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Bottled Ship Builder

Mast handling tool


DavidB773

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Hey, all. Here’s a tool for putting masts on our SIB’s. It lets you guide a mast through the neck of a bottle horizontally and then rotates the mast to vertical to its place on the hull and then releases it. 

Basically, it’s a small diameter brass tube with a steel wire in it that is attached to a link that pivots. I don’t intend to write a novel and I don’t think anyone wants to read one here so I’ll try my best to explain. 

It’s probably obvious that moving the wire causes the link (wood material) to pivot. The pivot is a straight pin that was bent to a 90 and epoxied to the brass tube. The two barbs on the link are clipped ends of pins. The sticky backed foam is stuck to the barbs and the blue tape helps. The foam has a slot for the mast. An important part is what I would call the release wire. It creates tension with the foam until removed.

An important part is after the mast is guided in and the wire is pulled slightly to rotate the mast to vertical and then placed in the hull, the tool needs to be released. This is a critical time because the mast is somewhat attached to the hull and positively to the tool at the same time. A careless movement could cause breakage. Here’s what to do: attach a thread to the loop on the release wire to pull the wire out. The tool will immediately disconnect from the mast. 

In the pics, note the range of the rotation that be had; only 90 deg. is basically needed. The first pic shows both sides of the link and the opposite end.

If you make one for yourself, I would stick with the small brass tube simply to avoid putting weight on a delicate mast after it’s placed. The release wire does the holding so the foam needs to be soft. I'd be glad to answer any inquires and thanks for taking a look. David

 

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