Tail Makeover!

Holiday!!
That means that I can give my tail a makeover! :yay:
I ordered my Lycra yesterday and it'll arrive tomorrow. :D
I've been drawing a few fluke designs and seached for my old pair of fins this .
The polycarbonate I'll use for my monovi,n which I bought 2 years ago, (and it has been taped to wall half behind my closet:confused: (to safe space)) can be finally used now.

In 'short' my plan:

Step 1: - Draw and decide on fluke design.
- Destroy old fins to use the footpockets.
- Cut the polycarbonate in the desired fluke shape.
- Glue footpockets onto monofin.
- Test monofin hopefully on Thursday.

Step 2: - Lay cutout moniofin on the Lycra.
- Trace the shape.
- Sew it together on both fluke sides, NOT the fluke bottom.
- Insert finished and tested monfvin
- Sew a sort of fringe on the Fluke bottom in an attempt to hide the bottom seam.

Step 3: - Test finished tail and live hapily aver after!

And now I hope you can help choose between my fluke choises:
Fluke 1
Attachment 24935

Fluke2
Attachment 24936

H2O Fluke Shape
Attachment 24937

I personally like the first fluke, but narrow it down to your 2 favorite flukes, flip a coin and whichever one you hope for mid flip, is the one you should go with. I made my lycra tail at the beginning of the summer, black and red, and now that it's too cold to swim, I've decided to add hand made scales which may take a while. :) I hope your tail turns out how you want it.

I think fin 1 will be more efficient than fin 2. It would probably also be easier to cut than 3.

Just a quick reminder- make sure you round out the center cut if you choose 1 or 2. You don't want it to break from stress.
This thread makes it more clear :)

Good luck!

I'm leaning towards the H2O the most, and the Polycarbonate would be cut rounded of, without the 'ruffles' the H2O fluke shows.
The Lycra however would be cut with the 'ruffles'. The patterns are used for both the fabric and the monofin.
Fluke 1 is my second option if the H2O is just not really what I expected.

It's scary, I have limited fabric and only one sheet of polycarbonate, large enough for one monovin. I have only one chance to make this work...
Erhm..No pressure...?

My dad is enlarging and printing the H2O today in the rigt size (50cm x 80cm). And my mom will try and snatch the fabric from her college mailwoman(:confused:).

And yeah, I remembered this morning to round the middle from the first 2 flukes.

One more picture, could've shared a few more, if my dad didn't forget the enlarged printed H2O fluke....
Anyway, here a picture of the piece of fabric that came this afternoon.
(The sheet of polycarbonate is 100x50cm, (or 39³⁄₈x19¹¹⁄₁₆ inches(?)))
So this piece of fabric is kinda huge...
Attachment 24953

Progress!! Not much, but still. And more Pictures!!
My dad finally brought back the printed fluke drawing.
so I got to work and enlarged it a little bit more, making ik a tab bit wider to fit 100x50 cm.
Which worked out fine:
Attachment 24995
I took the picture with the paper under the polycarbonate because the paper kept rolling itself up to a cillinder.
Not really usefull for photographing.

And then I took my old pair of Fins,
Attachment 24996

And iron saw, after trying to cut it with a Stanley Knife(probably not the right word for it..)
And turned them into this:
Attachment 24997

The next thing now is trying to finish the monofin saturday, so that I can test it on sunday.
And then go my own home in another town for a week of school, come back the next weekend and finish sewing the tail with help from my mom.

Excellent progress! Good luck! I hope it turns out great!

Thank you!
I hope so, I just got the tail last week on monday.
But I've been planning to make a tail for almost 5 years now, so I kinda sort of know what to do.
It feels weird doing this for the first time, and doing it kind of on auto pilot.

Finished my Monofin!!!!! So... Progress Pictures!!!!
Didn't test it yet, that'll hopefully be tomorrow...

My dad did most of it, since he won't let me use his tools.
So he cut the polycarbonate in the desired shape.
Drilled holes in the flipper footpockets and glued and screwed them to the sheet.
And right now it's drying in the backyard.

The polycarbonate cut in shape:
Attachment 25011

The footpockets attached to the polycarbonate
Attachment 25012

How it's drying
Attachment 25013

And, I compared the foil to my Waterway 'competitor'
Huge diffence in sizes...
Attachment 25014
Next to eachother

Attachment 25015
On top of the 'Competitor'

Okay... Monovin was done and I tested it yesterday at the local swimming pool.

It snapped, so I can't continue now. I need to find another sheet of plastic (not polycarbonate this time)
I googled for Lexan, but it seems that that's nowhere to be found in the Netherlands...

Aw rats! Where did it break?

You'd be better off searching for 'polycarbonate sheet', Lexan, Makrolon, Makroclear, arcoPlus®, Tuffak®, Polygal® are all brand names.

It snapped right at the toes of the footpockets.
Al the poolstaff guarding the pool started telling me that those bolts had made the sheet less flexible.
And I was there thinking, 'yeah, I've never seen you when I was finning friday evening with the monofinclub, so what would you know?!'
But yeah, now I need to wait for a while before I can try again, because my parents are allright with me having a tail,
but I found out this week(end) they're not very fon of helping me out, giving my tail a new look.

I'll try your search tips, thanks!

Weird, it shouldn't have done that, even with just one layer. Are you sure it's polycarbonate and not some other kind of plastic? I noticed it has a chunk off the corner, and I don't know that I've ever seen opaque poly used before.
I guess the bolts could have been too close together at the toes. I feel like most people have used bolts without problems though, so I think that's weird.

I'm thinking about what it looks like when people use only one layer of polycarbonate, and generally it flexes right at the toes because it's not strong enough to roll the power down to the end (which is why monofins are thicker at the toes and thin at the bottom.) Lexan can handle this for a while because it's so flexible, but other plastics just snap.

I guess it could be the shape' s fault, too, though I doubt it's the whole reason.

So I guess I mostly suspect your poly of not being poly. Pictures of the break would be helpful.

I'm sorry your parents are being weird about helping you... your dad did a nice job with your prototype for someone who doesn't want to help.

I noticed that you didn't have the entire foot of the shoe on the polycarbonate. I have a monofin made by mernation that is two dive shoes bolted onto lexan. The entire foot up to the heel is on the lexan and I have not had a problem with them breaking, and I am not kind to my monofins. I don't want to have to baby something that I use to swim in. Maybe that is the problem with the breakage? Also, they have a small piece of harder plastic (I don't know what kind) just under the feet on the fin.

Polycarbonate DOES snap, I've snapped three, so far.

The shape does have a lot to do with it, I've found the polycarbonate monofins need to be short and stubby. I had one break right across at the tip of the toes (high stress area) and the other two broke across the wide part of the fin towards the center.

I would refine the shape more like this (blue line), glue another layer for support (green line for foot plate, I use PolyZap glue), and move your feet further onto the fin. Get your heels onto it if possible, they act as a fulcrum on the downstroke.

Attachment 25073

I don't have pics of the snapped fin, I can take a few pictures of the footpockets, I'm keeing those for the next try, but that would be next weekend, I'm in my 'study town' right now for school.
I bought the sheet 2 years ago, but my mom and I really looked for polycarbonte and the sticker on the sheet said that.

There was one good thing this weekend, my dad came to me that saturday to tell me that we could finish the fin that afternoon.

I don't like the look of my feet completely on the fin, especially with the shape of the fin at the top.
And this is the video were my inspiration came from:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wBMRJcFVgI
and this fin worked...

Her feet are completely on the poly, and that has to be the floaty-est tail in the world. With the long 'fingers' of fin cut out, there's no real stress on each elongated section, and being encased in neoprene takes some of the water pressure off the lexan, too. Comparing that fin to yours is like comparing apples to oranges.

Okay, I think I get it, but what do you suggest I'd try the next time?
I don't want it to be a faillure the net time.
Even tough I laughed about it, I'm afraid I won't be so happy the next time it fails.

Are you covering your monofin with fabric?

Yes, that's also why I rounded off the edges, and sandpapered all the other edges to prevent sharp points.

I think you need a second piece of lexan (like the one I drew above), but instead of following the green outline, cut it to the blue outline and glue them together. You'll still have the original shape, but you'll have a piece supporting it against the stress of swimming. The tips are far enough away that they shouldn't be too stressed and will stay flexible enough to still look flowy, without snapping off.

Thanks, I'll try that.
Small question though;
Is lexan the same as polycarbonate? Cause every website I found said something different.
It's called polycarobonate, lexan (PC) Polycarbonate and then another few dozen different names.

Lexan is a brand name for polycarbonate. Makrolon is another. Just make sure it's polycarbonate.

How thick is yours? I'm going to order 0.25" (about 12 mm, I think), because the 0.093 just isn't thick enough.

My husband wants to know if it said polystyrene on the label- he said it can look similar, but is not as strong or flexible, and could explain the break.
I don't know, but it seems like the sort of thing I'd do by accident.
I see you're in the Netherlands? I don't know what's available there, but here in the states, polycarbonate costs more than polystyrene.
Here's a video with a single layer paddle shaped polycarbonate monofin. Could yours bend similarly without breaking?

Sorry if I'm pushing the issue too much. I don't want to be obnoxious, I just want to understand what went wrong.

My heels are off the edge of my monofin and it works fine. A lot of commercial monofins also have their heels off the edge, so I don't think it's a problem.
You definitely need to have enough of your foot on the monofin, like Pearlie said, to act as a fulcrum. Just on the toes won't do much, obviously.

I don't believe the heels are the issue though, because it snapped with your heels off the monofin. If lengthening the foot plate creates more power, then the snapping problem becomes worse, not better.

I had a longer footplate, heels on, and it snapped right across my toes, that's why I advocate having your entire foot on the fin.

If you don't like the heels showing, maybe adding some heel fins to hide them?

On land in the air it did, mostly.
In the water, I stood on the bottom of the pool, jumped up a little, wanted to do the first kick, and 'CRACK' it said.

I have no idea what it said on the label, I bought it two year ago, almost had a chance on making a tail myself,
pulled the label of, and never was able to make the tail.
My feet were quite far on the fin I think.

(what is a fulcrum?, never heard that word before...)

Oh, my sheet was 4mm thick, maybe 5. Wa that too thin?

noun, plural fulcrums, fulcra
[foo l-kruh, fuhl-] (Show IPA)1.the support, or point of rest, on which a lever turns in moving a body.

That's it! Your sheet is way too thin!

Maybe the description can help?

http://www.amazon.com/Lexan-Sheet-Po...arbonate+sheet

Also, I went back and looked at your photo of your fin...what broke off of it? Polycarbonate wouldn't break like that. I think you had Plexiglas (Perspex), that's a regular acrylic sheet and will shatter easily! You're lucky you didn't get cut!

Yeah that helped, Thanks! Thanks a lot!
But the extra reinfocement also needs to be 12m thick?

I'll read the answer tomorrow,
it's bedtime here in the Netherlands, and my boyfriend really needs some good sleep (and so do I)

Naw, I'm thinking 12mm total thickness. Good night :bed now:

Following your thread :-)
Good luck on this journey!

This is a really informative thread! Thanks for posting your progress (and thanks to those helping with suggestions), will be subscribing to it. :)

Thanks for all the help and interest for this makeover project.

I told my dad the what the problem most likely was (he seemed interested while he listened and helpful)
and gave the suggestion that I might have to take a look and ask a glass-company for a sheet of Lexan (or 2)
We also figured out that the former monovin sheet was Acrylate(?) and not Poly-Carbonate.
I measured the former sheet and it was 3mm thin...
I took picure of the snapped footpockets but I don't have a phone-USB cable so I can't upload it right now.

And we have a really, I mean really really, flexible sheet of plstic laying around now,
a protective sheet for the floor from under my desk which we removed today.
My mom joked but making it a monovin, but think maybe I'll try it sometime.
Even though in won't snap, it'll most likely not work, but I'm curious if it still is a little bit useable.
Fun side project eentually.

I was actually going to suggest that you use a really flexible piece of plastic to fill out your shape- so if you make your monofin the paddle shape, you use the flexible plastic to make the tips. It won't add any power , but it might give you a nice flowy effect :)

That's a really good idea, I was about to suggest the same. Those carpet protectors are often made from polycarbonate, too, but not the same as the sheet kind we are using for fins. (But sometimes, they are made from a clear, hard rubber, too).

I'm glad your dad is interested in coming up with a solution!

Last weekend I said I had a few pictures. Now I have a phone cable,and can post them for you to see them!

I forgot to show you pictures of the whole finished fin before it broke:
Attachment 25195

Then I went swimming and the fin broke right at the footpockets.
I don't have the orginal broken fin, I only have the footpockets left but I still have the paper line out so you can see were it broke on the Acrylate fin.
Attachment 25196
Attachment 25197
Attachment 25198

Ouch!

I would make a footplate (red) out of polycarbonate and attach it to the softer piece (carpet protector) in the shape of your final fluke. This way, you get propulsion without breakage, and a nice, flowy finish to each kick through the water.

Attachment 25202

I have been thinking, if I attach the flexible plastic to the 6mm polycarbonate,
I will never get to 12 mm thickness, since the flexible floor protection is only 2 or 3 mm thick.
That would be a total thickness of 9mm, would that be thick enough?

(Also I'm talking in millimeter out of centimeters. Don't know for sure if inches have mm too)

I haven't been able to do much work on my tail, the weekends at home were pretty busy with other stuff I had to do.

I realized that 12mm is about .5 inches thick and that's probably too thick! I got polycarbonate that's .25" thick... which is around 7mm (26mm = 1 inch). I think 9mm should be plenty.

Good luck!