OK Joe,
Now we have enough information to be serious help (been there-done that-didn't
buy the picture and the Tshirt has worn out).
To successfully get a pulpit made with out the boat handy you need:
A ridged model of the desired shape (you are planning that), and
An Exact replica of the deck (or whatever you expect to fasten it to.
The first item you do seem to understand, yes, thin wall EMT will work just fine
but the bender does a smaller radius than you will want. So, you dummy it up by
making a bunch of partial bends separated buy a little distance. There are no
T's available for EMT, so you screw hubs into a pipe T (yeah, it looks like
hell, but it serves and it is less kluncky than using a jake).
Next, to create the replica of the deck is interesting. Most decks are cambered
and nothing is square, flat, straight,vertical or horizontal. You can
effectively measure the camber of a deck by putting largish dowels under a 2*4
so that they contact the deck at the mount locations and then measure and record
the separation and between the straight edge and the deck. I have had success
duplicating this by taking a heavy piece of plywood (3/4) and a light piece
(1/4). Planing (a belt sander will work) the edges of the light ply then
clamping it down at the edges with battens under it, to make the separation
match what you measured. This need to be glued when you are sure it is right.
I do hope I didn't loose you along that track. If I did, I will gladdly try
again.
Now that you have a model of the deck it will fasten to and a model of the rail,
you can go find a fabricator on the mainland.
Just be sure that he has done this sort of thing before, or he will screw it up
on the first couple of trys and then charge you for the material used.
Good luck
Matt Colie
Joe Bleau wrote:
Glenn--
I am with you. Here is my problem. My boat is in the Fla. Keys. I
have tried everywhere to find a shop to do this for me. The last guy
took a deposit and then kept me waiting for months. He just returned
the deposit saying that he was too busy to do the job. If I am going
to get it done I am going to have to do it myself.
I have thought that I might try to form it exactly with something like
EMT and then take it as a model to a shop in Miami to do the job. No
hoe of getting it done here in the Keys where most all of the trades
have been driven out by the cost of living. Also, there is a disease
down here known as "Keys disease." The syptoms are chronic laziness
and the abandonment of all work ethic. It's always been difficult to
get anything done here and the 200 per cent increase in property
values in the last four years has done nothing to alleviate the
situation.
On Sat, 25 Mar 2006 20:08:32 -0500, "Glenn Ashmore"
wrote:
If you are talking about 7/8 & 1" stainless for pulpits you better find
someone with the right equipment or you will end up with a lot of expensive
junk. Sand packing works OK on softer material but is not really going to
help with stainless and 1" tube on anything under a 12" radius will require
hydraulics or a looong lever handle.
Bending polished stainless tube with decent results requires a set of
polished dies built to exact diameters. I built a couple of benders, a roll
bender for long sweeps and a hydraulic for the tight ones.
http://www.rutuonline.com/html/tube_benders.html
You can get plans and dies he http://www.pro-tools.com/200k.htm . A
set of dies for 1" tube costs about $180.