wood pads for deck fittings

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duke

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Hi All,

I am fitting deck organisers, clutches, winches to deck ( new single line reefing to cockpit).

Any info on suppliers in U.K. offering a selection of wooden pads to go under some of the above.
Appreciate that one could buy a piece of teak, cut it to sizes, sand them, round off edges, etc, etc.
However, just don't have time or enthusiam for that - also too much other work to do!

Thanks,

Duke. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
I guess you mean what we used to call 'strongbacks'. Even those fitted in new yachts always look to me to have been made by an apprentice who was told to use any off cuts he/she could find about the yard. Perhaps there is a market for the deck fittings manufacturers to include them in the package?
 
It takes far longer to massage them into the correct shape to fit to the GRP than it does to hack them off a piece of board, so just buy a piece of wood abt the correct width and thickness and runa router along the two sides, then hack off as needed, use a angle grinder to cut the other two sides to the correct shape - time taken less tha a couple of minutes.
 
Lewmar used to do staionlesss steel pads for their winches, and the better bulders use stainlesss steel or alloy plates to back up fittings. These tend to be rough cut off-cuts bedded in Sikaflex. Depending on your boat (under 40ft?) ply bads are quite adequate. Round-off edges if you wish and bond them in if you wish with a layer or two of glass mat but, again, a bedding of Sikaflex will do the job. Make the pads oversize to spread the load further.

I was horrigied to discover that when, on my supposedly well-built Scanmar 33, a set of organisers pulled out of the deck, there was nothing back the bolts other than washers a mm or two bigger than the nuts. Mind you they had survived twenty years, many gales and half a dozen passages of over 1,000 miles for me, and I am the third owner.
 
Thanks for responses.

I should add, for clarity purposes, that these pads are for use under deck fittings, but on top of the teak deck..
I will be using ss backing plates under the coachroof to spread the load.

Regards,

Duke.
 
Ah! A different can of worms altogether

Ah! That makes a big difference. Yes. you want nice teaky thingies all smoothly rounded and rebated. Make sure the underside is contoured to the deck or they will crack when you harden down the bolts.

Actually do you? Can't you just bed them down on mastic straight on to the deck or coachroof? How much curvature is there?
 
Re: Ah! A different can of worms altogether

I think thats a better option as they should look neater. I've always used thickest ply pads work well as backing plates - big as you can with penny washers on the through deck bolts befor the nuts are put on - and as you say - plenty of mastic
 
Sorry for delay in response.
Thanks to all for advice.

The reason for using pads is that height is required to line up organisers with lines coming from pulley blocks which will be attached to eye ring near bottom of mast.
Alternative is to put a deck ring under mast, which means lifting mast, getting deck ring "made up" to suit as mast is Sparlight (out of business) .
However, as advises by JJ shaping bottom of deck pads to fit curve of deck is
advisable - more problems!!
Any advice as how to go about shaping bottom od deck pads to match curve of deck?

Regards,

Duke.
 
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