Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Centerboard pin completed

The centerboard pivot pin in SCAMP is removable so the centerboard can come out if that is ever necessary.  There are bushings in the side of the centerboard case, a permanent plate over the inboard end of the pin, and a removable plate on the outboard end of the pin.

The removable plate needs to be sealed in some manner so that water from the centerboard area doesn't follow the pin and leak into the underseat compartment.  One way to seal that plate would be to apply silicone sealant before screwing it down.  Another way may be to fit a gasket of some sort.  I think a simple o-ring will do the job.

I drilled a recess big enough for the o-ring, and to maybe 2/3rds of its thickness.  I wanted the o-ring to be compressed slightly when the cover plate is screwed down.



I coated the new recess with unthickened epoxy to waterproof the wood.  The o-ring will bear against this bushing, and should provide a nice seal.  


I was concerned about excess epoxy fouling the inboard bearing when I installed that cover, so I took a little packing tape and trimmed it to a circle,  


and installed it over the inboard bushing. 


I then applied thickened epoxy to the inboard cover, and put it in place, holding it with a couple flexed battens until the epoxy cured.


Finally, I epoxied the pin into the outboard cover.  So, there's another item done off the checklist!  





2 comments:

  1. Love the attention to detail in all these posts and your build in general. If my boat turns out half as nice as this, I'll be plumb tickled.

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    1. Thanks, Brent. I'm trying to do a neat job, but I do want to continue to make progress and not get too bogged down in details. I wouldn't say this is a complicated boat, but there are a lot of pieces to it...

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