For all you budding laminators, who've tried some release agents and waxes that seldom live up to their claims, is a product that caught my interest. I've tried the floor wax and the formula five wax and have had a fair degree of success with them, but had my eye on the meguiars product because of the success of their automotive polishes.
Got some of this stuff from FSR (perth) and believe that this is the best I've used. Really smooth application and buff-off, but when it comes to releasing is where it comes into it's own. Some of the products I've tried tend to stick in places where you've not been careful enough with the application, but this covers the entire area without too much effort needed and releases with little or no effort. Not too expensive either comparatively. 
Give it a whirl and leave the screwdrivers in the drawer.
Yeh, that's it, cheers. Thought it looked a bit off when I was typing it. 
Anyway, popped one out of the mold today with little more than fingernail pressure.
Hi Keef, did the mold from a 36 weedie that has taken the best part of 2 years to finalise, and primarily use the base as a reservoir. So, having a few blanks on hand, I cut them to size where the need arises. I just laminate down to near the box and let the excess run off into it. Then it's just a matter of reboxing to suit.
Here ya go, thanks to Kimba for the inspiration. The first mold was done in melamine and lasted about 3 fins till it started breaking out around the edges and eventually cracked the gelcoat. The second one, made from mdf, had more support and 20% aluminium powder mixed with the gelcoat to give it more strength. Also used 4 sheets instead of just two.
Select to expand quotepepe47 said...
Here ya go, thanks to Kimba for the inspiration. The first mold was done in melamine and lasted about 3 fins till it started breaking out around the edges and eventually cracked the gelcoat. The second one, made from mdf, had more support and 20% aluminium powder mixed with the gelcoat to give it more strength. Also used 4 sheets instead of just two.
Shweet looking mould there Pepe, very nice indeed!
Pepe, that mould is a work of art in itself. How did you make the recess in it?
I would like to see more photos of the steps in putting the fin together as I am having trouble visualising it.
Can't wait to use my Pepe fin again. It gybes so beautifully!
Select to expand quoteWindxtasy said..
Pepe, that mould is a work of art in itself. How did you make the recess in it?
I would like to see more photos of the steps in putting the fin together as I am having trouble visualising it.
Can't wait to use my Pepe fin again. It gybes so beautifully!
Hi, sorry I don't have any photos left. Didn't think there would be sufficient interest and deleted them.
btw, the fin you have isn't out of this mould, it's laid up polyester (by hand), shaped on a belt sander and laminated with carbon.
cheers
Select to expand quotekeef said..pepe47 said..pepe do you have any spillage wells
Hi Keef, no spillage wells, but the fin box doubles as a runoff. I don't really have any spillage anyway as the carbon soaks it up when I use the roller and brush, then clamp it together. The shape of the fin will push any residue up towards the box, as I mount the mould in the vise inverted.
Select to expand quotepepe47 said..Windxtasy said..
Pepe, that mould is a work of art in itself. How did you make the recess in it?
I would like to see more photos of the steps in putting the fin together as I am having trouble visualising it.
Can't wait to use my Pepe fin again. It gybes so beautifully!
Hi, sorry I don't have any photos left. Didn't think there would be sufficient interest and deleted them.
btw, the fin you have isn't out of this mould, it's laid up polyester (by hand), shaped on a belt sander and laminated with carbon.
cheers
I could tell it wasn't from that mould! - the shapes aren't even remotely similar.
No, that profile was designed for the weed at albany. Hards gave me a description of the weed at lilacs and that was the profile that we believed would work with the weed 2inches below the surface and thick enough to make it difficult to move. So the call was for a fin with 40? rake for the first 2" then rake it at 45? then more towards the tip at 50?. It worked, and worked well, but it was slow. It was slow because the chord ratio was about 10%. Most speed fins are around 7.5 - 8%. So we took the fin that I'd been working on and raked it to 48?. The fin then worked to a point where Hards threatened to kill me if I fu##ed around with the profile. So, taking what I thought was an idle threat with the appropriate amount of disdain, I took a poo#teenth from the trailing edge giving the fin a nice subtle concave to improve adhesion. Then I made the second mold, with the improved trailing edge.
So now the fin works well at 7% and doesn't spin out, goes upwind like a pointer and gybes like a dream. I'm happy with the way it's turned out and thank Hards for not just the companionship and help but the time on the water together. Ya just can't beat that.
If you want to see some helpful, instructional info on fin molds go to whitelionwindsurfing.
Select to expand quotepepe47 said..
No, that profile was designed for the weed at albany. Hards gave me a description of the weed at lilacs and that was the profile that we believed would work with the weed 2inches below the surface and thick enough to make it difficult to move. So the call was for a fin with 40? rake for the first 2" then rake it at 45? then more towards the tip at 50?. It worked, and worked well, but it was slow. It was slow because the chord ratio was about 10%. Most speed fins are around 7.5 - 8%. So we took the fin that I'd been working on and raked it to 48?. The fin then worked to a point where Hards threatened to kill me if I fu##ed around with the profile. So, taking what I thought was an idle threat with the appropriate amount of disdain, I took a poo#teenth from the trailing edge giving the fin a nice subtle concave to improve adhesion. Then I made the second mold, with the improved trailing edge.
So now the fin works well at 7% and doesn't spin out, goes upwind like a pointer and gybes like a dream. I'm happy with the way it's turned out and thank Hards for not just the companionship and help but the time on the water together. Ya just can't beat that.
If you want to see some helpful, instructional info on fin molds go to whitelionwindsurfing.
What a generous man you are giving me partial credit, The real genius here is Pepe and Pepe alone, I can remember Pepe making fin after fin, never being happy, and always building another improved version of an efficient weed fin, if it had've been me, I would've been ecstatic with version 2 or 3 and left it at that. I dont know what version Pepe is at now, probably somewhere between version #20 to #40. He has now developed a fin which is absolutely brilliant. I cant believe that a fin can be so efficient at 48degree rake, and for Albany its just brilliant, and to tell you the truth it works really well in the shallow weedy areas of peel. The same fin raked at 42degrees helped me to break the magical NM mark for me of 35kt NM. The 48degree rake fin helped my to get 26kt alpha after 26kt alpha in water where the weed was breaking the surface. Its just a brilliant design. Pepe's Studio & Bar is a fun place to visit, the mould's are like looking at porn when you're 54 and no longer produce testosterone. The ginger based alcoholic beverages create a magical wonderland where BS talk sounds like an intellectual discussion about the physics of speed sailing. A True craftsman and inventor, and a top bloke. We are blessed to have so many talented people in the Windsurf scene, from the great shaper Decrepit, the Skilled tradesman of Sammy, and the Craftsman Inventer pepe!! And all I said was "I reckon 48 degree rake for Albany Pep"
Select to expand quotepepe47 said..
. It was slow because the chord ratio was about 10%. Most speed fins are around 7.5 - 8%. So we took the fin that I'd been working on and raked it to 48?. The fin then worked to a point where Hards threatened to kill me if I fu##ed around with the profile. g.
For weed fins do you measure the chord ratio along the stream line or across the shortest distance from leading to trailing edge as if it was an upright fin?
Thanks Decrepit. Yes I'd read about the other way and it had puzzled me. The 7.5 to 8 degrees you've all come up with after a lot of experimentation suggests that the other way is just because of a quirk in the mathematics. If you mounted the 8 degree weedie upright the profile would become 11.3 degrees. (depending a bit on the outline). Which sounds a bit fat to work as a speed fin?
did you mold the fin or just the base 
