Is anyone here making their own FINS for removable boxes?

[magentawave]

Fins make such a radical difference on how a board performs but they are so dang expensive to buy. I have decided to make my own for the first time in a million years. The difference between then and now is that I want to make fins with a tab for a removable boxes.

Is anyone here making their own fins?

[surfcowboy]

I made a set of Futures keels out of birch ply and then glassed them.

Futures are hard. I'd do ProBox if you have a choice. Mine work but they took forever to measure and grind.

[PonoBill]

I watched Kenny Tilton carve lovely fins by hand with an angle grinder once. I figure it would take ten years to do that well. I'll just buy 'em.

[supsurf-tw]

You'll get better performance from the basic, molded fins than making your own. Foiling a good fin takes a lot of experience and then getting them to fit right is a whole other thing. Just buy 'em, you'll be miles ahead. Making fins isn't difficult. Making GOOD fins IS.

[Mungo]

I've been using K4 fins for some time now in my windsurf boards and more recently in my SUP. They're moulded plastic so they're about a third of the price of a glass set, which means they're ideal if you want to play around with sizing without breaking the bank. But most importantly, the shapes are really good (they have to be to be used by the likes of Graham Ezzy).
I use a 15cm Flex in the the rear (I like a small rear fin with lots of hold) and 14cm fronts for a really pivoty feel.
http://www.k4fins.com/2013/07/k4-sup-fin-range-available-now/
If I were to try and make something like this I'd probably spend days doing it and would end up with a fin that performed only half as well.

[magentawave]

I can see how Futures with that angled base would be hell to make. I'm still figuring it out but I'm pretty sure I'll be using 4WFS which should be as easy as Probox, FCS, RedX, or Lokbox because 4WFS has only one tab.

Did you use exterior grade birch ply? How many layers of cloth on each side?

I made a set of Futures keels out of birch ply and then glassed them.

Futures are hard. I'd do ProBox if you have a choice. Mine work but they took forever to measure and grind.

[magentawave]

I hear ya but I used to make pretty nice fins back in the day when I was shaping and glassing my own surfboards. They were glass-ons though. I was a cabinetmaker for many years too so know how to handle tools.

You'll get better performance from the basic, molded fins than making your own. Foiling a good fin takes a lot of experience and then getting them to fit right is a whole other thing. Just buy 'em, you'll be miles ahead. Making fins isn't difficult. Making GOOD fins IS.

[supsurf-tw]

I hear ya but I used to make pretty nice fins back in the day when I was shaping and glassing my own surfboards. They were glass-ons though. I was a cabinetmaker for many years too so know how to handle tools.

You'll get better performance from the basic, molded fins than making your own. Foiling a good fin takes a lot of experience and then getting them to fit right is a whole other thing. Just buy 'em, you'll be miles ahead. Making fins isn't difficult. Making GOOD fins IS.

Then good for you have fun!

[magentawave]

How is the flex on those K4's? I'm asking because my experience with composite fins is that you don't get that positive pop out of your turns like you do with fiberglass or wood/fiberglass fins. You can usually grab them and see the entire fin flexing at the base. Not good. (Even a good fiberglass fin will usually slop around from side to side at the base in a Futures box though.)  The reason I'll probably go with wood/fiberglass is to save weight.

I've been using K4 fins for some time now in my windsurf boards and more recently in my SUP. They're moulded plastic so they're about a third of the price of a glass set, which means they're ideal if you want to play around with sizing without breaking the bank. But most importantly, the shapes are really good (they have to be to be used by the likes of Graham Ezzy).
I use a 15cm Flex in the the rear (I like a small rear fin with lots of hold) and 14cm fronts for a really pivoty feel.
http://www.k4fins.com/2013/07/k4-sup-fin-range-available-now/
If I were to try and make something like this I'd probably spend days doing it and would end up with a fin that performed only half as well.

[Bean]

Here is a downsized twin fin that I did last year.   

[magentawave]

Nice. Do you like them? What tool did you use to make the little groove at the base? Do you remember how many layers of cloth and what weight of cloth you used? 6 oz E?

Here is a downsized twin fin that I did last year.

[surfcowboy]

Mine were just tests but they were just craft store birch ply laminated with 2 x 4oz glass. Never really got them hot coated well but they are in my board now.

Get the plastic ones for testing too. Those are a great way to get a bunch of fins and then buy "good" ones of what you like.

Plywood is cool because if you have a plan for the foil, you have a guide by just grinding away the layers.

Don't catch the edge of your sanding pad on a corner. Bad things happen.

[Bean]

Nice. Do you like them? What tool did you use to make the little groove at the base? Do you remember how many layers of cloth and what weight of cloth you used? 6 oz E?

Thanks MW, I just eye-balled the grove with a Dremel.  It took about 35 layers of 6oz.  The key is getting it flat so I laid it up on wax paper over a sheet of glass.  For the foil I used a finFoil program.

Do I like them?  Nah, they don't even come close to Larry's fins.  But, it was a fun project and I might give it a go again someday.

[magentawave]

I've never used fins like that and it would be interesting to see how far forward Larry grinds to the trailing edge. Did they lack drive? Its hard to say cuz its just an image online, but looking closer, its possible you might like them if you grind a little more off from the trailing edge forward to get a proper foil.

Nice. Do you like them? What tool did you use to make the little groove at the base? Do you remember how many layers of cloth and what weight of cloth you used? 6 oz E?

Thanks MW, I just eye-balled the grove with a Dremel.  It took about 35 layers of 6oz.  The key is getting it flat so I laid it up on wax paper over a sheet of glass.  For the foil I used a finFoil program.

Do I like them?  Nah, they don't even come close to Larry's fins.  But, it was a fun project and I might give it a go again someday.

[surfcowboy]

A combination of dumb luck and ignorance has led me to liking these a lot.



Also check out the guy on swaylocks who has a file to 3D print the base so you can just easily slot in the wood part above. Way easier. A search will get you there. The file is free to use. I wanna try a big set of quads.