Swied said on the workshop thread,‘When placing a single fin you should lay the fin flat on the board and move it up and down the board until 20-30 % of the fin hangs over the edge.’ I was hoping Bill Thraikill or someone there could elaborate on this guidline some more. Do you line the base of the fin on the fin slot or stringer? Is it 20% of the length of the fin or 20% of the approximate surface area? It sounds like this guidline might provide a good place to start when trying to figure the best location for different fins on the same board. Mike
Stand the fin on the stringer
lay it to on side
align the absolute base of the fin on the stringer
slide the fin for or aft to achieve 25 to 30% of fin length over hanging the rail
Its a good starting point for fin placement
if the fin has an exadurated rake then forward slightly
Mike,
If the fin is glass-on, the base is aligned with the mid-line of the board, and then moved fore/aft, until approx. 25% +/- extends beyond the rail line. If a box fin, you align the base that is above the box, with the center line of the board. With a box fin, after the position is determined, set the box so that fin, in the chosen position, is in the center of the box. This will allow max adjustment fore/aft, to fine tune the board to you taste, feel, style. Once I adopted this method of fin placement, I NEVER had to deal with spinouts again. That was 1960. Does this help?
EDIT: Ken has stated it a little more simply, and perhaps clearer than above.
put the fin on in the wrong place first
then when you change the placement
you can really tell the diffrence when it works sssssooooooooooooooooooooo
much better. the more times you put it in the wrong place
the right place becomes more and more apparent.
…ambrose…
the guy that does it right the first time
has a flat line learning curve
the guy what builds models from a box
reading instructions becomes a good technician.
want to build a board from scratch
so bad that multiple mistakes
are not a deterent>
these who make mistakes
are the residents of the
world capital of a vertical learning curve
a good rule of thumb
assimilate all recomendations
and the do what looks good to your eye
if it doesnt look right it will never look right.
fashion in fin placement
is a good way to date glass on single fins
the honolua guys had em way back in 69
but the wolfman had em further up
for that sunset attitude
gaglia’s fins were indeed shorter
when the wer set way back.
we all can agree
that the fins go really good
when they are on the bottom in the back
of the board,often personal prefrence
will effect the style of riding
as well as the result
of a given fin
placement.
Thanks all. I got it. Too funny, Ambrose. After all these years I’m starting to understand what you write. Mike