footstrap plug repair

[tempy]

I broke the footstrap insert / plug thingie on my TS 260 B & J (Tom Sullivan epoxy composite) 2 days into my week long Nitinat trip last week. That sucked. I want to get it repaired and figure the plug has to be replaced. Is Tom still able to do this? I figure he would be best able to fix it as he put it together, but remember seeing his board making gear up for sale a while ago.

If not Tom S, who else can you recommend? Love the board, and really depressed I can't sail it right now.

Thanks.

[winddoctor]

Sorry to hear about the plug failing during your trip; that sucks. You might send the board to Roberts in Vancouver. I'm sure he could hook you up if all else fails. There is another option in Victoria I just thought of; Sequoia surfboards may be able to help you out as well. Good luck!

[downwind dave]

no no its Spruce Surfboards.
hey tempy send starboard steve a PM, he broke an insert a few weeks back - not sure how he fixed it though.

[winddoctor]

OOps. My bad. My friend's dog's name is Sequoia. Kinda close. Thanks Dave.

[tempy]

thanks, guys. given me something to work with.

[Guest]

I just had my footstrap insert replaced this week by Rob. All he did was plunge his router straight into the board, put in new inserts and glass over them. It took him very little time to do. Chinook changed the plastic they used this year, causing several inserts to crack on his boards. Good luck with the repair.

[Guest]

What exactly have you done? Broken the screw?, stripped the insert? Pulled the insert out of the hull? If you have stripped the insert, is it plastic or brass treaded? Is it a two bolt insert or one bolt insert?

Sometimes if the insert is big enough (single Chinook) a second screwhole can be tapped into the insert. But there are several different makes of inserts, if it is brass threaded there won't be room.

I don't know if you can get Rob would fix any other boards than his own.

I would advise anyone who has an epoxy board from having a surfboard shop doing any repairs. Surfboards are mainly made with polyester resin any repair into the stryofoam core must be made with epoxy resin. Using polyester is like pouring gasoline on styrofoam. Even with epoxy you should only use a small amount of epoxy and a slow hardener to aviod heat build up and melting the foam.

Tom Sullivan

[tempy]

Hi Tom

Love the board - bought it from Barb (from Gene and Barb). It is a single screw, brass insert. The screw stripped and I put in a slightly bigger screw with a coarser thread. The result was it then pulled out the top half of the brass insert. The top "hex nut" part and about 1/2 the top part brass insert "sleeve" came out with the bigger screw. It looks as if the brass insert snapped in 1/2. I probably shouldn't have messed around with it, but I was desparate to sail.

Any thoughts?

Stephen

[TomS]

I have used lots of different inserts over the years. "Northwest" had (#8)fine thread brass inserts set into a hard plastic. Merritex had (#8)regular thread brass inserts set into a hard hi-density epoxy-foam sheet.
There were two sizes of plug inserts on the Northwest. If you have got black plastic visible you might be able to drill out the remaining brass insert and tap in a new 3/16" or 1/4" stainless bolt into the black plastic without removing the insert. Otherwise a whole new insert is required with chopping a hole into the board and patching up the glass. You might be lucky with the right tools and some caution not to drill too wide or too deep and save that insert.
If you are lucky you can probably purchase a new stainless bolt, matching drill bit, matching hole tap and also a bottom tap for the threads all for about $15-$20

TomS