“I have actually heard of a couple guys installing them post glass, but I haven’t seen any done this way.”
That’s something you HAVE TO do when doing tinted resins if you want them to stand against the color. I glass the bottom as usual, route the holes, set the plugs, then cover them with oval patches. Works good with me.
Hey Bill
That looks great! Is that shot taken right after laying a tail patch or is it another bottom layer?
I’ve been wanting to try that but too chicken to do it without talking to somebody that has.
Hi Todd,
the photo was taken at the gloss-coat stage. Sorry, no photo of step by step process. But I’ve done a few like that and they seem to be holding very well.
(BTW, I got an e-mail from the guy who ordered this board and it’s very enthusiastic about speed and ease of turning in small -1-2 foot- waves, the only ones he managed to catch for the last few days…) Seems like those short stubby shapes work fine with a quad set-up…
Todd - you could be right - that was just me thinking out loud - sometimes major breakthrough, sometimes brain fart !
Show the rep a few boards? Are they that paranoid?
its hard to get any plugs through your local rep unless you have a registered business. and then you have to order a minimum amount and they charge you plenty in shipping on top of that. they seem to like money in the undies too. it might be easier for you to go to a local shaper/business and buy some off him if you only need a few sets.
So true…an aquaintance of mine opened a shop in Central Florida and has been told he can get the fins but not the leashes and etc. I’ll never understand this thinking regardless of all the excuses made for it. I have been told it doesn’t happen, but it obviously does.
As for getting fusion in small amounts: Call Larry and order whatever pro box amount you like and get a similar shape plug and adjustibility to boot. And …the system will take all the FCS fins as well.
Some of the leading companies are not set up to ship small orders or singles.
Bill I’m confused?(a regular occurrence)
You say that pic is at the gloss coat? What is the fabric hanging off the tail?
Oh…is that tape?
It just looks like fabric in the picture because it’s so white.
Then with the resin dripping down…I get it…
I thought maybe it was a pic of the tail patch with excess cloth hanging down or something.
basically each rep can do business with whomever the wish as far as i can tell
its ironic they use the “backyard do crappy install” excuse when some big manufacturers dont use patches and H pattern
anyway i think the nz fcs dealer is great to to business with
i get anything i want overnight guaranteed
they really are the best in the business in that respect
but i feel that fcs are too expensive for the current market
kit and huie have mastered foam core fin infusion
and raptor plugs are 1/3 the price and work better
the only reason to use fcs i see is that its a major selling point, with many builders saying they cant sell boards that do not have fcs
this is why im more interested in boutique board market like fish and longboards
fcs are not compulsory
also probox are a great product for fish and longboards but the fcs box is really thin and light
its great for thin tails in standard throwaway shortboard
basically each rep can do business with whomever the wish as far as i can tell
its ironic they use the “backyard do crappy install” excuse when some big manufacturers dont use patches and H pattern
anyway i think the nz fcs dealer is great to to business with
i get anything i want overnight guaranteed
they really are the best in the business in that respect
but i feel that fcs are too expensive for the current market
kit and huie have mastered foam core fin infusion
and raptor plugs are 1/3 the price and work better
the only reason to use fcs i see is that its a major selling point, with many builders saying they cant sell boards that do not have fcs
this is why im more interested in boutique board market like fish and longboards
fcs are not compulsory
also probox are a great product for fish and longboards but the fcs box is really thin and light
its great for thin tails in standard throwaway shortboard
Good post Paul. Also…FCS are well distributed around the globe. This is a major advantage. One of the reasons Pro box desinged their product to take FCS. I like the new fusion box. However…if I were going to re design a box…I think I might try and add adjustibility to it. Especially for four fins.
Fixed systems in my opinion are simple, but their original purpose was shipping and so more boards could fit on a rack in a shop. I think making a functional and tuneable fin system is part of making a modern fin system. Some customers ( emphasis on some ) want to be able to tune their boards in with adjustment and not depend on a shaper’s fin placement.
With thrusters it’s not that big a deal…but with some of the other fin set ups it is.
So with fusion on many boards…why not just buy the probox and get adjustibility, same type of box shape and smaller, and still be able to use your FCS fins? I see your point on thin tails. One of my shapers also likes it for that reason.
Right on, Todd, just basic tape. The flash light made it look whiter than it really is. Also, this gloss coat wasn’t great either, looked much more like a hot-coat actually… I spent quite a lot of time fine sanding it with 400 grit to get rid of all the flaws…
I have to agree with most people that have used the Fusion sets
They are great, very easy installation, they are very light and thin so you don’t have to worry about thin tails.
I have used them on PU and EPS, and I have talked to FCS, and even thought the website says that they are meant for EPS, you can use in both PU and EPS and work fine
I’ve made more the 20 boards with different set ups, as twins, quads thruster, and they all have work, and have gotten good feedback from people
The advantage in the installation is the simple jig, it works well, but I agree with some of you that had problems with the bubbles issue, but most fin boxes have the same problem, what helps me is after a laminate over the fin boxes I use a sharp blade and cut the glass over, and then thicken the left over resin from the bucket and fille over the fin box a little bit, and that seems to work.
Oh I get most of my stuff from
Fiberglass Hawaii in Ventura they are great, very helpful and knowledgeable
“However…if I were going to re design a box…I think I might try and add adjustibility to it. Especially for four fins.”
The fusion boxes do have fore-aft adjustability. Getting the fins in the right position is tricky. I usually shoot for centered in the plugs for simplicity’s sake. Works well with fins that have already been used in the standard plugs that have been etched @ center, but if you put in a fresh new set of fins, tightening the grub screws actually walks the fins- one side walks foreward, the other walks backwards. A little tricky if you are not ready for it.
In addition to the fore-aft adjustability, the Fusion system also has 3 different cant angles. These are set
into the ‘‘box’’, so it’s not adjustable in the true sense, but it does allow the shaper to choose the cant
angle appropriate for the design and/or bottom contours.
Fusion has been very well received. Maybe a little bit better than the FCS guys expected. The market speaks.
Mr. Sak, you have all 3 angles in your ‘‘quadvertible’’. A close-up photo that shows just how much fiber goes
over the flange (in Coil’s install) might be in order.
yeah, I get great service from Mike Sullivan at Surfhardware. I’m not a registered business, but I get good pricing and very quick turnaround.
And I do like the Fusion boxes.
These are set
into the ‘‘box’’, so it’s not adjustable in the true sense,
but it does allow the shaper to choose the cant
angle appropriate for the design and/or bottom contours.
seems like this thread:
proves that adjustability is important even in thrusters designed by “shapers of the year”.
in my mind, this kind of thing really makes the case for adjustable fin systems.
fore, aft, and cant… no matter who they are, the shaper can’t get it right all the time
especially if they are not familiar with your day-to-day waves.
Fusion plugs in coil:
I stupidly left the key in one of the plugs when I removed the old wax off the board today while it was lying on my living room floor. Because the board was sliding all over the place, my knee, and my 180 lbs, was on the traction pad the whole time. Key got bent to hell, but the plugs are 100% fine (whew!)
Kinda blows my mind that the thin part of the box near the grub screws did not crack under all that leverage and grinding. Yes, I checked the plugs 2 x since I started composing this post. Dodged a friggin’ bullet on that one!
Nice torture-testing on the screw and screw-hole there. They probably didn’t think of that one at the FCS test lab.
I wish all our fiber could take some credit, but all that load was on the box. Our fiber did keep you from denting
the bottom with the rest of the key…
IMO it’s a great thing that there are several really good fin systems currently available. Whatever the board design,
or construction technology, or user criteria, there’s a system that offers a good ‘‘fit’’. Conversely, I don’t think it’s
possible to say that one is far superior to the others.
IMO it’s a great thing that there are several really good fin systems currently available. Whatever the board design,
or construction technology, or user criteria, there’s a system that offers a good ‘‘fit’’. Conversely, I don’t think it’s
possible to say that one is far superior to the others.
Mike, That is one of the best answers I have finally heard! Thanks
Mahalo,Larry
To:FCS
OOOh…almost !
please try again !
Herb