Sail Boat Binnacle

Cobra

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Apr 24, 2013
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Friend bought a "new-to-him" sailboat with the intent of restoring it to shape.
The boat has great lines and was originally custom built by the shop foreman of the shipyard for himself.
After my friend had torn out and re-built all of the interior wood over the first winder he had it, we were sailing and he said he would like to add a combination grab bar and instrument support to the binnacle. (the support tower that holds the compass and wheel)

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This is the binnacle as it was. He was looking for a stainless bar to go from the deck in a hoop to a point above the dome that covered the compass.

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Looking at it, it looked like they had a plastic separator under the compass. We wondered if you could replace that nylon piece with a support for the hoop. Turns out when we took it apart that it is just a spacer.

Decided to make the support out of a combination. There would be a 3/4 inch piece of Delrin with a plate of 0.60" stainless steel on the bottom to provide support as a grab rail.

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Turned out to be a large enough part that I had to cut segments and then re-fixture the part to cut the next section. The delrin was a wonder to cut - the stainless not so much. Rather than making separate pieces, I used double sided tape to join the two together and then milled them as one piece.

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Completed part. Then on to making the feet and the hoop.

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The hoop was made in three pieces with a centre holding two 90 degree bends that travel through the plate and attach to feet that were bolted through the deck.

Finished Product installed on the deck.

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Worked out very well. Provides a place for installation of instruments and autopilot and in rough weather, a grab rail for the person at the helm.
 
Very nicely done! I enjoyed making a helm wheel for my tug boat and got a lot of complements just like you and your friend have or will receive. Again , very nicely designed and built.
 
Clean and beautiful, nice job!
 
Thanks for the comments guys.
One thing I learned for sure, there has to be a better way of holding the two pieces together than double sided carpet tape. It stuck gooey crap all over the cutters, holding chips and creating heat.
 
Nice job. Looks like it belongs there. Mike
 
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