So im still working on my first board and a nasty shoulder injury has kinda slowed my progress to a crawl. Anyways finally getting back at it and was ready to put in my leash plug had it all set up to do a couple a weeks ago and since then some people have been messing around in my work shop and now i cant find my Leash plug anywhere… So since im up in Vancouver Canada I really dont have any surf supply stores near by so i was thinking of making my own instead of paying some crazy shipping charges. What should I make it out of, and any advice on how to go about it would be great! I did see a thread somewhere but cant seem to find it again would love to see some of your guys home made versions.
Simplest: Leash loop, some fin rope soaked in resin and draped over a pencil on the deck. Really the simplest is to punch two holes with a philips head screwdriver on either side of the stringer and insert some thin (1/4") nylon cord in each hole to make a loop.
Almost as simple: Get a PVC cap for 1/2 inch pipe. Rough up the outside a bit, drill an 1/8" hole in the side all the way through to the other, insert a piece of stainless steel welding rod cut to fit outside to outside.
A little more complicated: Wrap a piece of wax paper around a 5/8" dowel, wrap a piece of fiberglass cloth saturated in resin around the rod about 10 times more or less. Cut to 5/8" lengths and insert stainless welding rod. Saturate a couple of scrap pieces of cloth with resin, set the plug down on that. When it kicks, trim the excess cloth away from the plug.
Is your board equipped with a center box? If it is; you can do a drill thru. Which is a pretty standard remedy used by many glass shops.
To expand on McDing’s reply.
First drill a 3/8"-1/2" hole through the stringer on deck side util it hits fin box. Do not drill this hole through fin box.
Fill this hole with a mixture of cabosil and resin.
When cab/resin sets drill a hole through the cab/resin plug into the fin box to accept nylon cord loop. Size of hole to be determined by size of cord used to form loop.
Fashion a loop out of nylon cord and insert loop through the hole in the fin box and out the deck side.
Knot loop on fin box side.
I used probox for my center and side fins i just have a question about the drill through? wont it effect the way the fin sits in the fin box i don’t think theres much room there.
Can't do a drill thru on anything but a longboard box. ie Bahne, Fins Unlimited or Fiberglass Fin co. center box. Somebody put a dollar leashplug in an envelope and mail it to this guy. How 'bout it?
Yep on the same page w/McDing
Hey Krep, if you want, PM your address & I’ll mail you a 1" plug. My swaylocks good deed for the year 
Right on Bud.
so i made up this leash plug going t ruff it up a bit should i put some groves in the side and such? also should i smooth out the inside
Thanks for the very kind offer Bud i might still take you up on it if this doesn’t work out.
Nice work on the homemade dealio! Looks like should work just fine
No problem offer still stands if you want
PVC and welding rod! Ya gotta love Sways.
Hey Krep, if you have time, try to find brass dowel at the hardware store. The welding rod will rust and bleed. Brass=mo' betta. Next time it is easy to cast a plug with color tint and milled fibers into a bottle cap (large mouth). It will be stronger to have a stepped profile, wider at the bottom say 1&1/4" dia and stepped to 1" at the top. This will help any up pulling when installed. You can do two castings solid and drill out the cavity for the cord tie. Then insert the brass dowel. You can make several at a time so you won't run out. Hardware stores and hobby shops sell small brass dowels. Also, if you aren't aware, scratch out a little line in the foam about 1/2" down to create a "key" for the resin to lock into under the glass. The line would be horizontal to rim the hole. This may be TMI, but it might help.
Hey Tblank do you think i should try and just make some steps in this theres a ton of extra plastic at the bottom i was thinking it carving out a bit.
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Hey Krep, if you have time, try to find brass dowel at the hardware store. The welding rod will rust and bleed. Brass=mo' betta. Next time it is easy to cast a plug with color tint and milled fibers into a bottle cap (large mouth). It will be stronger to have a stepped profile, wider at the bottom say 1&1/4" dia and stepped to 1" at the top. This will help any up pulling when installed. You can do two castings solid and drill out the cavity for the cord tie. Then insert the brass dowel. You can make several at a time so you won't run out. Hardware stores and hobby shops sell small brass dowels. Also, if you aren't aware, scratch out a little line in the foam about 1/2" down to create a "key" for the resin to lock into under the glass. The line would be horizontal to rim the hole. This may be TMI, but it might help.
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Krep, your PVC leash cup will work fine as long as the bar in it is stainless steel and you have room for the cord to get under the bar. If it isn't stainless, it will rust and bleed as Tblank said. I made 40 or 50 as backups using the fiberglass method I discussed in option 3 of my first post. Never had a problem with the stainless steel rusting. Brass works as well or better as Tblank said but I had the stainless welding rod so I used that. Tblank, I like your casting method, never would have thought of that!
Hi Krep, For this one, I'd just cut a couple of grooves in rings around the pvc for the resin to key. If you have a Dremel, this can be done easily. If this is a real problem for you, let me know. I can get my hands on a ton of plugs.
I have a dremel so i should be good for the grooves. Can i just coat the rod in something like resin to seal it? I really only get a chance to surf for a couple in the months a year and then boards just sit. It is the down side of being so far from the surf.
I started making leash plugs out of white PVC end caps in 1971, and used 1/4th inch nylon rod to tie the leash to. Super strong, and totally noncorrosive. Later switched to through the box technique. But would not hesitate to use the above PVC end cap for a board with glass on fins. They held up fine in big Windansea, and big Sunset Cliffs, back in the day. A 1/8th inch carbon fiber rod has been used by Al Nelson in PVC end caps. Lots of ways to ''skin that cat.'' I also use a Dremel to cut locking channels in the PVC, for ''insurance'' against any failure. Never had a problem. Never used a store bought leash cup, either. Way more fun to make your own.
ya bill,
you can cast it directly into the board, like your mini fin boxes back in the early 70s.
i now make fcs type boxes with ,at first end plugs,then got lazy and started to make them with just pvc pipe.
no failures as of yet.next step will be to cast the box directly into the board.
i have also made pvc pipe settings for fins,by using pvc pipe in hard boards and using soft fins.
herb
Well, There Ya go Krep, With endorsements by Mr. Thrailkill and Mr. Spitzer, you won't go wrong. You can leave the steel pin in there but next time try the brass.
Herb, great idea of casting your own fin boxes. Smart.