Hi. I'm currently building my first board (9' redwood and pine longboard) and need some advice on a fin. I was planning on going with a finbox but after seeing pictures of some great wood fins, I decided to try and make my own. I put together some scrap wood and came up with this 8" fin. It's my first attempt at a fin so it's not perfect, but I like it enough that I'm going to glass it on the board.
I've done a lot of reading online about glassing fins but would like some more opinions/advice.
Should I glass/resin the fin before attaching it to the board? Does the fin need any additional glass/resin other than the two layers of cloth used to glass in the fin?
My thought is to attach the raw wood fin to the board when I apply the cheater coat, and then glass in the fin while I'm glassing the bottom. I'm not sure if the two layers of glass is enough to give me the clear "halo", or do I need to build it up with glass/resin before glassing it in?
I’d give that fin at least 2 cheater coats, maybe more, then tack it to the board and glass it on. If you want the halo effect that would need to be done before glassing onto the board. I’d also use fin rope at the base for either method.
Looking at the picture I am guessing that you have a fin mostly made of vertical grain redwood. I have had a redwood fin delam in the past and I recommend a couple things so it doesn’t happen to you.
Cheater coat the fin twice like Surfifty said. However, add up to 20% styrene to your lam resin which will thin out the resin. Let the fin sit overnight and harden completely.
Glass the fin with two layers of whatever glass you are using 4oz or 6oz before attaching it to the board.
There is a bunch of info here about a Halo I would research that.
Your fin looks nice and the Redwood will really come to life with resin on it.
After you sealed and followed Dave's directions; Proceed with glassing the board. After laminating you can glass the fin onto the laminate. Then hotcoat the entire board.
We're in the same zip code....go slow my friend....WBrame makes fins and he's 92078 too.....take your time.....I have plenty of fiberglass stuff.......the cloth you need for fins is all free....let's talk via pm....
That is your first fin ever? It looks like you did a pretty nice job! Did you at least ruin a few practice blanks beforehand? The first fin that I ever foiled looked nothing like a fin and ended up in the trash.
My first successful fin was also redwood and I attempted to glass it with poly following Bert Burgers example. It was a disaster. The bond between the wood and glass was pretty weak and I was able to just peal it off with my fingers. I didn’t know about the cheater coat trick back then. Definitely do that if you are going to use poly resin. I personally turned to epoxy with my future work. It doesn’t come out as clear and pretty, but epoxy bonds to wood so much better.
Give stringray a call. He’s a good guy, and will help you get that fin attached to your board.
Oh, and stingray… I still owe you some fins. I have the blanks sitting in a box in my garage still waiting to be foiled. I’m the worlds slowest shaper. I think I should call my shop The Slow Tech Lab.
