Internal Halyard Conversion

[Salty Dawg]

I'm going to be dropping the mast on "The Dawg" (for her annual rig inspection) and thought I might convert to internal halyards. Anyone have any advice.. Pros--Cons. Thought I might borrow a friends Plasma Cutter to cut the slots confused: can you use a plasma cutter on Aluminium?) Please advise!

thanks,

 

[Loren Beach]

Exit Strategies...

Being old fashioned, I might use a small drill to start and then a saw... altho a router might be lots better if you used a template to control the violence...


Note that you first need to source your SS exit plate (brand of your choice) to accurately trace the cut-out you want to make. Usual no-no's: never have more than one exit in the same lateral plane, and even then they should be staggered down the side of the spar section so as not to weaken it. Corners of the opening need to be rounded, BTW.

This site has several riggers that check in regularly-- better advice should be forthcoming soon.

(My experience is all amateur; I internalized the spinnaker halyard and lift in the mast on our prior boat and also internalized the boom outhaul and reef lines on that boat.)

Best,
Loren in PDX

 

[Glyn Judson]

Exit strageties

Dear Mr. Dawg, I like Loren's simple approach to cutting slots. I did the same thing to my mast when making my staysail halyard internal. Find another boat with mast slots and if what you see pleases you, copy the size. Drill two pilot holes top and bottom, increasing the drill size to 1/2", that's the size I made mine. Scribe two lines from the sides of each hole and cut out the meterial. Clean up the edges and you're done. Now my staysail slot looks identical to the rest of the factory made ones on my mast. Go for it, it's easy as pie, Glyn Judson, E31 hull #55, Marina del Rey, CA

 

[Martin King]

Dear Mr. Dawg,
What is your real name anyway? A plasma cutter to cut a
precision slot in a painted aluminum spar? That's surgery with
a hot butterknife. Better to do muliple passes with a plunge router
and a carbide bit or the drill two holes method.

Martin

 

[joe-fran]

I have done a couple of halyard conversions to internal mast. Tools needed are center punch. elec drill, (no plasma cutter needed) a couple of drill bits - one for a pilot hole and another larger size, small jig saw with a metal blade, a long electrician's snake for getting the halyard from top to botton, a round file to smooth the cuts in the mast and finally a stainless steel exit plate (although some people claim they are not needed if you do an adequate job of filing done your cut.

 

[Emerald]

Dear Mr. Dawg,
What is your real name anyway? A plasma cutter to cut a
precision slot in a painted aluminum spar? That's surgery with
a hot butterknife. Better to do muliple passes with a plunge router
and a carbide bit or the drill two holes method.

Martin

Look, you all are both getting too high tech here. Get out the old stick welder, arc it once, and done


sorry, it's been a long week

 

[jmpirate]

Plasma cutting

I don't have much experience with modifying masts, but I have played with a plasma cutter for a little while now. I wouldn't dismiss its use so quickly. If you set up a good guide, you can make some surprisingly clean cuts. One of the other good qualities is that the heat is kept very localized. Many painted pieces which I have cut have only lost 1/8" of paint around the cut.

Yes, you can cut aluminum, as well as any other electrically conductive metal. You just need to know what you are melting, and what hazards they could pose, such as zink, which is used to galvanize steel.

The only concern I have pertains to any wiring internal of the mast, some hot slag could melt some of the wire covering and cause a short.

 

[ted_reshetiloff]

Exits are one thing but how do you propose getting the halyards into the mast in the first place? What is your current masthead fitting like? You will need to change somethings at the top to get the halyards into the mast before you need to worry about cutting holes to get them out. Are your winches on the mast currently or are halyards led aft? What are the leads going to be like coming out of the mast to the winches? I would think the masthead fitting would be the biggest design issue to resolve. Try looking on Brion Toss's site I bet this has been covered.

 

[Dave G]

Warning Against Plasma Cutter

While a plasma cutter works great for cutting aluminum, I would strongly recomend NOT using it on your mast. Plasma cutters blow a lot of slag when they cut, if you were cutting the exit slots it would blow a lot of slag inside the mast, which would be difficult to remove and some of it might "weld" itself to the interior surfaces. This could create problems in the future with halyards and wiring.

When I made my conversion I used a combination of drill bits, hole saws, sawsall and some hand filling. Cutting is the easy part, planning locations is the critical step to insure fair lead angles. Look at other boats and follow the advice suggested here by others.

Dave G
E-29 Spirit
Bellingham WA

 

[Randy Rutledge]

Dave
Do you have picture of your 29 with the internal halyards led aft? Did you just drill four holes in the mast head plate in line with the sheaves for the entry into the mast?

My mast is down and I plan to do internal halyards and a tabernacle. I have thought of using turning blocks mounted internally to turn the halyards out to a deck organizer. Plans are for four halyards to be run aft on starboard.


I have not been impressed with rope clutches and am thinking of cam cleats to hold the halyards, any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[Mike Thomas]

Dave
I'd 2nd Randy’s requests for the pics. I'd also like to know how you chose to install the deck organizers. My vintage 76 E-29 has the fiberglass headliner and I don't want to cut it up without knowing a good way to finish the holes.

Thanks in advance
Mike T

 

[Dave G]

Halyard Question

Randy,

I did cut holes in the top of the masthead aligned with the sheaves. My E-29 has 4 sheeves, 2 forward and 2 aft, to convert to internal I temprarily removed the sheeves, drilled through the top of the mast, between the sheeves, which allowed me to reroute the halyards down through the center of the mast. To cover the hole in the top of the mast I made an aluminum cap that I screwed on. As I recall it is neccessary to drill down through 2 seperate layers of aluminum to get access to the center of the mast. I also spent some time filing the holes to insure the halyrds wouldn't rub on anything. (this sounds more complex than it is, or I suck at explaining this). Not thinking anyone would ever want my advice, I didn't take any pictures.

Mike T,

All my halyards remain at the mast, I have not yet lead them aft. I did install a new mast plate/shoe when I restepped the mast, so I have a place to mount some blocks. I will however need some turning blocks on the deck. I have grown a real dislike for the fiberglass one peice headliner, it really limits your options for mounting deck hardware. The only solution I have seen is to cut holes in the headliner and make covers from wood.

Dave G
E-29 Spirit
Bellingham, WA

 

[Mike Thomas]

Thanks Dave.

The fiberglass headliner can be limiting but the finish and cleanliness is nice. When I was boat shopping I had a choice of my E-29 or a 73 Choy Lee offshore ketch. The deciding factor was the internal tub. The Choy is s pretty boat but just looked unfinished and ”high maintenance”. IMHO....

Mike T