DIY Bimini Frame?

[neil1967]

Having recently moved to Portugal, it is apparent that a bimini is a must (both for sailing and at anchor/marina). There are some lovely/excellent biminis available, at eye watering cost. At first sight it doesn't appear that difficult to build one, using 25mm stainless tubing and fittings (eg from baseline marine). I am aware of the need to make allowance for winch handles, mainsheet (when on a run) etc, and there are plenty of examples to take inspiration from. I would probably get the cover made professionally, but I would not expect that to be too expensive for a simple one. Has anyone made their own bimini frame? Any top tips or do's and don'ts?

 

[SV Kittiwake]

We've not made one, but I did look into it. Don Casey's 'Good Old Boat' has a section on it, and he makes a tube bender out of wood. I think it was along the lines of this, but a bit more rough and ready:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvMoWcs1Fz4

 

[neil1967]

Thanks - I am contemplating not bending the steel at all, just using 90 degree (or other, as appropriate) elbow fittings - won't be as stylish I know, but I'm more likely to achieve a decent result!

 

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

I made my own using stainless tubing (from memory 25 x 1.5mm) using standard fittings, some of which I had, others were bought.
I had the bends done professionally and then trims the ends to length.
The cost of the bending was more than the three lengths of tubing that I bought.
Don't use 90 degree elbows. That would give you a flat top that would allow rainwater to collect in (heavy) puddles instead of running straight off. I made the mistake of asking the bender not 'too much camber', meaning that I didn't want the usual virtual semi-circle. He went to the other extreme giving a top that is, to all intents and purposes, effectively flat. I learned to live with it because I use it as protection from the sun, rarely because of the rain. In fact I normally remove the fabric in winter when bad weather becomes frequent at the pontoon.

 

[Graham376]

Don't like the loose elbows so I paid a guy to bend our tubes and then cut to size and fitted them myself and paid a local estafadores in Olhao to sew the top. Since buying a sewing machine have made cockpit tent, sail cover etc. Plenty of suppliers on Algarve but I've no contacts around Lisbon/Cascais.

 

[duncan99210]

We had a cockpit tent fitted by the original owners with a narrow frame: only the width of the cockpit. That’s not wide enough to provide the needed shade for a bimini, so we used two pieces of stainless tube to extend it to the sides, front and back. That gives us a flat roof so to speak, which is wide enough to provide the shade needed. There’s a vertical piece at at the stern to provide a bit more shade for the helm and zips on the back and sides to attach vertical shade pieces when stopped. To avoid the pools of rain water, the “flat roof” slopes down from aft forward so rain runs off.
It’s not particularly pretty but it works and was reasonably simple to make using acrylic canvas and a domestic sewing machine. Costs were for two lengths of stainless tube (25mm) and the acrylic canvas somewhere in the region of £250 if memory serves me correctly.
No doubt a frame could be constructed from stainless tube and fittings but that’d push costs up as the fittings aren’t cheap and you’ll need a surprising number of them to get the job done. I’d add the cost of all the frames bits together and compare that to the cost of getting it made: you may be surprised.
As to then getting someone to sew the canvas for you, I’d again be surprised if you’d get a better price for that than getting the whole thing done as a package. The folks making these bits of kit are interested in delivering a complete item not doing bit work to match a frame that they haven’t made.
So, if you’re going to go the route of making a frame, I’d start looking for a decent sewing machine and do the whole job.

 

[neil1967]

Thanks for all he thoughts so far - all useful stuff. In terms of cost effectiveness, I will get some quotes here in Portugal, but the one quote I have from the UK is not far short of 3000 UKP + VAT and delivery. I will cost up a DIY job against a local manufacture. Thanks again - any further thoughts most welcome.

 

[Razorray]

Hi Neil, I made ours using a combination of standard fittings & a home made wooden tube bender based on the previously mentioned Don Casey idea, We are very pleased with the result & as long as you don't try to bend a very tight radius it's simple to achieve a professional looking frame very cheaply,

 

[UK-WOOZY]

where d you get fittings as i need to make supports for my solar mount so need brackets, poles etc but cannot find anywhere specific. Im located in Dartford

 

[duncan99210]

Sea Screw sell a good range http://m.seascrew.com/?l=0000000175

 

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

Try sourcing from China via a company called 'Banggood'. I found their products (most of my tooling comes from there) are a fraction of the price and the quality is usually top-notch. I have been a customer for more than five or six years and I now start there as a first source when I need something.

https://www.banggood.com/search/stainless-steel-pipe-fittings.html

 

[neil1967]

Try sea-screw and baseline marine. The latter's website isn't very good, but they have a good range of products.

 

[Graham376]

Thanks for all he thoughts so far - all useful stuff. In terms of cost effectiveness, I will get some quotes here in Portugal, but the one quote I have from the UK is not far short of 3000 UKP + VAT and delivery. I will cost up a DIY job against a local manufacture. Thanks again - any further thoughts most welcome.

Part DIY but paid for tubes to be bent and cover to be sewn as I didn't have a machine then, <€500