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Tuttle fin base too short - how to fix

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Created by ejmack > 9 months ago, 4 Mar 2015
ejmack
VIC, 1308 posts
4 Mar 2015 2:50PM
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So... windsurfing can be the most satisfying experience, but also the most frustrating. Why is it that manufacturers can f#@k things up so easily!

I have a new tuttle fin that seems out of spec to the box in the board, or vice verca - the fin base is not deep enough by 4-5mm. I'm after the best way to modify/fix. At the moment I have made up some rubber spacers which sit at the bottom of the box but I keep loosing these when I take the fin out and to be honest they make fitting the fin a bit of a chore.

sotired
WA, 597 posts
4 Mar 2015 12:14PM
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ejmack said..
So... windsurfing can be the most satisfying experience, but also the most frustrating. Why is it that manufacturers can f#@k things up so easily!

I have a new tuttle fin that seems out of spec to the box in the board, or vice verca - the fin base is not deep enough by 4-5mm. I'm after the best way to modify/fix. At the moment I have made up some rubber spacers which sit at the bottom of the box but I keep loosing these when I take the fin out and to be honest they make fitting the fin a bit of a chore.



I think Tuttle is meant to fit using the material and the taper of the sides of the base of the fin, not relying on the top surface to meet the board.

In this respect, you should be able to fit a regular Tuttle based fin into a deep Tuttle fin box without any problems, just using longer screws.

In practice, at least for me, this means choosing the board with the size of tuttle finbox you decide is the 'master' and matching all your fins to that, and then matching your other boards to those fins... I have used coatings of epoxy to build up the surfaces, and sandpaper to smooth them down.

ejmack
VIC, 1308 posts
4 Mar 2015 3:44PM
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Thanks for the quick reply sotired. Yes, I understand that regarding deep and standard tuttle, but surely a standard tuttle fin base should fit neatly into a standard tuttle box? In this case the base extends into the box about 4-5mm past the surface of the board, less so at the tail end.

So the best way would be to add material to the sides of the fin base to achieve a proper fit?

sausage
QLD, 4873 posts
4 Mar 2015 3:42PM
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ej, grab an aluminum can and cut some strips the depth and semi-circular width of the rounded ends of the tuttle base. This is the part of the fin base that needs to be packed to ensure a flush fitting (not the sides of the base). the aluminum strips will easily sit in the fin box and when you push the fin in they easily mould to the curved shape. Add more strips if need be until fin sits flush.

KevinD002
226 posts
4 Mar 2015 1:51PM
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I have always just added strips of gorilla tape to the tapered sides of the fin head. Seems to hold up for an entire season. Plus makes it easy for me to put it into another board if needed.

ejmack
VIC, 1308 posts
4 Mar 2015 5:08PM
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Awesome, thanks guys.

mr love
VIC, 2294 posts
4 Mar 2015 5:17PM
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Yep Evan, The tuttle has parallel sides so no taper, it is the front and rear edges that control how far it disappears into the box. So you need to either add tape, mono film shims or epoxy filler to tune it perfectly. Unfortunately the tuttle is sensitive to small production tolerances either in the box or the fin head so you often have to tune it to a particular board. Yep, frustrating.

sotired
WA, 597 posts
4 Mar 2015 7:34PM
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sotired said..

ejmack said..
So... windsurfing can be the most satisfying experience, but also the most frustrating. Why is it that manufacturers can f#@k things up so easily!

I have a new tuttle fin that seems out of spec to the box in the board, or vice verca - the fin base is not deep enough by 4-5mm. I'm after the best way to modify/fix. At the moment I have made up some rubber spacers which sit at the bottom of the box but I keep loosing these when I take the fin out and to be honest they make fitting the fin a bit of a chore.




I think Tuttle is meant to fit using the material and the taper of the sides of the base of the fin, not relying on the top surface to meet the board.

In this respect, you should be able to fit a regular Tuttle based fin into a deep Tuttle fin box without any problems, just using longer screws.

In practice, at least for me, this means choosing the board with the size of tuttle finbox you decide is the 'master' and matching all your fins to that, and then matching your other boards to those fins... I have used coatings of epoxy to build up the surfaces, and sandpaper to smooth them down.



I think I stand corrected. The sides certainly look parallel!

Which makes me wonder why I thought they tapered. I must be thinking of the sides of a powerbox base.

The Craw
WA, 222 posts
4 Mar 2015 8:28PM
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mr love is onto it,tuttle are parallel sides,15.87mm or 5/8"inch width

ejmack
VIC, 1308 posts
5 Mar 2015 2:15AM
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mr love said..
Yep Evan, The tuttle has parallel sides so no taper, it is the front and rear edges that control how far it disappears into the box. So you need to either add tape, mono film shims or epoxy filler to tune it perfectly. Unfortunately the tuttle is sensitive to small production tolerances either in the box or the fin head so you often have to tune it to a particular board. Yep, frustrating.


Makes sense, thanks Martin.

ejmack
VIC, 1308 posts
5 Mar 2015 10:21AM
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Anyway..thanks all. I know what and how I can fix it now. I just wrongly assumed adding depth to the fin base would be the easiest solution but seems like I was going down the wrong path. Glad I asked here before making any modifications to the fin base.



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"Tuttle fin base too short - how to fix" started by ejmack