I just got fin plugs in the mail and I’m about to install my first sets of FCS and I have some questions I couldn’t find answers for in the archives. 1) What is an H-tool and what does it do? I figure it has something to do with how the sides of the plug are concave when viewed flush with the fin slot, but who am I to say. 2) Why is it important to have an H-tool? Can I make my own? How? 3) How much fiberglass should i cut up into the resin mixture and how small (fine) should the pieces be? 4) What size bits do I need for the installation? I don’t have the install kit and I don’t have the scratch to buy it. I was just wondering what the reliable alternatives are. 
my bad on the pic.
CHeck out http://surfsource.net/dingrepairguide.html#fcs%20plug%20repair - the same process can be used to install a new set of FCS plugs. The H tool makes a cylinder patternto the deck of the board that is later filled with a resin/filler mix to secure the plug to the deck of the board. I use a normal drill bit in the drill and run it around in the edge of the hole a few times. Be careful not drill a hole through the deck. You can grind down the tip of the drillbit to be on the safe side. Lastly, scribe the foam around the edge of the hole, use a knife or whatever. This ensures a good bond to the glass on the bottom around the plugs. It’s not as pretty as when done with the pro tools, but I’ve never ripped out a plug done this way(which is something I can’t say for the profeissionaly installed plugs in my board). Bdw. I do the H thing with the drill on the side of the stringer on the center fin also without cutting the stringer. I think the centerfin plugs deserve a connection to the deck also. regards, Håvard
I think it’s the “H-pattern”… or maybe they have a more marketable catch phrase. When you drill out the plug holes, with a hole saw, you are suppose to go all the way until you hit fiberglass on the other side - just barely, don’t go through it. Then you take a bore bit and bore out just enough of a hole for the plug to fit in. So the plug sits in a pool of resin, but the resin also slides into the circular cut, connecting it with the glass on the deck side. If you took a cross sectional cut of it, the resin would look like an “H”. Bottom Line: Make sure you go all the way to glass on the deck side, it adds a lot of strength. There’s a lot of info on FCS in the archives. Make sure you follow all of it. I didn’t do the H pattern on my first couple because you can see it on the deck and I didn’t like it… mistake. Rough it up, use the acetone, scribe the hole (Herb’s idea), lay 3 layers of glass over the plug area, thicken up your resin (just a bit, you don’t want it ‘dry’), and don’t let it off too hot… you’ll be fine. You don’t need the install kit… go to Home Depot, get a hole saw and a bore bit (you can do without the bore - but it’s sloppier) I think it’s 1 1/8", maybe 1/4? 
all you REALLY need to install FCS is 3 things a small piece of conduit i THINK its 1.75 inches, a forster bit that will fit inside and a hole saw the same size as the conduit. these are the most important tools anything else is easily rigged. I bought a KIT on ebay for 30 bucks that had the bits to install most fin sytems. The forstners, the hole saws router bits etc. Ive used it with several diffrerent ones its good quality and worth it for everything ive done http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2588164032&category=45015 heres what ive bought http://www.surfboardglassing.com
I have a kit AND an installation instruction book! The book helps make it very clear how to do it. Tools are basic hardware stuff but will still cost ya about $30.00. Back page shows what everything looks like. Surfsource does not show it on their web site but you can buy the itemized tools from the kit. The hole saw is metric 30mm (same as 1 3/16") Conduit must be “thinwall” Plug setting depth is 3/4". H-tool is nothing nore than a hole saw without the drill bit in. Teeth have been ground flat so when you hit the deck glass it wont cut right through. A 3/16" drill bit with the tip ground off would work like Havard said …just run it around the hole. Send me an E-mail and I can help you out! KROKUS
What’s a good way to get all the foam particles from the bottom area of the hole saw cut after I router out the spot for the plug? Should I use compressed air? Do I even have to get it all out?
How much fiberglass should I chop up for the resin, how fine should it be, and what volume of resin should I add it to (how much resin is needed per plug)?
Sorry to keep adding on questions, but I just do it as they come to me. Rook, Did you mean add 3 layers of glass over the plug area on the deck? Should I use lam resin? Do I sand it afterwards? Won’t that gum up the sandpaper or is that inconsequential? Or do I just use resin with surfacing agent.
the patches,{ovals,footballs} should be on during the lamination so you use laminating resin and hot coat over it then sand. If your boards already done then you can sand down your hot coat really well, lam it then hot coat again and then sand it/ blend it in with the rest of the glass, should be 1 patch on top and 2 on the bottom 3 laters of glass both sides that contact the plugs. http://www.surfboardglassing.com
I have a little piece of cardboard the shape of the ovals. I use it for a template to cut out a bunch of ovals from my cloth trimmings. I put one oval per fin down under the bottom lam then i cut the second layer of the top lam like little wings in the side fin area. When I tuck the laps under it creates the third layer of cloth. Lightly sand the imediate hot coat area around the plug layout (to remove SA wax) When setting plugs use lam resin and wipe them with acetone before you start. They will sand fine. Install the plugs BEFORE you final sand the hot coat! Austin showed me his router set up for sanding the plugs and it works like a charm (Thanks Austin!) Kokua posted to use lam resin and I have been doing it that way ever since. You will need some old fins to align everything with and to set cant. I have a little piece of wood that I cut on the table saw 90 degrees on one side and 4.5 degrees on the other. I use it to set cant with. The kit has a hand reamer in it to get the foam chunks out with. Just a piece of that thinwall conduit with teeth nipped into one end and a handle on the other. Krokus
Leash plugs on the cheap. Use a PVC pipe cap in which you drill a hole thru the side of and insert a piece of 3/16 stainless steel rod. Rough up the outside or if you have a lathe cut grooves on the outside so the resin has something to bond to. Drill a hole in a piece of wood with the right size hole saw, this is the guide to use on the board. Take the pilot bit out of the hole saw. Locate the guide on the board and drill the plug hole. I mix mill fibers and a little white pigment in the resin, don’t make the resin to hot. Trim the plug flush and glass over it.
ha, home-made leash plug ? that’s a pretty cool trick. seems like a lot of work to make a leash plug when they only cost $1.50 ?? after you buy a pipe cap, what are you saving, maybe 1$ ?? good to know if there is ever a “leash cup embargo” [wink]
Hey Sean… I think Krokus and Surflab pretty much covered it. I don’t do the lap trick for the third layer, simply because I finally got my laps to start behaving properly and I want to kick out a couple boards with clean lap lines before I start experimenting again. I have two cardboard ovals. One is bigger and I lay it under my bottom layer of glass and wet it out with the bottom lam. Once I’m done I use the smaller oval and lay that up on top of the glass with a small squeegee and batch of resin. Blow out the dust with compressed air (or just flip it over and give it a tap) - WEAR SAFETY GOGGLES. I didn’t on my first board and somehow managed to get a piece of resined fiberglass in my eye. It was a very painful night in the emergency room and the Morgan lens couldn’t flush the piece out. Luckly my body expelled it over the night, but not before I scratched up my eye a bit. Always wear your safety equipment. Someone else here had a story of someone spilling MEKP in their eye and flushing it out with Acetone. Always wear your safety equipment.
Thanks guys, I did the installation last night and this afternoon. There were some problems with heat but I got it under control, your tips are very appreciated! Sean.
good job, hey heres a rookie mistake that happens often, either take the screw out or screw them in deep so you dont hit them with your grinder or sandpaper. http://www.surfboardglassing.com