I’m nearing completion of my shape, and was wondering about the installation of finbox woodies. It’s a single stringer 8 foot board with a normal F/U finbox, and I’ll be using fins in the 8-9" range. Should I bother installing woodies? I figured that if I need to install them, I might as well do it before the lamination. I was planning on capping the box with 2 layers of 6oz cloth, would that alone be enough? Also, for the capping, as I understand you tape up the top of the finbox, laminate the football shaped patches on, and then cut the finbox slot out, correct? Aren’t there problems with epoxy seeping into the finbox with this method?
I’m no expert myself, but from what I understand by reading the archives they are wooden supports for the finbox that run parallel to the stringer. They are used in EPS boards (which mine is, I forgot to mention that) with larger fins to prevent the foam beside the finbox from being crushed due to the large forces on the fin. I’m just not sure if they would be appropriate to use in my case.
I plan to use them on my longboard. I just like how they look, but also think they give kind of strength to the whole fin area. If you have a router go for them, it’s only a pair of minutes of routing. Remenber to add a glass layer around each woodie.
For EPS boards, some kind of reinforcement is a must…I got this idea from Eva Hollmann - www.boardlady.com. She uses it as a repair procedure, but I like to do it from the beginning…
Note: I use the West System microspheres as a bog but I don’t use their epoxy.
Don’t let the labels steer you wrong, that stuff is junk (IMO).
