New shaper here, setting fin boxes on a 5’10 fish with 1.5in tail rocker, 4in nose rocker, 2.5 thick, 21.5 wide.
Searched the form for this but couldn’t seem to find anything.
Question is: Is there a differnce in how far up I should place the fins based on the system?
I currently have the lines drawn at 10.5in up from the tips, 1.5in in from the rail and a 1/4 toe in. Someone in the shop mentioned you need to set future fins up an extra 1-inch over FCS (which my shapers square seems to be made for). Planning to ride in socal mush.
Can anyone tell me if this is accurate (if I need to move my measure marks up to 11.5)?
Newer (baker’s dozen) shaper myself, took a little to wrap my noodle around this.
Pro’s, if I explain something wrong please correct.
There should not be a difference in the shaper’s mark, intended to be the back of base of fin, which is universal between glass-on’s and all fin systems. The difference should/needs be taken up by the placement of the fin box template by the fin installer. I find this cool since I have 4 different systems (Culprit [like FCS X2 or Ausfinco], Probox, Gearbox, Future).
The extra business on the square should be for setting toe-in on a short (4") or long (4.5") base fin.
First pic showing everything shows how all the systems corelate with a mark at back base of fin. That would be the lines in the Future target and the divots on the other one.
Second pic show setting toe-in on a 4.5" fin
Third pic is a Future target set for 1/4" toe in for a fin with rail to the right –>. Note that the Future target is not 100% symetric, nose and tail are a little different.
Fourth pic is my Culprit template doing the same thing.
The L-R offset gets the inside of the fin to line up with the line coming off the shaper’s mark. Center fins use the centered marks.
Practice routing your new templates on scrap foam to make sure depth is cool and that you are getting your install right on your marks.
-J
PS Added pic with templates all together, think it was from a thread back in March, can’t locate the thread.
Fish fish might be different from regular fins because of where the tabs connecting the fin to the box are located. I’d put the fin into the box and see where the box sits when you have the fin where you want it.
Definitley get the fins you plan to use, locate them where they look right to you, and mark their trailing edges.
Then use a regular thruster fin whose trailing edge will more closely represent the dot on which Fin system is designed to be aligned with. Comparer trailing edges of fins aligning the tabs
There is likely a fairly significant distance between the two dots representing the trailing edge of the fin. and putting a keel fin trailing edge where a thruster fin would normally reside, could lead to issues with the keels ending up too far forward, or farther forward than intended, as happy accidents do happen occassionally.
