New Slot Box for Quads?

[Waterat Pat]

Been a tough season this year as I have already broken 2 boards. so I have been researching the latest and greatest Quad boards. I came across a new finbox called the Slotbox which claims to be far lighter. Here is the link to check it out.

http://www.tabou-boards.com/images/downloads/2011/pdf/2011t-slotbox-launchpaper-0.1lr.pdf

Anywho I have been trying to find the manufacturers that actually uses it. Tabou doesn't even make a quad. It appears Starboard is going to use it but I am not wild about there Quad offering. Anyone know if Quatro is going to switch over?

[Kevinmc]

[loopless]

What a good idea.. I hope the other board makers adopt it. The US fin box is well past it's use by date... a hold over from the days of the one-design with a teak boom and rope in-haul.

[kevinkan]

I read somewhere (I don't remember where) that slot boxes aren't really any lighther than similar length US boxes. That said, I can't stand the dumb fin tab and screw arrangement w/ US boxes, and slot boxes look a lot more user friendly and would gladly welcome a change if they are as functional as the US box. I did see a board w/ a slot box where the screw heads stood proud of the surface of the board which seemed kind of odd... probably something easily fixable, but kind of weird to see on a production board.

[rich1]

I like this a lot. I've been putting tuttle boxes on my boards (I shape my own) because of all the drawbacks of the old box. I was about to start prototyping a box the works in a similar way (I now make my own boxes from scratch out of CF) I was buying US box fins and installing the tuttle adapter. This got me thinking about a US box with one side cut on an angle. A wedge would then screw in and clamp the fin. Now that I see this, it is pretty much the same thing, with no wedge. Simple is better! I also really love that he went open source rather than the patent route. This really should be the end of the US box.

I'm not sure about the weight savings though. Once you make them strong enough for a single fin, they should be the same as a regular US box.

Chris

[U2U2U2]

Slot Boxes were developed by Tabou, then Starboard came on, AFAIK they are make in the Cobra factory, no where else.

They come in 2 lengths, 13cm and I believe shorter, they are installed on the Tabou quads and Pocket Wave as the side fins.

Tabou, Starboard, RRD and Simmer are all using them, they are MUCH lighter than anything else.

the fins are held in by 2 screws on the side, this system seems pretty strong to me, for fins around 16cm and down , little effort to seat screws flush.

the other major board makers would/HAVE had the oppurtunity to use the slotbox, it has no patent, and can be made by anyone.

its attraction now is . light weight, especiall for 4 boxes, you can use slotbox fins OR US Box fins by removing the pin and cutting off the forward tab, and some indent/dimples for the screws to set in.

mine should be here this week from Cobra.

[bradj]

consider replacing the Phillips screws with stainless steal socket head (hex) screws, more reliable engagement with the tool

[rich1]

[U2U2U2]

I will post photos

this has one of the better details that I have seen, 1 quik glance at the box.



http://www.star-board.com/2010/news_events/read.php?threadid=9229

when these 1st came out I was somewhat heistant to believe all the details, Simmer will have their own board line later on this year and is using the slotbox, little more convincing on the details.

it is somewhat similar to the installation process I use for ProBox on my garage conversion, haveing just removed 4, and tested before they are pretty strong when installed with some support structor and fiberglass overlay.

http://www.proboxhawaii.com/pages/products/products_boxes.html

[U2U2U2]

top is 10cm bottom is 13cm



the cassettes are the same size, 10 or 13cm box, the length is really long, will need to be cut to fit.



the fin is a slotbox base K4 from England, fits like a glove