Composite Fins - The beautiful world of ultra light and ultra strong

The discovery of bronze enabled people to create metal objects which were better than was previously possible. Tools, weapons, armor, and various building materials, like decorative tiles, made of bronze were harder and more durable than their stone and copper ("Chalcolithic") predecessors. - Thanks Wikipedia

So, what does bronze have to do with surfboards?

Since the surfboard trade has two main production facets; industry production lines and the backyard shaper, a stark contrast can be aligned with the discovery and subsequent use of bronze in antiquity versus the use of composite materials in surfboard building today. Especially when examining the "backyard" shaper.

Bronze (an alloy of copper and tin) completely changed how the known Aegean world (approx 1750BCE) would live. Think "Brad Pitt" and "Troy" and "Mycenae"; Bronze allowed humans to build weapons, armor, fountains, sea fearing ships (the trireme), oars, tools and just about anything else that would require: a corrosion resistant, flexible and durable metal cladding or core.

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Welcome to the world of "composites"; I shall use the term inclusively to refer to a mix of:

PVC rigid foam, EPS foam, Wood, Honeycomb plastic or just about any other workable substrate
+
Fiberglass, Carbon Fibre, Kevlar, Wood laminate
+
Epoxy
= a composite super material.

Any combination of these materials will yield a wide variety of strength (tensile and mechanical), flex and energy harness and release.

Currently, the Five lab has been playing with a multitude of variations in fin design. Unlike, the large companies composites, our fins are made one by one, hand shaped and glassed using a vacuum bag to ensure a superior mechanical bond.

Here are a couple fin sets in production right now;

FCS - K-2 Keels - 6/4oz + epoxy - light sand and ready for design and hotcoat

FCS - K-2 Keels - 6/6/4oz + red/blk resin swirl - ready for trimming and vac bag

Future - Quad Controller - New pair-a' shoes for The Wombat

(from L to R) Future K2 Keels, Future MR Twins, Future Controller quads
(sorry for the blurry pic)

Not pictured: Future Kelly K-3 thurster, Future production quad, FCS K2 Keels, Future Stretch Quad, Future Rasta Keels.

We are hard working on some real numbers for Strength to Weight ratio of these fins. With the few tests completed thus far; none of the fins have broken...not even a single FCS tab!

Stay tuned.
Nev