Well I got my mast all built and all bolts in except for my shroud spreader design. My mast is 16' long, 51" from the base to the mast pivot point.. It is an octaganol shape, I cut a 1/4" wide, 1/2" deep chanel on the right side for running my mast light wires and vhf wire. Now awaiting 3 coats epoxy and 3 coats varnish.
  My problem and what I need advice on at this point is that my wires currently exit just above the mast fold point and I don't know what to do with them now? I thought about cutting a chanel in the lower part of the mast but don't know what I'd do with the extra wire I'd need to hide when the mast is in the verticle position...    Or should I just wrap the wires in electrical tape and run them down the side of the mast?
This probably won't be helpful to you but ...
What I did with my mast was to laminate it with a plastic tube running down the middle. It exits in the forepeak. At the tabernacle, I left a larger space inside the mast and left a stub of pipe sticking up. When the mast is raised that pulls the wiring up into the gap.
In your circumstance, I would have considered running the wires down the aft side of the mast. At the tabernacle there wouldn't be any slack to speak of. You could then have the wiring exit into the cabin under the deck.
There's no chance of you turning the mast 90 degrees?
If I understand your concerns properly, you need to leave some slack at the exit point, from the mast to the tabernacle. This usually means a slight loop or bulge of wire is left at the joint, where the mast rotates down from upright. The best way is to use a bit of string and measure what you actually need in the lowered and raised positions. In reality, you just need a little slack.
Ok thanks guys... Andrew, where was your brain all weekend, I needed it to pick LOL. I never thought of running the line on the back of the mast, I always had it in my head to run it on the side. I already have my mast together including top and bottom, hinges reccessed holes drilled and everything. Now I think i'm gonna have to do like Paul says and leave a small loop exposed at the joint. I guess thats better than having the wire totally exit at the joint and down to the deck.
 One other question. I would like to paint the top 9" of my mast white in color, what paint should I use and should I paint before or after I epoxy the mast?Â
(06-14-2010, 11:37 AM)mikenredding link Wrote: [ -> ]One other question. I would like to paint the top 9" of my mast white in color, what paint should I use and should I paint before or after I epoxy the mast?Â
epoxy first and paint after. Some paints don't go on epoxy well so you may need a primer.Â
Well, my mast turned out great. I ended up using a 1" wide spade bit and bore into each side of the joint "Tabernacle" where my wires met and wrapped the wires in electrical tape there. So my wires now exit at the base of the mast and I'll have no exposed wires when the mast is in the verticle position.
 My only concerne I have now is I think my mast is too heavy but it's going to work no matter what. LOL too much time invested in it, over 2 weeks building it and running concealed wires, sanding , smoothing lol. What I need to do is stand it up straight and put it on a scale, top and bottom and see how much it weighs altogether. I'm guesing 80lbs top and bottom, but the bottom can't come off anymore due to having wire run inside of it.