I ride lots of boards with future boxes and the front fins crack at the nose and heal from turning hard.
My longboards with long slots crack out the same way. Especially if I use a large fin.
I enjoy tuning new boards with my fin collection to fit the mood.
Should I go 6 oz s glass caps over the box post lam?
Carbon fiber?
Glass under the boxes?
Deck anchor?
Forget it and go only glass on?
How should I install fin boxes for heay duty use?
How are you doing it now?
on longboards with 9" 10" and 12" boxes I cap the box with 2 layers of 4oz. One 0/90 one 45/45. My personal boards are old school with big fins. I've never had one crack from turning to hard. platty.
Up till now I’ve been setting my fins with cabo and miled fiber under the box, then the lam and a second 4oz cap over that gets sanded open before hot coating…
Maybe I’m oversanding?
Hi Shipley
It it cracks, then there is prolly too much resin in it, so more fibre is welcome to the Futures Mood party
If you have time on your hands, lots of it, do st like this:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-a9NsVohMS1E/UFLqyBCTxeI/AAAAAAAAArE/iP5c47lxzcc/s1600/Fin.jpg
You use the routing template to make an exact copy in foam to fit the routing hole.
Then use a bit with a copy collar to make the same size hole.
Finish shape
Install futures
Glass over with the patches that you should use anyhow.
Of course, the foam has to be deeper than the box to spread the load at the tip of the box.
cheers
Wouter
"I ride lots of boards with future boxes and the front fins crack at the nose and heal from turning hard."
I've been a part time surfboard repair guy for a few years.....it's very rare for a Future fin box to fail in San Diego County....
That would be a proper fin box installed under the glass. Don't see many problems with Future......maybe you're just a really rad surfer. Or ....something ?
I see cracks with The Fins Unlimited boxes.....That would be the standard 10 inch longboard box.....The Boxes are high quality...the installs are all over the map. I'm not in a hurry so I line my routed hole with 6oz cloth...and most of my boards get a "cap" over the box.......don't see that on mass produced surfboards...but I don't make a living working on boards....
Stingray
Explain how you install the boxes and perhaps the error in your methods will be apparent. Personally, I believe it is imposible that you “turning hard” is the reason for the failure. Be honest when you explain, and don’t make up how you install them, and how radical a surfer you think you are, and I bet there are people here that can help you. If you think its your turns, after your explanation, maybe we can recommend you a good psycologist.
Fin install: 1.) rout hole ~1/32" deeper than box 2.) sink box with catalyzed resin with ~50% cabocil ~10% milled fiber mix (consistency of peanut butter) 3.) Let resin kick 4.) If clear: 4 oz D size “football patch” caps under bottom lam then bottom lamination over If color: Laminate bottom then cap with 4 oz E or 4 oz S post lam (usually single layer) 5.) open boxes when grinding bottom lap, re-tape box paste/baste bottom, hotcoat 6.) finish sand
I just checked my quiver and 9 out of 12 of my boards with futures have cracked glass around the box. My Channel Island and Doc Lauch are cracked too.
I surf San Francisco almost every day. 1-20 foot faces. I’m no pro. I rarely pull an air. I do surf better than most. Front side lay backs and inverted backside re-entrys load the most stress on my fin cluster. I’m 6’ 160 lb. 32 years old. Surfed since I was 2. Surfed all the time after I turned 16 and got a drivers licence. I have lived on and surfed Ocean Beach SF for the last 9 years.
If your fin boxes don’t crack could you tell me how you do them?
Please and thank you,
why all the cabosil ?
Hey Shipley, my name is Grant and I work with Futures, see website/fin connaisseur. The boxes are designed for a simple install. As long as your installation jig, and tools, are set properly, and routing a nice tight fitting box there is no need for all of the extra bells and whistles. All you have to do is make sure that you paste the box, or route, with lam resin, and use two layers of cloth over the box. A lot of guys rush and tend to float the cloth with resin so when they grind the boxes after the laminating they grind off most of the cloth. There is no strength in resin, so you want your cloth tight to the box. The cracking is probably just too much resin and not enough cloth. Installed properly there is no way that you should be able to put anywhere near enough stress on the box through a turn. Try that out and I’ll bet it makes a big difference.