Currently involved in painting the deckhouse and have reached the ports. The two forward ports stick out further than the back three and over the years from being kicked or stepped on, have chipped away at the bottom corners. These have 3/4" - 1" chips which could now do some serious damage to a toe or two. So I'm thinking of sanding them down to get rid of the chips, and they'll match the other ports. This will require removing about an inch of material, and I'm thinking of using a belt sander long enough to reach from end to end. Any advice? Or other solutions? Thanks alot, Ken DeLacy
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Friend did the same
Ken: A friend at our marina did exactly the same thing. I believe that they used a grinder. This would probably be good to take off the majority of the material and then finish it up with the belt sander. I would suggest that you mark the port with a pen/pencil to determine where you want to stop so you do not take too much material off.
Ken: A friend at our marina did exactly the same thing. I believe that they used a grinder. This would probably be good to take off the majority of the material and then finish it up with the belt sander. I would suggest that you mark the port with a pen/pencil to determine where you want to stop so you do not take too much material off.
Different solution.
I had the same problem Ken. In fact some spigots were cracked all the way back to the inside frame. I did the really stupid thing and replaced them all as you will recall. I had considered doing exactly what you plan to do. In fact my thought was to cut all ten back to about 1/4" of spigot. Never sure why they have to be so long. But I never tried to see what would work. Have you tested the sander? Seems like you could get a better edge than with a grinder. If it works.
I had the same problem Ken. In fact some spigots were cracked all the way back to the inside frame. I did the really stupid thing and replaced them all as you will recall. I had considered doing exactly what you plan to do. In fact my thought was to cut all ten back to about 1/4" of spigot. Never sure why they have to be so long. But I never tried to see what would work. Have you tested the sander? Seems like you could get a better edge than with a grinder. If it works.
I did it and saved the lives of my toes & ankles..
Ken; I have a 79 hunter 27 which has coamings around the 4 forward ports. Over time they chipped away. I really got tired of catching my toes and ankles on the chipped parts. I used a grinder to cut away most of the brittle plastic, and then finished it off with a hand held dremel tool. (sander attachment) I completely took the coamings off and found that it looked pretty good after I was done. Now I can get forward in a hurry with all my digits intact. David.
Ken; I have a 79 hunter 27 which has coamings around the 4 forward ports. Over time they chipped away. I really got tired of catching my toes and ankles on the chipped parts. I used a grinder to cut away most of the brittle plastic, and then finished it off with a hand held dremel tool. (sander attachment) I completely took the coamings off and found that it looked pretty good after I was done. Now I can get forward in a hurry with all my digits intact. David.
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