If you are in the position of having to get a US fin box replaced/refitted, is it possible to have a powerbox fitted instead?
Obviously the position of footstrap screws etc needs to be considered, but is addition of the recessed hole in the deck too big an issue for it to be worth while?
For starters, is the tail of the board thick enough to fit a powerbox?
2ndly, why would you want to do away with the ability to shift the fin forward/backward on your waveboard???! It's one of the best ways to tune the board to your style!
Ok. A 96L board is on the big side for a US box. Hopefully someone with board-building knowledge will weigh-in and tell you whether it's possible to change it to powerbox!
Good luck!
Hey Arlo - saddened to hear the Kombat needs another new box - I am feeling guilty for selling it now - I think starboard have got a bit to answer to as the first one went within 9 months with side, front and back cracks - as you say from using the big fins with the US box.
Who is fixing it this time ?
you could get it done but it would be expensive, you would have to chop a big chunk of foam out to allow you to have a block of high density foam around the box roughly 300m long 200 wide and right through to the deck...
Good Luck arlo - Pete used I think his name was "Robbo" took a Bl**dy long time though - maybe he will fix it for free cause the repair failed!
sorry about that it was an attempt at humour!
Hope it's not going to need it
A lot of people think putting a layer of glass over the top of the box is the best way to go.
But as you've discovered it's got big disadvantages.
Resin doesn't stick very well to the box, and that top layer can delaminate off the box very easily.
If you have a leak this makes it hard to see, so you could be taking water without noticing.
If you do notice the delam, it's very hard to tell if there's a leak.
I always put my boxes in now, with glass wrapping under the box, and back onto the bottom surface. without any glass over the top of the box. This is stronger and makes it very easy to see exactly what's going on.
Haven't fitted a powerbox, not sure how much extra support it needs, but 300 X 200 seems a tad excessive.
And certainly agree that putting big fins in US boxes is asking for trouble.
the shaper that makes my boards does a combination of both and i have no probs with us boxes and 30cm fins.
he sets the box into the routered hole with glass as per decrepits advise and lays the glass back across the foam.
then he glasses the bottom of the board with the glass stopping on top of the box. the layers of glass laminate to each other and it makes the hole area very strong. if the glass doesn't bond to the face of the box it is still all ok because it's alos laminted to about 10cm of the glass that wraps under the box. he uses this system cause it also allows vacuum baggin of ply and or carbon plus looks great with a continuous finish which hides the box edges.
after the proocess he files the edges to clean it all up.
Nah still prefer my method, I put the box in last, after the board has been glassed, that way the wrap around glass sits on top of the sandwich. The other way it's just sitting on foam, still strong, but it's relying on it's adhesion to the bottom of the sandwich for strength.
Ahh the smell, the foam, --------
We've all got our different ways of doing things, I'm not commercial and probably take a lot longer to do stuff. Somebody who's doing it for a living has to think about their time, especially to compete with the cobra factory. So quite often if it's a lot quicker, and doesn't sacrifice appreciable strength then that's the obvious way.
he also fixes all of my gear for me at mates rates. and some of those repairs have been fairly large. like whern i ripped the back off my formula board when surfing a wave and running a ground. he glued it all back up for me.
is it a dlam job, i saw a quatro custom board what some how delaminated off of the fin box.
I do as Decrepit, put box in after board has been glassed, wrap box with glass and cap off box with glass.
It's easy to put in a powerbox in replace of a US box, just time consuming.
I haven't done a Powerbox (would not touch them!) but I have replaced US boxes with Tuttle boxes in Polyester boards. I used the plastic 'Chinook' type and they go right through the board from top to bottom. A couple of layers of glass each side (wrapped around) and flush with the bottom. Actually, slightly high of the bottom and sanded back to flush as Decrepit does. On the deck side I leave the glass skin on the board and shape the box to fit perfectly. Then wrap the box in whetted glass and sink it in. Holes are drilled for screws later. I think the plastic Chinook type Powerbox is fitted in the same way with the exception of the holes - only one!
If I was doing it on an Epoxy Styrene board I think I would add a layer of PVC foam each side of the box and at the ends for support and to help seal the core.
