My Cal 28 does not have backing plates in some places that really need them. So, where/how can I get or have made backing plates for things like stanchions and cleats.
Backing plates
- Thread starter Smitty
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Make them yourself out of Starboard material or go to a steel/welding shop and see if they have some stainless or aluminum....I walked into my neighbors steel shop and found some nice stainless about 3" wide and replaced all the weeny washers Oday used for backing plates, there were areas that couldn't get the stainless plates so I used thick fender washers
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I went to my local auto parts store and picked up a few sheets of 3/16" diamond plate aluminum....cut them to size, drilled holes and mounted them under my cleats. Only because of my allegedly anal tendancies, I also added large stainless washers under the nuts to avoind any "pull-thru". Even for me, more than that is overkill. Good Luck and Happy Sailing.
Ive used 3/8 inch exterior grade plywood and stainless washers. Easy to find Easy to work with no trouble or failures
Hi Smitty,
I got some aluminum at Lowe's, cut it to size, and drilled it out matching the cleat while it was off. I then held the plate in place with the bolts while I added Gorilla tape to remove the bolts and add G-Flex epoxy. I did this to get a flatter surface for the backer and reduce the size of the holes since there was some elongation. The tape covered the entire plate and tightly around the sides to keep the epoxy in.
After it hardened overnight, I removed the tape (mostly) and using the cleat as a guide to drill straight down from the top. I was able to hit the holes perfectly. Then I used a countersink to taper the hole.
Using Butyl tape around the bolts and on the bottom of the cleat I snugged them down tight. Here's a pic.
All U Get
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I don't know the Cal 28, but one of the popular production boat tricks is to embed aluminum backing plates in the glass, then use tapping screws to embed hardware. It looks like there are no backing plates, but they're inside.
I'm not saying this is the case on your boat, but I recommend checking first.
I'm not saying this is the case on your boat, but I recommend checking first.
Phil is right in noting that some boats -- like my H28.5 -- have aluminum backing plates installed in the fiberglass where additional winches are often installed. I found this out when drilling through the fiberglass to install some horn cleats -- and saw that the drill was bringing up bits of aluminum so I didn't need the backing plates I had already fabricated.
Brian - here is the simplest way to test if there is already a backing plate. Remove the parts that is screwed on to the deck. Place the screws back in the holes and make a continuity test from one screw to the other. Or measure the resistance. A very low resistance indicates a backing plate. You can also look at the threading of the screw. If it is a machine thread screw then you know that there is a backing plate. Use a magnet on the deck - it the embedded material is steel then the magnet will be attracted. If it aluminum the magnet will not be attracted.
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JoeWhite, Brad, and Woody.... Thanks, for some excellent suggestions! I have 3 good alternatives. Since I already have a stud finder, I'll try it first. After a little research, I see they work from the principle of sensing material density differences. I bet that will work to define both the presence and outline of an embedded aluminum plate. Thanks again. BrianW
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