DIY Home Made wooden Hydrofoil fins

[AndKite]

Hawaiis,

I love the fact that you made a working hydrofoil board with wood, my previous idea was that it needed to be made in metal or carbon fiber.

I am currently on Sal, in Cape Verde, and lets just say that my resources are rather limited, not only in terms of money, but in construction materials, tools and experience. Im here for another 6 months, so no chance in getting better stuff for a while..

I really want to build one after seeing what you made! What i can get a hold of here is various types of plywood including marine, but no real choices in terms of wood type or thickness. I have a friend who can help out with glassing if needed but i want to avoid that... I may be able to get some exotic wood from a construction site nearby, restaurant decoration and construction..

Please, if you could share your measurements and a brief description i would be very grateful! Do it in a PM if you don't want to post it...

Cheers! Thanks for inspiration!

[Hawaiis]

What I use is 90cm long strut.
10cm cord
2.2-2.4cm thick

The front fin has 1 square foot of area
The rear fin 0.3 square foot.
If you do a search there is a very good plan with detailed measurements:
viewtopic.php?f=196&t=2382163&p=811764& ... an#p811764
The fins are for higher speed, you may want to make the fin more low AR

[windfreak74]

hello guys,
this is an update on Wood foil.
finally instaled threaded inserts to fuselaje.
really hard to do because i did the corners before the inserts instalation.
allignemet was a bitch. not perfect but it can be adjusted.
12 hours loged
epoxy cured and its stiff as hell.
i believe it does not need carbo or fiberglas but.... its better to be on the safe side.
please make comments!
750mm long x70mm on the widest part were the mast wil be inserted.
tail section is 30mm triangular shape.
still havent decided where i will insert the mast.
anyone care to comment?

[dlprince69]

windfreak74 that looks awesome! When finished, I would ride it once and then hang it on the wall. I might need to break out my wood working tools and build one. I currently ride an MHL Lift but I need to play with new designs.

[Hawaiis]

windfreak74:
looks really good, if you can do a tenon and mortise joint, that would be very strong.
Are those wood inserts stainless?, all I can find from hardware store are zinc from China, and they caused me to lose my foil a few weeks ago. now I use stainless t-nuts that goes all the way to the other side.

[windfreak74]

Hello Hawaiis,
living in a farm far away from finished good makes you improvise.i use what i can get in my hand.
i use standart 1/4 stainless nuts, i put three together in a bolt and insert them in a 12mm hole bored to the desired depth.
they go in really snug.
I bore a 16mm on top to 2mm depth for the flat washer .i pour epoxi on the bored hole then i put a flat washer on top.
after all is cured i drill the hole again with a 5mm bit and eliminate the epoxi from the treads with a thread maker.
i will use a 2 0z. fiberglass layer vaccum bagged with carbón reinforcement to prevent insert pullouts.
hope it helps. ill take pics to explain in the weekend.that way its clear enough for everyone who is building.

[windfreak74]

hello Dlprince 69,
Thanks for the complements!
function and design!
if it doesnot function it will probably end up in the Woodshop for show!!
i advise you take the tolos out!!
its a great way to relax.
Pedro

[Hawaiis]

Epoxy does not stick to metal too well, you might want to try the T-nuts from ebay.

[windfreak74]

this is what similar to what i used as inserts

[zfennell]

very nice pedro.
my advice would be to locate the nuts on the opposite side of the board/fuselage.
both wing and fuselage will be in compression.
pull out will not be a function of glue and glass,
just compressive strength of wood

...or you could insert barrel nuts (home-made from brass rod)
similar to config seen in tuttle fins.

again,
very nice.
-bill