Does anyone know where you would get hold of the short US style fin boxes for side fins?

Can you cut down standard 10" or 8" fin boxes to suit?

Surf supply stores.
Yes, cut in middle and double glass the backing.

Thought as much. Thank you.

Surfblanks australia does 4" and 6"

I would never cut n join.
The reason they have big ridges in the side is nothing bonds well to the thermoplastic, so needs a mechanical bond.
Lee, your suggestion is crazy. It will eventually split and leak at the join.
Plus cutting in the middle means the square cutout for the fin washer will no longer be there...?
If anyone feels the burning desire to try this, I suggest at least cut at the very end and use extra fill around the end when installing (and then u think hmmm why did I remove a bit then have to add weight to make sure it works, maybe I should have just had a 2" longer box......?)

As an aside, considering it is now easy and cheap to buy slotbox from Chinook, why would you use short US for sides?

Well, I have cut at least 5 long boxes to make 4 sides and 1 short tri, and none failed.
Rough the box with 36, double 6 oz, allow to cure, rout board, drop box in with double glass and resin.
The slot is not always in the middle...you know, like windsurf board mast tracks...or maybe you don't know.. .

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Mark _australia said..
I

As an aside, considering it is now easy and cheap to buy slotbox from Chinook, why would you use short US for sides?

I dislike slot boxes with a passion. They shred fins, fail, and even a little bash does so much damage to the fin, box and board.

Their only saving grace is weight.

Mini Tuttle is ok, but I don't like the screw going through the board if I can help it as it is a further complication. So would like to try mini US.

for me it's pretty hard to beat futures boxes for side fins.

they are cheap, easy to install, weigh nothing and there is an endless supply of fins that suit.

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Overner said..

Mark _australia said..
I

As an aside, considering it is now easy and cheap to buy slotbox from Chinook, why would you use short US for sides?

I dislike slot boxes with a passion. They shred fins, fail, and even a little bash does so much damage to the fin, box and board.

Their only saving grace is weight.

Mini Tuttle is ok, but I don't like the screw going through the board if I can help it as it is a further complication. So would like to try mini US.

I'm not seeing it, but OK.
If you damage slot, that same impact would be devastating to one of Lee's joined ones. I know what u mean though, it would be nice to be able to get the little 6" US box that Quatro use.

I think best option for u is the ones Gestalt mentioned form Surfblanks Australia, but they are the same as surf longboard boxes so not quite up to the Chinook standard, I'd install with plenty of roughing up and plenty of glass around them as they can crack

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Gestalt said..
for me it's pretty hard to beat futures boxes for side fins.

they are cheap, easy to install, weigh nothing and there is an endless supply of fins that suit.

Not a fan as they're all too big for quads though. Nice for a thruster conversion experiemnt though as its so cheap

Thank you all for your help.
Mark, I used to be a huge proponent of slot boxes, I built loads moulded straight into the board. Then I sailed a place with loads of rocks just below the surface. First turn on a relatively small wave I lost a fin. Came back in put another fin on. Same place, same rock I put a fin through the hull of the board. Like hitting it with an axe!

Now you could argue that wasn't the slot boxes fault... I think it would be very grounded to argue it was the pillock sailing in to the same rock... but I have hit that rock since (yes I am a muppet) with mini Tuttle fins and there was just a little dent in the fin, but otherwise fine.

I find shaping boards difficult, and with mini Tuttle the hd foam insert has to bridge top to bottom, leaving a harder place to shape. It is a source of frustration as I always end up having to sort this area out with filler later in the build when I realise I have over shaped.

So short US is attractive. I didn't know the length, so that is really helpful.
again, thank you all for you help.

I have used futures for thrusters before. I like them, but again they have similar issues to slot box and can shred fins.

I did some googling and seabase have 6.75" boxes.

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Mark _australia said..

Gestalt said..
for me it's pretty hard to beat futures boxes for side fins.

they are cheap, easy to install, weigh nothing and there is an endless supply of fins that suit.

Not a fan as they're all too big for quads though. Nice for a thruster conversion experiemnt though as its so cheap

I dont get why. Surfboard quads use futures.

^^ most use a much higher aspect front (side) of 8 - 10 cm, only half the area of a surf fin
I personally liek a quad with smaller fronts and bigger rears (than supplied standard) as its a twinny feel with more control

Having said that, after a decade of only quads, my new thruster is soooooo good I'm getting converted!!!!

Gestalt,

yup I spotted those too. thank you.

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Mark _australia said..
^^ most use a much higher aspect front (side) of 8 - 10 cm, only half the area of a surf fin
I personally liek a quad with smaller fronts and bigger rears (than supplied standard) as its a twinny feel with more control

Having said that, after a decade of only quads, my new thruster is soooooo good I'm getting converted!!!!

Mark,

have you tried big fronts small rear fins?

I have to say i really like big fronts with small rears... sorry that could have been phrased better...

I have 15 cm front fins and 11 rears on my current quad. It go's around corners beautifully, but needs to be sailed like a freestyle board and does crab in a straight line when underpowered. But the turns are worth it!

i have been wondering about twinzer setups and was going to ask if anyone had tried that setup on a windsurfer. once i've had a few more runs with my current board i was going to put in some twinzer boxes.

Lots of folks run quads as twins in onshore stuff. Can work nice on the big float n ride ones

Gestalt,

are you talking about tightly clustered quads fins on the rail, or the windsurf version of just having two fins?

Most surf quads I have come across have the larger fins forward. As said I like this. Helps my turns, but makes the board very back foot sensitive.

yeah the tightly clustered fins on the rail. i notice the contemporary version surfboard shapers are putting channels in front of the twin fin instead of a canard fin... got me thinking the channels may also work with a traditional quad setup to loosen the board up.