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DIY kiteboard - where to put the fins?

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Created by FormulaNova > 9 months ago, 15 Oct 2018
FormulaNova
WA, 14044 posts
15 Oct 2018 5:48AM
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Hi, I am finally getting around to finishing two boards that I have built from ply and a layer of divinycell.

I have marked where the fins were on the boards that I used as templates, but given that my boards are a bit wider, where do I put the fins? Do I move them closer to the edge because the boards are wider, or isn't it going to matter too much?

While I am asking questions, do I need to put anything special on the edges to make them tougher or is the ply/divinycell going to be strong enough with a layer or two of fibreglass?

CJ2478
NSW, 482 posts
15 Oct 2018 10:43AM
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You probably want to make sure that there is no divinycell that doesnt have glass over it. For plywood if its thin you wont get glass to wrap the rail and a few coats of epoxy will have to do. For fin locations I would make sure that the distance from the tip of the tin to the rail is the same as the board you are copying. Either do that or find a similar board to the one you have built online and scale the location of the fins to your board. Make sure to post pics when its all done.

FormulaNova
WA, 14044 posts
15 Oct 2018 2:55PM
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CJ2478 said..
You probably want to make sure that there is no divinycell that doesnt have glass over it. For plywood if its thin you wont get glass to wrap the rail and a few coats of epoxy will have to do. For fin locations I would make sure that the distance from the tip of the tin to the rail is the same as the board you are copying. Either do that or find a similar board to the one you have built online and scale the location of the fins to your board. Make sure to post pics when its all done.


No worries. The divinycell already has glass over it. I copied the profile of the original board by vacuum bagging the divinycell and fibreglass to that board with a sheet of plastic inbetween. So the profile is exactly the same as the original board. I then added some filler and vacuumed down the ply to the shaped divinycell. The ply is flatter as the filler filled the channels between the divinycell and the deck.

One of the board has a few channels in it from the original board and the other is quite flat, also from that original board.

So, it sounds like I wrap the whole lot again in a few layers of glass and vacuum it down.

I will measure the position of the fins on the original board and relocate them on the new one. Thanks.



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"DIY kiteboard - where to put the fins?" started by FormulaNova