So newbie question but I can’t find the answer from my brief searching!
I just picked up a second hand log. It’s an ex pros board and has no leash plug. Not being pro and as I’m going to use this one as a travel board I’d like the option to use a leash even if it’s infrequently.
I’m thinking the easiest way forward is to use one of the hole through the finbox to the deck style.
Obviously I’m going to neatly drill a hole through to the deck from the rear of the box but I’m not sure what happens next… Do I need some kind of tube or plastic washer on the deck side?
Drill your hole over sized (3/8-1/2)..through the board and the fin box.. Then fill the hole with resin,...colored resin make a nice accent. Once it kicks off re-drill the hole smaller 1/4 - 5/16 than the first one. done
my suggestion would be to drill your hole right to the box maybe a little into the box but not the whole way through. this allows the resin to stay in the hole and not get all over your box. now you can fill hole with pigmented resin kicked off slow . when cured drill smaller center hole all the way thru box , then your done.
Drill 1 in hole, get stainless through bolt with 3" in eye. Put 3" nylon washers with 3M 5200 on each side and secure with 5/8' nut. Spot weld nut on each side so it doesn't vibrate loose when moving at high speed, or if no spot welder...Loctight blue will work... Grind smooth with quality 3M greenline 60 grit, Prime with fair any spots with interlux high build fairing compound, prime with Interlux high build epoxy primer, spray with 2 part LP paint to match. Now Secure leash with 3/4 in braded nylon poly/kelvar line, secured with double braded spiderwire.
You mentioned Spider wire. I was out fishing the other day. I have a pole set up with some 40 lb. Spectra (Ray, that's Spiderwire...just another brand), and a top shot of floracarbon (Floracarbon from 3M Scientific Angler division...only buy quality 3M porducts) Floracarbon goes invisible in the water (works great on seals for pulling pranks, like the pull the mackrel out or the mouth trick) So I'm fishing with a buddy that doesn't fish much, and he gets the pole with Spectra caught on a kelp stringer....I mean stuck like it stops the boat stuck..like anchor stuck.
So he grabs the line with his hand and tries to break it like he was fishing for trout or something. If you guys don't know who hard it is to break 40 lb mono, it nearly impossible with the stretch and strength....But braided lines don't stretch....and dont break. So wonderboy grabs the line...all 3500 lbs of the SS2000 loaded with fuel, fish and cigarettes is moving away in the current. Before I can yell at him...the drag slips and he cuts his finger to the bone.
to the fricking bone....I almost puke looking at it, lot's of blood. I didn't know fingers could bleed so much?
Argh I did that same thing many years ago with plain old monifilament. Cut to the bone and it got infected. I was just kidding Resinhead. I thought the “spiderwire” thing was something he made up.
Use a 1/4" drill from the finbox side thru the deck/stringer. From the deck side, drill 5/8" using a forster bit (flat bottom) until you go into the finbox about 1/16". With the deckside up, stick a drinking straw (most are 1/4") thru the hole with a couple of inches sticking up. Fill the 5/8" hole with a runny filler mix, pull out the straw when semi-hard, sand, laminate & hotcoat a patch. Lot’s of easier ways including glass-in plugs and stick-on plugs. Do whatever suits your ability but keep the nylon loop short enough that it doesn’t go over the edge of your tail in any direction.
Lots of good pointers here. I would add, I usually put the back edge of the drill bit hole at the very rear of the fin box slot, because I don’t want to reduce the amount of “slide length” in the box… some fins need to be all the way back to work their best, and it sucks to have a knotted rope in the way of that last 1/2 inch of adjustability.
Also - I like to drill a Very Small pilot hole first, to make sure that I am going through the stringer exactly in the center, as close to vertical as possible, and thru the fin box where I want to. (THEN do what Pete C says.)
I don’t do these as often as the pros, so maybe it’s an unnecessary step… but for me, it sucks to have the hole for the string come out slightly out of place. If you get the tiny pilot hole crooked, you can do another one nearby, and then carefully drill that one out to the correct diameter. Even if its a big wide stringer and plenty strong, having the leash string off-center still looks funky.