Bert -
Sorry I butted in. I didn’t realize you were still posting. I would’ve removed it sooner but I’ve been out all day.
GREAT POST - Thanks!
finfektion!!!
im good for about 10 sets in a day in that constuction…
mark,cut and foil then glass one side before lunch ,glass other side after lunch, then cut out and foil late afternoon/evening…the day i did those fins , i had a 10 o clock start and still got a surf in the afternoon …if im in work mode i foil about 10 sets an hour ,but usually cruise/daydream and do about 8 sets an hour…
when i was a grom i worked in a big production house making all there fins…
use to make 100 sets a week , standard glass set fins… standard days work was ,pull up 2 fin panels big enough for 30 fins each , then lay up 2 fin panels side by side (two smaller ones was easier to handle than one big one…)then mark and cut the panels id previously pulled up,then go to lunch and a surf ,or lunch come back foil 60 fins and then a surf ,either way made 300 fins a week and still got a surf in each day…
id estimate 45 minutes a set for the wooden ones…the box version is a drama ,that makes the one set of fins take an extra hour…id love to be able to buy them , so hard to find someone with the skills to make em,
ive run as little as 1 layer of 4oz either side ,but thats just to save weight…
if you were gonna sell them to a customer 2 layers of 4oz would be the least you could get away with, i find 2 layers of 6 oz keeps them nice and solid…
yes they can get fractures …ive had other guys glass and finish them , they left the glass floating on to much resin ,or sanded them to heavily…dodgy
plus ive used 8 and 10 oz in the past …your better off with 2 layers of 5oz than 1 layer of 10oz
it seems the heavier glass has bigger gaps between the weave leaving more dead resin,which leads to fracturing easier…
flex , you can dial any sort of flex you want , even flex bias, with different styles and weights of fabric either side , plus running the glass on different angles can change the flex as well …
man you must be a machine , you must have a good system, what sort of moulding are you doing???
rolliges!!!
epoxy? i know epoxy is way better with wood , 2 resons i dont use it …
its a bit to flexy on some of the finer foils ,and coz it takes to long to set ,your forever chasing bubbles around ,where as the polyester snaps off and you can play with it till it sets making sure youve got no bubbles , epoxy you walk away ,when you come back you freak coz the wood bubbles and gases…
4 oz is fine 2 layers minimum…
i think the blade is called a tungsten edge blade , it doesnt have teeth ,it has has a grit edge…
mcding!!!
the makita rocks ,my first one i bought new lasted 12 years of abuse…then had another 5 jigsaws of other brands ,ryobi,metabo,black and decker,hitachi,skill…they all died within 3 years…the metabo lasted 1 month…
a few years back just went and spent the money and got a good makita again…
gota have good tools…
regards
BERT
awesome!thanks for sharing your knowledge bert.
Good on ya Bert!
And it looks so easy…
I’ll give that a shot on my next pair, and hopefully take out hours of frustration of the process…
Thanx Johnny............
Bert - You have given us more tools to work with. Years ago Tom Stern gave us an understanding if finning with pictures. You have taken it to another level. I see how great of a foiler you are. Thanks for the education.
Bert, thanks a million for your generousity. I’m going to give it a try.
For the record:
Flat sided rail fins can be made very quickly as Bert has shown. If that’s what you want this thread spells it all out real well for glass-ons. Making fin tabs to fit properly, and setting cant as well as making rail fins with a nice clean concave in the inner side is a much more labor intensive process. You’re not going to crank out 25 sets of those a day and have an Q.C. going at all unless you’re some kind of magician or have you process computerized with some kind of fin foiling machine. Molding is another story. That’s the way the big boys do it. Tom’s at RED X is an expert on that sort of thing. Herb Spitzer’s done his share of molding too.
Happy Grinding & Good Surfin’, Rich
P.S. You don’t see wood fins at all anymore out here on the California coast unless it’s on a vintage board.
I wonder why? Could it be something to do with fashion?
My wooden bonzer side fins. Done by hand with sand paper and scissors (except for jigsaw to cut the wood). 36 grit to start a foil; 60 to refine it, 220 for finish wood work. Scissors to cut the glass around the fin; 60 grit to take down the edges; 220 again for finish. I’ll probably just glass these to the board than give them a hotcoat.
Thanks Bert; next time will be better.
Left fin finished; right cut out with scissors.
Fini
Hey Bert… nice pics, good to see you finally got a camera… Not to seem ungrateful, but now how about some pics of those micro thin shortboards you’ve been telling us about?
http://plaza.ufl.edu/hipwors/swaylocks/berts-fins/
I got tired of clicking on each attachment and going back and forth so here is the entire series in one album.
Thanks, Bert. Great work!
very cool Sean… thanks
rkelly …
check the thread ,“can width make up for thickness” pictures of the magic carpet are on there ill rehash it back to page one …
regards
BERT ah stuff it ill just post the pics here…
and a few more…
i think you can just make out the dimensions in this pic…
these are the fins that work best in this board as well…
tried about 10 combos at least …found this fin set up perfect for this board…
threw in another pic , so you can see its not just small wave stuff i do…
regards
BERT
Hi Bert, nice to see your job! Sorry for my bad english, but I’m french, living in the beautiful Reunion Island!
I’m shaping my own boards (3 in a year) and I’m using the same fin system as you. I’ve done three mould in two parts and I’m doing my fins with a core of foam (green Airex) and with fiberglass. It works, but the problem is that I must do three new mould for having a new shape, it’s long and not very interesting. And finally, I’ve ever bubbles in the fins. (see attachment)
So I want to try to do some fins like you, but I know the problems to do the base. You have your secrets, but can you give me one or two advice? (I’ve ideas, but it could be faster…)
Thank for all your posts.
Renaud.
hey renaud …
all i did was get a set of stock fins and made a mould of the base ,i mould the bases with the fins standing up , that way i can do variations on cant , as well as slight variations on toe in as well …
if i posted a pic of that process i would be giving to much away…
but its not that hard to work out…
just a 3 piece mould for each fin …2 sides and a bottom…
regards
BERT
Thanks a lot.
My brain is beginning to storm!
Amicalement. Renaud.
Hi Bert
Do you sell your box fins. I’ve just started shaping my wood board after months of very slow work and need a single fin with box. Yours look beautiful.
Hicksy
no,
just for my own boards…
im to busy to warrant making fins for other people… unless its my customers im looking after…
regards
BERT
Thanks Bert, totally understood. Can you recommend a supplier in Perth?
Hicksy
len dibben…
oz surf co …9317 2134
regards
BERT