Guest Ricardo de Oliveira Posted December 6, 2002 Report Share Posted December 6, 2002 Hi, I'm building hollow wooden masts, birsmouth fashion, in Parana Pine (like Douglas Fir), two sections, for the CS17. The base sections are ready and came out great. It's lighter and stiffer then I guessed. Suported by it's ends ( 10 ft span) it takes my 170 lb. flexing in the midlle more or less 1/2 inch! Now the question: What's the best way to connect the sections? Pin? Sleeve? Pin and sleeve? Fiberglass? Aluminum? ricoliveira@uol.com.br Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Frank Hagan, Weekender, O Posted December 7, 2002 Report Share Posted December 7, 2002 Just a guess here, based on my experience with the hollow birdsmouth spars: use a "locating pin" inside and a sleeve on the outside of the mast that covers the length where the pin is on the inside. The structure is very strong around the circumfrence, but its relatively easy to split the staves off with pressure on just one or two of the staves INSIDE the assembly. You can also crack it easily by putting a through bolt completely through it and tightening a nut on it ... it doesn't do that well with a "2 point compressive force" (just made that term up!) but does great with the all-around stresses from sails being laced on it. Either a sleeve or reinforcing bands around the circumfrence to prevent the staves from splitting. Hope I wrote this clearly enough! fshagan@ev1.net Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Graham Byrnes Posted December 7, 2002 Report Share Posted December 7, 2002 I'm glad that your masts are coming out so well. I think that your best solution is to use tubes about 18" long and glue them to the lower mast buried 1/2 way. Aluminum would be my first choice but it may be difficult to find the right diameter. The next best would be fiberglass because you could make it to the exact diameter, make them about 1/8" thick (3 mm). As Frank said I would glue plugs into the ends to make them solid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ricardo de Oliveira Posted December 7, 2002 Report Share Posted December 7, 2002 Thanks for the response, Frank and Graham. I'll do it with fiberglass sleeves and a hardwood pin inside. By the way, just to compare, how much a similar aluminum mast weighs? ricoliveira@uol.com.br Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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