fin bolts

[lenthomasphoto]

Does anyone know the fin bolt size for tuttle box. The board is a fanatic falcon. Also, are these bolts found at a hardware store, or will they need to be ordered? The fins are true ames if that matters. And will I need washers as well? Thanks so much, cheers

[rigitrite]

You can pretty much get any bolt in todays hardware stores. My local Westlake-Ace Hardware carries every conceivable size, head type, and length in both metric, standard, and NPT. Even better, they have mild steel, brass, 316 SS, aluminum, nylon, and chrome plated steel!

Bring either your old bolt, or the fin and match up the size and thread pitch, then chose either brass or stainless. For our purposes, these are the best materials: brass has good resistance to general attack (corrosion) and excellent yield strength (close so some of the mild steels for certain grades of brass), plus it's soft, so it won't tear up threads. Stainless has superior resistance to general attack and chloride stress cracking, but it's hard has hell, and about 1/2 the yield strength of most steels. You should always try and match materials, so if your female threads are brass, try and find a brass bolt, stainless will work, but if you cross-thread, the stainless will tear up the brass threads.

[dllee]

You have to go to a good marine supply store to get decent stainless bolts that don't corrode onto your fin insert.
The screw you get needs to match the insert inside the base of your fin. Most are 1/4 x 20 American, but some Euro brands might spec M-6. I need both threads to cover my Tuttle boards, and Starboards for one comes in M-6 for the Futura.
Tectonics slalom fins are 1/4 x 20 thread pattern.
Selects use both, depending on year, it seems.
There exists a tap that can covert a 1/4 x 20 thread to accept both.
M-6 is metric European.

[beaglebuddy]

Along this line of discussion, anyone every try and use nylon bolts for Tuttle and powerbox? Fins are so expensive, I can go put on a mask and snorkel and go find my fin after I snap it off on the reef if it's still intact. This is the downside of these fin boxes, fin or box will be destroyed on impact, the lowly US finbox looks genius in this regard with those plastic washers that sacrifice.

[Sailboarder]

To the OP, yes, you need washers. I also carry very thick plastic washers (or spacers). They allow for adjustments if you have too long of a screw.

When you buy your screws, choose them with Philipps (star) heads. There is less chance of applying too much torque with such a head, compared to hex heads or others. The same screwdriver will work for footstraps and the fin.

I think my fins were all Metric but one, (or the other way around). I converted the loner by changing the brass inserts to the appropriate one.

[U2U2U2]

I dont think just any hardware store will have these.

You need stainless and metric, most wont have anything other than zink and a regular bolt head, you should have stainless, head you can deal with.

Place fin in board and insert thin screwdriver into the hole , maneuver till its inside the fin casing hole, measure the length, some have different lengths front//back screw length. M6 as said could be the metric size.

I would take the fin and fit either US or metric to fit the existing insert then deal with the bolt length, both a rubber and stainless washer is best. depending on screw fit you may need more

most windsurf shops will carry these, so if local its the painless route.

[bred2shred]

[swchandler]

I think the sm said it best, except I would stick with Phillips head marine grade stainless steel. Of the different styles of Phillips head screws, I would recommend an oval head over a pan head or flat head design, as I find that they fare better over time. Also, it is important to remember that screwing the fin in super tight is not a great idea, particularly with fins like Tectonics because Dennis Parton doesn't use pressed-in metal (usually brass) barrel inserts, and instead threads the base material. You want the fin snug and properly set into the box. If the fin doesn't fin well into the finbox cavity, you want to sand the finbase along the flat sides to get a nice tight fit where it's reasonably easy to install or remove the fin without the aid of other tools.

In variance to what was pointed out earlier, you can re-tap a 6mm thread and change it to a 1/4-20 thread, but you really can't do the reverse. Ideally, it's best to stick with a single thread type. Believe me, it's a pain to have two sets of screws (US and metric) for every board because it's hard to keep track of everything, particularly for those that have to load and unload their equipment every time they go windsurfing.

[dllee]

That's the way it works, I forgot. Been out of the industry for 10 years.
My Tuttle based fins, Select, Kinetic, and Starboard use M-6.
My Tuttle based fins, Tectonics, BBranstadler, MikeLovell, use 1/4 x 20.
Thank God my 8 PB base fins all use M-6.

[bred2shred]