Alternative fin templates & materials

[huie]

hey fellas have a good look at what josh is showing you here
or is it going over your heads?

Going over my head huie. What is it? Hand layed up paulownia/glass/paulownia/glass 'ply' ? What's the advantage of mixing? Why not just glass or just wood?

Thicker foil so you can push them really hard without spinning out...and so light they float.

how about the re in forced plugs''

oh not std production method no? as i said before its the money that makes the water murky

[pridmore]

thats what i was thinking too.....
not enough push to the tiny waves to get a real feel of the boards unfortunately...was very weak even for Sunny Coast wind swell....but I did launch the QF project which you may be interested when it gets down your way Bohds ???

[speedneedle]

No, not glass/pawlonia, but Divynicell/pawlonia.

Those fins are the sandwich concept in miniature. Imagine a zigzag truss versus a solid redwood beam:- Fill maximum space with minimum material, then cap the sides with glass in a compound curve.

So, you have the same strength without the sheer weight.

Heres another set I just made for my favourite twinny after the originals, an MR style template, were nicked.

The rake and base width for drive. I aim to get the advantage quads have over twins but without extra plugs. These twins are big, 12 mm thick and yet weigh less than half the same fin in solid glass.

Josh
http://www.joshdowlingshape.com

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[PeepeelaPew]

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[pridmore]

aiming to get the performance from twins that quads give , now thats a challenge and an interesting thing to try to achieve...best of luck with it...got my mind ticking ... but I'm enjoying the quads tooo much ...although.....

[speedneedle]

Hey Mark,

Nothing wrong with letting the mind tick over...your stuff makes mine do that also, so don't take this the wrong way:-

I'd really like to just have less flamin' plugs to install! LOL

Josh
www.joshdowlingshape.com

[pridmore]

my problem is mine doesnt stop...glad to hear my stuff has that effect on another like-minded shaper/ designer...

[ric_vidal]

I'm sure rickity will do you right but you could also try Phil at FF, a superb finmaker.

Yeah I already recommended he try Fluid Foils, but as D-Surfin answered he is looking for something very, very specific. Not sure I will accomplish it but has got the grey matter ticking over.

re alternative materials, jeez I dunno why anyone would make a fin using Kevlar, strong as it is, it ain't exactly known for its stiffness. ric do you think carbon/glass layered in epoxy would be good, you surely could fine-tune the flex with such a mix, and boy! wouldn't it look good?

True about kevlar Nick but it shouldn’t let go like straight glass and carbon can. Some of these things can be about the mix i.e. not all one cloth

Think also corrosion has not proven to be an issue with aluminium towboard fins, and for a simple reason, after all, how long do you think they're actually IN salt water? Four to six hours a month in peak season? They're not a boat hull.

Admit, also true but the residual effects of salt or alkaline solutions(?) on aluminium aren’t special. Got aluminium windows or screens on Casa Del Carroll, and have they ever been even immersed in salt water? I rest my case

I can understand perhaps a need and advantage in tow surfing but for your everyday ride? Cost of production I would have thought would be pretty high.

And I’ll tell ya something else, in my sailing days we had a centreboard blade of aluminium. Did not look too special even though it was rinsed.

[Nick Carroll]

^^If anybody even for a moment suggested using aluminium fins during normal surf sessions for surfers of average to even above average skill levels ... well let's not go there

ric I reckon for Turfy just lay up the panel, cut his template, and foil 'em so they have a nice snappy tip flex and not much more, sit back and listen to him gibber about how much better it is

[ric_vidal]

ric I reckon for Turfy just lay up the panel, cut his template, and foil 'em so they have a nice snappy tip flex and not much more, sit back and listen to him gibber about how much better it is

Yes Nick I hear and obey got some existing panel with kevlar in it from my wayward days I think so might just take your learned advice and give that a belt, but gee I hate sanding the stuff... it just turns to fluff.

[daryl]

ric I reckon for Turfy just lay up the panel, cut his template, and foil 'em so they have a nice snappy tip flex and not much more, sit back and listen to him gibber about how much better it is

Yes Nick I hear and obey got some existing panel with kevlar in it from my wayward days I think so might just take your learned advice and give that a belt, but gee I hate sanding the stuff... it just turns to fluff.

it frays, must only be bulletproof head-on

[huie]

ric I reckon for Turfy just lay up the panel, cut his template, and foil 'em so they have a nice snappy tip flex and not much more, sit back and listen to him gibber about how much better it is

Yes Nick I hear and obey got some existing panel with kevlar in it from my wayward days I think so might just take your learned advice and give that a belt, but gee I hate sanding the stuff... it just turns to fluff.

ok ric i am on your back again haaaa''

throw that kevlar in the bin.
go round to bennets
get some 7.5 oz volane lay your panel with that

[Hano]

I discovered last week FCS have retired another perennial fin template. The "Occy" has gone the way of the TC Whiteline and Carbon Lite series fins, dropped from the range never to return.

was told the new PC "Occy" should be on the shelves in Oz by October

[dUg]

Clearly your rep works a bit harder than the SA one.

Hey just pondering... if MP were to knock up a set of G4's for Turf, and maybe a few extra for his mates, is there a chance FCS might come after him for stealing one of "their" designs? I mean the NASA template / foil ( used in the original G3 and G5 fins ) are almost in the public domain and predate FCS by several years, but what about something like an Occy fin? I doubt FCS will ever do a fibreglass laminate version of those, but if I go and buy a sheet of G10 laminate and knock up 3 sets, and guys like 'em, so next time I make 10 of 'em, could I soon expect a knock on the door and a "cease and desist" letter?

[pridmore]

Dug, I been copying templates from them as well as others for ages and will continue to do so.., its just like a guy who is now making a design almost identical to one of mine...guess its a compliment of sorts but I just hope he's not making money out of it...coz God knows I am not.... everything in surfing gets copied or people at least borrow ideas all the time...not much you can do about it really...

[Haz]

^^ any metal corrodes, especially if there is another metal present. The further apart they are on the galvanic series list the faster as salt water is in essence a battery fluid. Lazza can set you right otherwise google.

Complete BS, what you're saying can only apply to electrolytic cells where an electric current is applied. Even then it would take a couple of days as Aluminium is a relatively weak reductant (never thought I'd be doing chem revision on a forum!)

I don't know what you're all talking about, but Aluminium is one of the few metals with a very high resistance to corrosion and as an Alloy with stainless steel, it can be very strong while being light due to Aluminiums low density.


So yeah, nothing wrong with using Aluminium in surfing. Just another material.

[puurri]

Apart from the inherent non corrosive properties of AL as I posted the facts are apparent. In short I refer to alloy hulls and boats in particular with enhanced electrolytic properties due to batteries etc. However the reality remains that decay occurs due to exchange between both widely dissimilar metals in the galvanic series.

[dUg]

Well... they say neccessity is the mother of invention... but how's this bloke for making do.

After breaking off one of his FCS side fins and moaning about the price of a genuine replacement, he wanders out to the shed and spots a length of PVC storm pipe... and suddenly a light goes on in his brain. The result... PIPEFINS!

Here's some blurb I found:

http://www.surf.co.nz/news/search/news. ... terId=7458

... and here's a video of 'em

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVF9uPUIoDk

Somehow I reckon it has to be a wind up, but as they say... sometimes truth is stranger than fiction...