DIY Battens

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RECESS

RECESS

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Dec 20, 2003
1,505
Pearson 323 . St. Mary's Georgia
I read a short thread on Sailnet that SailDog was in but it had very few replies of people that have actually made and used them. I know we have quite a few tinkerers here. Anyone do it. So far I have seen White Oak and Fiberglass as possible materials. I know that when fiberglass breaks, it could leave some edges that would shred a sail. What about resin over Balsa?

Anyone here done it?

I wonder at what size the White Oak battens becomes too heavy to be usable?
 
kenn

kenn

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Apr 18, 2009
1,271
CL Sandpiper 565 Toronto
Most sail battens are fiberglass with plastic caps on the ends. More exotic ones, like full-length battens, might have a specially-designed taper, or in the shape of a tube, or might have some carbon content.

But for the average fiberglass leech batten... they're fairly cheap, so I wouldn't ever consider DIY except as maybe using a piece of stick as an emergency batten.
 
sailingdog

sailingdog

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Oct 22, 2008
3,502
- Telstar 28 Buzzards Bay
If the sail is flogging so hard that it breaks a solid fiberglass batten, the sail is probably going to be shredded badly anyways.
 
zeehag

zeehag

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Mar 26, 2009
3,198
1976 formosa 41 yankee clipper santa barbara. ca.(not there)
there are some chandleries selling plastic ones ..i believe i saw them in downwind marine in san diego---and a friend saw some even in west....goood luck
 
RECESS

RECESS

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Dec 20, 2003
1,505
Pearson 323 . St. Mary's Georgia
That is odd. I know a guy that sails our lake with a Hobie 16. He was looking to get a set of battens so we looked it up. They are $225 for a set of Hobie 16 battens. I just checked West Marine for battens and they range from $10 - $20 a piece. If I wanted a set for my mainsail it would probably cost more in supplies to make them, then to buy them new.
 
catsailor

catsailor

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Jan 10, 2009
590
PDQ 32 Deale, MD
I'm sure there are many ways to make a tough batten that won't break...

RECESS said:
I read a short thread on Sailnet that SailDog was in but it had very few replies of people that have actually made and used them. I know we have quite a few tinkerers here. Anyone do it. So far I have seen White Oak and Fiberglass as possible materials. I know that when fiberglass breaks, it could leave some edges that would shred a sail. What about resin over Balsa?

Anyone here done it?

I wonder at what size the White Oak battens becomes too heavy to be usable?
Click to expand

... but you also need to know how stiff you want them, at least for full-length battens. This is normally something the sailmaker specifies, but they make mistakes too. Too-stiff or too-flexible battens are common.

If they are too stiff, shaving them down (wider side) or narrowing them (thin side) will work, as will tapering one end, if only the inside portion is too stiff (Hobie Cat battens are tapered). Or, you can do like I had to and add carbon fiber TOWs.
http://sail-delmarva.blogspot.com/search?q=battens+carbon
The standard method for measuring stiffness is in the post.

But I wouldn't make them from scratch. I agree the materials would be more than the cost.

If you just need leach battens, sometimes sailmakers will have odds and ends and broken bits. I have cut full-length Hobie battens down to make leach battens for a larger boat.

Good luck.
 
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kenn

kenn

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Apr 18, 2009
1,271
CL Sandpiper 565 Toronto
RECESS said:
That is odd. I know a guy that sails our lake with a Hobie 16. He was looking to get a set of battens so we looked it up. They are $225 for a set of Hobie 16 battens.
Click to expand
Hobie battens are special: they are full-length and with a custom taper to produce the optimum sail shape for a Hobie. Also there's about 6 or 7 full-length battens in a Hobie 16 sail.

Contrast that with two or 3 leech battens in a basic boat mainsail, none are longer than 2 ft, and nothing fancy by way of taper.As catsailor says, many sail lofts and chandleries will have batten odds and ends that they will sell cheap and you just cut to size.
 
Paul Brinkley

Paul Brinkley

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Oct 18, 2007
707
Macgregor 26S Lucama, NC
The first time I sailed my boat, I discovered I had only one batten and 3 pockets. I made up a half dozen out of some fairly hard yellow pine. After sailing with them for a year, I found two plastic battens in a bag of junk the PO had left in the boat. When the wooden ones break or go bye-bye, I'll replace them with the plastic, but still keep my extra wood ones for backup. -Paul
 
catsailor

catsailor

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Jan 10, 2009
590
PDQ 32 Deale, MD
I think there is little doubt that the first leach battens were fir.

Paul Brinkley said:
The first time I sailed my boat, I discovered I had only one batten and 3 pockets. I made up a half dozen out of some fairly hard yellow pine. After sailing with them for a year, I found two plastic battens in a bag of junk the PO had left in the boat. When the wooden ones break or go bye-bye, I'll replace them with the plastic, but still keep my extra wood ones for backup. -Paul
Click to expand
......
 
J

John Howitt

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Jul 1, 2007
169
hunter 29.5 Nanaimo BC
I once tried to make one out of teak. it almost worked.
I then talked to a sailmaker in our marina, and he supplied and installed it for $10.00.
I added a six pack to the bill.
Why make them, unless you really want to say you did it yourself.
 
Manny

Manny

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Oct 5, 2006
983
Hunter 82? 37 Cutter Wherever the wind takes me
I had some Ipe left over from another project and I ripped some strips and used that for battens. Don't remember exactly but the thickness was about 1/8 inch. Strong and has some flexibility.

Manny
 
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