I have seen on several boards that instead of a leash plug, they have a hole drilled through the center fin box through the stringer and up through the top of the board. A piece of rope is knotted in the fin box and the loop that comes out the top serves as the leash plug. How is this made, and what are the benefits of it? See the link below for an example. http://www.clipseq.com/msf_26.html
it’s just a hole, you just drill it. you might drill it befor you put in the fin box and refill that with mixed resin, then redrill it when the board is done.
best way is to do what victor said oversize the hole the first drill thru refill with epoxy let that cure then drill to the size you want… works great and its strong as all hell
after you route out the fin box slot, flip the board over and drop the router bit slowly for a nice smooth circle. cover the hole with masking tape, flip over and continue setting the fin box. wait for it to setup, grind, then drill thru…
Theres always the question of stringer integrity, you hog out the stringer to put a box in, then you drill a hole through the whole contraption stringer and all and put a piece of string through it. Then you begin to stress test it. I think the leash plug is a better way, and a glass on leash loop installed correctly is the best yet. I don’t like messing with the stringer too much especiall when it involves removing 97% of it. Any others? -Jay
if you refill the hole you make with resin (in the process making the hole oversize) it’ll be stronger than the stringer glass and foam combined. You’ll tear that whole resin plug out of the board before it fails. They’ve tested oversized holes in CONCRETE filled with West Epoxy with an eyebolt innit. The concrete, and eyebolt itself failed before the epoxy did. I can’t see it doing anything but reinforcing that spot on the tail.
Paul, that came out killer!
Paul…thats so freakin cool…you da man! I’ve always used the drill and fill on my longboards. I drill after routering out fin box slot, tape up the hole in the deck real tight and install fin box as usual. Drill out a smaller hole after glossing board. Never had a problem. I do put a glass patch over my fin boxes…may be overkill but that’s just me.
A hole at the back of the box is the last place you need to worry about stringer integrity. The stringer directly in front of the box is where it might break.
The cord that goes in the finbox is tied to a spare fin box slider plate…I believe that by doing it that way, as opposed to just tying a knot and having that be the pressure point, spreads the load to a bit wider area…And it’ll never pull through the fin box… Of course we all should surf as if we didn’t have a leash on… http://www.hollowsurfboards.com