I’ve never even seen a glass loop leash attachment. What diameter should the finished glass rope be? Are there any tricks to holding the loop curve and flair forms while the resin cures? Maybe a curved plastic tube? Thanks for any help.
Noodle - There are probably many ways to do this. One way is to scuff the area on the deck where you want the loop - I would say approx. 6" X 3" with the long dimension along the stringer. I mask off around the scuffed area. Wrap some wax paper around a pencil and place it across the stringer in the middle of the scuffed area - tape the ends down to the deck. Build up fin rope and sanding resin over the pencil. I also put little cloth patches on either side of the pencil to help anchor the fin rope but I’m not sure if this is necessary. After it cures, take the pencil out, feather the edges and clean up the hole where the pencil was - you don’t want sharp edges where your nylon loop attaches thru the hole. Re-mask, gloss and wet/dry sand it - should be good to go. I’ve done this on a number of old longboards and never had one pull off. I also think it beats routing a leash plug (or worse - drilling a hole through the fin!) in a nice old longboard. You can always grind it off and buff it out later.
I don’t want to break the seal on my board either. I like your pencil method. Pretty elegant. I am planning to put the loop on the deck, as close as the back loop flair will allow, to the tail. I’ll probably try it in a couple of days. I guess I’ll make the loop 5/16" to 3/8" across, to be safe. Thanks again.>>> Noodle - There are probably many ways to do this. One way is to scuff the > area on the deck where you want the loop - I would say approx. 6" X > 3" with the long dimension along the stringer. I mask off around the > scuffed area. Wrap some wax paper around a pencil and place it across the > stringer in the middle of the scuffed area - tape the ends down to the > deck. Build up fin rope and sanding resin over the pencil. I also put > little cloth patches on either side of the pencil to help anchor the fin > rope but I’m not sure if this is necessary. After it cures, take the > pencil out, feather the edges and clean up the hole where the pencil was - > you don’t want sharp edges where your nylon loop attaches thru the hole. > Re-mask, gloss and wet/dry sand it - should be good to go. I’ve done this > on a number of old longboards and never had one pull off. I also think it > beats routing a leash plug (or worse - drilling a hole through the fin!) > in a nice old longboard. You can always grind it off and buff it out > later.
I have also used a two liter cap (with a smooth outer surface) cut in half. Then rub it on a sanding block until you get depth of the arch that you like. Set the arch down and lay your fin rope (I use 18oz. boat cloth pulled apart).