BoatBanter.com - View Single Post

Or touches the air and water.

wrote in message
news

On 29 Jul 2004 11:36:37 -0700, (Ryan) wrote:

Here in Washington the summers are great and I bought a '16 aluminum
boat. It didn't have a bimini top though and after spending the $ on
the boat I didn't feel like spending $150 - $200 for a bimini top. So
I made my own out of 1/2" copper pipe and 45-degree elbows from
HomeDepot. I bought some Sunbrella type material ($15/yrd for 60"
wide) from Seattle Fabrics on Hwy99 in N Seattle and my mom-in-law and
I stayed up late Saturday night sewing it up so we could use it on
Sunday. It's about 4 1/2' long and 65" wide. The middle sags slightly
since there is no tension in the middle but it doesn't make noise
(flapping) while running WOT on the 30hp Johnson.

I may have made the side poles too long (easy to shorten), but it came
out pretty good and it only cost approx $50 to make. Pic of it is at
http://home.comcast.net/~ryanw59/bimini_top.jpg

I used elbows because my first attempt at bending didn't come out too
well and I don't have a pipe bender, although this one looks
interesting, http://www.lindsaybks.com/dgjp/djgbk/pipe/index.html.
Maybe I'll build this bender and build a frame out of aluminum or SS,
then make the bimini top longer so that it'd cover more of the boat.

Keep a close eye on any place the copper touches the aluminum...

BB