Hello all,
I am in the market for a new board. Well, different. On the ol Craigslist, I’ve seen a few boards that have finboxes with a fin glassed into it. Why would someone do that, besides having a crazy idea one day. Also, is it reversible? I lurked about the forums a bit and have come up snake eyes for anything on how to maybe get it out DIY without major damage.
Thanks for any help you may be able to provide.
“Why would someone do that”
Hi LongboardLiam -
I can’t say for sure why the guy in question did it on that particular board. I can think of a couple of reasons why it might save the day for a desperate guy on a road trip or for someone without much cash.
I’ve done it myself when I’ve managed to break a box and didn’t feel as if the board was worth the effort of routing out the old and installing a new box. In fact, not only do I have a couple in my board pile, I’ve done that repair quite a number of times - for instance when a friend brought over his new garage sale ‘deal’ for me to do some quick and easy repairs…
He had paid 100 bucks for a beat up used Becker longboard. In addition to some obvious open dings, “the fin was loose.”
After removing the fin and examining the box carefully, it became apparent that not only was the resin seam cracked around the edges of the box, it also had a horizontal crack inside the channel. (something a lot of guys might miss)
He wasn’t very stoked when I told him it was gonna be an expensive and relatively difficult repair to do it right. A quick ‘down and dirty’ repair that would work fine (but would not be adjustable) would be to simply pour resin in the slot with fin in place, build up some cloth scraps over the outside, sand it smooth and call it good… some ding guys are charging over 100 bucks to replace a busted longbox.
That would be more than he paid for his garage sale deal.
PS - On a used beater board, likely not worth the effort to replace it. If the fin looks usable, ride it.
No way to repair a box. Don’t buy anything with that type of repair done to it unless you are willing to have it repaired properly.