When I bought my first second-hand foil, it came with a 1 or 2mm rubber "gasket" (just a piece of rubber cut to the same size as the mast plate with holes that match the screw holes of the plate).
When I upgraded my foil kit (also second-hand kit) I went to the hardware store and made my own gasket. I have had one occurrence where the middle screw in the mast plate to fuselage has come loose and has rubbed and marked the gasket and without the rubber would have marked the board.
As I have never bought a new foil do they come with a "gasket" thingie?
Do you make your own or not use anything?
Thanks.
Henners, a pic. or two would help a lot, you mentioned mast to board connection, and mast to fuselage connection, which is it?
Made something very simple sound very complicated and stuffed up what I was talking about.
From the top, it goes
board
rubber gasket
mast plate
mast
Do you use something like this?
Oh, okay, I have a DT head on the mast so no gasket, but that looks right for a track mast head. The Chinook Powerplate converts different mast heads to fit a Power box, and it also uses a rubber gasket between Powerplate and board bottom. Without the rubber gasket, the mast plate head could leave a permanent impression on the board bottom. Depends on the board I think.
Mines metal plate to board. Rubber gasket is going to allow for movement as the rubber compresses under loading. I want connections as rigid as possible. JMO
Do not know about an aluminum plate to board connection, but my AFS foil the carbon DT mast head has a carbon flange around 2/3rds of it to align foil/fuselage with board, but I have a shim in DT box to set foil angle so flange does not align with board bottom, but is very close in front and Have been getting corrosion of the paint off the board bottom from electrolysis, maybe I need to glue some rubber onto my mast head flange.
Select to expand quoteHenners said..
When I bought my first second-hand foil, it came with a 1 or 2mm rubber "gasket" (just a piece of rubber cut to the same size as the mast plate with holes that match the screw holes of the plate).
When I upgraded my foil kit (also second-hand kit) I went to the hardware store and made my own gasket. I have had one occurrence where the middle screw in the mast plate to fuselage has come loose and has rubbed and marked the gasket and without the rubber would have marked the board.
As I have never bought a new foil do they come with a "gasket" thingie?
Do you make your own or not use anything?
Thanks.
I'd be more concerned about any screw working loose. I've seen it recommended elsewhere and would concur that Tef-Gel, besides its corrosion protection, inhibits screws from working loose.
Can't say for all makes but my NP foil did but has holes in the gasket for the screws connecting the plate to the mast. I would imagine many aluminum ones do as it makes assembly easy as the gasket is glued to the plate. The situation may be different for carbon fiber foils with integrated head plates.
I have the Naish aluminum fixed plate, which comes with the rubber gasket, and noticed that the screws tend to loosen up during a session. I also have the carbon mast without the rubber gasket and the screws never get loose.
When I used the slingshot mast (with a lip around the mast head) I didn't put anything. If I were you, I would use a very hard and thin rubber or plastic shim. The other option would be a very soft (and thin) shim so it can get compressed easily. Otherwise you might run the risk that mere use will compress the shim and the screws can get loose.
no real need. I get some scratches from sliding the foil mast around, but i think you would get those with a gasket anyways. You are likely to do much more damage to the nose of your board with your mast than your foil will do to the bottom of your board
The Fanatic mounts come factory set with a foam/rubber gasket. It has a fair bit of compressibility to it. I really like it for a few reasons. I does seem to protect the board where the mount and board come together, my board as no marks at that point after plenty of use. I also feel that it prevents "slippage" of the mount (fore and aft) in the event of any of the mounting bolts loosening. Lastly I find the gasket acts a bit like a spring washer in that it helps prevent mounting bolts from loosening. When I'm de-rigging the 4 bolts are almost always as set as when rigging.
Axis come with a rubber gasket fitted standard to the mast plate. Works really well and I think it does a lot of good for the board in terms of protection.
Thanks everyone,
So it looks like it's a standard thing with Naish.
When I first bought it, I saw the witness marks, thought it was a little weird but thought previous owner might not have tightened up correctly. But saw a video of someone talking about how his screws came loose and have had it happen to me.
I suppose the rubber is compressible but it's so thin anyway that I doubt that it is going to cause any issues.
I did buy a second hand later model Naish (26 I think) abracadabra system that did not come with a bit of rubber but made one for it anyway.
