Pathos pockets with Leaderfins blades, modification needed

[Leander]

Hi,

I am trying to get a pair of Leaderfins fiberglass blades to fit into Pathos Fireblade pockets (40/42).

Everything I can find on the internet says they should fit without any modification other than trimming the side rail. But now that I finally got everything here, it doesn't fit.

The lip (insert, flap, tongue?) of the blade is about a centimeter longer than the insert on the footpocket. I measured it many times again to make sure it's not just me going crazy.

So the blades would have to be cut. Leaderfins couldn't give me Pathos-specific information, Pathos so far never replied to any mail, and one other blade-manufacturer that offers a pdf-template to cut their blades to size didn't want to get involved here, for which I can't blame them.

So I made a mock-blade out of cardbord and did some cutting and trimming to it, but shortening it wasn't enough to make it fit. I got the impression it's not just the depth of the insert on the pockets that is different from the blades, but the taper between the bend and the end of the insert as well. Obviously this greatly increases the room for error.

The last thing I want is to ruin the blades and again waste a lot of time and money.

So perhaps, hopefully, someone here is familiar with trimming blades to fit them to Pathos pockets and can help me out.

Leander

 

[3joern]

it fits perfekt, BUT is not so easy to put the Blades into the Pockets, you must carefull not to cut the Pockets. I've done it already 2 times with the fiber carbon and the pure carbon. Maybe the Picture helps

 

[Leander]

I managed to fit the blades some time ago. But I did have to modify the blades. The inserts had to be trimmed in both length and taper. I made a cardboard test-fin from measurements from the pocket. Taking these meaurements was a real pita. The blades I shaved little at a time, starting from the cardboard template, testfitting it many times until I was satisfied with how they fitted.

Of course on the last fitting before the glue I cut the pocket, but the damage wasn't too serious. So far the fins are holding up through many kilometers of surface swimming and many, many dives.

 

[hteas]

I had the same problem fitting Mako blades to Dessault footpockets. took time, but works well