PocketShip.net

Hi all. I am about to install my centreboard and have hit a small problem. The manual calls for a 9mm s/s bolt to make the pivot pin, but this does not seem to exist - in the UK, anyway. I can only find M8 or M10. The obvious answer seems to be drilling the hole out to 10mm, but I'm curious what others did?
Cheers!

I'm in the US and have the full kit which, I think, supplies a 3/8" bolt which is 9.52mm. Since you create the hole with drill-fill-drill, then you can use just about anything. Personally if I was using metric hardware I'd size up to 10mm. It's rare when one says they wish they had used a smaller fastener...

One other tip: It is traditionally considered poor form to use a threaded bolt as a hinge or pivot, since the threads will tend to chew up the sides of the hole.
For the centerboard sheave, I found a SS bolt that was longer than necessary, but had a un-threaded portion almost as long as the width of the centerboard trunk.
Then I cut down the threaded portion to give the bolt the correct overall length.

For the mast pivot, I did something a bit more elaborate: I took a piece of 3/8" un-threaded SS rod, and cut threads on each end, leaving a 3 inch un-threaded
portion in the middle. In addition to being gentler on the mast and tabernacle, the rod will be less likely to bend, since the lack of threads makes it quite a bit stiffer.

Thanks for all the helpful advice. I'm going for a 10mm s/s unthreaded bolt, as suggested.
Happy building/sailoring!

Yet another tip: Originally I drilled the pivot holes in the board and the trunk the exact same size as the bolt.
But when I test-fitted the board, I noticed that any side-to-side flexing put a lot of strain on the pivot.
So I re-drilled the hole on the board 1/16" larger to eliminate this problem. (I saw no reason to
make the holes in the trunk any larger, since the pivot rod would be glued in place.)