Well, shit happens:
Down at the pool, I lay all my stuff in a nice pile at the poolside & went in for warmup. Some time later, I grabbed my mono & had a great training session. Then, at home, as I rinse down my stuff, I notice a 4 cm lengthwise crack in the trailing edge, about 1/3 of the way width-wise. It's not just a crack or a scratch, the blade is actually broken through! :waterwork :waterwork :waterwork
I'm very careful with my turns, etc. and take really good care of my gear - the only possible cause I can think of is that someone just stepped right on the blade, over the uneven tiles of the poolside, and sheared the edge.
Now I wonder:
Can I keep using my mono, or the crack will just extend & split the whole blade through?
Can something like this be fixed, & how?
Is there anything I can do short term to stop the damage from extending - maybe drill a round hole at the crack's end?
If this can't be fixed, maybe it would be a good idea to widen the crack into some kind of small rounded "bay", and make another identical "bay" on the other side, for symmetry. This would prevent the crack from extending, but weaken the blade's trailing edge in general, & probably make some unpredictable hydrodynamic changes.
I'd really appreciate any opinion & advice.
Thanks,
Ofer
BTW, it's a WW model 2, middle distance - a fibergalss fin, pretty hard. It seems like it's pre-tensed in some way, because it has a complex curve to it, & different flexibilities in up/down bending. the break actually spoils the curve already - I just can't make it sit back in place & have it's nice old curve...![Frown :( :(](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
Down at the pool, I lay all my stuff in a nice pile at the poolside & went in for warmup. Some time later, I grabbed my mono & had a great training session. Then, at home, as I rinse down my stuff, I notice a 4 cm lengthwise crack in the trailing edge, about 1/3 of the way width-wise. It's not just a crack or a scratch, the blade is actually broken through! :waterwork :waterwork :waterwork
I'm very careful with my turns, etc. and take really good care of my gear - the only possible cause I can think of is that someone just stepped right on the blade, over the uneven tiles of the poolside, and sheared the edge.
Now I wonder:
Can I keep using my mono, or the crack will just extend & split the whole blade through?
Can something like this be fixed, & how?
Is there anything I can do short term to stop the damage from extending - maybe drill a round hole at the crack's end?
If this can't be fixed, maybe it would be a good idea to widen the crack into some kind of small rounded "bay", and make another identical "bay" on the other side, for symmetry. This would prevent the crack from extending, but weaken the blade's trailing edge in general, & probably make some unpredictable hydrodynamic changes.
I'd really appreciate any opinion & advice.
Thanks,
Ofer
BTW, it's a WW model 2, middle distance - a fibergalss fin, pretty hard. It seems like it's pre-tensed in some way, because it has a complex curve to it, & different flexibilities in up/down bending. the break actually spoils the curve already - I just can't make it sit back in place & have it's nice old curve...