Tanzer 16 Hinged Mast Retrofit -- Part 6 -- Attaching the plugs to the hinge

Tanzer 16 Hinged Mast Retrofit -- Part 6 -- Attaching the plugs to the hinge  -- September 19, 2014.   I used to make fewer mistakes when I smoked.  I would sit down and look at the job, think a bit, and then say to myself, "Hell, that isn't going to work."  Luckily I got called away after I layed out the work to drill the holes in the hinge.  I centered the plugs fore and aft on the hinge.  Oops!  When I got back I realized the mast is a different shape than the plug.  This is the real layout.

Remember--you are seeing this as I build it.  I haven't finished yet.  There will undoubtedly be mistakes made along the way.  Don't take a hacksaw to your mast until we see if this works.  jim

This drawing was just used to obtain the rough spacing.  Unfortunately

only one of the factory drilled holes would fit one of the plug drilled

holes.

With the rough spacing established, time to drill holes in the plugs.  Find the centerline by making the outline of the plug on paper.  Then cut it out, fold it in half--centerline line.

I was incredibly careful when drilling the holes in the hinge and the plugs, and the plugs still were not exactly lined up square on the hinge.  So I did what all home shop guys do; I made the plug holes a tad bigger and lined the plugs up square and then bolted them down tight.  I used stainless fasteners and put some silicone under the plugs and in the holes.  You could probably drill the holes in the hinge with a hand-held drill, but the steel is extremely hard; you will need a very sharp bit, and a drill press really helps.

You won't be seeing these nuts again once they are attached to the mast

so use lock nuts with nylon inserts.

The final result fit really well.  Now it really is time to sailor-up and cut the mast.  My crew isn't available until next week so it will have to wait.  Only eight months until the next race.

Some stainless sheet metal screws will attach the mast and kingpost to the 

plugs.

(Looking at these pictures, I'm thinking maybe my workbench top could use a new sheet of Masonite.)

Today's cliche:  The nice thing about stating the obvious is that you will only be wrong about 30 percent of the time.