I am building a series of four reproduction 1970’s style boards. They are single fins as per the Brewer/Lightning Bolt era. Flat decks,boxy rails,cut laps.tints/opaques/volan with resin pins. I shaped hundreds of these in the early 70’s. I want to keep everything pretty much true to the original form. The Rawson big fish blanks (US Blanks) work very well for these boards.
So my big question is about leashes. These boards predate leash plugs so my thoughts are to eliminate them in order to keep them historically accurate. My thoughts are that one could always come back and add one later. What do you think???( I have enclosed a pic of #1.It’s just hotcoated.)
Your customer can always drill a hole in the fin at the base and attach a piece of shock cord or surgical tubing to it. Can't get much more authentic than that!
In 1971, I was attaching leashes under the board to a pin drilled crosswise at the back of an FU box. By the end of that year I was making deck plugs out of 1/2 inch PVC end caps, with a non corrosive 1/4th inch dia nylon pin through it to attach the leash to. I was doing that at least a year before the first ''commercial'' one was offered to the public. So, I would say that either of the two, above described methods, would be appropriate to a board of the era. At least for a board that I made. I still use both methods today. The PVC end cap method is superior to anything on the market today, IMO. Geev-em brah!
Howzit Mr.Clean,First off I have always liked lots of brown on my boards and if it is to be a true 70's reproduction board then I vote for no Leash, but then again I was never a leash guy right up to my last surf session. Aloha,Kokua
ask the customer, give them the option of no leggy connection, bridge , plug or hole in the leggy, and you can even give them some rope and a dog collar…
Sammy, In Hindsight there are better ways. In the 1970's with all the "underground backyard shapers. " Plus a do it yourself back to earth ethic. It was a very common method of attaching a leash. There are many places that if you lost your board it could mean the end of your board. Getting a board out of the rocks with sea urchins and shape rocks was not fun. Once you had the board it would be a nightmare of dings. When the leash first came out a lot of Surfers were not thrilled with them. In many places it was far better to leach then not to leash. I would say by 1974/ 75 They were pretty much in use by the majority of surfers. I recall building my own leash from a bungee cord some leather and nylon rope. Surgical tubing was another item used for leashes. With Surgical tubing your board could snap back at you like a rocket ship. Dodging the boomerang board was something you learned quick. There are thousands of Lightening Bolts, Brewers Hynsons, and other boards with those telling rail cuts from those early leashes.
Cleanlines, that board looks great, I love those 70’s singlefins, in fact I just attempted to shape one of them for my first shape, glassed the deck 2 nights ago with some yellow opaue and I now after that tragicomedy, I have a new great respect for glassers. I am planning to go for a second try at shaping one of thos single fins on my next shape. Could you please post more pictures: rails, vee bottom, deck to rail transition, rocker? My vote for your boards is no leash, glass on fin.
Yes. My first board to have a leash was a 5’8" Weber Pig. I made the leash with bungee cord and attached it by drilling through the fin box and lining the hole with resin. Much the same way it’s done today. This would have been some time around 1972. My first board with a factory installed leash cup was a 6’8" Overlin bought in early 1974.
The hole in the fin method was pretty common back then. Certainly wasn’t a good idea, though. Probably the worst, for the exact reasons I’ve already stated.
I am building these for pure stoke and don’t have any customers in mind. I never really did want to put leash attachments of any kind on them. I was having reservations so I decided to ask the Sway Crew. I am gonna stay true to the period and leave leashes off.
When I finish this 70’s series I am doing to do a set of 4 transitional boards like the ones we did in the late 60’s. Most of these were along the lines of what the Australians were doing.This whole thing has been a lot of fun.
Funny thing about the deal with attaching leashes to the fins. We used to call em leg ropes and they were made from surgical tubing. I have the scar from 14 stitches I got from a board snapping back on me.
The bungee types were just as bad. I saw many injuries from the slingshot effect. A trick we used was to keep your foot low in the water when possible. This caused to the board to tombstone a bit and return a lot slower. The surgical tubing style was a big improvement, once they put a piece of line inside that inhibited stretch, and fast return.
no cup for sure. no attachment at all, especially if that was what you wanted to do! if someone gets it and wants a leash, those glue on leash cups work pretty good.
if you are doing finboxes, it is pretty easy and looks classy to drill a hole through the back.
you still need someone to come down and polish those bad boys up? im in charleston…
Your customer can always drill a hole in the fin at the base and attach a piece of shock cord or surgical tubing to it. Can't get much more authentic than that!
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Good way to trash the fin box, and get major rail cuts from the leash. Better no leash at all than to do it that way.
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Sammy. It was a joke, sorry you missed it. You want authentic to the time period, this is what they were doing back then - the photo shows a 70's era board with original leash attachment. I'm not the one that came up with the idea back in the 70's, I doubt McDing is either.
Although I marvel at BT’s always ahead of the curve on stuff, my vote would be:
If they have a box, a leash hole thru the deck is acceptable.
The hole thru the fin was a mistake then and it sucks to even consider it.
**If the boards are glassed on fins the appropriate choice is a very professional glass rope loop or bridge. The best ones I ever saw done where from the boyz in Santa Cruz.
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