Mounting New Windlass

[rnjpinz]

I am removing my old windlass, and mounting my new Lighthouse 1501.
Deck is fiberglass / gel coat. I will obviously be doing some drilling (bolt holes) and cutting (chain drop squares). I have already had a bottom plate made for the below deck install. Is there anything special I should do to prep the top hull before drilling and cutting? Is a jig saw my best tool to cut my square chain thru holes?

Any advice appreciated.

Bob

[svHyLyte]

Bob--

It might be wise to contact Caliber about the install (Caliber Yachts Official Home Page). As to the jig saw, depending upon the blade that may chew-up the glass around the holes pretty well. You might find that a spiral blade in a drummel tool does a better job.

FWIW...

[Jesse]

To avoid tool nicks and scratches protect the work area with masking tape or other suitable material before laying out the drilling and cutting pattern. Jesse

[Eric M]

I am not familar with your new windlass, but why a square chain thru hole? I used a piece of PVC pipe to create a smooth path thru the deck and down into the chain locker.
If you need to cover over any existing holes, a piece of 1/2 teak to make a riser block could nicely cover your existing holes and then you can drill where you need for the new windlass.
If your deck has any sort of core material you need to take precautions to properly seal the holes (typically drill over size, fill with epoxy, then redrill to the proper size thru the middle of the epoxy so you have an epoxy seal around the perimeter of the hole). You don't want to rely on whatever adhesive you use to seal the mounting hardware to seal your core.
Good Luck

[rnjpinz]

I am not familar with your new windlass, but why a square chain thru hole?

The base of the lighthouse windlass already has rectangular cut outs for chain on both sides,

[Mi2ndWind]

Were it me, I would use a hole saw to make the holes under the mounting plate, then seal the open edge with thickened epoxy. Trying to cut square holes with a reciprocating blade would be more difficult and open the possibility of gel cracks emanating from the points of the corners under the stress of dislodging/raising anchor. Any stress loads in the area of the cutouts would be distributed evenly around a curved opening, but a rectangular one would concentrate loads more in the corners. If you are set on making the holes rectangular, drill each corner first with a bit big enough to fit the reciprocating saw blade you intend to use, then connect the dots. the rounded corners will relieve local stress loads better than just a corner point, minimizing the potential for future gel cracks. A good masking tape along the cut line will help alot with the edge chipping. Good luck!

[rnjpinz]

One idea that I was given and thought it might work is to start my 6 bolt holes using a spade drill 1/6 bigger than my bolt holes. The 2 outer blades or teeth would score the gel coat and prevent chiping when I drilled my bolt holes the rest of the way.

Another idea was to use my hand grinder with a diamond tile wheel in it to score the gel coat to connect the corner holes for my rectangular chain holes before I used a fine toothed jig saw blade.

Bob

[capngeo]

Originally Posted by Mi2ndWind

Were it me, I would use a hole saw to make the holes under the mounting plate, then seal the open edge with thickened epoxy. Trying to cut square holes with a reciprocating blade would be more difficult and open the possibility of gel cracks emanating from the points of the corners under the stress of dislodging/raising anchor. Any stress loads in the area of the cutouts would be distributed evenly around a curved opening, but a rectangular one would concentrate loads more in the corners. If you are set on making the holes rectangular, drill each corner first with a bit big enough to fit the reciprocating saw blade you intend to use, then connect the dots. the rounded corners will relieve local stress loads better than just a corner point, minimizing the potential for future gel cracks. A good masking tape along the cut line will help alot with the edge chipping. Good luck!

^^^^^^Best advise so far!^^^^^^^^

[John A]

The motor for my 1501 Lighthouse windless is below deck in a vertical orientation requireing an additional hole of about 2" in size. A template is used to mark the opening.

[rnjpinz]

Yes, a secondary 2" hole does need to be drilled to accept the motor drive. Interesting enough, I did call Caliber today to ask them about the Lighthouse Windlass install and guess what, they just installed one today.

This is what I was told Caliber uses. A Jig saw, fine blade, to cut the square holes (there may be minor chipping). To be careful, I will follow the forums advice. Bolt holes are drilled counter clock wise to penetrate the gelcoat. They also recommended gelcoating the inside of the locker to seal the install. They said there is a product that is gelcoat with wax in it. This helps it to cure. All bolt holes or anchor chain thru holes (thanks Eric M and others) need to be coated with fiberglass resign. 5200 (a sealant) is used on bolts and the top of every hole to create a pernanant seal.

Thanks to all that responded. Great info for all.