Anyone got any tips for tighenting boom head to get rid of any side to side movement ...i got couple chinooks from new they were fine, but sand eventually wears them, i put tape inside which helped.
Then moved onto 2nd hand enigma, good improvment, replaced some parts of the head that were available and put a shim in, and gone back to pretty good.
I recently treated myself to brand new enigma wave boom and it feels superb.
Now got one more bigger slalom enigma to revamp and looking for tips how best to tighten up, ... i've done one wrap of 0.15mm stainless shim, vast improvment but still not as new feel, so tried 2 wraps and really struggling to assemble it , perhaps i try tape and 1 shim....
any tips on reshimming, would be appreciated, thanks

Put one layer of glass around the tube, with some overlap.
Sand to the desired diameter.
Works fine for my carbon booms.

I used Weldwood contact cement to glue truck tire inner tube rubber onto the three surfaces of an Epic race boom head that was a little loose on my Epic mast with a slippery outer wrap, worked perfect, tight compression fit, and the contact cement has not come loose after years of use in hot weather and salt water, and the tire inner tube rubber has not degraded.

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AlexF said..
Put one layer of glass around the tube, with some overlap.
Sand to the desired diameter.
Works fine for my carbon booms.

Yes this is my preferred method too. Only thing I can add is cut the glass neatly with a ruler and sharp knife and make sure it fits around the area neatly with the small overlap (about 5mm) facing the back end of the boom. Then carefully pre wet the piece with the resin (on something flat with a paint brush) and then wrap it on the boom from front to back and then carefully wrap electrical tape around from one side to the other in a spiral (before the resin gels), this makes it really smooth and virtually eliminates sanding and it doesn't stick to the resin, peels right off once set (at least 24 hrs) and the good thing is once you've done it the glass doesn't seem to wear down like carbon and you'll probably never have to do it again.

I disagree - 0.15mm is not a lot, and if 0.3mm makes it hard to assemble then I think achieving it with glass will be hard. Frustrating...
Try the clear plastic in kids toy boxes, Bunnings pond liner plastic, or the heavy plastic used for fertiliser bags etc. Should be able to find a few of varying thicknesses.

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Mark _australia said..
I disagree - 0.15mm is not a lot, and if 0.3mm makes it hard to assemble then I think achieving it with glass will be hard. Frustrating...
Try the clear plastic in kids toy boxes, Bunnings pond liner plastic, or the heavy plastic used for fertiliser bags etc. Should be able to find a few of varying thicknesses.

Thats what I thought the first time I did it was thinkin oh s!#t what mess am I making of my boom but someone told me don't worry just make sure you don't over wet the glass and use the tape. And when I peeled off that tape I was stunned at how good it was, like vac bagged finish. Light sand on the overlap and boom head still tight but pivots smoothly 5 years and probably 200 sessions later.

I've done it too and its great and doesn't wear.
BUT
One layer of 4oz is 0.12mm thick on average.
If OP says 0.15 won't do it, still too loose... and 0.3 is too much.... I suggest glass is not the easiest option here. Give 6oz a bash guess lol but I think varying thicknesses of plastic shim will be easiest and cost nil

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gimmesunshine said..
Anyone got any tips for tighenting boom head to get rid of any side to side movement ...i got couple chinooks from new they were fine, but sand eventually wears them, i put tape inside which helped.
Then moved onto 2nd hand enigma, good improvment, replaced some parts of the head that were available and put a shim in, and gone back to pretty good.
I recently treated myself to brand new enigma wave boom and it feels superb.
Now got one more bigger slalom enigma to revamp and looking for tips how best to tighten up, ... i've done one wrap of 0.15mm stainless shim, vast improvment but still not as new feel, so tried 2 wraps and really struggling to assemble it , perhaps i try tape and 1 shim....
any tips on reshimming, would be appreciated, thanks

Oh, you are talking about the boom head clamp attachment to the boom, and not the boom head clamp to the mast, right? My comment was for boom head clamp attachment to the mast, if the boom clamp slips on the mast when uphauling.

The comments about adding a layer of glass to the boom sound good, but you could use saranwrap to cover the glass/resin and then assemble the boom clamp on the boom by hand to make sure it fit before the epoxy dries, or do a dry fit with the glass before adding epoxy, to make sure it will fit.

No - saran wrap = gladwrap and it tears when trying to remove it. You will be picking bits of it off forever - and it can't be applied tight enough to achieve the pressure required.
Electrical tape like all the people who know what they're doing actually do.

The problem with all the ideas about plastic tape and film, etc., is that there is the danger of it bunching up when the boom head rotates. Mine always did. So...

...I went with the more expensive solution: toss the old boom head and replace it with a Maui Sails for sdm or a Streamline boom head for rdm.

If the Carbon is worn unevenly under the head(it usually is...) then I have found thickening epoxy with Cabosil (amorphous fumed silica) works very well. If you mix in enough of the filler it is super thixotropic & stays where you put it. You can use a flexibly plastic squeegee to form a half circle & spread it into the grooves & low spots. The Cabosil additive makes it very abrasion resistant. You could probably use milled glass fibers as well but it is less thixotropic. Another method I have used with the same filler is to take thick sheet of polyethylene or polypropylene film cut to width of boom head & wrap around the wet epoxy then tape wrap over it. The thicker film should bridge any irregular areas & allow the epoxy past to settle in the low spots.

I used inner tube. Makes the boom head stiffer to compensate for boom height. So better set it at an angle matching your most used height.

I use this ancient RRD boom that was a little bit sloppy. I went to the local shop and they had this white "shrink wrap". The plastic was less elastic, almost like an overhead projector transparency and you shrink it down over the boom with a hair dryer. Worked fine, boom has no more sloppy feeling to it. And I think it cost me a few dollars and about 10 minutes of time.

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segler said..
The problem with all the ideas about plastic tape and film, etc., is that there is the danger of it bunching up when the boom head rotates. Mine always did. So...

...I went with the more expensive solution: toss the old boom head and replace it with a Maui Sails for sdm or a Streamline boom head for rdm.

Good point

Just shimmed out my sloppy enigma using a speedglas inner cover lense cut to size .It is thin, extremely tough and will bend easily without breakage.
Only needed to wrap the front half as the back was not wearing.