I must give Bill at Boats 4 Sail credit for this. When we picked our boat up 18 months ago he showed me something he was making to adjust the shrouds on the boat. Since I have not seen this anywhere I will assume that he will not be marketing the idea.
I went out and picked up Vice Grip clamping pliers for about $25 last year and a couple of drill bits to make this device... after a year and about 10+ drill bits I still did not have it made yet (I could not drill through the hardened steel!) I have one hole partially through and the second hole halfway. I went out today to Lowes to buy some more drill bits to finish my project. When I walked over to tools I saw KOBALT locking pliars for $15. These were different... the ends had pop rivited base plates on the jaws. When I looked at it I figured I can easily grind the rivets off and use the existing holes to put my bolts through. 10 minutes after I was home it was made!! The rivets came off easily and it worked perfectly it is a handy tool when short-handed or if you are all thumbs....
It will hold the stays uder tension as you slide the clevis pin in
This looks just like the ticket!
Simple to modify, simple to use, and inexpensive.
I now adjust my rig using the mast raising pole. More steps involved, but also effective in a slower way. Also maybe somewhat slightly safer, considering the rigging tensions involved.
Install the mast raiser. Unpin the forestay, lower the mast a turn or two on the mast raising winch to take the strain off the stays, reposition the stay adjusters, re-raise the couple of turns, re-pin the forestay, then evaluate the results.
I just might look for the tool you describe.
Thanks for the tip.
Try cobalt steel drills and slow speed with some cutting fluid/coolant (water with some cutting oil emulsified in it). That might get throught the hardened steel.
I like the pliers idea, but does anyone have a cheap way to measure the tension. Those deflection "gauges" leave me cold but I do not want to invest in some machinist dial thingerabob. And speaking of tension, is there a consensious for the Ms yet, the more I add to get a little rear deflection, the harder it is to rotate the mast so now I have to add the mod to run lines aft for rotating the mast.
When I was at BWY they had a simple tool for this purpose. They sell them but I don't think they are really looking to market it. Cheryl said they are easy to make yourself.
It's a stick with 2 bolts like the the bolts in your tool.
Take a strong piece of wood about 12-18" long, drill 2 holes and put the bolts through on end. Bolt spacing a few inches apart.
Now you can insert one bolt into a shroud and the other into the shroud you want to adjust. Pull down on the stick to relieve the tension and you can remove the pin and put it in the new hole. The stick provide leverage.
VERY Simple tool.
I'm no artist, but this is kind of what it looks like
I like the pliers idea, but does anyone have a cheap way to measure the tension
tangentair,
Had a drawing for a homemade rig tension gauge, can't find it. Originally got it from the web somewhere.
If remembering correctly it had a two or three foot long stick with a couple pins throught it and a cheap fish scale as a parts list. Most expensive thing was the fish scale. I'll continue to look for it.
SK
I've just built one to your spec and she works like a hot dam.
I purchased 2 Stamasters for my lower shrouds but I used it for the uppers. No complaints at all. With tax, the grips were 18 bucks and the bolts were out of my tool box. I used lock nuts on the ends after insertion to prevent the two parts of the adjuster from taking off.
I added turnbuckles to my upper and mid stays 3 years ago. I like the way I can adjust them. Just my 2 cents. I removed the baby stays as I think the are pretty much useless, and I can raise the mast using a mod here that puts me in front of the mast.
There is a way to use two awls to adjust the rig. It is easier to do than explain, but you have to keep your wits about you.
TWO TAPERED AWLS, of good quality hard steel (stay out of the Chinese bargain bin ) pointed and tapered with a diameter of just slightly smaller than the size of the adjuster holes, but having a point that will enter the smaller spaces of partially blocked holes. Hardware stores usually have the right size as the most common.
Assuming that your mast is up and the stays are attached and pinned at the adjusters already, starting from where your adjusters are presently pinned, to tighten them more, find a hole set that is not lined up exactly, but which would tighten the tension if they did get lined up.... Stick in the first awl and work it in tighter until the tension on the pin is relieved enough to let the pin wiggle, undo the ring-ding or wire or cotter pin whatever and remove the pin, WHILE THE AWL IS STILL IN keeping the adjuster together. Then find another hole that would make the stays tighter and stick in the other awl. When the stays are secured with the second awl, remove the first one. Then work the second awl in until it is in far enough to be past the taper, on the flat diameter, so it can't be squeezed out by the shroud tension. By degrees, working the two awls into different holes one after the other, in it is easy to move the adjuster's plates while under tenson. Adjustment needs to be by degrees anyway, and this allows you to keep track of how tight/loose the stay is getting.
To reduce tension and loosen the stay some, reverse the process finding apropriate successive holes.
Note that you are doing this without wind-sail tension on the stay, (surely) and that doing one stay at a time, means that the other one will maintain the mast up.
I keep two awls, tethered together with about three feet of line, to avoid dropping one into the drink. Just wrap the tether line one turn around the base of the shroud you are working on. Note that the awls are also functionally the same as the familiar marine marlinspike, real useful for unjamming tight knots in halyards, docklines, etc.
