25 Sept 11 Last week I drove up to visit my best friend Steve for some welding (since he clearly does not have enough to do). I have written about him on this site before. We have been friends since college. He is a retired fighter pilot and a master of many trades: sailor, home builder, soccer coach, artist, small business owner, arborist, IT master, mechanic, godfather of my kids, etc. And, he is truly a "Thousandth Man." He is one of those guys that can fix just about anything. He is currently building an airplane in his shop. Click here to visit his site. Last year he taught himself to weld with Oxy-Acetylene, but recently upgraded to a TIG welder and has been learning its many ways. So, instead of casting the stanchion brackets that need to also support a raised bulwark, he suggested we try to weld them. Having never welded bronze before, he did some research to figure out how to approach it. I ordered a small sheet of 1/4" silicon bronze and some one inch ID silicon bronze tubing from Atlas Metals. After making some drawings, we cut out the parts for a test pattern on his metal band saw. He made a few test runs and then welded up the test pattern. Though Steve was not impressed with his first effort welding the bronze bracket, I think it came out pretty darn good. Because it will eventually go completely green, all the little imperfection and grinding marks that I failed to remove won't be noticeable. By the time we are finished I have no doubt he will be an expert welder of bronze. I would not be surprised if he starts welding bronze art work in his spare time.
Welded bronze stanchion-bulwark bracket.
In the photos below you can see how the one we made compares to the ones I had made by a local SS fabricator who welded on the brackets to a stanchion bracket that came off the boat. I didn't think they were very strong. The SS bracket to the far right is designed to provide extra support to the bulwark. The plan is to install six stanchion/bulwark support brackets on each side of the boat. Then we will add six bulwark support brackets on each side, alternating them with the stanchion support brackets, designed to provide extra support to the bulwark. They will be patterned on the SS one I designed last summer which is pictured below. The one big change is we won't build the new brackets angled to accommodate the 6 degree deck slope. Instead, I will install beveled teak wedges under the brackets. The brackets are much easier to build that way and I can cut each wedge to better align the brackets so they are exactly vertical.
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3 Dec 11 We took few days off over Thanksgiving to travel and link up with all my brother and sisters. We had a fine time. Other than that, work has continued even though I have not made a post in a while. Last week, I rolled and tipped three coats of Interlux Pre-Kote primer to the overhead v-groove panels. I sanded between coats with 220. After the last coat of primer I sanded with 320. Next, I rolled and tipped two coats of Interlux Brightside sanding in between with 320. I am pleased with how they came out. Because the temperatures dropped, I had to move the painting into the guest room over the garage where we could control the temperatures. I spread drop cloths, set up the portable work bench to paint off of, and laid down some 2x4 supports so the panels would be off the floor. After the painting the last coat I left them to try for four or five days to cure before we handle them and install them in the boat.
While I was in Virginia visiting family, I linked up with my best friend Steve http://www.mypiet.com/ He has spent his evenings for the last couple of weeks welding up the bronze stanchion bases and support brackets for the bulwark. He is amazing. He has not been welding that long but he can do just about anything. I think they look fantastic. We worked on the design together over the phone and skype in the early fall. I ordered some bronze from Atlas Metal and had it shipped to Steve house. I was up there in Sept and we built a single prototype. Once we were satisfied he went to town cutting the remaining parts out (a tedious and boring job) and welding them up. There are 24 brackets: 12 stanchion supports and 12 support brackets. Do I need to mention I owe him big time?
The plan is to mount the stanchion supports about every six feet and in between them mount the support brackets. They are all 5" H X 3 1/2" L X 3" W. They are built out of 1/4" silicon bronze. We designed them so I can drill a hole in the horizontal half moons for the stanchion bases and in the gussets of the support bracket and fasten shackles to them for halyards, preventers, etc.
Yesterday I radiused the corners using a template and a 4 1/2" angle grinder. I spent today polishing them up with a a special cake polishing compund and buffing wheel attached to my big grinder and clamped to a portable work bench. I wasn't looking for perfection since we will let them turn green with verdigris just like the rest of the external bronze. The buffing wheels slowly shred apart as you polish so I needed to do it out side. Last time I did this in my shop and it was a mess afterwards.
All these brackets will be bolted through the deck with backing plates. The raised bulwark will be through-bolted to the vertical plates.
The buffing wheels start out much bigger but slowly shred as you polish.
I spent a lot of time sorting out how to best install the bulwark and stanchion brackets . . . time was spent test drilling the bronze to see what is in the art of the possible regarding fastener options. Yesterday, the interior of the lockers were sanded and taped in preparation for varnishing which, with luck, will take place today. I bought a shockingly expensive teak plank to be milled as wedges under the stanchion and bulwark brackets.
Spacing options. Note the mockup for the beveled wedge under the stanchion base.
19 Feb 12
The focus of this past week's effort has been the installation of the stanchion bases and the bulwark brackets. Basically, as of this evening I have completed the temporarily installation all the stanchion bases. It was a heck of a lot of work but I am pleased with the results, so far. The only thing holding back the completion of the installation of the stanchion bases is the arrival of some longer bronze bolts. The gist of it is that until I actually drilled the holes I could not know how thick the deck would be, therefore I could not be sure of how long the bolts needed to be. One of the photos below shows that there is maybe 1/4" of the bolt protruding through the inward turning deck flange. The inboard bolts have no issue . . . they are plenty long enough to include a 1/2" fiberglass backing plate I'll install this week. I'll use a 1/4" backing plate for out outboard bolts. But, of course it is more complicated than that . . . of course it is! The gap between the upper horizontal support on the stanchion base (I call it the "half-moon") and the lower base plate is 2 1/2". That is how long the bolts are. But, due to the combined thickness of the deck, inward turning flange, and the teak wedge I need 3" long bolts in order to have enough threads to install a backing plate. So, how will I get the longer bolts through the hole in the base with the "half-moon" preventing the longer bolt from sliding into the hole in the base plate? The only answer I could come up with is to drill holes in the half moon directly over the outboard holes in the base plate. The upper hole will allow the bolt to be dropped through the half-moon and into the lower hole. There are several advantage of the large holes in the half moon. First, it is the only way to get the long bolt into the base. Second, the hole in the half moon will allow access for a screw driver to hold the bolts while they are tightened from inside the boat. Last, a shackle and be fastened to the hole for any reason I may need one there--securing halyards or attaching one end of a vang/preventer.
The photo below depicts test drilling of two holes in the original test stanchion base. I drilled a 5/8" and 9/16" hole. I like the 9/16" hole better. It leaves a little more "meat" on the outside edge of the "half-moon." I can't be sure which hole will work though till the longer bolts arrive. In the meantime I decided to get a head start installing the base stanchion bases.
I started off by drilling pilot holes in the stanchion bases at the Camp Lejeune Machine Hobby Shop. It's a great resource even though I would rather do as much work as I can in my own shop. But, they have a nice slow turning floor mount drill press and a great selection of large diameter bits. I could not complete the job there as I was unable to determine what the best size would be for the hole above the base plate . . . and I did not want to rush the decision. So, after drilling out the four pilot holes in each stanchion base and the two test holes in the half moon I returned home. After measuring and some experimentation I decided the 3" bolts would do the job. I made some phone calls and put in an order for 3" long, 5/16", bronze, roundhead, bolts. Next, I went to work cutting the teak wedges, drilling holes, and temporarily installing the stanchion bases. It went pretty smooth. I worked carefully and deliberately. The hardest part was drilling through the unique Cape Dory steel weldment that runs under the inward turning flange and to which the pad-eye chain plates are through bolted to (the weldment is about 44" long and only one stanchion base had to be installed in that area. It is important to also get the teak wedges right so the vertical plate on the stanchion bases (and the same for the bulwark brackets that I'll install next) are vertical and consistently offset from the edge of the deck. I built a small jig to help keep everything accurate. I ultimately decided on using five stanchions, per side, spaced seven feet apart. The bulwark support brackets will be positioned half way between the stanchions so the bulwark will be supported every 3.5 feet with a 1/4" silicon bronze bracket (stanchion base or support bracket) bolted through the deck and through the bulwark itself.
I decided a while back that I would eliminate the stern pulpit and the bow pulpit. With the windvane, boom gallows, and perhaps a sculling oar the stern pulpit cluttered up the stern of the boat. We will run a safety line across the stern from one stanchion to the other. With the Cape Horn Windvane there is very little room to squeeze through anyway. The rest of the week will be spent working on a mock up bulwark to insure the proper placement of the bulwark support brackets.
