Warped mast

[Dave R1]

Jan, here's another drawing. Hopefully this clears up any confusion.

[Jan Williamson]

Dave,

OK :shock: With that drawing, I get it!! Thank you so much. I will use this method. Looks really easy now, and I should be able to get a real accurate cut.

As far as the old mast, I changed the way I attached it to the boom and crutch, by putting some wedges of 2x6, and then giving it a good snug bungeeing thinking I could eventually take out some of the warp and use the mast, Well, the two days later part mast started splitting up the middle along the"weldwood" glue line. "probably a blessing" So I think this mast needs to retire. I am a worry freak anyway, and need that particular feature to be as safe as I can get it. I didn't do it right the first time for sure.

Thanks for all the help!!

[Dave R1]

Good luck Jan. Glad the latest drawing made things all clear. Althought the auxillary fence doesn't have to be anything special, make a nice one and keep it around for future use.

Not to cofuse things but it just occurred to me that if you make the fence in an L shape rather than a T, you could adjust the height of it above the table for different stock thicknesses.

[Jan Williamson]

Dave,

Again thank you for your help, and the L shape is a good idea. Your graphics program is awesome. Is this something available to someone not at the Mayo clinic?

[Dave R1]

Jan, the graphis program I use is called SketchUp. It is an architectural sketching program but I find it very useful for woodworking stuff and for trying to explain things. You know--that picture-is-worth-a-thousand-words thing.

Very intuitive and although not a CAD program it is certainly capable of outputting drawings from which one can build stuff.

It is available to anyone who wants to pay for it. You can download it at SketchUp.com. When you download it you get an 8 hour trial period (8 hours of use). It is the full version without any limitations. When you pay for it they give a key that stops the clock.

Back to your mast for a moment. Remember, before you get too excited about gluing the thing together, make the plugs for the top and bottom. The top one needs to be glued in before the all the sides are glued together.

BTW, I'd love to see some pictures of your mast construction project and the final thing.

Good luck.

Dave

[Jan Williamson]

Dave,

I'll be out for a few days, but when I get back.. sawdust making again.

[Dave R1]

Jan, I'll be waiting to here how it goes.

I had a couple of other thoughts regarding your mast.

1. Consider putting passages through the plugs for wires in case you ever want to put a masthead or deck light up at the top.

2. The top plug could extend above the top of the box a bit. You could cut the plug like a tapered tenon to cover the endgrain in the side pieces. This would be more for looks than anything.

3. Think about the hinges at the bottom. Work out the placement of the hinge leaves to make sure the bottom plug is long enough. If you do number one, make sure there's no conflict between the screws through the hinge leaves and the passage for the wires. Plan to run the wires out the aft side with a loop so that the when the mast is hinged down, the wires aren't stressed.

Of course you wouldn't need to put wires in right away but if you think you'll want lights or even a radio antenna up there someday, at least install a wire or string to make it possible to pull the wires later.

[capt jake]

Of course you wouldn't need to put wires in right away but if you think you'll want lights or even a radio antenna up there someday, at least install a wire or string to make it possible to pull the wires later.

I am really wishing I had done that!! :roll:

[Dave R1]

Me, too, Jake. Me, too. :cry: