Yep. Wood is a whole different animal. Cardboard will allow for enough compression on the edges of the joint to get that 'shift' you mentioned above. A 30deg. notch would probably be enough to get wood to shift that little bit more and 60deg. would be a perfect fit. I'll go with the 60deg. joints and have it looking as straight as Taylor Swift's new hair-do. And like Rhianna's new tat reads: 'Not a failure but a lesson' (is anybody else's mind being consumed by useless informaition like this every time they log into their email?)
In the meantime we need to see some shots of those fin boxes going in.
Notches being cut in 1/8" x 3/8" paulownia strips (8) on the radial arm saw. They're taped together on the underside with masking tape to keep the index accurate. Also blocked on the front side to keep the sections from blowing out while cutting.
Single-sided, notched at 30deg strips come together to make a skewed grid. Intersections @ 60deg (or 120deg depending on how you're looking at it).
I figured out last week that it would be easier to cut the second notch in the double-sided strips in place, while the grid is assembled. Getting the double sided strip to match up perfectly using prefab/hand methods was not happening. One slightly off cut or misaligned strip in the group, and the whole run is off. In order to be able to cut the grid like this, without all of the sections blowing out, I spanned each cut path with masking tape before cutting. Note top LH corner - first cut, first blow-out before using tape.
Here's the finished blank I'll be using to cut the fins from. Right now it's being laminated to a layer of 9oz e-glass with RRblue epoxy and weight-clamped. I'll leave it overnight and hit the wood with a cheater coat of epoxy in the morning and let drain upside down while laminating another layer of glass on the flat side. All stuff that has to be done at some point in the process, but now makes the most sense in terms of stabilizing the grid for cutting and foiling. Until then . . .
Hey Nick! Thought I'd spare you the boring update from yesterday's lamination and cheater coat on the blank, and show something a little more exciting today . . .
Here's a shot of the paulownia grid with 9oz glass just pulled from the platen. The translucency gets even better with a hotcoat, as I found out putting that cheater coat on the yesterday.
I decided to cast the halo independently of the grid in order to get a really clean inside line, and not worry about one of the joints somewhere leaking into an adjacent cell (absolute nightmare scenario). I made plugs out of 1# EPS so that I could dig them out of the cast halo instead of trying to pop the halo off of a rigid plug and snap it. It's cast with the same RRepoxy I'm using for glassing, only with copious amounts of milled fiber, pigment, and strategically placed roving added.
The mold that I cast into is the same one I use for casting halos on solid wood fins. Yep, silicone and marine vinyl are pretty useful for epoxy applications. Here's the EPS plug being dug out of the center of the halo, which was then carefully pulled from the mold. I definitely did not skimp on the mold release on this one!
Now we're getting somewhere, eh? Just the raw castings here (flashing removed) on top of the grid, but the realization is a bit clearer now. I'm clamping these halos to something flat and running some post-cure cyles on them this evening in a craft oven (130-150F) before messing with them anymore. Next step will be to fit and fillet glue the grid in, then foil. Until then . . .
Thanks guys! I'm having a great time making them, and have to admit I'm a bit jealous that Nick is getting the first-of-a-kind of these. However, they were his idea so . . .I got a chance to foil them this afternoon.
Used the 3" disc with 80 grit paper on the angle grinder to rough them out, then switched to 120grit and the orbital sander to blend. Pretty much like foiling solid material, but a lot more pulsing the grinder than actually running it. That material comes off quick!
Being able to look at the cross-sections of the foil while shaping was pretty interesting, and made matching them up that much easier.
Here we are (again) figuring out how to glass the tops while spanning the voids, trying to avoid sagging, pooling, dry-weave, etc. . . . I put the fins in a vac bag and tried pulling different levels of vacuum on them to get the desired effect. As you can see, the bag cups pretty readily into the hexagonal voids. Decided to just laminate a layer of 6oz glass onto my platen, peel, cut to shape, and vacuum bag to the fins as a cheater laminate. I have a sample of a single layer panel like this that I made for another project and it looks like it will take the form easily without sagging in the voids. We'll see. . .
QUOTE: "Thanks guys! I'm having a great time making them, and have to admit I'm a bit jealous that Nick is getting the first-of-a-kind of these. However, they were his idea so . . .I got a chance to foil them this afternoon. "
Alright, seriously...I imagined fins that would match the board, but this is just too much! Camplus, you have taken a single idea-my thought from seed- and turned it into art. I don’t disserve any credit here aside from pushing the ball into your arena. I think these are the coolest fins I’ve ever seen, period!
Aw c'mon! We'll just call this one a product of collaboration. Besides, I'm surprised one of the elder Swayfolk hasn't piped up yet and said something like: "Yeah, me and Barney Dingleberry made a bunch of these in the mid-50s' for Jimmy Witherballs Surfboards. They worked ok but . . ." Anyway, here's a shot of them in the bag getting those cheater laminations put on.
So, the single layer 6oz glass panel works. As you can see, I cut the skins smaller than the halo frame they're being glued to. When I tried a test run with over-sized skins and the fins raised for the overhang to clear, I got a pretty good look at how the compound curvature made the edges very wavy (think lasagna noodle). I figure it's only necessary for the first layer to seal and bond to the grid anyway, so I cut myself some slack and got rid of the extra material and riser blocks. The edges of this first skin will be feathered into the halo frame before adding subsequent layers.
Good thing about those glass skins is that they're able to resist cupping into the voids under the vac-bag's pressure. That nice, smooth, spanning transition here should mean they'll glass up like solid wood fins once they're out of the bag and cleaned up. So, looks like the next update will include the tabs being cast on and a look at the finished product . . .
I'm surprised one of the elder Swayfolk hasn't piped up yet and said something like: "Yeah, me and Barney Dingleberry made a bunch of these in the mid-50s' for Jimmy Witherballs Surfboards. They worked ok but . . ."
Man, you need to cut us elder Swayfolk some slack! Anyway, Barney Dingleberry never worked for Jimmy Witherball Surfboards, he worked at the shop down the street Johnnie Numnutz Surf and Rescue Boards making paddleboards, and those fins didn't work out because the glass kept sagging!!
Other than that, nice job!
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"...Swaylocks.com, a strange message board filled with a cast of eccentric, underground surfboard builders..." - Slide Magazine
Yep. Wood is a whole different animal. Cardboard will allow for enough compression on the edges of the joint to get that 'shift' you mentioned above. A 30deg. notch would probably be enough to get wood to shift that little bit more and 60deg. would be a perfect fit. I'll go with the 60deg. joints and have it looking as straight as Taylor Swift's new hair-do. And like Rhianna's new tat reads: 'Not a failure but a lesson' (is anybody else's mind being consumed by useless informaition like this every time they log into their email?)
In the meantime we need to see some shots of those fin boxes going in.
Notches being cut in 1/8" x 3/8" paulownia strips (8) on the radial arm saw. They're taped together on the underside with masking tape to keep the index accurate. Also blocked on the front side to keep the sections from blowing out while cutting.
Single-sided, notched at 30deg strips come together to make a skewed grid. Intersections @ 60deg (or 120deg depending on how you're looking at it).
I figured out last week that it would be easier to cut the second notch in the double-sided strips in place, while the grid is assembled. Getting the double sided strip to match up perfectly using prefab/hand methods was not happening. One slightly off cut or misaligned strip in the group, and the whole run is off. In order to be able to cut the grid like this, without all of the sections blowing out, I spanned each cut path with masking tape before cutting. Note top LH corner - first cut, first blow-out before using tape.
Here's the finished blank I'll be using to cut the fins from. Right now it's being laminated to a layer of 9oz e-glass with RRblue epoxy and weight-clamped. I'll leave it overnight and hit the wood with a cheater coat of epoxy in the morning and let drain upside down while laminating another layer of glass on the flat side. All stuff that has to be done at some point in the process, but now makes the most sense in terms of stabilizing the grid for cutting and foiling. Until then . . .
Hey Nick! Thought I'd spare you the boring update from yesterday's lamination and cheater coat on the blank, and show something a little more exciting today . . .
Here's a shot of the paulownia grid with 9oz glass just pulled from the platen. The translucency gets even better with a hotcoat, as I found out putting that cheater coat on the yesterday.
I decided to cast the halo independently of the grid in order to get a really clean inside line, and not worry about one of the joints somewhere leaking into an adjacent cell (absolute nightmare scenario). I made plugs out of 1# EPS so that I could dig them out of the cast halo instead of trying to pop the halo off of a rigid plug and snap it. It's cast with the same RRepoxy I'm using for glassing, only with copious amounts of milled fiber, pigment, and strategically placed roving added.
The mold that I cast into is the same one I use for casting halos on solid wood fins. Yep, silicone and marine vinyl are pretty useful for epoxy applications. Here's the EPS plug being dug out of the center of the halo, which was then carefully pulled from the mold. I definitely did not skimp on the mold release on this one!
Now we're getting somewhere, eh? Just the raw castings here (flashing removed) on top of the grid, but the realization is a bit clearer now. I'm clamping these halos to something flat and running some post-cure cyles on them this evening in a craft oven (130-150F) before messing with them anymore. Next step will be to fit and fillet glue the grid in, then foil. Until then . . .
those are going to be some sick fins... very very cool
Wow, I am impressed and very happy that these are going to be on my board. I must say, you have talent!
Thanks guys! I'm having a great time making them, and have to admit I'm a bit jealous that Nick is getting the first-of-a-kind of these. However, they were his idea so . . .I got a chance to foil them this afternoon.
Used the 3" disc with 80 grit paper on the angle grinder to rough them out, then switched to 120grit and the orbital sander to blend. Pretty much like foiling solid material, but a lot more pulsing the grinder than actually running it. That material comes off quick!
Being able to look at the cross-sections of the foil while shaping was pretty interesting, and made matching them up that much easier.
Here we are (again) figuring out how to glass the tops while spanning the voids, trying to avoid sagging, pooling, dry-weave, etc. . . . I put the fins in a vac bag and tried pulling different levels of vacuum on them to get the desired effect. As you can see, the bag cups pretty readily into the hexagonal voids. Decided to just laminate a layer of 6oz glass onto my platen, peel, cut to shape, and vacuum bag to the fins as a cheater laminate. I have a sample of a single layer panel like this that I made for another project and it looks like it will take the form easily without sagging in the voids. We'll see. . .
Looking good Camplus, impressive stuff!
QUOTE: "Thanks guys! I'm having a great time making them, and have to admit I'm a bit jealous that Nick is getting the first-of-a-kind of these. However, they were his idea so . . .I got a chance to foil them this afternoon. "
Alright, seriously...I imagined fins that would match the board, but this is just too much! Camplus, you have taken a single idea-my thought from seed- and turned it into art. I don’t disserve any credit here aside from pushing the ball into your arena. I think these are the coolest fins I’ve ever seen, period!
Aw c'mon! We'll just call this one a product of collaboration. Besides, I'm surprised one of the elder Swayfolk hasn't piped up yet and said something like: "Yeah, me and Barney Dingleberry made a bunch of these in the mid-50s' for Jimmy Witherballs Surfboards. They worked ok but . . ." Anyway, here's a shot of them in the bag getting those cheater laminations put on.
So, the single layer 6oz glass panel works. As you can see, I cut the skins smaller than the halo frame they're being glued to. When I tried a test run with over-sized skins and the fins raised for the overhang to clear, I got a pretty good look at how the compound curvature made the edges very wavy (think lasagna noodle). I figure it's only necessary for the first layer to seal and bond to the grid anyway, so I cut myself some slack and got rid of the extra material and riser blocks. The edges of this first skin will be feathered into the halo frame before adding subsequent layers.
Good thing about those glass skins is that they're able to resist cupping into the voids under the vac-bag's pressure. That nice, smooth, spanning transition here should mean they'll glass up like solid wood fins once they're out of the bag and cleaned up. So, looks like the next update will include the tabs being cast on and a look at the finished product . . .
Man, you need to cut us elder Swayfolk some slack! Anyway, Barney Dingleberry never worked for Jimmy Witherball Surfboards, he worked at the shop down the street Johnnie Numnutz Surf and Rescue Boards making paddleboards, and those fins didn't work out because the glass kept sagging!!
Other than that, nice job!
"...Swaylocks.com, a strange message board filled with a cast of eccentric, underground surfboard builders..." - Slide Magazine
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