Just curious about whether its recommended to add a couple of patches of mat during lamination at the tail to strengthen the area where fcs plugs will be fitted or is a 6oz lam strong enough on it’s own.
I,ve shaped 4 boards but have glassed 0,the JC vid was helpful but im sure there is more to learn for someone that has had as little experience as myself. Any other tips would be appreciated, ta.
Hola! I have gathered some don’t, but… I think to do it properly you should. Check here: www.foamez.com/pdfs/FCS**Manual.pdf and you will see that FCS recommends two extra layers, football patches around the fin area. Also make sure you tie them to the deck (also detailed in that manual… so that there is a resin post that goes all the way through to the deck. I just did my first fcs plug repair, so I’m no expert but so far it’s worked pretty well. Check out my other thread ‘EPS FCS plug repair’ if you want to see a couple photos of what it looked like. Yours will look better as it won’t be a repair so you will generate less of a haggard hole. Good luck!
Thanks mate for the feedback i’ll check out that info and see how I go… It kinda makes sense that you should. I have a blank shaped ready for glassing so all the info is coming together that i need to begin…Cheers.
also I believe it’s best to install the FCS plugs after glassing… just a thought, in case you were going to install first. pardon me if that was totally unnecessary, just something about the way you worded that made me think…
It’s awesome to have a project right ready to make leaps and bounds!!!
good luck
Well, Mozilla Firefox works where IE 7 doesn’t, so I can finally post!
If you haven’t glassed yet, do as BCKyle says. 12 oz of cloth over the area where the plugs go. I don’t make them football shaped, I make them rectangular with the corners rounded. For me it’s the easiest way to get about an inch of patch surrounding the plug areas. Definitely install the plugs after the hotcoat is done. Do you have the tools and jigs to do the job? If not, it’s simple enough to get a few items at the local hardware store for the install. 1 1/8" hole saw, 1" forstner drill bit, and a bit of 1" steel conduit to do the H pattern hole, and the fins can be used to set the plugs (just be careful not to get resin on 'em).
Nice, the steel conduit idea! That makes me stoked, I made a little tool out of a piece of bent sheet steel that basically looked like a U, then sharped the leading edges so I could twist it and cut the H pattern… but a piece of conduit would probably work better. Good idea!
All good tips,Its great how guys aren’ t scared to pass on their experience.
I’m still a bit apprehensive about glassing though, so thanks again for all the bits of extra info.
As firm believer of the 6P’s every bit of info helps to avoid things going pear shaped.
i ve used a dremal for the wholes or they make a bit which fits to a drill for a perfect fit…it comes with glue which you mix with the lam,the plugs sit high so you sand em down {PALM SANDER]…too flush… then i put masking tape on the plugs and cut the tape to fit with a x=acto knife then i put 2 layers of glass… football shaped… the bottomn patch bigger then the top so you can blend in when sanding…you sand through the glass which is over the plug right down to the tape…you can neatin the whole glass job up around the plug with the x=acto knife ,aloha
Hi
It seems as you are cover by now with everybody’s advice, I’m not particular thrill about FCS plugs, now the FCS introduced the Fusion ones, I prefer those , and so far noboy has complain about them, but if you are using FCS, and don’t want spend too much money on their installation kit, you could make your jig out anything (1/4 ply, 1/8 masonite, etc), and get a cheap hot glue, and glue your jig to the bottom of the board, that way you don’t move your jig, and follow the instructions in the manual, and you’ll be fine
good luck
ProBox
Yup
But I do still have an entire stock of Fusion plugs to get rid of…so I’ll be installing a few more before I switch entirely.
Of course if somebody wanted to buy some for cheap they could alway send me a PM.
I’m just sayin…
Oh…for those who might not know…FCS fins fit in ProBoxes.
Since we’re on that topic, I am hoping to use Probox for some boards I want to make this summer, give them a shot as I am not a big fan of the FCS plugs having experienced too many blowouts. …I will be putting FCS plugs into a current project though as I want to get it in the water sooner than later. Think I’ve figured out where to get probox from though (i’m in canada, and we don’t ahve a dealer in my region at all). So I’m stoked.
Buuuuut… the point is, in the probox installation reinforcement suggestions on their website, they mention putting a wrapped layer of glass around the interior of the hole before pouring in the resin and inserting the box. Does anyone have any experience or ideas on whether that same technique might be successful in strengthening FCS plugs? Not to the same degree as in a more stable finbox-style setup, surely, but… what do you swaylockers think?
PS on my EPS FCS plug repair thread I will be posting some photos soon… I managed to place retro-fitted football patches over the triple-FCS keel setup plugs in my twin fish in such a way that the outside edges of the plugs are thoroughly covered in glass. I hope it will reinforce it considerably! Real pain in the butt though.
oops, accidental double post. sorry!
At one time, all I did was FCS (like most of us). I can tell you this from experience: If you lam with 4oz, do a 6oz patch. If you lam with 6, do a 4oz patch. No cloth or roving around the plugs. Tinted lams get a clear patch over the lam. Clear lams get the patch under the lam. Hotcoat, then install the plugs.
However, if you don’t get the hole right, the reinforcements are meaningless. That H pattern hole is critical - not too much or too little space between the plug and that pillar of foam under the plug, and that ring of resin around the pillar of foam has to go all the way to the deck. Use the proper tools and get a clean install. And don’t sand through to the weave when you grind down the plugs!
Thanks nj,
I was under some doubt whether the H pattern hole was really important. I downloaded the FCS install manual as BCKyle lead me to and after I read it, the whole deal seamed a little extreme but am happy now with you advise that its important.
My plan is to 1. Post filler coat to sink a 1 1/8’ hole to the appropriate depth with a forstner bit
2. use a similar sized steal tube or hole saw without the guide drill (by hand) to carefully remove the foam to the deck lam for my H pattern
3.install plugs with the recipe that FCS recommend
Hopefully with all things being equal this will be ok, learning to shape is one thing, but learning about glassing and fin placement and plug installation req’s a fair amount of research. thanks for everyones help.
Soon sanding wil be my next advance into building boards…
I’d like to show some photo’s of my previous creations but seem to be having issues with file transfers on my mac.
I just bought a new board and when i pulled back those fcs stickers a bit that hide the circles on the deck i realized that they haven’t used the H pattern tool and the scribe tool properly.
They seem to only have used the H pattern tool until they hit the deck glass where the board is thinnest and then left it like that without drilling out the complete circle with the scribe tool.
As a result the bond to the deck fibreglass i probably only on 90° degrees of the circle instead of 360°.
This obviously means that the install now is weaker. What do you guys reckon, is that really bad and will i have problems with the plugs soon or should the install still be strong enough?
It’s really strange that they haven’t done that properly as the rest of the finish of the board is top notch.
Thanks
Loga
The H-pattern is critical to the FCS plug install. The tool that FCS supplies will reach all the deckside glass, whereas a piece if conduit, etc., may not. Sometimes the scribing is more apparent on the thinner (outside) portion of the rail, but if it’s a pro install, you probably don’t have anything to worry about.
Pro or not, it’s up to the installer whether the scribe tool reaches the deckside. No matter what you’re using, you’ve got to feel it scraping the deckside glass all the way around.
Too bad… There’s nothing you can do now but wait for something bad to happen, and hope it never does.If it’s a local glasser that did the install, stop by and show him. If he’s worth his salt, he’ll appreciate the heads up.
The last few boards I did w/ FCS boxes in them,I reinforced the BOX-PLUGS with PVC pipe all the way thru the board to the deck…NOT thru the deck…TO THE DECK…let’s say they’ll never breakout.
Herb