Never done one. Going to start doing them.
Read about all I can read on the archives, but had a few follow up questions.
First, off, is it better to add the loop affter laminating, or after hot coating.
Would you say that a leash loop on a 10’6 plank would be durable? Everything I’ve read seems to say yes, but just want more verificiation.
How thick should the loop be?
And lastly how fanned out should the contact points get.
Thanks so much in advance
Drew
Some use glass rope over a section of plastic drink straw, I like to bandsaw out the shape of the loop from clear scrap of fin material. Add several strands of glass rope on each side, capped with 2 small ovals of cloth, hotcoat and your ready to sand
First off I surf big boards and I use only glass loops. They have helt on 2X over head on my 11 footer. I like to put they on the lam coat. You can’t buy rope any more but you can get 20oz cloth. just unwrap the strands make your self about a 1/4 inch bundle of this glass about 4 or 5 inchs long. I just take some masking tape and make myself a tube out of it. Lay the tape tube on the board and soak the bundle of glass in resin. Make a small mound over the tape tube and connect it to the board. fan out the ends and let it set up a little. Remove the tape, and hot coat. If you don’t hot coat for right away you will need to sand on the loop to remove the wax. If you do it fast enough you can get away with out sanding. Good luck.
I like the look, but is there some reason why this is better than a plugged cup , or a hole thru the fin box?
If so, then why isn’t it done more?
This is 1/2" baltic plywwod, cubed, glued, shaped…
Glassed with epoxy…
I like the look, but is there some reason why this is better than a plugged cup , or a hole thru the fin box? If so, then why isn't it done more?
It doesn’t interfere with the integrity of the glass job. Even if it were to pull off. the deck stays intact. Generally this is as strong or stronger than a leash plug - many of which pull their rod out before the cup fails in the deck - or failure in the plug leads to deck failure.
Most surfers want a leash holder recessed into the deck.
Plugs leak some times. They get a lot of work on some of the boards and pull out. I had a key chain made out of a plug that pulled out of a board. A drill through the box causes some loss of space in the box. I have some real big fins that I use and with the loop I get just that much more adjustment. The reason they are not used all that much is they cost $30. or more. The fin guy normaly puts them on and some of them realy don’t know how to do them. The Sander does not like them because he has to do some extra work as does the polisher. It is a lot like glass on fins, they get $30 or more for a glassed on fin now. No one in the shops like to work with them anymore. It is all about production.
One more advantage : a leash loop can be set further back on your board (where a plug still require some tail thickness).
Pierre
Take apart a squarish piece of scrap cloth - any weight (I use 6 oz) about 8 inches on a side, aparet to it’s component strands, lay the strands together and parallel.
I like the idea of laying it over a plastic soda straw, just don’t have one, so I use two pencils taped together - there’s good reason for using two! The resultant hole will pass the velcro rail save on most leashes, no need for that cheesy bit of nylon line.
Lay the strands over the pencil, on the lam coat, and use about a tablespoon of lam resin and your finger or mixing stick to wet out the strands. Fan out the loose ends, much as you can but don’t be crazy about it. Let the resin set and gently withdraw the two taped pencils. You can walk away and let the resin harden but the pencils will be tougher to pull out.
Hot coat over the work, sand as usual, and you’ll be good to go.
I’ve used this technique since, oh, about the mid-1970s. Never lost one yet, though I have pulled three plugs out of other people’s boards. Glass loops rule, plugs suck. Look what Dick Brewer uses on his mega-dollar balsa boards: glass loops, very nicely made.
Go to your fiberglass supplier and ask for a foot of woving roving. You can unravel this and use the thick strands as rope for g-on fins or for leash loops-
so lemme ask you fellas this…
How thick should the loop be at the ends and in the middle. mind you it is going on a big board. 10’6" Noserider
thanks
Drew
Basically make it as thick as you can without it being too bulky or interfering too much with the board. A thin thin thin line would break off to easy, but you dont want something that becomes a “bump” in your board - you might as well do the EZ plug for that.
Use your own discretion.