Author Topic: Need help getting center fin out  (Read 7376 times)

smallblack102

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Need help getting center fin out
« on: October 05, 2010, 03:44:12 PM »
Just bought the Starboard Hero and want to remove the fins for better storage. However, I am having problem getting the center fin out. I unscrewed the screw but the fin just would not move.

Any good idea? I am new to this so please give me some help.

Thanks.

Sup-position

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Re: Need help getting center fin out
« Reply #1 on: October 05, 2010, 04:36:33 PM »
You can try bunching up  a towel for a cushion.
The fin has a roll pin on the opposite side of where
the screw goes in the fin.
Place the towel over the fin on the side
where the screw goes in.
Give it a wack on top of the towel
with your opened palm parallel to the boards bottom.
If the salt water has dried and crystallized in the fin box you may need to persuade it with a rubber mallot.
Once it pivots out of the fin box, you then slide the fin (the side that is still in the box has the roll pin in a slot at a lower depth.) toward the perpendicular slot in the fin box. When the roll pin clears into the perpendicular slot you can lift the fin out. Take out the square nut that is in the fin box slot and put the screw and square nut back on the fin so you don't lose it. 

Good luck with your Hero!

Sup-position
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gorgebob

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Re: Need help getting center fin out
« Reply #2 on: October 05, 2010, 05:15:18 PM »
Very detailed and nicely written . But if you don't want to bruise you hand and its still stuck use 2x4 instead. Make sure the fin doesn't flip back and cut a hole in the tail when it pops free .
Founder: Gorge Performance Surf  Shop Portland
Fabricator: RNR Engineering

Reid SUP'd

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Re: Need help getting center fin out
« Reply #3 on: October 05, 2010, 05:38:11 PM »
WD40 Helps Also
Supr Adventures
lisup.blogspot.com

ChefBoyRD

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Re: Need help getting center fin out
« Reply #4 on: October 05, 2010, 05:52:27 PM »
Delete already answered
« Last Edit: October 05, 2010, 05:55:07 PM by ChefBoyRD »

southwesterly

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Re: Need help getting center fin out
« Reply #5 on: October 05, 2010, 06:37:06 PM »
Here's a good way not to do it.
I once came in to change fins while windsurfing on the north coast on a really, really cold and windy day.
I unscrewed the fin and tried to bump it out of the box with the palm of my hand. I realized just how sharp the trailing edge of this brand new fin was, as I got a tiny cut and the fin didn't budge from the box.
So then I did the next stupidest thing I have done in a long time. I grabbed a small piece of driftwood, placed it against the trailing edge of the fin, then pulled with all my might.
The driftwood slipped and the fin sliced my hand very deep from the heel of my palm all the way to my fingers. It was strange because of the very cold wind and water, my hand was split open, a half in deep, but was not bleeding at all (yet).
I now have a big scar the length of my palm that's longer than my "life line".
That must mean something.

Strand Leper

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Re: Need help getting center fin out
« Reply #6 on: October 05, 2010, 06:44:43 PM »
If the fin is soft crappy plastic... you can just use vice grips... if it is a good fin, use vice grips with a towel around the fin so as not to scratch... and pull gently, then firmly, then like a mad man...

Tim
American Saltwater Angler Magazine's Seven Time Angler of the Year.* Founder and former CEO of "Fishstrong" an organization devoted to the fight against fishbait-hands-smell discrimination.

* subject to revocation due to a pending investigation by the FDA (fisherman drug association)

DavidJohn

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Re: Need help getting center fin out
« Reply #7 on: October 05, 2010, 07:33:59 PM »
Bash it with the palm of your hand.. (trying not to cut yourself).. That usually works for me..  ;D

DJ
« Last Edit: October 05, 2010, 07:43:29 PM by DavidJohn »

chipmonk

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Re: Need help getting center fin out
« Reply #8 on: October 06, 2010, 11:57:02 AM »
I like to use the sole of my shoe, if I dont have a rubber mallet handy...

Lord Kuz

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Re: Need help getting center fin out
« Reply #9 on: November 25, 2014, 05:51:51 PM »
Never had too much trouble getting a stubbon centrefin out, using the methods described by others. However, recently, have had one I could not get out easily, so searched online for tips. This forum was about the only thing I found... and did not give me any more clues... but did inspire me to try something that worked a treat.
I removed the screw completely and left the plate underneath. Then I inserted a large Allen key, short end, under the fin and used leverage to raise it up - the plate giving a place to exert leverage on, so as not to damage board below. I was amazed how little force it required.... although I had applied a fair amount of WD40 beforehand, and may have loosened the whole thing with various methods prior to that. I imagine that you could also use a flat head screw driver as well...but long as you ensure that its not going to cause damage in the box. Hopefully someone might find this valuable in future.  :)

Subber

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Re: Need help getting center fin out
« Reply #10 on: November 25, 2014, 06:31:07 PM »
I use a bicycle wrench....similarly to how you used an Allen wrench.
Jimmy Lewis Black & Blue Noserider 10'1"x31"x4.25," 164 liters, 24 lbs, 1 box
Pearson Laird Surftech Longboard 10'6"x23"x29.75"x18"x4.375," 154 liters, 24 lbs, 3 boxes
Takayama Ali'i II Surftech 11'x21.375”x28.5”x17.25”x 4.25,” 162 liters, 26 lbs, 3 boxes

Area 10

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Re: Need help getting center fin out
« Reply #11 on: November 26, 2014, 01:42:41 AM »
Rather than using your hand to knock the fin out, use gentle taps from a rubber mallet. As others have said, always protect the tail of your board while you do this in case the fin levers back and dings it.

Bean

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Re: Need help getting center fin out
« Reply #12 on: November 26, 2014, 05:20:41 AM »
This doesn't seem to be the case here, but a tight fin can be caused by expansion.  In that case, douse the box with cold water.

southwesterly

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Re: Need help getting center fin out
« Reply #13 on: November 26, 2014, 09:25:19 AM »
« on: October 05, 2010, 03:44:12 PM »

I sure hope you got your fin out by now, four years after the original post.
Once again the Zone is there for you.

 


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