Waiting for post, may as well make some mast steps.

Metalicmike

Metalicmike

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Living in Tenerife especially in the south is great for living and sailing, that is if your not waiting for the post. Any parcel coming to the canaries has a very good chance of getting stuck in Madrid Customs. I have had parcels waiting 4 weeks to cleared and I am currently waiting for a lift pump for my vp2003. I have had Merak now for 3 years and am yet to go aloft. Weighing in at a little over 16 stone I have been working towards grasping that nettle. I decided over a year ago that mast steps and losing a bit of weight would be the best way forward. The problem with living here is that materials are not readily available so simply bending some 4 or 5 mm aluminium flat bar was not an option. The thickest material I can buy hear is 2mm but I did find some 3x20. I have made 20 steps using 20*40 hollow section filled with foam, primed, painted and finally sealed with epoxy. I will probably have them fitted before my lift pump arrives.
 

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Nice job making the steps. However you will not lose weight. You will not enjoy being up mast. I would have suggested mast lowering or removal. But good luck anyway. ol'will
 
Metalicmike said:
Living in Tenerife especially in the south is great for living and sailing, that is if your not waiting for the post. Any parcel coming to the canaries has a very good chance of getting stuck in Madrid Customs. I have had parcels waiting 4 weeks to cleared and I am currently waiting for a lift pump for my vp2003. I have had Merak now for 3 years and am yet to go aloft. Weighing in at a little over 16 stone I have been working towards grasping that nettle. I decided over a year ago that mast steps and losing a bit of weight would be the best way forward. The problem with living here is that materials are not readily available so simply bending some 4 or 5 mm aluminium flat bar was not an option. The thickest material I can buy hear is 2mm but I did find some 3x20. I have made 20 steps using 20*40 hollow section filled with foam, primed, painted and finally sealed with epoxy. I will probably have them fitted before my lift pump arrives.
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They look very well manufactured.....are you going to put on a non skid surface ?
 
William_H said:
Nice job making the steps. However you will not lose weight. You will not enjoy being up mast. I would have suggested mast lowering or removal. But good luck anyway. ol'will
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Unfortunately my small pension will not stretch to mast removal and I am not going to enjoy going aloft but I'm sure its better than Antifouling. I am looking at changing the standing rigging and back stay to Dyneema and building my own ultrasonic antifouling system.
 
They look good. How did you "fix " the ends to the tube section. Is there a hidden bolt/ rivet or did you weld them?
 
Metalicmike said:
Jury still out on that one, I can always add something later if necessary.
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Nice!
Some of that antislip tape they use on the front edge of steps would be good.
Here, if you DIY a boat, there are rules about non slip areas on deck and the tape is acceptable. Did you rivit the bits? I can see one on the curvey brace.
 
I bent 40*2 aluminium and riveted them underneath the 40*20 so the rivets are not under load. The bends are have a slight radius to reduce the possibility of a fracture point.IMG_20240729_165058724.jpg
RunAgroundHard said:
Neat looking steps, but why fill with foam?
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I filled with foam primarily to coat the inside of the aluminium with Polyester to inhibit oxidation, maybe a bit OT but why not. Could also fit the upper ones with auto floatation bags :unsure:. Also I had a half empty can on the shelf and was amazed that it still worked 😃
 
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Metalicmike said:
I bent 40*2 aluminium and riveted them underneath the 40*20 so the rivets are not under load. The bends are have a slight radius to reduce the possibility of a fracture point.View attachment 180672

I filled with foam primarily to coat the inside of the aluminium with Polyester to inhibit oxidation, maybe a bit OT but why not. Could also fit the upper ones with auto floatation bags :unsure:. Also I had a half empty can on the shelf and was amazed that it still worked 😃
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I take it that the step part will be screwed rather than riveted to the mast
 
Just curious, as I make quite a lot of SS bits for friends boats. Do you have a folder?,or careful bending in the vice. And, type of rivets? Last time I was up a mast after storm damage, I used monal. Two legged riviter, but a real pain (literally!) to set them, 6mm. Tempted by one of those riviters that works with a battery drill.
 
DownWest said:
Just curious, as I make quite a lot of SS bits for friends boats. Do you have a folder?,or careful bending in the vice. And, type of rivets? Last time I was up a mast after storm damage, I used monal. Two legged riviter, but a real pain (literally!) to set them, 6mm. Tempted by one of those riviters that works with a battery drill.
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I am using 4mm Aluminium Rivets, three in the base and two on the cross brace plus some very strong sealant to fill any voids. By using aluminium for all the build I am avoiding problems with Electrolysis via dissimilar metals. The material is only 2mm thick at the base so avoiding corrosion at this point is critical. The sheer strength of a 4mm Aluminium rivet is well over 300kg so I have a very high safety factor. I don't have a vice or a metal Bending Machine, I clamped the aluminium between two steel flat bars on the edge of my folding work bench bending initially by hand and finishing with a hammer. It would be great to have a workshop with tools but I make the best of what I've got and only spend on what I have to.
 
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Metalicmike said:
I am using 4mm Aluminium Rivets, three in the base and two on the cross brace plus some very strong sealant to fill any voids. By using aluminium for all the build I am avoiding problems with Electrolysis via dissimilar metals. The material is only 2mm thick at the base so avoiding corrosion at this point is critical. The sheer strength of a 4mm Aluminium rivet is well over 300kg so I have a very high safety factor.
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It doesn’t look (from the photo) that there will be room for the rivet gun on the bottom three holes
 
Bouba said:
It doesn’t look (from the photo) that there will be room for the rivet gun on the bottom three holes
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Slight confusion as I didn't hit send (Cooking) but depends on the gun..
Also, how flat is the mast at that point? Three in a row depends on a curved bracket, or a flat mast?
 
Some time ago I fitted some glass filled nylon folding steps with 5 mm aluminum rivets but could not get riveter nose into the lower rivet holes, so I used M6 socket cap heads set screws in SS to fix the steps to the 5 mm thick mast using an extended ratchet tap wrench with the mast up hanging from a bosons chair
 
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