25D Mast Hinge Installation Questions

Discussions about Cape Dory, Intrepid and Robinhood sailboats and how we use them. Got questions? Have answers? Provide them here.

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Oswego John
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Mast Hinge

Post by Oswego John »

Bill, Jeff G and all,

When making holes in stainless steel (ss), if you don't drill your own, take the plate to a machine shop and they will punch the holes out for you. That's how the manufacturer made the plate's existing holes.

Give the shop exact measurements taken from the forward/aft axis and the beam axis lines. This is important for your spreader alignment.

If the new hinge is either 1 1/2" high or 2" high, slice off either 1 1/2" or 2" respectively from the bottom of the mast. This way, the length of the shrouds and stays will still be the correct length.

To isolate the aluminum mast from the ss hinge, some people smear on a plating coat of an oxide preventer such as No-Ox-Id paste or maybe Tef-Gel. A less messy isulator can be made out of sheet vinyl. Others use strips of a good quality electrical (3M) black vinyl insulating tape which can be easily trimmed to shape.

Keep in mind that if you isolate the mast from the hinge and compression post, and you use them in a lightning discharge system, you will be interrupting the path from the mast tip to the plate on the hull, if any.

Good luck with your project,
O J
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George Shaunfield
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and Westsail 28
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Mast Raising and Lowering

Post by George Shaunfield »

Bill,

I sent an email to you with the procedure and three pictures. Also, I forwarded an email received in October from Kurt about the procedure (virtually identical) he uses on his CD27.

Best regards,
George
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barfwinkle
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So OJ

Post by barfwinkle »

If the new hinge is either 1 1/2" high or 2" high, slice off either 1 1/2" or 2" respectively from the bottom of the mast.
While I have yet to decide definitely, I am "listing" towards your suggestion.

Now, How do I do that and ensure a good square cut?

What type of saw?

I have used a circular saw to cut Aluminum in the past, but am a bit skiddish about taking a buzz saw to a perfectly good (and expensive) chunk of extruded aluminum?

TIA and stay warm.
Bill Member #250.
Oswego John
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Slicing The Butt End Of The Mast

Post by Oswego John »

Bill,

What I do is measure around the mast. Determine its circumference.

Make a mark on the mast where you want to cut the mast.

Take a piece of stiff paper that is about one and a half times longer than the mast's circumference. If necessary, glue a second piece of paper with a lap joint onto the end of the first piece to extend the length.

Holding one edge of the paper on the mark you made on the mast, wrap the paper around the mast so that the end of the paper passes over the other end and overlaps itself.

Adjust the paper so that the edge of the upper lap of the paper is even with and runs parallel to the edge of the lower lap of paper.

Take a pencil (I use a Sharpie felt tip marker) and draw a continuous line around the mast by following the edge of the paper.

I use a fine toothed band saw to make the cut. A hack saw with a 24 0r 32 tooth blade will work fine. As you cut the metal, try to have a second person roll the mast so that once you make the first penetration through the stock, try to keep the angle of attack so that part of the blade is riding in the kerf and part of it is cutting the edge of new metal.

Using a medium to fine cut file, remove any burrs from the inner and outer edges of the new cut.

Measure twice, cut once. :D

Good luck,
O J
PS: The gasket material worked fine. Thanks.
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Ed Haley
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Re: Slicing The Butt End Of The Mast

Post by Ed Haley »

Oswego John wrote:
Measure twice, cut once. :D
OJ:
That's the last thing I said to my doctor before he gave me a new knee. He laughed but he knew it was a carpentry axiom.
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rtbates
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Location: 1984 25D #161

Post by rtbates »

I'd put a metal cutting blade in my chop saw. Mount the mast supported on saw horses and cut away. IF you are careful with mounting the mast such that it is square with the saw blade and clamp it down good the cut should be just about perfect...
Randy 25D Seraph #161
Oswego John
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Cutting The Mast

Post by Oswego John »

Randy,

That's another good way to cut it. An excellent suggestion.

O J
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barfwinkle
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Post by barfwinkle »

Thanks to all

OJ, I never thought of using the band saw (which I have).

Randy I had thought of using the Chop Saw (which I dont have).

I had thought of using a circular saw with a fine toothed blade, but the concern is that of getting everything set up in such a manner that a "Tadpole" (such as me) can garner the nerve to cut a VERY VERY expensivs piece of aluminum WITHOUT screwing the pouch!

Thanks to all for your responses.
Bill Member #250.
Oswego John
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FWIW

Post by Oswego John »

Barfwinkle and all,

I would never encourage anyone to use this method when cutting an expensive mast.

I was out in Idaho, a few years back, helping one of my sons put a new corrugated, galvanized, sheet metal roof on his stable.

He installed piece after piece of the vertically run roofing until that half of the roof was completed. I wondered how he was going to trim the irregular edges along the eave.

We snapped a chalkline along the cut. He then put a ratty old blade in his circular saw BACKWARDS. The saw did a pretty good job of slicing through the metal roofing, even the double thickness at the interlocking joints.

Talk about decibels. The noise it made would wake the dead. But it did the job at hand.

FWIW,
O J (Green Bay Cheese Heads or NY Giants?)
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tartansailor
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WHY?

Post by tartansailor »

WHY?? Cut your mast???
You are making an irreversible change, and suppose it does not work out; Then what?
For one thing how do you know for sure that your standing rigging will in fact be too short?
and
What's wrong with adding a clevis if they are too short.
You should already have clevises if you lower your mast by yourself, just get longer ones.

Dick
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barfwinkle
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Post by barfwinkle »

You know Dick the first time I heard the suggestion I had the exact same response
WHY?? Cut your mast???
As Capt Sparrow states "why the rum"!

I pre-measured the rigging prior to dropping the mast and I think all of the wire is long enough with the exception of the fore and aft stays. I have two toggles for them. Also, if things go according to plan, I'll be getting new rigging for my birthday, so what I think I'll do is find a way to make the old rigging work just for practice and when I get the new rigging, I'll have it cut to the appropriate length.

Problem solved.

Anyway, thanks to all for the comments and ideas.

ITS freaking cold in Oklahoma, but I know the northern brethren are truly in the deep freezer!

Fair Winds
Bill Member #250.
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winthrop fisher
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hey

Post by winthrop fisher »

:) well ever one has said it all,
just my two cents worth,
the hinge from rig rite will works on allot of boats and the wiring is simple to do your self.
winthrop
trapper
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hinged mast step

Post by trapper »

I am going to try to replace my mast step with a hinged step.

This is probably a stupid question but why cant I take off the old step base and send it to someone like Buzz Ballenger at Ballenger Spars and have the installation holes match the old step

Also, my brother used to have a MacGregor 26X--it had its problems but--it had a great mast raising system. Has anyone ever tried that system on a CD?
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