I switched over to glassed on wooden keels when I replaced my fish last year. I would try to find something similar to this shape or The broad base will give you plenty of drive. I would try to find something like the two tab fin, but in wood if I could. I know I've seen them out there before, but couldn't find an example in a quick search. As far as price goes...you get what you pay for.
That wood just looks pretty. I am strongly entertaining wood glass ons now that my buddy has his op up and going. I just got such a good deal on the fish that I want to ride it every session. Only catch is this FCS setup. I tell ya, I was on the ropes about her because of that. Thank you for your response.
No problem. I know what you mean about wanting to ride a fish pretty much all the time. I have too many boards that are now collecting dust as a result. Regardless of whether you use wood fins or not, anything that has a long base, less rake, and low depth is going to give you more of a traditionally fishy ride.
I know a few people that have had good success with a regular Gephart-style keel fin and slightly modified it with a cutaway at the back of the base. Seems to loosen up the tail a bit without sacrificing that mach-like drive inherent in keel fishes.
Hell I don't know, I never asked 'em. I know one guy actually fabbed the Geppy's out of plywood, so I'd imagine he probably did the cutaways before he laminated. The other guys, I dunno. The skegs were poly resin, so it didn't seem like brain surgery when I looked at them. Small cutaway (probably a rod saw or small coping saw), do some refining on the cut with fine filing or sanding, them finish off with the proper resin. I guess if you're cutting into something a little more exotic, you'd probably be better off looking into something else.
That's what's up y'all. I have been considering a shot at making my own "fcs". 100 for the MRs for instance when I can experiment some other designs. Kidrock, are you saying these folks are doing that? It's probably as easy as I am imagining but just curious on how that worked out. Matty, I am kind of leaning fish. I was all shortboard for a minute there but after seeing what can be done on a fish in punchy and weak surf I am all about honing in skills on one. I just want to stay on a shorter board, catch a lot of waves and ride something that works a lot here in the vb.
Sure it can be done. Personally, I would experiment with either an old set of skegs, or even better, some of those Chinese generic knock-off's from the other recent thread. FWIW, I once shaped a pair of glass-on Geppy's out of ADX plywood once...never installed them on anything tho. The hardest part for me was getting the foils to match perfectly on both keels. Fun, but time consuming. I still have the dimensions if you want them.
KK I hear ya. I finally got my hands on a shortboard that was shaped for someone my size, and fell in love with it! Rode it (or tried to) in everything from thigh high to overhead. I just had so much fun carving on wave faces. Then I realized that I wasn't really carving when it was smaller than chest high...I was just working to generate speed to get down the line. Went and got a 5'10" retro twinny, and was instantly hooked. Ride it in thigh to chest -shoulder (if its mushy) -which is pretty much all vee bee ever is, and haven't looked back since. Ton of float, and can pretty much sit out back with the longboarders on waist or bigger days and get my wave count. If nothing else, it really made me aware of the difference matching a board to the conditions can make.
To save you some grief don't do FCS for twins unless they are 3 tabs. Even those are flimsy. From my experience the fins are too big and have too much leverage for 2 FCS plugs to hold them up. Especially if you surf well enough to get the back end of the board out, when it grabs the water at speed again a little sideways they fold over. And forget bumping the beach on that last turn. The tabs snap off or the plugs fall out really quickly, cannot tell you the how many I have fixed over the years. Thousands (not joking) with all the china boards out there now because they always use FCS plugs- they are the cheapest. The FCS fusion box is better but they don't offer 3 tabs so the fins still snap off (the big twin shaped fins). Still a fan of future systems even though the keel type skegs have that notch at the back to fit in they do not break as easily and are readily available at any shop. And they are made in the US if that means anything to you. Glass 'em on or futures.
Ugh, I was afraid of that Garbanzo. I have had fun sessions but I feel like something wasn't quite right. So drilling out a 3rd tab to put the big FCS is the ticket? I have been pro-Futures because of the transfer of energy aspect I have noticed. Hell, I got the board new for $100 with trade in. I guess my next question is, cut out the FCS, replace with futures or glass em? The board is produced by SOLID. its a hardy epoxy. I am leaning Futures considering I have most of my fins in that format. kidrock, I am interested in those dimensions. I would like you to know your labors were not in vain. FCS...what was I thinking or better yet, what was SOLID thinking on this particualr board... I can't believe that people pay what they do for these FCS fins that are essentially built to break. I undestand, but that kinda sucks. Thanks yall
Here's the dims I stole from Swaylock's. FYI, these are pretty much (if not exactly) the same dims that Steve Seebold uses on his keels, which are very popular. If I were going to do a cutaway, I'd probably cut out an inch of the rear base, and subtract about an inch up along the back foil and match the cutaway void to match the rake of the fin. And FWIW, I'm also for the "glassed in" approach. Have fun!!!
Measure the distance between the leading edges of the fins and trailing edges of the fins to determine whether, and how much, toe-in the fins have before you start foiling fins. If they have toe, single foil your fins (flat on one side, foiled on the other). No toe... double foiled (symmetrically foiled on both sides, like a center fin on a thruster). I've done both FCS two-tab keels, and glass-ons in both solid fiberglass and wood. Never snapped a fin, but can totally see blowing out plugs if they're not installed properly with reinforcing patches and proper deck-to-bottom H pattern. Epoxy will be better than poly, if done correctly and with the right resin. My personal preference for a very versatile, "high performance" retro style fish is a glassed on wood keel, no cutaway, 7-8" base, slightly raked and toed, single foiled. If you're making your own, high grade 5-ply marine plywood is best. Cabinet grade birch ply is good, but not as good as marine ply. Seal them with thinned resin before glassing them. If you're buying them, the foam core bamboo Hobie fins from True Ames are amazing.
