How do you put a lease “string?” directly in the board without a leash cup.
like on many of those single fin Chanell Islands boards.
Thanks Alot,
Chris
Chris,
Not exactly sure about the CI boards but I know some come up through the fin box (fu/bahne style boxes).
A hole is drilled at the tail end of the box, up through the deck, sealed with resin, and then redrilled. The string is knotted on the box end, and loop up through
Or, are you talking about deck mounted - like ones made from O’fish’l. No drilling, just expoxied onto the deck?
Best,
Herb
Don’t drill up thru the box and deck. Search the archives on this,there’s plenty. Measure from tail to the rear of the box plus half an inch or so, just enough to be sure your hole will be inside the box. I never do these so my measurement for hole size escapes me. You drill a larger hole thru the deck/stringer but stop when you hit the top of the box. Fill this hole with resin and filler (cabosil or ground glass). Now drill a second hole of smaller diameter thru your filler material and your fin box. I don’t remember what size bit I have used for these holes in the past. But the idea is to still have filler material left around the inside diameter of your larger hole. The second hole will need to be just big enough to get a piece of leash cord thru doubled. Tie the two ends in ahalf-hitch. McDing
Chris,
If you don’t have a leash plug and are not using a fin box… it’s also possible to put in a string. Say on a twin-fin, or any board with a Glass-on’s. I don’t know if this is an ‘approved’ method, but i can tell you it works fine.
Drill a 1/2" hole all the way through the board (at the stringer generally) where you want the string attachment.
Tape off around the holes and covering the bottom of the hole and fill with resin mixed with white pigment and chopped fibers. (I make it about the consistency of yogurt). Fill slowly and work it with a tooth pick or the like if you need to get any air bubbles out. You are making a resin/fiber column through the board from deck to hull.
When the resin sets up, pull the tape and drill a 1/4" (or smaller) hole through, big enough to just allow the string/rope through. Careful to center the small hole in the center of the resin/fiber column.
Take a bit that’s smaller than the 1/2" but larger than the string hole (3/8" in this example) and using the string hole as a guide counter-sink a larger hole in the bottom of the board about 1/2" deep. This allows the knot to sit below the level of the glass on the bottom of the board. If everything is centered you have a counter-sunk hole in the middle of the column with 1/16" of resin/fiber around it sealing the foam off.
Sand sharp edges and excess resin down.
The trick is knowing how big a counter-sink you need to get the knot below the surface. Tie a knot in the string you have first and compare it to the drill bits you’ll use. If you need a 1/2" wide counter sink to accomodate the knot, you’ll need a 3/4" column of resin/Fiber. The knot should fit snugly in the countersink.
If done clean it looks and works fine, and it’s easy to replace the string if needed - easier than replacing a leash plug too.
Eric J
Ericj, One big problem with your little trick. On a big day you just may pull a chunk out of the whole tail of your board. On a lot of the shorter boards the stringer is not very big, and that tail area is very thin. This spells trouble. I would think more about glassing on a loop. It should be a lot stronger, and a failure there would only rip off some glass, a much easier repair.
Maybe true, but I’ve used this in various conditions and it always has held. I think it’s probably stronger than either the loop or the plug… probably not as strong as the string that anchors in the box though. I admit that I’ve never seen a tail damaged where a loop is used, or a drill through, only with plugs, but I’m not in the business myself so my experience is limited.
Eric