KompetentKrew
Well-known member
To recap, see my last thread: My chainplates as epoxied into the deck!?
As per that post #6 of that thread, all chainplates need inspection, at least, due to obvious evidence of water ingress, and because one of the chainplates failed during a gale, whilst the boat was on the hard.
I don't really like cutting into the deck, so I started out by procrastinating a bit. By my standards it's a miracle that it's only a week since my last post.
In the below pic you can see a cut that's about 1mm from the chainplate - for the benefit of anyone else in this position, it seems better to go downwards rather than up. Or maybe work 50:50, but try not to go all the way through from underneath - it was much easier to line up the multitool blade going downwards next to the chainplate:
Having made these cuts on all sides of the chainplate it was obviously lose, and came free pretty easily with taps from a mallet.
The weird thing is that I'm still unable to remove it because it's too long - the foot of the chainplate is only an inch or two from the hull, and the length that goes through the deck is longer. So it was easy to tap it though, until the point at which the butt butted up against the hull, and then it's trapped.
The below photo shows the chainplate as far down as I can withdraw it - it's now stuck because it can't move down and it can't move sideways. You see the sort of backing plate, below the deck and at the top of the photo, that is holding the chainplate in place? My best guess is that the chainplate was put in place with that loose around its neck, and the backing plate was only epoxied into place once the chainplate was fitted.
I tried to take clear photos from both sides, because my initial reaction was to ask if it looks ok enough for me to just put the existing chainplate back:
I did also think that I could cut it out and make a replacement chainplate an inch or two shorter - I think it's secured with 5 big bolts, but probably 4 would be fine.
I have since realised that I don't need to - removal is only a problem because of the stainless steel tube in the middle, because this prevents the chainplate from being drawn out through the deck. If I cut out this existing chainplate then I can just use 35mm x 5mm plate for the whole length of the replacement chainplate and it can be slid in from above. That is my current state of thinking, at least, but I would be grateful for the committee's thoughts.
As per that post #6 of that thread, all chainplates need inspection, at least, due to obvious evidence of water ingress, and because one of the chainplates failed during a gale, whilst the boat was on the hard.
I don't really like cutting into the deck, so I started out by procrastinating a bit. By my standards it's a miracle that it's only a week since my last post.
In the below pic you can see a cut that's about 1mm from the chainplate - for the benefit of anyone else in this position, it seems better to go downwards rather than up. Or maybe work 50:50, but try not to go all the way through from underneath - it was much easier to line up the multitool blade going downwards next to the chainplate:
Having made these cuts on all sides of the chainplate it was obviously lose, and came free pretty easily with taps from a mallet.
The weird thing is that I'm still unable to remove it because it's too long - the foot of the chainplate is only an inch or two from the hull, and the length that goes through the deck is longer. So it was easy to tap it though, until the point at which the butt butted up against the hull, and then it's trapped.
The below photo shows the chainplate as far down as I can withdraw it - it's now stuck because it can't move down and it can't move sideways. You see the sort of backing plate, below the deck and at the top of the photo, that is holding the chainplate in place? My best guess is that the chainplate was put in place with that loose around its neck, and the backing plate was only epoxied into place once the chainplate was fitted.
I tried to take clear photos from both sides, because my initial reaction was to ask if it looks ok enough for me to just put the existing chainplate back:
I did also think that I could cut it out and make a replacement chainplate an inch or two shorter - I think it's secured with 5 big bolts, but probably 4 would be fine.
I have since realised that I don't need to - removal is only a problem because of the stainless steel tube in the middle, because this prevents the chainplate from being drawn out through the deck. If I cut out this existing chainplate then I can just use 35mm x 5mm plate for the whole length of the replacement chainplate and it can be slid in from above. That is my current state of thinking, at least, but I would be grateful for the committee's thoughts.
