I made a deeper version of the ~ half size G-whale fin.
Three 5mm pultruded carbon bridge the tab to well up into the fin. Getting good at precision drilling without a drill press.
My table saw fence fin sled yielded a nice result for making the 6mm thick probox base, did not even touch the 3 5mm carbon bars installed within. Still time consuming to get fence dialed in.
This fin hangs over the front of the Probox as much as the tubercle would allow. My 6'8" I always liked the thruster fin a bit smaller and pushed farther forward, so I thought I needed to try something similar with this 6'11"
The Peng wing idea got tabled for now. My version in cardboard installed in my 6'8" just never ticked the boxes visually, no matter how long I looked at it and from different angles and moods.
I spent some time with some more white cardboard and drew out several high aspect quad fin templates. Still deeper than a regular thruster fin, much less base area though.
Lack of Base area might be my slow speed nemesis.
The drawn 'batfin' is slightly smaller than the one I already made, the remaining fin panel was not quite big enough.
I'll probably not cut out the batfin yet. Could be ages before I decide ot bust out jigsaw anyway.
Saw another interesting nature show concerning the bat's wing. Apparently it is unique in that most of the wing's structure is made up of its fingers.
Feels like ages since I surfed. not much swell but never any lack of crowd. Mostly groups of clueless wavestorm surfers cluttering all beach areas/lineups to the point I dont even bother checking bouys or weather or cams, much less drive there to put eyes on it.
Doubt I'll be able to judge any fin performance for a while...feeling quite out of shape and well out of stoke.
Used to pray for September, but this year it might not provide any crowd relief.
During some research (as in Duck Duck Go go - ing) for unrelated matters I came across this spectacular video.
It shows how humpback whales actually use their outside pectoral fins.
I'd bet my bottom dollar that the inside fin is pointing down in a mirror image to the outside fin, giving the humpback whale the maneuverability to blow bubble curtains.
Note WAO's curved fin designs in action on the humpback.
Pretty awesome to see the action which forced the evolution of their pectoral fins.
That's a long time at maximum angle of attack / partial stall, and the fin flex is also interesting, but also that it stays the same in between tail strokes without pulsing. That's a lot of mass to steer and they've the longest pectoral fins.
I just realized after I wrote this post, I had already posted this fin a couple months back when I made it. So this is more of an update. Finishing up glassing and sanding it. My first time glassing with vacuum bag also.
Not exactly a break through new idea or anything. Just another of Mr. Mik's whale fin, but with an additional twist. Tried to do a trippy surfer on a was resin inlay. The surfer came out cool, but the wave is pretty purple. I need to work on my pigmenting. It was also my first attempt at vacuum bagging. Vacuum bag was the perfect thing to get the glass around the tubercles.
I was in the same boat for a long time. My wife's friend was upgrading his entire vacuum setup, resin casting style stuff, and sold me his now old pump for cheap.
I think it turned out good for a first attempt. I used a ziplock bag with the hose pushed through the bottom and tape to seal it. My peel and ply was saran wrap and my breather cloth was a piece of paper towel. Aside from the saran wrap leaving a bunch or wrinkles and the glass just not wanting to bend around the sharp corners everything went pretty well.
Next time I think I will only do one side at a time, do the fin base separate, and find something better than saran wrap.
I made a deeper version of the ~ half size G-whale fin.
Three 5mm pultruded carbon bridge the tab to well up into the fin. Getting good at precision drilling without a drill press.
My table saw fence fin sled yielded a nice result for making the 6mm thick probox base, did not even touch the 3 5mm carbon bars installed within. Still time consuming to get fence dialed in.
This fin hangs over the front of the Probox as much as the tubercle would allow. My 6'8" I always liked the thruster fin a bit smaller and pushed farther forward, so I thought I needed to try something similar with this 6'11"
The Peng wing idea got tabled for now. My version in cardboard installed in my 6'8" just never ticked the boxes visually, no matter how long I looked at it and from different angles and moods.
I spent some time with some more white cardboard and drew out several high aspect quad fin templates. Still deeper than a regular thruster fin, much less base area though.
Lack of Base area might be my slow speed nemesis.
The drawn 'batfin' is slightly smaller than the one I already made, the remaining fin panel was not quite big enough.
I'll probably not cut out the batfin yet. Could be ages before I decide ot bust out jigsaw anyway.
Saw another interesting nature show concerning the bat's wing. Apparently it is unique in that most of the wing's structure is made up of its fingers.
https://interestingengineering.com/bat-flight-inspires-next-generation-o....
Feels like ages since I surfed. not much swell but never any lack of crowd. Mostly groups of clueless wavestorm surfers cluttering all beach areas/lineups to the point I dont even bother checking bouys or weather or cams, much less drive there to put eyes on it.
Doubt I'll be able to judge any fin performance for a while...feeling quite out of shape and well out of stoke.
Used to pray for September, but this year it might not provide any crowd relief.
20200811_155032.jpg
20200817_170119.jpg
20200817_170013.jpg
20200824_234056.jpg
20200824_234221.jpg
During some research (as in Duck Duck Go go - ing) for unrelated matters I came across this spectacular video.
It shows how humpback whales actually use their outside pectoral fins.
I'd bet my bottom dollar that the inside fin is pointing down in a mirror image to the outside fin, giving the humpback whale the maneuverability to blow bubble curtains.
Note WAO's curved fin designs in action on the humpback.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usjk1SVwMQk
We need wrxsixeight's expertise to design and build a camera that can show both pectoral fins at the same time....
Screenshot from 2020-10-11 16-34-36.png
Pretty awesome to see the action which forced the evolution of their pectoral fins.
That's a long time at maximum angle of attack / partial stall, and the fin flex is also interesting, but also that it stays the same in between tail strokes without pulsing. That's a lot of mass to steer and they've the longest pectoral fins.
I just realized after I wrote this post, I had already posted this fin a couple months back when I made it. So this is more of an update. Finishing up glassing and sanding it. My first time glassing with vacuum bag also.
Not exactly a break through new idea or anything. Just another of Mr. Mik's whale fin, but with an additional twist. Tried to do a trippy surfer on a was resin inlay. The surfer came out cool, but the wave is pretty purple. I need to work on my pigmenting. It was also my first attempt at vacuum bagging. Vacuum bag was the perfect thing to get the glass around the tubercles.
1014201737a_copy_1512x2688.jpg
1014201737_copy_1512x2688.jpg
Nice!
Can't wait to play with a vacuum pump.. it's on the bucket list for sure!
I was in the same boat for a long time. My wife's friend was upgrading his entire vacuum setup, resin casting style stuff, and sold me his now old pump for cheap.
I think it turned out good for a first attempt. I used a ziplock bag with the hose pushed through the bottom and tape to seal it. My peel and ply was saran wrap and my breather cloth was a piece of paper towel. Aside from the saran wrap leaving a bunch or wrinkles and the glass just not wanting to bend around the sharp corners everything went pretty well.
Next time I think I will only do one side at a time, do the fin base separate, and find something better than saran wrap.
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