board had been sitting around for too long without getting wet, so I just went ahead and popped in a 10" box for a single fin. I have some pro-box side-fin boxes and intend to install them (some day) to complete the 2+1 setup. I have never installed pro-boxes before so I’m a little intimidated about the job.
I added an old 9" fin to the box and took it out this morning in some overhead surf in SC. All that I can say is that it was f’ing awesome. Definitely the best board I have ridden in a long time. Or… it could have just been that the waves were the best that I have ridden in a long time. Either way, I’m pretty stoked right now.
It will be interesting to see if it will feel as good at Sand Dollar in the fall.
I’ll post some pictures of the completed board tonight. Note: It is kind of ugly. I now know why you need to filter your resin after adding pigment.
