You know how it goes - you are two days from spring launch, you have gathered all of your equipment and made the boat (Hunter 260) ready. Now, where did I put that mast pin? It's a pretty critical piece of rigging and its nowhere to be found. One solution is to purchase another stock mast pin for that model Hunter (I think it is around $19). My solution was to fabricate an exact match from 303 Stainless Steel Round Rod, Unpolished (Mill) Finish, Annealed, ASTM A582, 5/16" Diameter, 36" Length purchased from Amazon.com (for $26.72). A short time later, I have my new mast pin and I am ready for splash. If I ever misplace the pin, I can always go to the remaining stock and fabricate another. (Now, where did I put that rod?)
Got Mast Pin?
- Thread starter rickwarner
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This looks exactly like what I want for my 260. Rod is ordered! Did you heat the metal to bend the end?
next time you lose the pin, a $5 stainless bolt and wing nut will work... it doesnt have to be hardened or otherwise special in any way because it only has to keep the foot of the mast in the tabernacle so it doesnt kick out
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...I did not need to heat the metal, just put it in a vise and whacked it with a 20 oz ball peen hammer. It was also easy to drill for the retaining clip. I ground down the ends to make it smooth and wire brushed it to polish it off.
Thanks, Rick. My tabernacle and foot of mast is a little different (Charleston spar and only takes a 2' clevis pin), but I think this is going to work beautifully.
My H22 did not have a pin when I bought it, it had been sitting on the trailer for 5 years. I bought a stainless bolt and ground off most of the threads, drilled a hole near the end so I could use a ring.
Got the stock and made the first pin. Worked as advertised. Um...kinda hard to make that bend. I put holes on both sides to secure the pin. Will post pictures later.
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