Or - has anyone got a pic of the insert they use? I imagine it is like a footstrap plug but with the brass nut moulded in?
I would like to see one if possible, so if I do expose it by holesawing thru the bottom, then I can know where to grind away plastic crap to then be able to get locking pliers or something onto the actual brass bit

^^^ I have ...... but then I will have a stub requiring an eazyout etc, and also having to try and hold that dumb little brass nut somehow as it just spins. It may be an option though, but I am trying to ascertain which is best option hmmmmm
It will be really hard to even get a hacksaw in there....

You are right though Mike, it will be getting a real bloody mast track once it is done, not this poxy little nut thing

Mark _australia said..
There is only a 2-3mm gap under the base so I cant hammer a spike laterally up against the brass centre nut to stop it turning.

detcord is your friend



stephen

yep mark,
I've encountered a couple of these with different brands and the problem is the brass insert just spins in the plastic plug for ever and ever.
the only way to remove the 8mm mast base thread and brass plug is to hacksaw it flush to the deck pad and router around the 8mm stud with a standard router bit and a steady hand until you hit the brass plug....about 6mm or as required, then screw a nut onto the8mm thread and lever it out with a claw hammer and a flat metal plate under it....hope this helps....have fun!

could you disassemble the mast base so that its just the bottom piece of the base thread coming out & attach to a cordless drill & run it so it either a comes out or the friction binds it back up sort of like stub welding with plastic ?

Would it be possible to apply heat from an oxy or MAP torch to the screw so as to heat the brass insert and pull it slowly through the plastic?
The plastic is probably a thermo plastic and if it could be heated some way it would get soft enough to drag the fitting through it,.. maybe.

Keep the torch blowing sideways so it doesn't blow over the board. Maybe cover the area around with some wet rags or something.
Keep a bucket of water on standby.

When u see the size of the insert you will be glad it failed as it did and not on the water, hacksaw it, get a mast track and drop it in, the last one i saw ripped out was a cube about 50mm square????

^^^ It got proper hot though, I reckon a good 100deg plus. I had water in hand and threw it down the hole as soon as I ripped it out (as I could see the core was not exposed). That's enough to soften epoxy so I'd not want to spin it longer.


Main thing I noted - that the plug is totally insufficient. So much so, I wonder what idiot designed that. It is a brass threaded tube with a hex on one end, moulded into thermoplastic - melted drink bottles. NOT anything like the fibre reinforced plastics used for footstrap inserts or mast boxes etc.
Bearing in mind this failed when screwing the base in !! there is no way it could handle a proper windsurfing rig for any length of time.

If I was to windSUP at any level more than teaching kids with a 2m sail I'd use a real mast box routed into the board.

The dinky little brass inserts are a joke. In fact the more I think about it, this is just asking for somebody to get a separation at an offshore break and drown.

Not to be confused with what my old Starboard has though, 3 real threads in a track about 8"long so there is some actual integrity in the rail type setup under the skin.

I think part of the problem I've seen in the past (beside a sh1tty insert) is that the uni base bolt is to long and bottoms out on the blind insert.

In the past Ive used a couple of extra shims as I'm tooo lazy to trim the thread.

Nice work getting it out

So, you were using a SUP for windsurfing??? What's that saying you've got whenever someone posts a question about surfing the web on their phones Mark? "Puterz be for putin'"? Sounds like SUPs be for SUPin'!

dirtyharry said..
So, you were using a SUP for windsurfing??? What's that saying you've got whenever someone posts a question about surfing the web on their phones Mark? "Puterz be for putin'"? Sounds like SUPs be for SUPin'!

Ahhh, with a 2m sail for the kids to learn on so they DON'T become SUP'ers hahahaha


Mastbender, this only had the one. If yours has two it might be like the old Starboard system with 3 and they were all in a rail and thus a damn sight stronger but I dunno.

Elmo, the insert was plenty long enough, but I do wonder if with some boards there is sand, salt, bit of corrosion so the bolt stops say 10mm before getting all the way in and feels like it has bottomed out....? I made sure this was clean and deep enough first, so thus my annoyance at it breaking so easily when not even screwed all the way in.

good to see its out with out damage to board. not good to see what is holding the mast base on to the board. do you know how big the plastic plug is that it came out of.
put a sail on mine the other day just to see how it sails and it did bind a little but did eventually screw in ok and out ok, I filled the hole with silicon spray first though.
think I might get a plug tap and gently clean it out. then get a plastic grub screw for it while not in use.

^^^ yes well it is still made by Cobra with what I imagine is an insert common to many brands........ :)