Cruisers Forum
 


Reply
  This discussion is proudly sponsored by:
Please support our sponsors and let them know you heard about their products on Cruisers Forums. Advertise Here
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Rate Thread Display Modes
Old 13-12-2010, 07:25   #1
Registered User
 
SvenG's Avatar

Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: East Coast
Boat: 382 Diesel Duck
Posts: 1,176
'Drilling' the Large Holes in Binnacle Guards

How do you make the large (almost 1") holes in SS binnacle guards ?

Do I have to have it done professionally or can it be a DIY task ?

Thanks,



-Sven
__________________
Shiplet
2007 Diesel Duck 382
SvenG is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 13-12-2010, 07:57   #2
Moderator Emeritus
 
FrankZ's Avatar

Cruisers Forum Supporter

Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Chesapeake Bay
Boat: Bristol 35 Bellesa
Posts: 13,564
Images: 1
I used a hole saw for metal and a table top drill press.

Add some patience and it went just fine.
__________________
Sing to a sailor's courage, Sing while the elbows bend,
A ruby port your harbor, Raise three sheets to the wind.
......................-=Krynnish drinking song=-
FrankZ is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 13-12-2010, 08:09   #3
Registered User
 
cburger's Avatar

Join Date: May 2006
Location: Nyack, NY
Boat: Westsail 32
Posts: 1,690
Images: 1
Surely can be perforemed on you own. Stainless being a very tough material to bore through, I would reccommend tungston carbide bits rhat are new and sharp. If you can get access to a drill press there are special pipe jigs to clamp your rail to the drill press base. You want to start with a small bit and drill a pilot holes, then the idea is to use successfully larger and larger bits and step your way up to the hole size you require. Do not force the bits when they are cutting, a couple of drops of cutting oil every once and awhile to aid the process. Make sure to wrap the tube anywhere there is metal to metal contact in order to prevent sdcratching. Safety glasses are a must.
cburger is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 13-12-2010, 11:49   #4
Registered User
 
Sailbad's Avatar

Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 39
Do NOT wipe swarf away with a bare hand, use a brush!
__________________
Sailbadoften
Sailbad is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 13-12-2010, 12:01   #5
Moderator
 
Pete7's Avatar

Cruisers Forum Supporter

Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Solent, England
Boat: Moody 31
Posts: 18,398
Images: 22
Sven, I am guessing you trying to fit throttle cables to the binnacle?

If so before you start drilling is there a better way, because folk are really going to hang onto that rail when your sailing and its rough, so with a 1" hole in it there isn't going to be a lot of metal left.

So is there another option perhaps?

Btw, there are now super dooper throttle cables that are half the thickness and bend to a much smaller radius. The quicksilver ones are twice the price but really are super smooth and bend much more easily. Might be worth considering.

Pete
Pete7 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 13-12-2010, 12:10   #6
Eternal Member
 
Chief Engineer's Avatar

Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: North of Baltimore
Boat: Ericson 27 & 18' Herrmann Catboat
Posts: 3,798
Are you drilling into the SS Tubing?

A picture would help.
Chief Engineer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 13-12-2010, 12:13   #7
Registered User
 
SvenG's Avatar

Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: East Coast
Boat: 382 Diesel Duck
Posts: 1,176
Peter,

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pete7 View Post
Sven, I am guessing you trying to fit throttle cables to the binnacle?
No, it's the Radar, AIS, GPS, Depth/speed/temp, and Wind cables to the chartplotter display. The old binnacle was 1" SS tubing and we're installing a new one that is 1.25" in diameter. More robust (considerably) and with more room for some of the larger connectors. The holes will be above natural grab height, I hope.

Thanks for all the earlier replies too. It will be interesting :-)



-Sven
__________________
Shiplet
2007 Diesel Duck 382
SvenG is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 13-12-2010, 12:23   #8
Moderator
 
Pete7's Avatar

Cruisers Forum Supporter

Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Solent, England
Boat: Moody 31
Posts: 18,398
Images: 22
Sven, the reason I ask is faced with the same problem, I ran all the cables down the centre of the Binnacle because the main vertical steering shaft is hollow and wide enough for just about anything. Saved a lot of work trying to drill the stainless steel guard rail.

Pete
Pete7 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 13-12-2010, 12:29   #9
Eternal Member
 
Chief Engineer's Avatar

Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: North of Baltimore
Boat: Ericson 27 & 18' Herrmann Catboat
Posts: 3,798
It's just me, but I wouldn't try to ram all those cables thru the 1.25" tubing. I would consider running a dedicated conduit. It would take some figuring out/sketching. But you may be happier in the long (wire)
run. Just my two centavos.
Chief Engineer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 13-12-2010, 13:12   #10
Registered User
 
skipgundlach's Avatar

Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Currently on the boat, somewhere on the ocean, living the dream
Boat: Morgan 461 S/Y Flying Pig
Posts: 2,298
Send a message via Skype™ to skipgundlach
Quote:
Originally Posted by SvenG View Post
Peter,



No, it's the Radar, AIS, GPS, Depth/speed/temp, and Wind cables to the chartplotter display. The old binnacle was 1" SS tubing and we're installing a new one that is 1.25" in diameter. More robust (considerably) and with more room for some of the larger connectors. The holes will be above natural grab height, I hope.

Thanks for all the earlier replies too. It will be interesting :-)



-Sven
Addressing both concerns:

When I did my SS rails (1") I used a drill press for the sections which would meet the solid stanchion tube, allowing them to nest up to it and minimize the twist. Even size-to-size, using a metal hole saw, it went easily, if carefully, with low speed and oil lubrication. I second using graduated sized bits to start the first hole and enlarge it to the size of the leader drill on the hole
saw, however, as it will be orders of magnitude easier to start a very (like 1/16 or less) small drill bit in a dimple created by an awl. The larger bit will want to wander around before it bites.

As to how much you're going to try to stuff in a 1.25" hole, have you held those wires with a wire tie to see how much room you'll have? With an AIS and radar cable (both pretty big) plus the smaller ones, it might be a very tight fit.

My solution was to run one each of the large cables on the two legs of the binnacle guard (presume you'll be mounting a pod?) and then the smaller ones next to them. A spray or wipe-down with corrosion block or similar will help them slide easier and also provide some protection. I fished them one at a time, which also made things easier. I pulled a new fish line with each succeeding new cable so I didn't have to try to just force it. A pull on the fish line with a push on the bottom made them all come up easily...

If you have the means to do so, don't forget to use a grommet on the raw edge of the SS when you're done, to prevent cuts. You could either feed the lines through it as you went, or split it, putting the split at the top or bottom or side, whichever one would not have normal pressure on it from the wires (in mine, it's the top due to the angle the wires leave the pedestal).

HTH

L8R

Skip
__________________
Morgan 461 #2 SV Flying Pig, KI4MPC
See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery!
skipgundlach is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 13-12-2010, 14:18   #11
Registered User
 
SvenG's Avatar

Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: East Coast
Boat: 382 Diesel Duck
Posts: 1,176
Quote:
Originally Posted by skipgundlach View Post
As to how much you're going to try to stuff in a 1.25" hole, have you held those wires with a wire tie to see how much room you'll have? With an AIS and radar cable (both pretty big) plus the smaller ones, it might be a very tight fit.
Most of the cables will be the relatively thin simnet cables but the plug on the radar was the last straw as far as the 1" tubing was concerned. I really didn't want to cut and splice it after the manual said "don't".

I think we'll be doing ok with the two larger cables first, one in each leg, and the smaller to follow. The sharp edges were going to be a major dremel task.

Thanks,


-Sven
__________________
Shiplet
2007 Diesel Duck 382
SvenG is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 13-12-2010, 15:11   #12
Moderator Emeritus
 
FrankZ's Avatar

Cruisers Forum Supporter

Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Chesapeake Bay
Boat: Bristol 35 Bellesa
Posts: 13,564
Images: 1
Quote:
Originally Posted by SvenG View Post
. The sharp edges were going to be a major dremel task.

Thanks,


-Sven

Mine took just a couple minutes, and I did 4 (2 upper and 2 lower). Remember you aren't going for looks so much as getting any edge gone.
__________________
Sing to a sailor's courage, Sing while the elbows bend,
A ruby port your harbor, Raise three sheets to the wind.
......................-=Krynnish drinking song=-
FrankZ is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 13-12-2010, 17:03   #13
Registered User

Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Sailing from NC
Boat: 1999 IP40, Charbonneau
Posts: 82
Just installed a new Garmin Chart plotter on Charbonneau. Garmin uses a Cat 5 crossover cable to connect Depth sounding devices to the Chartplotter. But, Garmin's cat 5 cable has a HUGE plug on the end...no way it was going through the 30 and 90 degree pipe bends on my new pedestal guard! Solution...went to the local Staples Office Supply and bought a regular crossover cable...it worked!

Bill
bchaps is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 13-12-2010, 18:07   #14
Moderator Emeritus
 
capngeo's Avatar

Cruisers Forum Supporter

Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Key West & Sarasota
Boat: Cal 28 "Happy Days"
Posts: 4,210
Images: 12
Send a message via Yahoo to capngeo Send a message via Skype™ to capngeo
I've found Unibits to be very effective for large holes in thin material.
__________________
Any fool with a big enough checkbook can BUY a boat; it takes a SPECIAL type of fool to build his own! -Capngeo
capngeo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 13-12-2010, 18:24   #15
Registered User
 
SvenG's Avatar

Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: East Coast
Boat: 382 Diesel Duck
Posts: 1,176
Quote:
Originally Posted by capngeo View Post
I've found Unibits to be very effective for large holes in thin material.
Would be great except they would come out the other side of the tube.

Went with the hole-saw and the first one is done. The hole for the arbor was actually the tough part, the holesaw itself probably took less than 2 minutes !

I was being really conservative on the rpms to keep from overheating and used cutting oil (what a mess) throughout. One more to go and then the 4 threaded mounting hole screws after that.

'preciate all the suggetions !


-Sven
__________________
Shiplet
2007 Diesel Duck 382
SvenG is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
For Sale: Antique Brass Binnacle Cover Orange_Whip Classifieds Archive 0 21-03-2010 15:52
Compass Binnacle Mounting Problem... Christian Van H Construction, Maintenance & Refit 7 01-03-2010 12:23
Drilling Holes in Gelcoat ggray Construction, Maintenance & Refit 10 29-01-2010 21:26
Leaky Edson Steering Binnacle bobfnbw Construction, Maintenance & Refit 5 03-12-2009 08:36
Prop Cages/Guards? ssullivan Engines and Propulsion Systems 17 19-04-2008 16:02

Advertise Here


All times are GMT -7. The time now is 03:54.


Google+
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Social Knowledge Networks
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.

ShowCase vBulletin Plugins by Drive Thru Online, Inc.