3dprint.com/132723/3d-surfboard-fins/
Hey Choco, do you know what material they used to print with? I looked at Ultem, which was the strongest I could find. Apart from being very pricey to print, it wasn't quite strong enough for a windsurfing fin.
Thanks Choco. Laser 3D printing in metals was one of the first things I looked at, but to print something the size of a fin required that it was sectioned into parts then reassembled and was really expensive.(at least in Aus) Prototyping with 3D printing is a technology that is still in its infancy and as a result it still seems to be an expensive exercise. Hopefully as time goes by this will change .
I finally have some Fangy MkII's about to hit the water. I tried the first one last weeked. My initial impressions of the MkII are very encouraging for me. Firstly, the lift is prodigious compared to the MkI( which is closer in shape to a conventional Delta) The penalty I suspect is, the drag is far greater. More testing will paint a better picture of the fins behaviour at speed, but the two stand out features I have noticed so far; the fin produces turbo whistle. There must be some funky harmonics going on, because once you pass the high twenties there is a low pitched whistle that increases with speed. Built in speed genie!
Secondly there is a noticeable vertical thrust. On my max speed run, the Barge was lifted clear of the water to close to where the fin leading edge began. Given my weight and the Barge as well, this is no mean feat. How much of this is down to the fillet (flange at fin base) and how much from the span wise taper on the chunky foil I don't know. I am keen to see the result at higher speed - is it self levelling or will the leading edge cavitate? Stay tuned.
The fin was sooo much better in the chop than the MkI that I was totally relaxed in the moguls at the river mouth. Normally chop and Delta shape, means lots of concentration and effort to avoid spin out. Speaking of spin out, I tried everything I could to get it to let go, but it held on happily. I have a feeling the board was a little stiffer when gybing, and harder to throw over, but it stayed planing out the other side for longer and was more forgiving with dunderklumpen weight transfer.
Fangy MkII: how good does my grass look :-)
Close up of the pitting from casting. From what I can find out, pit indentations have no effect on drag, but it would be aesthetically nicer if in future if they can be avoided at the casting stage.
FangyMk I for comparison
The whistle is from the trailing edge vorticies. you need to square up the trailing edge. or square then bevel 1 side frank Bethwaite style.
The whistle is from the trailing edge vorticies. you need to square up the trailing edge. or square then bevel 1 side frank Bethwaite style.
Thanks Bertie ?? Just so I get this right, does 'square up' mean I should blunt the trailing edge itself ?
(Sorry- its along time since I read F Bethwaite's book)
An anti singing edge. A standard detail for foils in marine use. A small edge at 60 degrees, say 0.5 or 1mm wide should fix it.
Hallo Fangmann. I wrote somethingh over cut out. I hope,that you got it. It is for me easier a email to send.
Please: Wolfgang.Lessacher@t-online.de
Wolfgang
An anti singing edge. A standard detail for foils in marine use. A small edge at 60 degrees, say 0.5 or 1mm wide should fix it.
Thanks for taking the time and finding a diagram Froude, that's clear even to me:-)
Fangy was brave enough to give me a fin to play with, his main aim was to get it reboxed as a tuttle so I could test it in my board.
Trouble is my boards all have the fin boxes way forward so the weedies I always use have their center of effort in the right place. So I cut of about 20mm from the rear of the fin and took to it with my favourite shaping tool the angle grinder.
Then of course I discovered it took more elbow grease than my elbows were prepared to give, to get the score marks out. so then out came my trusty can of spray putty undercoat, and filled all the scratches.
Tried both this fin and my new endgrain palm, carbon and stainless today in light winds.
Neither of them completely finished, but close enough for this purpose.
Fangy's is a bit bigger than mine, but his is 8% mine is 9%. Fangy's fin performed very well, mine had issues on Port tack.
But wind had died a bit when I took my fin out so it's hard to make a comparison, but I think Fangy's had more lift and mine was a bit more slippery. I'd like to fill in the cutout on fangy's fin and see what difference that makes.
And I can confirm the squeal starts about 25kts
Took Fangy's fin for a spin today and was pleasantly surprised. I actually thought the fin may have difficulties getting a purchase with the smooth finish. Not so. From the moment I took off the fin gave all the lift the 107 needed and was balanced well with a 6.4m. Conditions were a bit gusty, but the extra volume the board provided came in handy.
I was reluctant to send the fin through the weedbergs as I wasn't sure how the fin would release the weed. Wrong again, towards the end I was sending it straight at the shallower bergs and had no issue whatsoever. I did check how the fin was standing up to the punishment but it showed no marks at all.
The thing that really struck me was how comfortable the whole rig was overall. It was just crossing my mind to try for a decent hour, then Mother nature heard my thoughts, and the rest is academic.
One thing that I will mention is the leading edge, it's blunt. But smooth, and I think this may contribute to how it travels across the weed bed without so much as a tug to let you know you shouldn't be there. Next stop Albany, I think there might be some envious locals looking for less unplanned excursions around the handlebars. Well done Fangy..and No! you can't have it back!
Took Fangy's fin for a spin today and was pleasantly surprised. I actually thought the fin may have difficulties getting a purchase with the smooth finish. Not so. From the moment I took off the fin gave all the lift the 107 needed and was balanced well with a 6.4m. Conditions were a bit gusty, but the extra volume the board provided came in handy.
I was reluctant to send the fin through the weedbergs as I wasn't sure how the fin would release the weed. Wrong again, towards the end I was sending it straight at the shallower bergs and had no issue whatsoever. I did check how the fin was standing up to the punishment but it showed no marks at all.
The thing that really struck me was how comfortable the whole rig was overall. It was just crossing my mind to try for a decent hour, then Mother nature heard my thoughts, and the rest is academic.
One thing that I will mention is the leading edge, it's blunt. But smooth, and I think this may contribute to how it travels across the weed bed without so much as a tug to let you know you shouldn't be there. Next stop Albany, I think there might be some envious locals looking for less unplanned excursions around the handlebars. Well done Fangy..and No! you can't have it back!
Thank you Pepe! Please test it to your hearts content, preferably to its top end speed too. For those that see the fin, it will be blindingly obvious that Pepe and not me, did the re-boxing, its Pepe signature perfection. Anyone lurking down Liptons is welcome to try it out. Two proviso 's:
1) you must be wearing a back brace before attempting to lift it.
2) you may have to wrestle Pepe
Now to work on getting the weight down...
Took Fangy's fin for a spin today and was pleasantly surprised. I actually thought the fin may have difficulties getting a purchase with the smooth finish. Not so. From the moment I took off the fin gave all the lift the 107 needed and was balanced well with a 6.4m. Conditions were a bit gusty, but the extra volume the board provided came in handy.
I was reluctant to send the fin through the weedbergs as I wasn't sure how the fin would release the weed. Wrong again, towards the end I was sending it straight at the shallower bergs and had no issue whatsoever. I did check how the fin was standing up to the punishment but it showed no marks at all.
The thing that really struck me was how comfortable the whole rig was overall. It was just crossing my mind to try for a decent hour, then Mother nature heard my thoughts, and the rest is academic.
One thing that I will mention is the leading edge, it's blunt. But smooth, and I think this may contribute to how it travels across the weed bed without so much as a tug to let you know you shouldn't be there. Next stop Albany, I think there might be some envious locals looking for less unplanned excursions around the handlebars. Well done Fangy..and No! you can't have it back!
Thank you Pepe! Please test it to your hearts content, preferably to its top end speed too. For those that see the fin, it will be blindingly obvious that Pepe and not me, did the re-boxing, its Pepe signature perfection. Anyone lurking down Liptons is welcome to try it out. Two proviso 's:
1) you must be wearing a back brace before attempting to lift it.
2) you may have to wrestle Pepe
Now to work on getting the weight down...
3D Metal printing hollow core or stop using cast iron
My little experiment with Silicone carbide coating and fibre impregnation is looking very successful as well hopefully give some more grinding soon
Took Fangy's fin for a spin today and was pleasantly surprised. I actually thought the fin may have difficulties getting a purchase with the smooth finish. Not so. From the moment I took off the fin gave all the lift the 107 needed and was balanced well with a 6.4m. Conditions were a bit gusty, but the extra volume the board provided came in handy.
I was reluctant to send the fin through the weedbergs as I wasn't sure how the fin would release the weed. Wrong again, towards the end I was sending it straight at the shallower bergs and had no issue whatsoever. I did check how the fin was standing up to the punishment but it showed no marks at all.
The thing that really struck me was how comfortable the whole rig was overall. It was just crossing my mind to try for a decent hour, then Mother nature heard my thoughts, and the rest is academic.
One thing that I will mention is the leading edge, it's blunt. But smooth, and I think this may contribute to how it travels across the weed bed without so much as a tug to let you know you shouldn't be there. Next stop Albany, I think there might be some envious locals looking for less unplanned excursions around the handlebars. Well done Fangy..and No! you can't have it back!
Thank you Pepe! Please test it to your hearts content, preferably to its top end speed too. For those that see the fin, it will be blindingly obvious that Pepe and not me, did the re-boxing, its Pepe signature perfection. Anyone lurking down Liptons is welcome to try it out. Two proviso 's:
1) you must be wearing a back brace before attempting to lift it.
2) you may have to wrestle Pepe
Now to work on getting the weight down...
3D Metal printing hollow core or stop using cast iron
3D metal print, can you just move the cost decimal point three places to left for me?