Roy's 3D printed fins

Love 'em or hate 'em, one of the more interesting fin threads I’ve seen lately has been Roy’s 3D printed tubercle-inspired fins over on the erBB -

http://forum.surfermag.com/forum/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=2599817

 

 

 

https://i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/2862604032/h9177B550/

That wasn’t directed at you lawless, just to be clear.

Saw a Magazine at Hudsons in Lax yesterday that had 3-D Printers on the cover and inside a reveiw of all the top 3-D printers and printer CNC combos currently available.  Didn’t get much time to really look it over, but it was an eye opener.

I reckon Roy’s onto a winner with this one. Looks like a practical application for 3D printing if ever I saw one. Prediction from Spuddups: 3D printing of fins will be common place within ten years.

Prediction from Everysurfer.  Not going to happen on a mass scale.  Injection is cheaper, faster and stronger.  For a one off good fin, hand foiling fiberglass is better.  Maybe for a prototype, to use in mold making, then yes.

…and with that comes the usual obvious problems , same as always…these toy plastic fins will be coming out of China for 10cents each…but the marketing gurus with make 1000% profit per item , depend on their expertise in bullshitting…and still , they will not equal a hand made fin…the more things change , the more they stay the same…only those who can truely keep the faith , will remain many levels above this sort of nosense…(lol)

Lot of progress those last days on printable materials. Even for cheap printers you can access to reinforced thermo plastics better than cheap fins plastic. Near my home there is a printer shop with a 3d printer, everyone who can design fins (and many others parts) can print them for less than half price of a surfshop. A friend use it to make parts for is car, I will use it to make parts for my one printer. I start to understand why some eminent people says that 3d printing is the new industrial revolution…

I agree. The other thing to consider is the 3D printing of entire surfboards. The board could be made of a honey comb type chambered construction, worked out by a computer for maximum strength and minimum weight. The complexity would be no issue for the 3D printer. One material only. No labour cost other than the design process.
Basically shaping as an industrial process, as we know it now, could well become a thing of the past. People will probably still use older techniques. Shaping by reduction is an enjoyable process. Consider that photography didn’t stop people painting pictures.

Its a helluva steak knife !

 I want one !

I can buy plastic fins for about $30 a set.  Is there a company who will design  and print me a fin for $5? 

Not design, only print. That’s the key, small 3d plastic printers are cheap, those companies sell everything’s for office and all kind of printing services.
When we have A1 or a A0 draw to print we go here, now we go to prints parts we design on computer, if material is compatible. We have access to multiaxial cnc router too, but if parts can be made with this plastic 3d printing is far cheaper. Metalic I precision printing is an other world, I see it in a factory, they say that for custom part it can be cheaper than cnc router. For big series 3d printing is a no go, molding is the leader,but 3d printing will open the custom world to the mass for law prices, new consumer possibilities.

The technology is cool, can you print with pu or epoxy resins so you could make finboxes that bond to the surfboards lamination?

 

Solid fiberglass has the best flex for fins though.

finFoil will make it possible for everyone, I promise!

Updates will follow.

A like of shop open to everyone at ten minutes from my home:  http://www.top-office.com/service-impression/impression-3d.html

I have been following 3d printing for reasons other that surfboard design and construction. just like the land line to cell and now smart phone its hard to tell where its going to go. I have added a few links if you care to understand it more. when an Item can be made in your garage, home or a 3d printing store down the street  kiss china goodbye!

bsea

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jackson-mariotti/3d-printing-no-longer-jus_b_4400731.html

http://www.organovo.com/

http://www.madeboards.com/

i really like the look of that fin. i intend to ride singles exclusively for a year or two. and hope that is my first fin i will be riding. from what i understand there is no need for sidebites on this fin design. i am getting a copy of this fin although i have no idea how it will be laid up or if it will be a printed fin. few fellus missing the point as usual

let us know how it goes , please Paul ?

 

  cheers mate !

 

  ben

 

p.s. -

 

 … whatever happened to ‘Silly’ , mate ?

As I see it 3-D printing tech will eventually advance far enough for consumers to buy them for cheap and make all sorts of things for themselves.  Need a part for your washer or your car?  Download the file and print it.  

You can buy someone else’s fin models in plastic for $20 or $30 but you can’t get a custom set for less than $60, and you definitely can’t get those on an overnight basis, particularly if you live somewhere outside of one of the surfboard hubs.  

**i might be getting to old but would like to se this 3 d printing using epoxy e  glass  carbon mix **

**be fun cleaning that mother after use?  **

heres one done for me by kity - cat  a few yrs back  in silicone i think from a hand foiled master

 

 

 

 cheers huie