Longboard fins making - Part 2: My first handmade fin

At last, my very first handmade retro fin was introduced to the world, by me.

It has been a long process, especially I am not a pro, with no expansive tools in my workshop. But is is a very enjoyable process.

A special Thanks to my Mate, Peter Craig, for giving me some tips.

You wonder why I have chosen the FatBoy style. I chose it because this was one of my very first fin that I truly enjoyed the noseriding and still able to make some long turns at very tricky waves.

Cant wait to take it out for a test drive!

Here is the entire process:

 Designing and making my own fin templates out of plywood.

I chose to use plywood, instead of paper, as I believe that plywood templates would last much longer than papers. And they are easier to draw on resin than papers.

The fun part of this, is to choose the fabric pattern that has character, and speaks your personality.

Speaking about character, this is a Hawaiian retro pattern. David Nuuhiwa is my surfing idol. He has Asian heritage background, just like me. He is a surfing legend.

You can check this out:
 David Nuuhiwa - A surfing legend

I don't particularly like doing this process, cutting out the hardened resin, using the template as a guideline.

With no proper tools, I had to use the tile cutter/grinder. A lot of mess and mask needs to be used as white powder flies everywhere!!!

Once wrong cut, I'd screw up a few hours of efforts I put in earlier.

Funny thing I got out from here, is my 10 years old son, he looked at it, and asked me: Dad, What the heck is that????

My reply: A boomerang that is intended to kill the Sharks....

Longboard fins in the Making - Part 1

As a surfer, have you ever wondered what type of fin that suits your style and perform its best for you?

And as you continue to try out, over a period of times, you would ponder how may fins you have been collecting for years. And when you do a tally, you would nod that you have been spending an investments on FINs.

Well. I am not going to stop trying out different fins to suit my mood or surf condition. But I will stop spending on them, by making my own fins from now on.

I have started designing my own fin templates, by cutting out on papers for the design and combining the styles from multiple existing fins that I have, plus type of boards in my quiver.

I am now going through a process of cutting them out from plywood, then sand them out as proper templates. They are better patterns than normal papers.

Cant wait for this long weekend to make a mess from my garage, after resin and sanding.

Keep an eye on this space, Folks! More to come...