I’ve just brought a board (7’0" 5-fin bonzer semi-gun) back from overseas, and one of the glassed-on bonzer side runners is damaged.
I’d like to replace the glassed-on side fins with fcs plugs to avoid having this happen in future.
Is this possible, or will it mess up the integrity of the rest of the glassing and considerably weaken the board? Any UK shapers / glassers out there reading this that would be keen to take this job on?
hi mate
can you please post a photo of the board ?
and the fin in question ?
is it a Cambpell Brothers one ?
cheers
ben
I’ll get photos taken tomorrow evening and post them then.
Not a Campbel Bros, was shaped in South Africa by one of the better shapers down there, Pierre de Villiers.
thanks , mate !
I look forward to seeing the board , and what sort of damage the runner suffered .
hopefully it is fixable ?
.... a photo will certainly give us a better idea
ben
Do you have the side runners? Seem to be about £90 here in the UK. Can be got cheaper from USA but you may end up paying tax and duty taking it to about this price.
Perhaps contact http://justbonzers.blogspot.co.uk
Maybe also Guy Penwarden at http://houseofbonzer.blogspot.co.uk/ who is the UK guy for all things Cambell Bonzer which were made at Nigel Semmons factory on his last tour.
I don’t think there is a ready made alternative to fcs now but I have seen Lokbox side runners and RedX.
Any good shaper/glasser should be able to install the fcs plugs depending on the contours of the board in that region. Its usual with glass on fins to have a reinforcing patch under them so probably won’t even have to add extra glass. Perhaps post on the Magicseaweed forum and let them know your location.
Mark
obelix ,
how did you GO ?
any luck ?
cheers
ben
I eventually got my flatmate to take some pics. First some of the board
overall (just for board-porn’s sake), then a close-up of the damage…
I’ve managed to get a quote from Empire Surfboards in Cornwall, for £40 to take the existing fins off and put in FCS plugs. Most expensive part is getting the actual FCS side runners, which will cost me £80, but am going to email those places mentioned in one of the above posts. Heard good reports on the standard of glassing and finishing at Empire. I’m just hoping this won’t mess with the bottom contours in the tail, as these are quite complex.
[img_assist|nid=1068596|title=Bonzer Repair / Conversion to FCS|desc=7’0" x 21" x 3"|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]
[img_assist|nid=1068597|title=7'0" x 21" x 3" Bonzer|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]
[img_assist|nid=1068599|title=Side-Runner Damage|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=428]
…hey Obelix (Asterix?), that s a very simple repair; please do not put FCS crap plugs, you ll cry a lot if for any reasons this thing happen again.
Also, the fcs fins sometimes do not follow the lines of the edges of the channels if the board have plenty of tail rocker.
I make bonzer type of boards and mine is one, this ding happened to me only 1 time and the board have more than 3000 waves ridden.
Hmmm, now you have got me thinking… Might just get them repaired, and then put extra bubble wrap around them next time I trave. That’ll probably save me around £100. So you reckon it’s an easy fix, even though the glassing has split up the fin?
…you need to sand those layers anyways
always you sand the glass on the fins before you glass on again…
be careful with the glass in the bottom, do not push by hand or like that because can make the glass delaminate from the foam.
Check if the fin have the same angle and tilt (cant), if its ok, you just sand everything down, included the bottom; you stop until hit the foam.
Get rid of all the milled fibers, crushed fibers, etc.
If the fin do not have the same cant you need to pull out it. Again do not push the fin by hand to prevent unglue the lamination from the foam.
I was going to say the same thing as Reverb… much more sensible to just fix the glass on runner… then put a block of foam with slots over the runners when you travel…
Cool, thanks for the replies guys, gonna do just that, get the fin repaired and get some extra foam for protection.