DIY Anchor

WeeWullie

WeeWullie

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26 Jun 2003
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being of a parsimonious nature, I've decided to make my own anchor. I'm modelling it on a Delta anchor but making it out of wood with the bit in the middle filled with concrete to make it sink. Has anybody else tried this?

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That's a good idea - and if you leave out the concrete you should find it floats - which will make retrieving it much simpler

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Why not.. but you have to be very precise.. a small change can ruin a good anchor::

Concrete?? what a strange idea.. the density of concrete is rather low.. if you want (and you need it) to have enough weith at the tip of your anchor why don't you use lead???

Take also in consideration the difference of resistance betwen High resistance steel and plywood.. and multiply the thikness by the same coefficient..

And keep me informed about your results.. I'm very curious to see how it works..

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Being a tight sod I have made a few anchors over the years .similar to a Danforth but using cutting edge technology in the form of half inch mild steel plate...

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From what I remember the average mix of concrete weights about 2300kg/ cu m. Since water weighs 1000kg, 1 cubic meter of concrete will only weigh 1300kg in water.

Hence whatever your anchor weighs in air, it'll weigh about 55% in water.

Sounds cheap though. Good luck. I love to know how it goes.

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Or not a million miles from the specific gravity of aluminium, which seems to work reasonably well as an anchor material.

It's an interesting idea but as with most things, the success or failure will be dictated by the small details. If reasonably well made it will look better than many of the cheap commercial offerings available in many chandlers, especially in France where some extremely crude, roughly made devices are available and widely used.

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I honestly can't see the problem here with home made anchors,,,made 100's of them in the past. Just go get a couple of lengths of 3/4" reinforcing rod (dead cheap) a length of 4" x 1/4" steel plate (cut into 4" squares then cut on diagonal). Then make loadsa fishermans type anchors, great for holding down pot sets/markers and catching un-suspecting yotties<s>.

Tandum anchoring isn't a problem because you just link half a dozon together, throw the whole lot over the side on the premiss that one will get a grip

Works for me?

Also improves your welding skills<s>

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That's fair enough if you don't want to rely on them to save your boat/life/family's life. It gets up my nose to see the quality of some offerings in the chandlers, flame cut plates welded by monkeys on to mild steel bar, then given the roughest galvanising that could be imagined. Now that anchor testing is so prevalent it is clear that by spending say 1.5 times as much you might achieve 5 times the holding power. There are still many holes in the anchor tests, and the experience of many posters here is that the strongest holder is not necessarily the best all-round anchor, but a very poor copy of a Danforth is never going to feature high on the lists.

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Surely this HAS to be a wind-up?

As a complete DIY ignoramous, I can't even begin to imagine why I would want to use a wooden anchor. Surely 'proper' ones aren't THAT expensive?

How on earth could a sensibly-sized piece of wood (whatever it's filled with) withstand the stresses and strains of biting on a rocky seabed in a blow?

Suggest you check with your insurer that they would be happy with this!

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Oh, should be fine. We looked into getting a carbon fibre anchor made up to save weight back in my racing days. Never got round to it though.

When I was a kid, I tried to use a breezeblock as an anchor with a rope tied round it. I felt a complete idoit when I saw the result!!! (Totally true!)

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Sometimes they used rocks with holes in them. Wouldn't be much of a lark, heaving a decent sized rock off the foredeck, though.

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Are you sure you're not a <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.regia.org/Ships2a.htm> Viking</A>?
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That certainly appeals!

Like the Melges who vacuum pack their (required) anchor warp (so it doesnt take up moisture and become heavy), and pack separately to anchor (class rules dont require it to be attached to anchor). Class rules also require a (stirrup) pump - the keen boys dont bother with the hoses (heavy things) as the rules dont specify hoses, and discharge into the (carbon fibre) bucket and then pass it up the companionway ...

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no, please tell me that the Portland Race test IS a wind-up..... or did I just fall asleep for several months and wake up on 1/4/04?

Expect to hear more about this experiment - probly on ch67/16!

'spose you could also try replacing s/s standing rigging with rope and make sails with duvert covers too.....



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No this is certainly not a wind up, in fact my fabrication is now complete and I'm off to anchor overnight in the Portland Race to test it out. Soapy Souter's coming with me. We'll report back tomorrow.

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