Sadly i’ve been on this website for a while now, but i never registered. I know how to do all that resin mixing, vaccum bagging…ect… <ENGINEER!
however i can not remove my future fins from the box in the board. screws are completely out, i’ve tried hot water, boiling hot water, hoping to melt salt crystals if that was the problem but apperently not. it seems maybe small sands have slid into place causing a really hard hard attachment. I just can’t figure out how ot get this stuff out. i"ve WD-40d it let that sat for a whle but to no avail. I’ve wrapped a towel around the fins and banged them with a rubber mallet moving and pivitoing it but it still wont budge. I’m starting to think im going to need sulfuric acid
what have you guys done to get this problem sovled?
I have had this happen once and the only way I could get it out was to drill the smallest hole possible in the base of the fin way up front, thread some floss through a few wraps and yank give short forceful tugs to break it free. it just gave me enough to pull straight up on the leading edge. I filled the hole in with resin later and didn’t notice anything different. If it’s tight when you put it back in, I’ve been waxing the sides of the fins for FCS and Futures with surf wax to lube a bite and keep sand from working in there again.
You do know that there is a pin in the back of the box right? That pin holds the cutout in the back of the fin so basically the fin pivots off of that and the set screw locks down the front. Pushing from the back or pulling up on the fin won’t work. Try to grab the fin at the tip and while rotating it towards the back of the board pull up on the front at the same time. Try it with the mallet too, the tapping should break it free. Once the bottom front of the fin is clear of the top of the box you can slide or tap it forward and out.
Just be careful when the fin breaks free that it doesn’t rotate back too far and cut into the board.
haha yeah i know how they work, its just seems like soo many sedaments have been in there its hard to get out!
I have been using the rubber mallet and trying pushing it forward but with no sucess. i’ve used little amounts of force, got alitlte impatient and used hard amounts of force. STILL ITS NOT COMING OUT! it must have been in there for over 2 years!
To reiterate they pivot on a pin in the back. Put something behind them to prevent the trailing edge of the fiin from penetrating the glass. Put the board on a sturdy rack or carpeted floor. I use a non-marring type dead blow hammer (has lead shot in the head) and sharply hit the leading edge of the fin. Have someone help you hold the board. You also might try a soft piece of wood and a regular hammer or mallet. The rubber mallet may have too much give. They will come out. If the boxes were installed correctly they are very sturdy!
Found the simplest approach actually involves the proper leverage. You shouldn’t need a hammer or any other gimmicks. Just put the tail of the board against your gut, nose away from you towards the floor. Pull the fin back with your bare hands (grabbing the tip, rotating about that back pin that has been mentioned a few times above ;)). Even after a few years of sand/salt build-up I’ve found this works (and slamming anything on your board with a mallet is never a good idea).
I just had a fin get stuck in the box while installing them into a fresh shape (not glassed yet) Obviously I had to be deilicate to keep from damging the blank. I am trying to leverage it out, the blank is twisting and straining and I am thinking that I am going to break the tail off or rip out the newly installed box. Try this - compressed air nozzle in the screw hole (take out the screw first......) 120 psi - pop fin comes loose!
drill and tap a small hole into the front tang of the fin, then thread a flat bottomed screw into the tang. when the screw bottoms out in the box, keep turning it, it should push the fin up enough to get something under it to pry it the rest of the way out. I thing that the 10-32 set screws that come in the fin box shold work just fine. you might need a new fin, but you probably allready want to try a different set anyways.
I usually just wrap the fin in a tshirt (to keep it from slicing my hands) and wiggle it back and forth, side to side, front to back. If you can get any movement at all then you will eventually be able to work it free. I have had some that I swore that the fin could not come out. After a few more rounds of wrestling, they have always come out.....
Soapy water, oil, compressed air, rubber mallet etc can all help out the situation. I like the idea of tapping into the fin although that should really not be necessary. Just get a bodybuilder friend to help you out.......
