[Rhodes22-list] bimini/rail parts.

[Gardner, Douglas (LNG-DAY)]

Hi Alex!

Good to have you back!  Gee... It's been what, 4 years since you were on
enough to post this kind of detail!  

Missed ya, my friend.  

Tell Pamela I have a few baby stories for her.  

Like Kyle (now 2 years old) riding a 4 wheel scooter down the slide at
daycare.  The staff caught him in the act and stopped him at least twice
after that...

2 yrs. Old!   We're DOOMED! 

-----Original Message-----
From: rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org
[mailto:rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org] On Behalf Of Alex Bell
Sent: Thursday, July 21, 2005 4:40 PM
To: The Rhodes 22 mail list
Subject: [Rhodes22-list] bimini/rail parts. 


All the parts that people seem to be looking for are found in West Marine,
either in the bimini top hardware section or the tubing section. 
You can find various fittings that terminate a tube and attach to the boat
in the tubing section They come in round and rechtangle base, at 90 to 45
degrees.

If you are going to make a rail support of some kind for the boat, you DO
NOT  want to use the set screw that's a part of the fitting. These are
absolutely of no good when you are about to fall overboard and latch onto a
railing to save yourself. You'll end up in the water with the rail/tube that
you grabbed. The procedure for making a railing or bimini frame secure is as
follows:

Use a 3/16 drill to drill THROUGH the set screw, making a hole in the tube.
Unless you are extremely gifted, you will not be able to drill the hole at
the exact point the set screw hits. Hence, drill through it. 
Once you make the hole, you can rivet the fitting onto the tube with a
3/16 rivet. Some people use a machine screw and the threads on the fitting,
but I feel that's not enough thread to do the job.

Here's a helpful hint for drilling into stainless steel tubing. Go buy a
fairly expensive 135 degree SPLIT POINT drill bit. This is the only drill
that will go through SS. A cobalt bit would be good, but isn't necessary.
Believe me, the typical 118 degree drill is virtually worthless after one
hole drilled. I've been doing this kind of work for a couple of years now
and we've learned the hard way.

We rivet all our eye ends on our dodger and bimini frames. I have a nifty
compact hydraulic rivet gun that makes it possible to set stainless rivets.
That, along with a good drill and the aformentioned drill bits make it
possible to get this done. Of course, if you have the luxury of using a
drill press, almost any drill bit might work (but not all)

If by some chance West Marine doesn't list what is needed, there are other
companies that might have what you need. Look for companies that do custom
fabrication. BTW, you need to also become familiar with "boat bucks" as it
applies to cost.  I just had my boat hauled and the bottom serviced. Wrote
big checks for that work.

Alex Bell




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