Rigging and pad eyes

Welcome to PocketShip.net! This bulletin board is for builders of the Chesapeake Light Craft-John C. Harris "PocketShip" design, a 15-foot micro cruiser sailboat built from a kit or plans.

For more information on PocketShip, click here: http://www.clcboats.com/pocketship

This site gathers PocketShip builders in one place. Here you can share photos, tips, questions, and---eventually---your sailing adventures in PocketShip! CLC will also post design updates and tips here as they come up.

We'll try to knock down spam as quickly as possible.

Moderator: John C. Harris

Forum rules
Spam or commercial posts will be deleted.
This is a civil forum: no flames or drunken tirades.
Please stay on-topic.
PocketShip's Web Page: http://www.clcboats.com/pocketship
If you need CLC customer service: http://www.clcboats.com/forms/contact_us.html
We'll try to delete spam as soon as it appears.

Rigging and pad eyes

Postby mark48 on Sun Oct 15, 2017 2:48 pm

Hi all,

Shrouds and bob stay attach to the mast and bowsprit respectively at pad eyes which are themselves through-bolted where appropriate per the plans. What is the trick in drilling these holes such that they are spaced appropriately for the pad eyes on each side of the spar? It's easy to drill the two holes properly spaced on one side of the spar, but as the bit exits the spar on the other side, these holes must also accept a pad eye. Keeping the drill bit exactly perpendicular to the spar's surface would be ideal but doesn't work well in (my) practice. Drilling the holes with a drill press would work too - except the spars are unmanageably long for any drill press to which I have access.

How have other builders approached this?

Thanks,
Mark
mark48
 
Posts: 156
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2013 9:55 pm

Re: Rigging and pad eyes

Postby Bflat on Sun Oct 15, 2017 9:01 pm

Drilling holes through a spar so that the holes line up to fit pad eyes on each side IS tricky. I came to dread it as I learned the pitfalls. Then I got better at it. It still seems like there's a bit of luck involved, though that can be minimized with slow and careful work. Starting with smaller drill bits and gradually working up is advisable. Drilling from both sides of the intended hole helps too. Once the holes meet in the middle you might use a round file to adjust them a bit before going at it again with a slightly larger drill bit. Since you'll be overdrlling these holes and filling them with thickened epoxy, that makes the hole quality less critical. Drilling the filled hole is almost as tricky as drilling the hole for filling. One trick I learned late, but tried with success is to put a small plastic straw (I used swizzle sticks plugged with 1/2 tooth pick) through the hole filled with thickened epoxy. This helps to align the final holes for the pad eyes. Later you drill out the straw and the holes should line up.
Bob
Bflat
 
Posts: 259
Joined: Sat Dec 03, 2011 12:15 am
Location: North Central Wisconsin, U.S.

Re: Rigging and pad eyes

Postby slick95 on Mon Oct 16, 2017 6:02 am

Bob,
This is an example of how I drilled my spars. I remembered having the same issue drilling wooden home built airplane wing spars (KR-1 and Pitts S-1). Anyway, I copied this from a guys site building a plane and he has a very good description of the procedure. Perfect results every time. The two pictures of the jig and jig in use are at the links below.

Jeff


Wing Attach Fittings

http://www.n56ml.com/kmlws11.jpg

I whipped up this jig out of a piece of mahagony that I had left over from making Christmas present clocks. It is about 2"x4"x6" long. I drilled a hole through the block longways with a 12" 1/4" drill bit, and cut out a square hunk, then glued a 1' length of .250" OD 4130 tubing into the hole. After this picture was made, I hacksawed out the middle part of the tube to make the jig.

http://www.n56ml.com/kmlws22.jpg



To use it, first align your wing attach fittings in place on the spar and clamp into place so that they are level with each other, and aligned with each other so that their holes line up. Don't forget to slip the lower pair out .125 inches or so for dihedral. Then just insert a long 3/16" drill bit or rod into the far end, and let it rest inside the wing attach fitting. Drill thru the other hole and you will go right on thru to push the drill bit out of the other side. I nailed 32 of 32 holes this way in the main spar.
Jeff
Georgetown, Tx
Pocketship plans build "Old Soul"
http://sailboatbuild.blogspot.com/searc ... -results=1
slick95
 
Posts: 58
Joined: Thu Nov 27, 2014 12:54 pm
Location: Georgetown, Tx

Re: Rigging and pad eyes

Postby mark48 on Mon Oct 16, 2017 6:10 am

Hi,

Thanks for the input and suggestions. I'll study the links.

Bob, did you drill-fill-drill the holes for hardware on your spars too? I believe CLC has advised this is unnecessary for the holes at the tip of the bow sprit and top of the mast....

Thanks,
Mark
mark48
 
Posts: 156
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2013 9:55 pm

Re: Rigging and pad eyes

Postby Bflat on Mon Oct 16, 2017 10:04 am

Yes, I drilled - filled - drilled all the holes on my spars (as well as pretty much every other hole on the boat). Spruce is excellent spar wood, but isn't particularly rot resistant. Jeff's jig seems like a great idea. next time I'll do that.
Bob
Bflat
 
Posts: 259
Joined: Sat Dec 03, 2011 12:15 am
Location: North Central Wisconsin, U.S.

Re: Rigging and pad eyes

Postby Shudoman on Mon Oct 16, 2017 10:10 am

Serendipity made me chime in on this subject. A short story...

My PocketShip was sailing in my driveway as IRMA approached. At that time I had the mast up and my custom full boat cover on. I hadn't sailed my boat since the FL 200 back in May as I had some minor maintenance items I needed to attend to and my schedule was too full to get to them. In preparation for the storm I took the cover off and went to drop the mast. To my horror I noticed that my bolt on tabernacle was very loose and moving around. I figured that it was because my acorn nuts had gotten loose so I went below to tighten them. Panic was starting to set in when I realized that they were tight. I went back up above to see if my bulkhead had separated from the cabin top (I've read of this happening and added addition tape/plywood to keep it in place). It had not separated but it appeared my tabernacle had rotted from behind. I unbolted it to find TERMITES had eaten up the back of my tabernacle!

Crap, I'll have to make another one, so I took it off and then checked to make sure the little bastards hadn't gotten to any of the boat. They hadn't. However when I was taking the mast off the tabernacle I noticed the mast felt soft around where the pivot bolt had gone through (I had NOT done the epoxy fill there). Those buggers got in through that hole and ate about 4 inches of wood above and below the pivot point.

Bottom line is now I'm building a new mast and tabernacle. To be sure I'll do a much better job of sealing both of them this time around. I just wonder how those guy got in through my well fitting boat cover on a boat that is a foot and half off the ground on a metal trailer!

Lesson learned...

Bill

btw boat survived Irma just fine. Parts of my house... that's another story...
Shudoman
 
Posts: 144
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 10:31 pm

Re: Rigging and pad eyes

Postby mark48 on Mon Oct 16, 2017 2:26 pm

Hi Bill,

Wow - what a story! Nasty bugs, and I'm sorry for the new work you now need to do to get back afloat.

Following CLC's instructions, I drill/fill/drilled the mast pivot hole and the bowsprit-to-tabernacle hole (and virtually every other hole in the boat)...but not the mounting holes on the spars for the individual pieces of sailing hardware. At least, not yet. I attached the sail track with the recommended sealant into otherwise plain holes into the spars.

I'm now working on the shroud and bob stay attachments, and as I noted in my earlier post CLC had recommended simply using sealant there too and avoiding the drill/fill/drill method. It would make for an impervious penetration, but they felt it was unnecessary. (And I don't believe the prototype received the drill/fill/drill treatment for the holes attaching its hardware to spars.)

All the best,
Mark
mark48
 
Posts: 156
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2013 9:55 pm

Re: Rigging and pad eyes

Postby Wayne G on Mon Oct 16, 2017 6:00 pm

I don't fully understand how Jeff's jig works. I can see how the guide tube on the approach side will ensure the bit drills at a repeatable angle but don't understand the purpose of tube on the receiving end as the hole will be completely drilled by the time the bit enters (or misses) that tube.

For the record, I drilled these 4 thru-holes by eye and followed the instructions in the manual by coating the screws with silicone before driving them through to the other side. By drilling from above you get better control of the drill angle.

I have seen less fancy versions of Jeff's jig where a hole is bored in a piece of wood like the wide side of a 2x4 which is then clamped to the spar and a long bit is then used to pass through the guide hole and then through the spar. For just 4 holes, could probably get away with this, or make 2 jigs, one for each set of holes. There are also drill guide kits which use metal bushing inserts (a little closer to Jeff's setup) available for about $20.
Wayne Gray
Orlando Florida
Wayne G
 
Posts: 88
Joined: Thu Jul 14, 2016 11:19 am


Return to PocketShip Forum

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 21 guests

cron