Instead of making a bunch of posts, I thought I would ltry to gang my questions up a little:
1. What's the purpose of that white paint I see at the end of spars. I'm thinking of just leaving mine with varnish.
2. Are folks staying pretty close to the recommendations for the chainplates? 1/8" thick is pretty thick and I wonder if I really need to go that thick. I have a scrap metal place nearby and I've seen some pieces of thinner stainless that I could probably have machined to size. It seems ti would be plenty strong enough.
3. I spotted some aluminum turnbuckles the other day. However with the 3/8" eye, they are a full 16" fully extended. They seem a bit large for what I will need on the shrouds. Any opinions on that?
4. On that big eye bolt that goes through the bowsprit and bow did people find a bit long enough fairly easy. I've been keeping my eye out for one, but I haven't spotted any yet. Seems that this could get difficult.
5. On sails it's beginning to appear I'll get a set from Duckworks. I'm wondering about the different weights they come in: 3.8 oz, 4.9 oz and 5.5 oz.Anybody have any opinion on which to choose?
6. Later this week I'll be attaching an aluminum strip to the bottom of the keel A friend reminded me about the problems I may encounter with mixing metals. We were talking about the screws I will be using. Often when you mix metals it's an invitation to rust. Do I need to stick with aluminum screws here or will stainless work as well or better?
That should be enough for now. I've been very busy over the past couple of weeks pulling that Valspar paint off the hull, re-prepping and painting. Six months after painting with that Valspar I was able to literally scrape it off in sheets with a scraper not even damaging my primer underneath. This was true for about 70% of the surface. Other sections were more difficult, but I was still able to separate it. With the Behrs that I'm now using the only way you'll get to that primer is to sand down. Now that's what I wanted to begin with! I expect to have her rolled back over and working topside again by the weekend.
Tom Here is my two cents worth. I think I would stay with the 1/8" chain plate,so it won't bend on you. Turnbuckles 6" SS Lowe's hardware section at a good price. If you don't find a I bolt long enough try a regular galvanized bolt with a I nut. All the big box stores have them. I have never seen a Duckwork set of sails, therefore I have no info. Keep peddeling, your almost there
Bud
Quote:Instead of making a bunch of posts, I thought I would ltry to gang my questions up a little:
1. What's the purpose of that white paint I see at the end of spars. I'm thinking of just leaving mine with varnish.
It makes them more visible to keep you from running into them (It WILL happen).
Quote:2. Are folks staying pretty close to the recommendations for the chainplates? 1/8" thick is pretty thick and I wonder if I really need to go that thick. I have a scrap metal place nearby and I've seen some pieces of thinner stainless that I could probably have machined to size. It seems ti would be plenty strong enough.
If you go with stainless, you can use thinner stock. For the galvanized plates, stick with the recommendation.
Quote:3. I spotted some aluminum turnbuckles the other day. However with the 3/8" eye, they are a full 16" fully extended. They seem a bit large for what I will need on the shrouds. Any opinions on that?
Bigger will work but it might not look as good as smaller ones.
Quote:4. On that big eye bolt that goes through the bowsprit and bow did people find a bit long enough fairly easy. I've been keeping my eye out for one, but I haven't spotted any yet. Seems that this could get difficult.
You can get a long spade bit from Lowes or Home Depot (Or get a short bit and an extension so you can use it with other bit sizes).
Quote:5. On sails it's beginning to appear I'll get a set from Duckworks. I'm wondering about the different weights they come in: 3.8 oz, 4.9 oz and 5.5 oz.Anybody have any opinion on which to choose?
Generally, lighter sails for lighter air - If you anticipate more heavy air sailing, get the heavier sails. A heavier sail ought to be a little tougher than a light one (but won't work as well in light air).
Quote:6. Later this week I'll be attaching an aluminum strip to the bottom of the keel A friend reminded me about the problems I may encounter with mixing metals. We were talking about the screws I will be using. Often when you mix metals it's an invitation to rust. Do I need to stick with aluminum screws here or will stainless work as well or better?
If you use the boat in salt water, you could have a problem using dissimilar metals. After 6 years of sailing (and multiple groundings on purpose and accidentally) my non-stripped, non-glassed keel is still hanging in there. My metalurgy is not up to speed so I can't address the specific combination of aluminium and stainless - perhaps another builder can.
Keep up the work and get it done!
1 - The ends of masts are generally painted to help keep the spar sealed up in an area that gets seen infrequently. The tops of spreaders is another common place to find paint for the same reason. On trailer boats, this isn't as big a deal as the sticks are lowered and can be examined easily.
2 - 1/8" mild steel is stronger the 1/8" stainless. Stainless will need to be 304 for fresh water only use and 316 or 316L (316L preferred) for salt water sailing.
3 - Aluminum turnbuckles are very weak and usually the steel bolt rips out the aluminum threads under load or, if the buckle hasn't been "anti-seized" or moved recently, the dissimilar metals will bond themselves together, making future adjustments or disassembly imposable without destroying the buckle. They work fine for applying tension to a sagging gate, but that's about it.
4 - Long bits can be had, though I usually weld a piece of rod onto the bit. You can get extensions too.
5 - 3.8 ounce sails are just fine for the average trailer sailor. 4.9 will permit you to let them stand (reefed) in 20+ knot winds and the 5.5 are the standard cruising yacht weight, which is much too heavy for a trailer boat, unless you sail in high wind areas like San Francisco Bay for example.
6 - Rather then aluminum for a keel shoe, I'd prefer to see a bronze, stainless steel or HDPE strip used. Of course you use bronze or stainless screws with the strip you're installing. HDPE is the plastic stuff cutting boards are made out of. It is self lubricating, slides on trailers real nice, doesn't permit marine growth to stay stuck, machines really easily and is quite tough. It can be installed with bronze or steel fasteners and bedded in goo of choice. I'm sold on HDPE for this use, unless needed on a true cruising yacht, that will see countless thousands of miles, under the keel before a haul out, when I prefer bronze. In all cases, bed it well and bond the fastener holes with epoxy to prevent moisture from getting into the deadwood assembly.
Where can I find/buy HDPE?
Thanks for all the pointers, folks. This will go a long way in my decision making process. I do live in Sonoma County, north of San Francisco bay, but most of my sailing inititially will be at Tomales Bay due west of here and north of San Francisco by about 50 miles. I think on the sails I may go for the middle weight as we do get pretty strong winds that kick up in the afternoons. I'm hoping I'll be able to sail at least the northern reaches of SF bay (the delta) and pick my days carefully. So I will be in salt water a lot.
And that HDPE... That stuff sounds like a great idea! Any ideas where we can get that?
HDPE is know by a few different brand names, StarBoard from King Plastics is the one most commonly found. Jamestown Distributors and most other marine retail shops can get it or carry it.
1/2" thickness should be fine with 3/4" (both standard sizes) being a little over kill, cut to the width of the deadwood and attach. Use a tight fastener spacing with staggered centers (so nothing splits), say about 6" on center spacing.
Paul, what is the procedure when you say to "bond the fastener holes with epoxy"? Do you drill a pilot hole and fill with expoxy? Let it set up and them screw? It sounds like a smart thing to do down there. I saw on another post where someone just shot the hole with the same bedding material he was using and screwed it in.
You can log onto one of the major manufactures' sites and learn about bonding fasteners, but it's pretty simple really.
Measure the diameter of the shank (not the threads) of the fastener you'll be bonding. add 30% (minimum, I use 50%) to the shank diameter (multiply by 1.3) and drill this hole. Wet out the hole with unthickened epoxy. Mix up a fresh batch of epoxy, but thicken it until it's like peanut butter. Use a high strength thickener like micro fibers, cab-o-sil, etc. Fill the hole with thickened goo then insert the fastener (yes, while the goo is soft). A twisting motion to sort of "thread" it in, as it goes into the goo is a good idea to prevent voids inside the hole. The fastener is now bonded and it's strength is hugely increased, plus prevents moisture from getting at the wood or fastener. If you want to be able to remove the screw easily, you can coat the threads with paste wax or a release agent. I only do this on things that I know will have to come off for inspection or other reason. The bonded fastener can be easily removed with heat other wise. I use a torch to heat up a screw driver blade until isn't cherry hot. I hold this against the head of the fastener for a few minutes and the goo softens up enough to break it loose. A soldering iron also makes a good tool for this task.
On parts that need to be held or "sucked" down with their fasteners or they will not stay firmly in place, you can bond every other fastener, while the other fasteners hold the piece done. Once the goo has cured, then you can go back and do the remaining fasteners. Of course you can also use some sort of bracing, tape (one of my favorites) or weights to hold things down as the goo cures.
Sometimes, on parts that need all the fasteners to hold down a piece, I'll make the pilot hole about 25% short of the full length of the fastener (only applies to screws). This way the fastener gets some bite at the bottom of the hole to help hold things as the epoxy cures. This is the way West System recommends you do it.
I used a bit designed for drilling holes to route TV/ telephone cables in walls. The bit is about 18 inches long. A good hardware store, or electrical supply house should sell them.
I just left the ends of the spars coated with only the six coats of spar varnish the the rest of the spars have, so far they look find after 4 seasons of use.
Greg