Molded fin?

[bhs]

John,

 

I saw the discussion over on ski fly and I was wondering what a molded fin is ?

[Horton]

 

I have sheets of Carbon Fiber manufactured to my spec and then have them cut out in the shape of a fin. There was a time when I was getting 60” x 54” sheets made at once (crazy!). The difference between the styles (106 vs 116) is how the layers of Carbon are oriented and how many there are. Each layer is about .0055”.

 

A molded fin would require the material to be cut out and then cured in a mold. It would be "cool" but I could never get the economics make sense. They would look great but there is no reason to think that they would ski better. I do not know if consistency would be harder to get or not.

 

I know that D3 has looked at it but they just have too much going on to get to fins. If Denny makes molded carbon fins I would expect him to do a really good job. A ski company is going to do it sooner or later.

I know Reflex is working on it. Goode advertised them once. HO has looked at it.

I think it would be fun to have it really take off for real and be able to say that I started it. Whatever . . .

 

[Director Darwin]

John:  Since I donated my D3 fins to Hambone, I'm thinking about playing around w/ some CBR's on my 9800SL this fall.  Any suggestions?  I still have a Goode CRB fin somewhere but not certain the model..  I'll check and let you know.