Robert Cox Posted March 19, 2003 Posted March 19, 2003 I'm looking at working on the mast before too long and would like to improve upon the fittings shown in the plans. The Question: What is the name of the fitting at the top of the mast that looks like a pipe with several rings on the side that all the stays hook to? I would like to purchase one of these for Star Chaser or I might make one. Depends on how much a ready made one is going to cost me. I've seen these for sale some where but have lost the link. Anyone know of a chandalry selling these? Bob Quote
Derek Posted March 19, 2003 Posted March 19, 2003 A shroud spreader? Here's one Phil Gowan did http://www.pragdata.com/philboat/PlanSpreader.html Here's one I clipped from a builder's site (my apologies to the builder as I can't recall who off hand) http://www.msnusers.com/truenorthweekender/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=106 I hope that helps a bit. Quote
capt jake Posted March 19, 2003 Posted March 19, 2003 I went with Phil's version!! Can't wait to start rigging!! In between packing, of course. Quote
Frank Hagan Posted March 19, 2003 Posted March 19, 2003 A traditional approach would be to put a "knuckle" or "thumb" on the port and starboard sides of the mast and use "soft eyes" to put the standing rigging on ... just eyes formed in the end of the hemp you are using for the shrouds. Oh yeah, good hemp rope is hard to find, and that worming, parcelling and tarring isn't very fun. While you make a soft eye out of stainless 7x19 wire, it eats into the mast. I went with a hollow round mast, so I couldn't use eyebolts through it. But as luck would have it, a 2 1/2" chainlink fence post ring fit around the top of the mast pretty well. Then, I used a post cap to finish off the top of the mast: The top one is for the forestay, the bottom for the shrouds. I put two stainless rings on the bolt, and attached two shrouds to each ring. Works like a charm and is cheap. Very cheap. I think I paid $3 for the galvanized strap, and painted it with black rustoleum. A strap around the mast has the advantage of spreading out the stresses and, on a hollow mast, takes advantage of the strength a tube has. For a solid mast, a through bolt works well, although it is a spot for water to enter and rot to start (but again, kept on a trailer under a tarp, you wont' have a problem with rot for a very long time!) Quote
Arnie Eaton Posted March 19, 2003 Posted March 19, 2003 Jake this is for you! If you use the mast head like Phils you had better use a BOLT in the bottom hole to fasten to the mast. I was sailing with T.Nelson last summer and his mast setup is close to Phils. Had a top bolt and a bottom screw. A fresh wind come up and the screw broke in half from the pressure. Sounded like a cannon going off. We were happy the bolt held or we would have lost the mast. Needless to say he replaced the screw with a bolt. Quote
Bill Posted March 19, 2003 Posted March 19, 2003 Robert, I think what your looking for is a mast band. From what ive seen they could run you about 40.00 - 60.00 bucks thru a foundry. If you decide to go the commercial route and buy one here are some links: http://www.traditional-marine.com/ http://www.classicmarine.co.uk/ http://www.bristolbronze.com/ http://www.porttownsendfoundry.com/index.htm Another alternative might be to check with Tom over at Sybert, he was/is attempting to make hardware for Stevenson boats, maybe he would like to give it a try! Here is a link to his outfit: http://www.sybert.us/ --------------------------------------------------------------- Funny, this all got me to thinking. I can remember way back in my school daze we had to forge a few pieces of metal in the little school shop foundry. I thought it was so lame and how useless it was..Boooring!! Jeeze, what i'd give for that little set-up now. Of course another alternative is to fashion one out of wood, and check around at the High Schools or Tech Schools and see if anyone wants to pour you one real cheaply.... Best of luck, Bill Quote
Phil Gowans Posted March 19, 2003 Posted March 19, 2003 Arnie's right. I'm currently putting a through bolt on the bottom of my spreader. The forces are just too great. My mast was split from rotational forces. Nothing that epoxy can't fix. But don't use just a screw. Even though my mast is hollow I put a large cap on the top to plug the hole making it essentially solid, so a through bolt will work. I'm also making a ss band to reinforce it for extra insurance. Quote
Johannah Posted March 19, 2003 Posted March 19, 2003 Phil, that photo is very helpful. Thanks. I am going to ask Tom Seibert if he would consider making this piece in stainless. Re: original question - does the phrase "mast hounds" sound right? Quote
Johannah Posted March 19, 2003 Posted March 19, 2003 I emailed Tom Sybert about Phil's spreader and sent him the picture Phil posted above. He would be happy to make it! If you're interested, let him know. I passed on the need for the lower hole to accept a bolt, rather than a screw. Quote
Phil Gowans Posted March 19, 2003 Posted March 19, 2003 To this point, I've fabricated a number of items for ALOHA out of stainless steel. The're quite easy to cut with a cut-off wheel on a circular saw. The hardest thing to me is drilling holes. A good cobalt drill bit helps some. The best thing about doing it, it's all been FREE. A local SS manufacturer lets me take their scraps for nothing. :wink: But, if you don't want to do the drilling, Tom's work looks good. I wondered why he didn't offer a spreader. Quote
Johannah Posted March 19, 2003 Posted March 19, 2003 Phil, I got some nice chainplates from Tom to replace the originals which are already rusting. Do you have any drawings of the spreader dimensions? I have heard too many comments from my father-in-law the machinist to want to tackle drilling the stuff myself. My husband even has a friend who is an excellent machinist but he works by whim so Tom S. is our best source. Quote
Phil Gowans Posted March 19, 2003 Posted March 19, 2003 On my spreader page I show this picture: and have this text: My spreader is made from a 1/8" piece of stainless steel. It has 4 holes: the outside two are to attachment the shrouds, the center top is for the eyebolt to go through, and the bottom is for a screw into a wood insert in the mast to keep the the spreader from rotating. The spreader is about 5" wide and about 2.5" tall. Even though it is small it is moves the shrouds enough distance to give adequate separation for the gaff jaws from the shrouds. Note: I found that a screw is not sufficient. Both the eyebolt at the top and bottom bolt should go completely through the mast. My attempt was to get the spreader as small as possible. Many others are quite larger. You would want to make sure those dimensions are adaquate for your boat. Hope that helps. Quote
Johannah Posted March 19, 2003 Posted March 19, 2003 Thank you, that's great. Small sounds reasonable to me. The wider the spreader, the more force sawing on the bolts and mast. Quote
capt jake Posted March 20, 2003 Posted March 20, 2003 Jake this is for you! If you use the mast head like Phils you had better use a BOLT in the bottom hole to fasten to the mast. Yup, did that already!! Thanks! Quote
Robert Cox Posted March 20, 2003 Author Posted March 20, 2003 Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I will not need a spreader for the Vacationer. What I was looking for was the mast band or cranz band for the top of the mast. I don't like what's shown on the plans and I wanted something more traditional looking. It's only fitting I found it at Traditional Marine Outfitters. A 3", 4 eye mast band in Bronze is $50 I think the price is reasonable, so this is probably the one I'll go with. Bob 8) PS. Frank, I keep having problems with the board not letting me post under my user name. I login and when I go to the post reply window it no longer shows me as being loged in. When I try to submit a post it tells me that user name is already used. HELP! One time it works and the next it doesn't and I've not changed anything. Quote
Frank Hagan Posted March 20, 2003 Posted March 20, 2003 If you're running Windows, it might be a cookie problem. PHP scripts sometimes have problems with cookies, but tossing them seems to help. You can try tossing the cookie for this forum, which should be named like mine (spaces added to keep it from looking like an email link): cookie: Frank Hagan @ messing - about.com AND cookie: Frank Hagan @ www.messing - about.com You can do a search on your computer for a file name containing "messing-about.com" to find the cookie. Simply delete both of them, and log in again. Check off the "Remember me on this computer" and the system will write a new cookie to disk. Usually you only have to do this once. I think what happens is that the cookies don't agree, and when they fight each other, you end up having to toss your cookies. Alternately, you can toss your cookies from within your browser; on IE, select Tools from the menu bar at top, then Internet Options, then Delete Cookies. This deletes them all, though. (From that menu option, you can also choose Settings and then View Files and search in the results to find the cookies). Quote
Mike Pennington Posted March 21, 2003 Posted March 21, 2003 The sames been happening to me on my home computer. I'll check it out. Quote
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