Cutting a Finis Foil?

[Seraphina Suds]

I just want to shape it a bit, but I don't know how to go about doing it. I suppose regular scissors are out of the question... But I don't have any sort of power tools other than a drill. =/ No saws or anything. I do have some rather large kitchen knifes, haha. Am I on the right track here?

[MerMarla]

Hi Seraphina,

If you read thru lots of these messages, there's an amazing amount of information. Briefly, lots of ppl cut them with Dremel cut-off tools, or if you have a friend with a Band-saw with a fine blade, that works, too.

Hope this helps,
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/e/B0C
Mermaid Marla

[Jessica]

I would try an xacto knife. Since the foil is all rubber, I would use the knife to gently cut like an 1/8" deep at a time. Work from both sides (draw lines so its even!) and when it gets thin enough you can probably use scissors to finish the job. Just be careful not to cut too much off...the foil isn't very big and any amount of cutting is going to impact the amount of propulsion you get from it.

[Seraphina Suds]

I hate literally no tools other than the power drill. None of my friends do either. We're all still in that post college faze, living away from our families. Not much need for power tools in apartments. :p

I like the xacto knife idea! I can handle that! I'm not planning on cutting much. Just giving it a little shape to fit better into a fabric tail.

[KayNS]

Bumping up this thread to see if anyone has had success cutting their foil into a more traditional mermaid fluke shape, and how it's impacted propulsion.

[Mermaid Jaffa]

Bumping up this thread to see if anyone has had success cutting their foil into a more traditional mermaid fluke shape, and how it's impacted propulsion.

Don't do it!!! I cut my Finis Wave to fit into a Magictail, and there is very little propulsion. If you want to go somewhere in a tail, it takes a VERY long time! Paddle monofins are shaped like that for a reason. If you cut out the main part of the monofin, the part where you get the most speed and propulsion, you're going to lose it all when the tail goes on. Sure it looks nice and floppy, but that's all you get. This the reason why I have a few different shaped monofins. I don't have to ever cut my Foil and I've got Merfin and Mirage fin for the fish shape.

And those thick ridges on the Foil, is what gives it its power. Once you remove it, the blade will become very soft to swim in.

[suzanne86]

Thank you, Jaffa. You are a great source of wisdom about the Foil.

[Mermaid Kelda]

The foil is rubber, though, whereas the wave is plastic. That might give the foil better propulsion even when cut, like the mirage.

On that note, I cut my wave and still get better propulsion than swimming with no fin at all. I prefer the cut shape.