So I learnt never to loosen my fin screw before I'm actually removing the fin today! I loosened it while drying my gear... Then forgot and flipped my board over to carry it. Needless to say I've lost the fin screw and the rubber washer somewhere on the sand at St Kilda beach.

Am I better of replacing this at a windsurf shop, or will a normal screw from a hardware store suffice? What are the measurements for modern fin screws? Or do they vary from brand to brand? Also I assume it needs to be made of something that doesn't just rust in saltwater.

Feeling a bit stupid

Get screw from a chandlery. They all use the same thread though length can vary.

Great, thanks, so I need an M6 screw :) Not sure what the length of the original one was. My board is a JP Explorer 145, so I'm guessing it would probably have been 35mm, like other JP boards. I might have to buy a few in different sizes and see what fits. Suspect I'll end up hunting around where I work and find nothing, so finish up driving to Sandringham just for a tiny little screw anyway! I went to The Zu in St Kilda right after I lost it and they had nothing. The guy didn't even seem to have the slightest clue, as he was picking up little 10mm screws from a plastic container and I was like "Umm, that's not really going to fit".

when u find em - get spares

i have left the one i needed in the fin that is at home
the spares saved me on that day !!!

So after much hunting around, Sundance Chandlery at Sandringham have them, although they'll probably have to cut one down. I'll drop in on Saturday morning to figure out the right length. I have also ordered a whole bunch from a couple of online stores last night, but they will also need cutting and they're not likely to arrive before Saturday, which means I'd miss a weekend on the water!

Go to a proper fixings place that only sell bolts and screws. You will have a choice of M6 stainless from 15mm to about 150mm, in 4 different heads.

They will cost 50c each - instead of a marine place who will charge like a wounded bull and a fee for cutting it no doubt.

Dean 424 said..

M6 stainless and I use just take the rubber washers off the tap washers

Have to second that (TAP WASHERS) one of the best fin bolt tips I could give anyone.

Oh, do they? I actually tried emailing them twice and got no reply. I guessed they'd likely have them though, as that's where I bought the board and the fin from, which (obviously) came with the bolt. I was going to Sundance Chandlery in the morning anyway, which is on Jetty Rd, so I'll drop into SHQ first and see if they have the right bolt on the spot. I think Sundance were going to have to either cut one down, or make one longer.

Definitely won't be unscrewing the bolt before I'm actually taking the fin off in future. You learn from your mistakes, right? :)

This is a basic way of measuring thread pitch below. If you don't want to strip a screw or bolt, you need to do this.

From what I can make out on my JP and Naish fins (((Powerbox))), the pitch appears to be 1mm. Best way maybe to go into a bolt/ screw retailer and physically screw in the screw that fits properly.

When you talk about IMPERIAL do mean him:

FormulaNova said..

windlure said..


When you talk about IMPERIAL do mean him:

Well you saw what happened to the death star. It was definitely screwed.

Now that's a thread

Chaps,

I wuz wrong. Wrote the thread pitch answer at work, so did not have bolt to check.

FormulaNova is correct, the pitch is 1.0mm, so the bolt spec is M6 x1 x bolt length. Of course you WERE going to use a Stainless Steel bolt, weren???t you?

Also, Formula, I didn???t know that if the pitch was not in the bolt spec, it is assumed to be a coarse pitch. Handy info, that.

In passing, Bunnings and Repco have bolt stands in their stores and the stands incorporate nuts of various diameters and pitches and bolts of various diameters and pitches. You can screw in your sample to make sure you are buying its correct mate. This would overcome trying to work out Windlure???s thread pitch on his bolt closest to the ruler.

Very handy thread, this..