Hey guys

Need some help/advice here as I don't t have much experience with this kind of stuff



I bough a 2nd hand slalom board a while ago and it came with this fin (which I really like it)but the holes are too loose for the bolts
is there any way of redoing the holes?
or should I just get 1 size up bolts?




the board also has a deep Tuttle box( Tuttle fin in photo wedges perfectly flush with the bottom of the board)
my question is
can it damage the box by having a smaller area of pressure?
should I just get a new fin?

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Edd
should I just get a new fin?

Yes, buy a new carbon fin.
What you have is a very old glassfiber fin. It also has aparently no exchangeable inserts for the bolts. So you probably will have difficulties to fix your problem, and it is simply not worth it.

If you dont want to spend too much or are not into the last bit of racing performance, you can get a reasonable performanced Select S1 35cm slalom fin for ~150 U$. Buy a deep tuttle box fin to reduce the pressure on the fin box of your board.

best regards
mariachi76

I've not seen a fin without visible barrel nuts. You don't necessarily need a new fin, you maybe able to re-tap whatevers in the holes to the next size up. but depending on your budget, buying another fin may well be the easiest option (doesn't necessarily need to be a carbon one) if you've got the money, as theres a bit of a process to fixing it.

it looks to be an old vector canefire, which aren't too bad so far as upright fins go. I'm interested to know whats in the bolt holes for the bolts to wind into at the moment. Can you see any metal down in the holes?


so far as running the fin in the deep tuttle box goes, provided it stops without descending into the box too far it'll be fine. I use tuttle fins in a deep tuttle box all the time. It's possible to make up a spacer to fill the gap with epoxy putty, but most people don't bother.

edit: what bolts did you get with the fin? Are they almost screwing in, or are they not grabbing the thread at all?

No way would I throw out that or spend $300 on a carbon fin for a cheap ish board

Is it just a thread in the fibreglass and no nut in there? If it has no barrel nuts they are very easy to install. $10 job.

Alternatives could be helicoil to rethread, or re tap with M8 and use bigger bolts but you will have the same issue with laminate wearing and screws get loose.

Pour some resign in the holes and put the bolts in, just before it hardens to much unscrew the bolts. Or if you have a tap just fill the holes with resign then drill and taps it, or your going for the drill,tap method there's some much tougher metal epoxy out there.
you could also use. Helicoil

It might have been built over to make it fit the box better.

I think i can half see a barrel nut buried in the laminate at the top of the pic.

or maybe i had one too many shrooms....

If you are going to buy a new fin, check the depth of the box before buying a deep tuttle box fin. That board is a 2013 version and has a medium tuttle box according to the specs. In my experience of previous year's Falcons, some deep tuttle fins fit, some dont. To be safe, by a short tuttle box fin.

www.fanatic.com/windsurf/boards/need-help-choosing/archive

I have seen buried barrel nuts before so you could be right - but can't see them in the pic your eyes are better than mine

You got a killer board. Falcons are amazing.
Don't buy a new fin. Clean the holes with soap and alcohol. Dry. Then take epoxy and mix it with either white glass powder or some carbon. Whatever works to make it a bit less watery.. Then take the white tape plumbers use to prevent leaks when screwing pipe joints together
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Take your bolts and cover them with this tape nicely and press it around the thread nicely too. Then screw the bolts in and pour that epoxy into the holes (you can use a match or any thin wire to drop it and not create a mess). The epoxy shall be even with the fin base. Once dry, you can unscrew the bolts with absolutely no pressure. Done this quite a few times. This fix will last you for many seasons.

Cheers

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Subsonic said..
It might have been built over to make it fit the box better.

I think i can half see a barrel nut buried in the laminate at the top of the pic.

or maybe i had one too many shrooms....

Hehe

There's no metal barrels, it's just a thread in the fibreglass

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leto said..
You got a killer board. Falcons are amazing.
Don't buy a new fin. Clean the holes with soap and alcohol. Dry. Then take epoxy and mix it with either white glass powder or some carbon. Whatever works to make it a bit less watery.. Then take the white tape plumbers use to prevent leaks when screwing pipe joints together
&f=1&nofb=1

Take your bolts and cover them with this tape nicely and press it around the thread nicely too. Then screw the bolts in and pour that epoxy into the holes (you can use a match or any thin wire to drop it and not create a mess). The epoxy shall be even with the fin base. Once dry, you can unscrew the bolts with absolutely no pressure. Done this quite a few times. This fix will last you for many seasons.

Cheers

Oh I love the board, that thing is a bullet and still so forgiving...it let's you carve as hard as you want...amazing board for its age.
I'm willing to buy a high end fin for it even though it will cost half of what I paid for it... real bargain right there...still looks new.

thanks for your idea mate,I'll give it a shot

Cheers.

I don't trust threading in fiberglass, I lost a nice fin once. It is as easy to fit barrel nuts. If you windsurf around Botany bay I can give you a couple.

Could be a mismatch metric/imperial bolt/thread or stripped thread. As mentioned above easy fix.

Probably need a 1/4 inch bolt. Whitworths with have them.

IF it's a Euro fin, should be metric threads.

May be fitted for SAE 1/4"/20 threading, but I wouldn't trust it. Buy two barrel nuts, drill out from the side and install those and you're good. Lots of high end fins from the early 2000s had no barrel nuts, including Tectonics Maui. They still perform well but threaded G10 isn't a good long term solution no matter how tight the fit.Put the barrel nuts inland you're good indefinitely.

Looks like a Vector Fin. Vector makes some great fins, although this one looks well used and may be past its prime. They come with threads in the top and without nuts. The same is true for Tectonic fins. That works perfectly fine.

There's a very good chance that the fin uses a 1/4 " bolt - that was standard in the past for these fins. I think it changed sometimes (maybe 5-10 years back?), newer Vector and Tectonics fins use metric screws. If the 1/4 bolts don't fin, do what Leto says.

Looks like a modern racing board with an old old fin. Do your board a favour and put a modern fin in it. Plenty in the buy&sell. Carbon if you're chasing top performance otherwise a good G10

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AUS4 said..
Probably need a 1/4 inch bolt. Whitworths with have them.

Yeah m8
the 1/4 bolts are doing to job for now

thank you

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LeeD said..
IF it's a Euro fin, should be metric threads.

There's a clue written on it

Hi Eddie

Pretty sure this is a Vector Canefire G10 slalom fin. ( also spotted by others)
Most likely it has come from me ( importing Vector fins over many years)

Should be metric ( yes some of the real early Vector fins from the US fins had imperial).
Think it is just warn out like you said.
There was 1-2 years with no barrel nuts in them.

Might be an older fin, but those are still awesome and no problem to match your board.
If not broken, then it is still perfectly fine ( even if looking a bit used)
I still sell them here by the way, as sailors still ask for them,, ( exact same Canefire model)


Like you pointed out - that you do like the fin ( seem like quite a few missed that point :)

Not sure it is a given that carbon is always instantly better? :)

Also like pointed out by many. Get 2 of the barrel nuts inserted and your good to go.

I got some in my shop and can send you a pair ( just PM me with address etc)

Cheers
Jesper

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Sail Repair WA said..

Not sure it is a given that carbon is always instantly better? :)

plenty of people seem to whoop my ass just fine on G10 fins. Normally thats just because i'm a crap racer, but they seem to beat everyone else as well.


don't write off a well designed G10 fin