Bunk brackets – Saturday, April 06, 2013 – Rain—lots of rain. By starting at 4:30, I steal a few hours for the boat.  So work goes inside the shop today, specifically work on the bunk brackets.  They were just too far gone to reuse—had to fabricate new ones.

Much easier to handle as one long piece, and easier to clamp the the table.

The shop really isn’t set up for metal—no metal band saw, no welder, no oxy/acetylene , but with a little ingenuity and some hacksaw work, a few simple tasks can be completed. It’s easier to work with a long piece of metal than a short ones.  Clamped a piece of angle stock to a piece of scrap wood, clamped that to the table of the drill press, drilled 12 holes, and then cut them apart.  Of course had to dress up the edges and corners with a file—seems like a waste of time, but for a few minutes work now, you don’t have to deal with cut fingers later.

 

How to drill sharp metal safely--not pretty--but effective.

 

.  Now to let them rust a little and apply paint.  In the meantime the bunks themselves can be remade with some exterior plywood and carpet. Just one of those deals—I didn’t really want to spend all this time on a trailer, but once we start racing, I don’t want to have to spend a lot of time messing around with a balky trailer.  Pay me now or pay me later.  I’d rather pay up on a rainy day than a sunny day when we should be sailing.

The new ones should last longer than me.