Hey guys, just a quick question since I couldn’t find anything in the archives - Does anyone have any good ideas on ways to recycle leash and fin plugs for future use on boards? I’m doing a repair on a buddies board and the FCS plugs have come free from the deck and surrounding foam on one fin. They pulled out perfectly clean and the plugs are all structurally intact. Just curious how I can best strip the old foam and resin off them to re-set them in the board? Should I soak them in acetone to weaken the resin or just grind it down with a dremmel? We’re trying to avoid buying the spare plugs to make it a quick and cheap fix.
Yes...you can recycle fin and leash plugs.......A man has to do what a man has to do..........
When I was flat broke...working 2 jobs...raising 3 kids.....wife with health issues..........I recyled a boat load of surfboard stuff.......Guess what????
My real world skills are worth way more than my recycled surfboards.......Focus on your real skills...get a real job / trade /career.....
If you have the time, and don’t mind the extra work, then go ahead. If you do the math, the time it takes to pull out a used plug, chip off the old resin - lets say it takes 15 minutes a plug. so four plugs an hour. Now add in that 25% of the plugs wont be useable, because they cracked when you were chipping off the old resin. so you get three plugs an hour. So you are earning $9.00 per hour to save plugs. On the re install, it takes a two step pour, to keep from flooding in, so it takes twice as long to do the install. So your $9.00 per hour just got cut in half. Then if the buyer finds out that your builds are re-using fin plugs, they are pissed, thinking what other corner you cut? So your sales get cut in half.
When I get a chance, I want to start casting my own plugs with epoxy, rather than shit injection plastic. I heard the FCS patent just expired. That way the epoxy will actually bond with the plug.
As for spackle, when Boeing starts using spackle on their structural laminations, I’m right there with you.
Am I being an ass again? If so, sorry. Not my intent.
You can stick a screwdriver between the resin and the plug and pop it off. I've done this quite a few times on leash plugs and FCS plugs. With the fin plugs, you just have to be careful resetting them as you have no dam around the top of the plug to keep resin out. Easiest way around it is to do two pours. One to set the plug, then pull the jigs out, tape over the fin slots and fill with resin as usual. Recycled fin plugs are good to have around in a pinch for repairs.
Clean them up, and reuse them! Make a jig out of a piece of scrap wood, and re-drill the hole, and carefully set them. It can be done, if you don’t have access to new plugs, but new plugs are way easier to use. Still glass-ons are the best way to go, especially when you make your own fins.
Depending on where you are and who you are...leash plugs cost about $1.75 and FCS plugs cost about 5-7 dollars each. A grown man should have no problem buying a new FCS plug.
About 12 years ago when I was learning how to fix boards I would tell the groms in my area to collect broken boards so we could use the plugs and foam to fix their boards. I would fix the kids boards for free. Hold the plug with some Channel Lock pliers and lightly smack the resin with a hammer...sand as needed....no solvents......
Being raised by parents that came of age during the Great Depression, I was taught that nothing usable should go to waste. I take fins, leash and fin plugs off of broken or badly damaged boards. Usually save the halves if they’re not too torn up in case I need the foam to use on bigger repairs. As for reusing fin or leash plugs, why not? Easier than casting my own. It’s not like they won’t work just as well because they’re used. Oh, and I spackle my EPS too!
For me it’s not really about the cost of the plugs itself, its about saving the $20 in gas it will cost me to drive to Kahului to the only place on island that sells them individually. I can get a production set at local motion, but then I’m still paying way more than I need to for this repair - typically I would grab them when I’m already on the other side for a supply run, but the roomate wants the repair done ASAP hence the want to recycle them
