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I'm using tee nuts to secure my straps on my lightwind ply board like others have suggested on this forum. After pounding them in with a hammer, then pulling them in with a screw, they still are about an 1/8" proud. Is this going to affect the performance substantially? Is it worth taking them out and countersinking them into the wood, to get a smoother surface?

Hello kitejack; the t-nuts I use cannot be pounded in; one must drill a hole the same diameter and depth as the t-nut then hold them in place with resin/chopped fiberglass mash and yes they are better flush to the deck; and be sure to get the right size machine screw[ stainless is best]; try to screw the strap in at least 1/4 ". T-nuts can rip out of the deck when great pressures are put upon them; hope yours hold for a while.

Halomon wrote:.... T-nuts can rip out of the deck when great pressures are put upon them; hope yours hold for a while.

They only rip out of the deck if you put them in upside down. They're supposed to go in with the flat part on the bottom. Some people were putting them in through the top of the board. It looks nice but it doesn't actually hold the footstraps onto the board any more than a particularly crappy nail.

If you are sinking them into ply you can cut through the bottom layer of ply and scrape it off. It is good to paint the inside of the hole with resin so that water will not get into the wood.

Insert the T-nut from the bottom. Use some washers and a piece of scrap ply with a hole on the top and put the bolt in place and tighten it up hard so that the T-nut is pulled in hard and flush into the bottom.

You can fill the bottom of the T-nut with a little epoxy putty and paint over it if you want a perfectly smooth bottom. It's not really important but it looks nicer.

Yo ozbungy; I can visualize your method working well on a wood board but not on my foam boards. The foam would not resist the flat part of the T-nut if tightened; I've used the drill and fill method on several boards and it is stronger then a crappy nail. I'm open to a better method for 1/2 in thick foam boards. Cheers.

This is how me, my friends and some builders fit inserts on a foam core.

The larger the holes filled with resin, less pressure on the fiber...it works great.

Cheers.