Yikes! I think I'll learn to live with the slot I have. Thanks Phil.
At 02:09 PM 5/15/2006, you wrote:
Jeff, Cutting a new mast slot on a difficulty scale of 1 - 10 would have to be a 10+. Although it's easy when the mast is removed from the boat and you can find a machine shop capable (enough room for a mast or a roll-up door in the right spot) of getting area of the slot clamped on a vertical mill's table while supporting the rest of the spar on rollers, it would become a work of art to do it in-place. Being extremely handy (if the spar where laid down) I could see doing a router fixture with a guide bushing that clamped to the mast. Using extreme caution and oversized bushing to start, plus some shim bass stock to control cutting depth, one might be able to shave a narrow slot by cutting successive layers. Next down size the bushing in steps, and start shaving again. Each new bushing pass would cut closer to the final size until done. In place it would have to be a two day long Dremel Tool project using a carbide burr. I've melted the final flex drive in a Dremel on heavy work so it will need cool off time quite often. Obviously heavy gloves and safety glasses and someone around to drive you to the ER would be a must. The process will be sculpting a slot to a line or pattern. Bottom line if you were breaking taps a couple of days ago trying to cut a new slot with a machine tool will be very dangerous. If the wrong side of the tool rotation brushes the slot the tool will climb out of the slot cutting everything in its path. Phil -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, May 15, 2006 6:39 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: catalina27-talk: Next Question: How to cut new mast gate Hi Jeff, If your like most of us, your main is on the boom under a sail cover for most of the year, and you only use the mast slot when putting the sail on in the spring and taking it off in the fall. Why not just slide the boom down and out the sail slot and out of the way when installing and removing your main, twice a year? Hope that helps, Larry Taborek C27 Dixie Chicken > Jim. I raised my boom above the existing slot, so can't use that any > longer. And the boom attachment is bolted on, so I can't easily slide it > up > and down to utilize the old slot. I will have to cut a new one. I'm > thinking I'll need some kind of power cutting tool other than a hack saw, > and was wondering if anyone had cut a slot, and if so, what tool they > used. > Thanks. > > Jeff Sheler > s/v Windsome > C27TR #6594 > Hampton, VA > > At 11:18 AM 5/14/2006, you wrote: > >>Jeff, >> By mast gate do you mean the slot for inserting the sail slides or >>the "plates" that cover that slot to retain the slides? It seems that >>on my mast there are more than six inches from the normal boom location >>to the slot. So, raising the boom wouldn't seem to overlap the slot >>itself. I have aluminum plates -- mast gates -- to close the slot but >>they are only as long (well, slightly longer) than the slot. >> Next question: do you bend on the main and then leave it on using >>a sail cover when the main is lowered? >> Assuming the latter (and that you mean "the slot" above), I would >>lower the boom to the normal location, bend on the main, then raise the >>boom to our new location and leave it there until you want to remove >>the main again. >> Just my thoughts, in the absence of a visual of your situation. >> >>Jim Calleran, C27 #2784 >>Mathews Yacht Club, VA >> >> >>--- "Jeffery L. Sheler" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> >> > Having raised my boom 6 inches, I now have to cut a new mast gate. >> > Has >> > anyone done this? What kind of tool did you use? I'd appreciate any >> > tips. >> > Thanks. >> > >> > Jeff Sheler >> > s/v Windsome >> > C27TR #6594 >> > Hampton, VA >> > >> > >> > >> >>__________________________________________________ >>Do You Yahoo!? >>Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around >>http://mail.yahoo.com > > > > > Dixie Chicken is FOR SALE: You can view the boat at: http://www.taborek.net/Dixie_Chicken/For_Sale/For_Sale.shtml ----------------------------------------- Join ISP.COM today - $8.95 internet , less than 1/2 the cost of AOL Try us out, http://www.isp.com/
Jeff Sheler s/v Windsome C27TR #6594 Hampton, VA
