product review - Casica Tech 'Fin Marker'

General Discussion
1

I recently received one of Pete’s ‘Fin Marker’ jigs and decided to post a review.  

It is made from a sheet of clear acrylic and includes a smooth threaded 2-piece plastic ‘plug’ that fits against each rail. A minor assembly step involves screwing one side of the plug to the other through a predrilled hole in the corner of the acrylic sheet. The two sides of the plastic plug appear to be at perfect 90 degree angles to the sheet itself.

Inboard from the plug is a series of side-fin holes that allow the user to make shaper’s fin marks for 3 different toe-in variables: 1/8", 3/16", and 1/4".  There are also a series of holes for a standard 1/8" toe-in quad-fin placement at 2", 2 1/4", 2 1/2" and 2 3/4" from the rail.  

“All toe angles are based on 4” fin base from rear dot." (It says so right on the jig.)

There are a series of parallel lines that allow the user to align the jig with the stringer so the toe-in marks are accurate. Note: this does not mean that the fin marks will be exactly the same distance from the stringer if the outline is wonky (see below.)

On a diagonal line from the plug is a series of dimensions from 2" - 13" (every 1/2") that allows the shaper to mark the distance from the tail for each trailing edge.

If there is any sort of bugaboo that I can find, it would be that when the jig is flipped over to mark the left side fin placement, the writing on the guide is backwards… can’t have everything, eh?  Seriously - this is a minor nit-picking issue. For those of us that are dyslexia prone, maybe place a little ‘arrow’ of tape on the marks actually used before flipping the jig over(?)

Another issue (not with the jig) that I have encountered using a similar device is that the distances of the marks are referenced to the plug which is placed against the rail.  If, as in the case of some of my own shapes, there is any sort of unintentional discrepancy in the tail outline, the fin marks will appear ‘off’ if measured from the stringer. The jig holes are designed to position the fin marks off the rail, not the stringer, so take the time to get your outline symmetrical if the board is of a symmetrical design.

The quality and accuracy is top notch.  Pete’s background as an engineer is clearly demonstrated with this product which is made in the USA.  I believe he will be distributing to retailers in the very near future.

All in all I’m giving this one a thumbs up. 

 

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2

How about a picture John?

I missed Pete at the Boardroom Show as I went on Sunday.

3

OK Barry. Snagged off another thread.

4

Still can’t beat an aluminum strait edge or even a sheet of masking paper which works great.  Made one goof up using a similar plastic fin measuring tool.  Never again.

5

I’ve been using it over at terry’s shop the last month or so and I like it. 

6

Thanks John and everyone for the kind comments.  The idea came from Terry Senate & Timmy Patterson because they had lost shapes (and glassed boards) to fin boxes routed wrong.  With all the different routing templates it gets confusing.  Each one takes a different length line through the dots to align the template.  The basic concept was to allow marking of the dots without any measurements (except distance from the tail along the stringer).  Although the various “shaper’s templates” do a good job of locating fin dots, you still have to measure and mistakes can happen (I’ve made plenty).   The Fin Marker can also be used to check fin locations and toe-in on any board, or to give a marked shape a final check before routing.  For the glass-on crew, I sized the marking holes to fit a fine-point sharpie pen. 

Also, I’ve always felt that the fin package should be symmetric to the outline because outlines are never truly mirror images from the stringer even for master shapers.   I used 1-1/4" in from the rails because I found that the usual 1-1/8" was really measured from the tucked edge on hard or 60/40.  99% of  all the tucked edges that I checked measured 1/8" in from the rail so that’s why I set the marker to 1-1/4.   If you are always using the same fin system all the time, you can drill a marking hole for the top dot specifically for the router template so that no line needs to be drawn.  The Markers should be available from the major suppliers shortly and international  customers can contact me direct.

 

7

You just opened my eyes with your sheet of masking paper suggestion Mako. I never would have thought of it otherwise, but it’s a great solution. Thanks.

8

I got mine,  great tool.  Just it’s size and reference points alone are really handy all around, even when not using it for it’s intended use.