I have a displaced fin box, the box itself looks ok, and normally if I get a few cracks around the box, I would push in some epoxy and then glass around the fin. I also get that if the box itself is broken it needs to come out and be replaced. I repair plenty of cracks and holes in boards using epiglass epoxy with or without filler. Is it possible to realign the box without pulling it out totally and making the whole exercise bigger than ben hur. I do not think I have moisture under around the box. My thinking is to drill or cut around the box without wrenching it off - its still well attached and the eps is not badly damaged except for some compression that has caused the fin box to be angled by a couple of degress off centre. I will tape the fin to the rails to hold it up or clamp it, inject/drip epoxy down the side, let it set back into straight position, use epoxy bog for any holes in foam and between foam and fin box, then glass the top with clear epoxy, sand etc. Note this is a surfclub paddle board, not a surfboard so there is no stringer on underside, the board is also thicker than a surfboard (4-6 inches/10-15cm) and has acrylic gelcoat skin. I have no idea if there is a stringer imbedded under the fin box and that is why I do not want to pull it all out.
A picture would be helpful. If the box isn’t knocked too far out of place, you can rout a 1/4" wide strip the length of the box on either side of it, an inch or so deep. Glass in “woodies” using your choice of material (plastic, wood, high-dense foam) cut to size. This makes a high strength reinforcement that, if done right, doesn’t look bad at all.
being that its an eps board im willing to bet there is moisture in the board
personally i would route out the box, let it dry, then install a new box
and if you route it properly you should never even notice that it had been worked on so you dont have some random cuts and holes in the board
Which gets me to thinking… Has anyone out there used a Rockwell Sonicrafter or similar (Fein) for removing boxes? Seems like it would be a good application and the cut is thinner than anything you could get with a router.
Thanks guys, I have attached a couple of pics. Issue seems to be possible water so I have been drying/draining for 2 days in sun to avoid pulling it all the way and take my chances with water rot. I will use foam only on the one side, the other side is open enough to drop in epoxy to bottom of board and is not badly damaged, that will allow me to get proper alignment. Then I will epoxy and bog in damaged side, around with foam block, then glass over the top,
I’m sure you’ve already done this but just in case…check the bottom and sides of the fin box to make sure there aren’t any cracks that were letting water in. It’s rare, but we’ve seen it happen and it ain’t pretty when it goes neglected. Like they said earlier in the thread, use a filler like aerosil as well as something with strength like thiksil and fill the areas around the box. Then tape off the box, glass over it with two layers of cloth, sand, re-tape and then hot coat and do a final sand. Good luck.
i think it was Pete C that was talking about this before
he was using the rockwell with good results
I have the Rockwell, myself. It is very good for surgically extracting bits of wood without trashing adjoining bits of material. I’ve yet to try it on a ding repair but I’m confident I can use it effectively.
You know, after looking at the photo’s of your ‘‘box issue’’, sdrepairman has given you the correct answer. The true path to success, if you will. You’ve got yourself a real mess on your hands. Do it right.
If it happened in the water, there’s mosture in there, to say the least.
Sorry to add another to the fray. It looks like you should be able to just pull it out - grab the fin and tug straight up and out(?) That’ll give you a chance to get rid of the resin on it, check for damage to the box, and really dry the foam out. It might be perfectly OK and you can save a few bucks by reinstalling it.
I personally like the idea of mini-stringers. Even with the glass cap over the box, EPS doesn’t offer a lot of structural support to sideways pressure as evidenced by the current problem. If done right you won’t even be able to tell the box was replaced. Just route 2 slots a few inches longer than box on either side and insert wooden slats.
I used one to trum the excess off the top of a box once. the heat from the friction melted a bunch of the EPS and I got to do a huge repair around the box. never again.
Hi guys, thanks for all the advice, and sorry to say I am trying a shortcut and have left the fin in place and am filling on both sides. I have left the board to drain with a couple of days over 40c here, have been down both sides to see any moisture damage. Made the call due to being less willing to realigh the fin box and rebuild wooden or eps templates. I will track the board and see how the repair holds up, if it fails I will willingly eat my words and dust mask. Next time around I will do the full monty and pull the fin box. I will also add some pics of the finished product and you will see I am trying to stay inside my limited skills. Thanks for the povs offered.
If you’re charging someone for this repair, do it right. You de-value yourself and other repair people by doing ghetto work like that. If you have any repairs that fail, find another line of work. 90% of the boxes I see like this have melted foam underneath and that’s why they failed in the first place (or not enough epoxy for fear of melting). Of that same 90%, there’s usually a gallon of water in the board that takes forever to dry even with the box out (I can see the water under the glass around the box in your photo). I set all finboxes in polyfoam for eps, repairs or new. There’s a number of easy ways to do this, but it sounds like you want validation for leaving the box in rather than how to fix it properly. On a separate note of failed finboxes, I’ve seen finboxes with no glass cap over them on new poly boards of several brands. Maybe came from the same glassing company. Somebody should find the guy and send him to the hospital with 3 shoes.
Petec, thanks for your input. Some perspective on the environment might help here. These are surf competition and rescue boards, used mostly by kids. Up to 5 boards get damaged each week, some of them are over 10 years old, covered in delams, half made of expoxy from filled holes, only the new competition boards get a paint job, and I expect to see the same boards back again to be repaired within the month with delams, half made of epoxy. My reason for posting this specific fin box was seeing debates on the need to remove the total box and most previous box fixes are fine cracks so we dry and drain and glass over. We know there is water in the boards, mostly because there are alway a few fine cracks somewhere in the skin. If they have a brand new board and want a professional job done and are prepared to pay 4X they do it. In the future I will cut out the box on damage like this, but as this same board was weeping water from another crack in the skin elsewhere in the board, it got a shortcut (despite the time I spent discussing this).
You say you can see the water under the skin around the fin, what signs are you seeing for this?
Hello there this little accident happened to me in the water, The booard is made of 100% epoxy and it doesnt have a stringer, I have no idea on how to tackle such a repair, and I live in Scotland and no shapers near where I live. I was wondering if someone could provide me with some technical advice. Thank you.
No, it’s not.
This board was made with styrene foam, fiberglass, and epoxy resin (probably)
Given that it has a Global Surf Industries label it was probably made in China and is a pretty low quality board.
If you still have the fin and insert, you can reinstall it with epoxy resin. Search the archives or Google “Fin repair”.
thank you for your reply Sammy. Any other point of views?
Hi CAPS-Without knowing your experience or abilities it will be hard for people to tell you do 1-2-3. So while you’re waiting for the board to dry out and getting ahold of Speysurfer…
-search like Sammy suggested. Study up on a regular Futures install and consider what would be different in your situation
-check out http://www.boardlady.com/repairmenu.htm for a rundown of various repair situations
-consider cleaning out the damaged foam and adding a HD foam insert before replacing the box
The 100% epoxy comment is an invitation to a construction lesson and/or a good-natured ribbing. You were schooled by one of the best.
Let us know how it turns out. Cheers, J
Looks like a Hayden Shapes Hypto Krypto to me. Made by Global Industries, it’s eps core epoxy finish. While not hand shaped and built, a great riding surfboard. I’d route out a section and install a foam plug and then reinstall box.