As many of you know we make a fair number of mastless trips. I've always hated the look of the empty mast step. Not happy with just a stub of aluminum I wanted something that looked better up on the deck.
To address this I made a 60" tall mast out of two pieces of starboard (Cut from a single 24" x 60" sheet). The boards cant in and are held together by through bolts with varying length aluminum tube spacers between them. It mounts to the outside of the mast step enclosing it and cleaning up the look of the deck. When all bolted together and in place it is a very rigid structure. The outer edges are routed with a round over bit making a nice smooth structure.
It has an all around masthead light at the top which is allowed on our small boats as long as the stern light is covered when under way at night. It also has a flag halyard and may in the future provide mounting space for other things. We're looking for some festive signal flags.
60" x 24" x 1/2" Starboard (Purchased at Boaters World) Still quite a bit left for other projects.
3/4" x 24" Aluminum Tube (Lowes) to make spaces from.
Assorted 3/8" and 1/4" SS bolts, Fender Washers, and Ny-Lock Nuts.
All Around pole light (Boaters World)
6' of 2 conductor wire and wire mounting clips (West Marine)
Perko Deck plug (West Marine)
I worked out the shape by eye looking for the necessary rake aft to look swoopy. I then measured out two identical sections along each long edge of the Starboard. I used the factory edge for the front edge so I knew I would have a nice straight line. Then I cut out the two sides using a jig saw. Note that the back bottom corner of each panel is radiused around the bolt hole so you can take out the front bolts and tilt the mast back flat to the deck. (I made this cut after I had fitted the mast and located the bolt holes before the edge rounding step.)
Then comes the fitting. Taking the boards up on the boat I marked and drilled where I needed the 4 holes at the step. These each get a 3/8" bolt with a fender washer on the starboard side. I couldn't easily find long enough bolts at the marine or the hardware store to use a pair of through bolts down there (the mast stepping ones are too short and I wanted to keep them with the mast anyway) so I just used 4 shorter ones.
Once I had the panels standing I went to work on the upper spacers. The gap at the bottom between the panels is the width of the step. The gap at the top is the width of the post the light is mounted on, around 3/4". The light I bought was a long 36" pole light made to go in a plug on the back of a run-about boat. It was only $16 at Boaters World and is rated for 2 mile visibility. I liked it because it is designed with almost the exact same rake back allowing it to match the mast angle yet still end up with a level light at the top. The pole is black fiberglass. I cut off the pole about 6" below the light (watch out for the wires), then drilled a hole through the pole for the bolt. The pole then becomes the spacer at the top front. A small screw also goes into the pole above the bolt keeping it from rotating around the bolt.
Now that these are in place the canting in of the panels is established. It's a simple task to then pick locations for, measure the gap and cut aluminum tube spacers for and drill holes for the other bolts. When these bolts are installed and tightened against the inside spacers a ladder like assembly is made that is very rigid. While I have told my family it is not a handle, it is very strong. I may actually down the road mount SS grab bars on each side of the mast.
Next was edge finishing. I used a std round over follow bit in my router to round the outer edges of both panels. Remember once cut out you are rounding over opposite sides of the panels.
I added a simple continuos line around the upper and lower spacers for the flag halyard and wired up the light to a plug that fits the stock deck outlet. The wire runs inside held flush to the port panel with clips and small screws.
One nice thing about this design which I ended up with after considering many others is it looks substantial enough from the side and angle views yet from behind when driving you can look right through it front to back.
Duane,
Looks great. Super idea and craftmanship!! Someone ought to look at making a kit for sale. As far as festive flags, signal flags, holiday lights, ect. an aluminum extension about six feet off the top of the motoring mast that you could run a line of flags from bow to stern would look great for "dress ship" occassions.
Next was edge finishing. I used a std round over follow bit in my router to round the outer edges of both panels. Remember once cut out you are rounding over opposite sides of the panels.
I don't have a router, but I do have a high-speed Roto-Zip and also a Dremel clone (by Ryobi). They spin at 20 to 35,000 rpms, so I thought I might try one of them for rounding over some oak corners. Problem is, I found only router bits, nothing for Dremel, etc. Also, the router bits were either quarter-inch or 3/8ths ... seemingly way too-large a radius for the little piece I'm fabricating. How do I just provide a nice curved relief over the corners of a small oak piece??
EDITING: Never mind! Rotozip and Dremel have tons of router accessories, just none in my local HmDepot. Still not quite sure about results from a quarter-inch bit, but I'm gonna buy one later today and experiment!
How do I just provide a nice curved relief over the corners of a small oak piece??
Are you looking to round over the edge of a length of wood? You can easily make several passes with a hand plane and finish with sandpaper, or use a powersander with progressively finer grits.
Right, I'd considered that too. In fact, absent a good choice at the hardware store later today, I'll do exactly what you recommended. I have sanding disks for both Ryobi and Rotozip, but I'm sure my B&D (vibrate-style) pad-sander would make for much easier control along the edge of my piece.
Since it's a mod for the boat, and I want to publish some pix here ...
I gotta make it somewhat presentable, eh??~!
I think you'll find it really hard to get a even round over with sanding disks. A random orbital vibrating type will be better. You'll get the best results of all with a belt sander. I've eased many an edge with mine.
Still no sander will give you that precise perfect edge like a router will.
A bit of research yesterday revealed that both Dremel (1/8" collet) and Rotozip (1/4" collet) offer roundover bits, but I haven't found a local source. Maybe they're just so difficult to use that demand never evolved.
I earlier thought that a quarter-inch bit would be too much, but now I think it's prolly what I'd want. A roundover is also available in 1/8" ... I'll check with our ONE REMAINING REAL HARDWARE STORE ... high-priced, high-quality.
Where I could get the starboard materials from?
As far as festive flags, signal flags, holiday lights, ect. an aluminum extension about six feet off the top of the motoring mast that you could run a line of flags from bow to stern would look great for "dress ship" occassions.
