Lewmar portlights different than stock, won't open.

VisionPNW

VisionPNW

.
Dec 4, 2017
79
Hunter 466 Seattle
PXL_20210317_025538096.MP.jpg

On my 02' Hunter 466 the portlights are heavily crazed and you can barely see through them. I ordered new lenses and have run into a problem. The new ones are slightly thicker... Hopefully this means sturdier and longer life. It means swapping out the hinge assembly and catches for the dogs. No problem. When I reinstalled the trim, I found that the bevel on the old windows allowed them to clear the trim. The new lenses have no bevel. Does this mean I am going to need to sand/router the bevel in by hand on all 8 of my portlights? Do I need to get new trim pieces? Has anyone else dealt with this issue?
 
Ken13559

Ken13559

.
Oct 29, 2005
2,362
Hunter Marine 326 303 Singapore
Strange that one of my 4 pcs of stock lense on 2002 H326 has no bevel. Without bevel that lense couldn't be fully opened. It didn't bother me but I guess sanding a bevel would help.

Ken Y
 
Ralph Johnstone

Ralph Johnstone

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Jan 4, 2006
7,270
Hunter 310 West Vancouver, B.C.
The one glimmer of hope I can offer is that if you haven't routered acrylic before, it cuts beautifully and no need for sanding the surface is so smooth. Highest speed you've got and a feather-light touch.

Were you able to actually remove the hinge assembly from the old lenses ? I have looked at this many times before and thought the hinge GREW out of the lens it's such a smooth a transition :oops: . Care to share how you did it ?

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I'll have to admit you must get far more sun than we do up here as my lenses are still not too bad after 22 years.
 
VisionPNW

VisionPNW

.
Dec 4, 2017
79
Hunter 466 Seattle
No, that's the super difficult part, they come with the new hinges and dogs glued in place. I thought of cutting my own from acrylic (I have access to a laser) and trying to re-use the original hinges, but I figured getting the real deal would take a lot of the hassle out of the project. But... boat!
According to the internet... There are 209 more hours of sunlight per year in Seattle than in Vancouver, BC. So yeah... lots more :)
 
VisionPNW

VisionPNW

.
Dec 4, 2017
79
Hunter 466 Seattle
Ok, so my plan here is to use a grinding disc, Dremel, and sanding to put the bevels into the new lenses by hand. Anyone see any issues or have any better ideas? It's so frustrating to spend so much on these, and just have to take a grinder to them.
PXL_20210320_165452215.jpg
 
Ralph Johnstone

Ralph Johnstone

.
Jan 4, 2006
7,270
Hunter 310 West Vancouver, B.C.
If you have a router table or access to one, you could router the edges and bring the bit up very close to the dogs and hinges. Finish the remaining work with a Dremel. Unfortunately, never came across a bit that was less than 45 deg. if you can make that work.
 
VisionPNW

VisionPNW

.
Dec 4, 2017
79
Hunter 466 Seattle
So as an update, I have finished the install on the lenses and I found out that I didn't need to do anything on the other 7 ones that I was replacing. (Which I'm really glad I figured out before I modified all of them.) The replacements come with new latches, hinges and catches. They are about 1/8 to 1/4 inch longer, so none of the other lenses had any clearance issues. It took me a while to get the hang of pulling out the old catches and hinges because they have a bit of 5200 on them, but I got my system down. I was able to hit the one that was having clearance issues with an orbital sander and it fixed it right up! This project gets a big check mark ☑
 
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