Looking for suggestions on how to make replacement wedges for my O'day 26. Tried D&R Marine but, while they list replacements, they're not the same size as mine.
O'day 26 Centerboard Wedges
- Thread starter cddreyer
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I would make a pattern of the wedge from the old wedge or from the rabbet groove. One pattern can serve to construct the two needed.
You could trace it out on 1/4" plywood and fiberglass it, or you could use PVC Foam Board and cut it to the desired thickness. Then trace out the shape of the wedge, put them together and cut it out on your band saw.
Myself, I'd lean toward using PVC Foam Board because unlike Trex, it can be painted and it can be glued with PVC cement.
I built a mast extrusion for the foot of my mast out of this stuff a few months ago I just added two more 1/4" X 4.5" stainless steel bolt to it the other day.
Last year the bottom of my mast corroded and I had to cut 2" off it. I Mickey Moused it with some Trex to get me through the rest of the summer and this year I came up with a more permanent solution with the PVC FB.
If you get a good fit with the wedges, all is needed is to adhere it with 3-M 4200 and paint over the wedge later with bottom paint.
I'm not certain if a Polysulfide caulking would have any ill effects on this material though, but you could paint the wedges with Krylon first and then install them.
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I think you could buy it at Lowe's but I don't think they sell it in small quantities. Also, this material goes under different names and I'm not sure of what they call it. The guy who has this site calls it PVC Foam Board.
http://www.bertram31.com/proj/tips/pvc.htm
My son gave me a 3' piece of this board several months ago. He's a carpenter and they use a lot of this stuff on the job. I'm finding out now that this stuff doesn't soak up water and that it will take to most caulking containing polysulfiides.
What I would do is talk to some carpenters and see if you can get a piece of this stuff that they throw in the dumpsters. It's white in color and it comes in various widths of 1"X whatever. It's a pretty good substitute for plywood. I think it would be an excellent choice for centerboard wedges.
My pleasure.
This PVC FB is very pricey and unless you plan on using a lot of it you're better off checking with someone who is doing some carpentry work on some new houses that are going up in your area, who can get you some scraps.
Last year a friend of mine asked one of his sons to get me a piece of Trex so I could replace the Teak under my mast tabernacle.
Years ago when I was having my new mast made up by a rigger in RI with a hinged tabernacle which required more height for my existing stays, I had to install a Teak board on top of my cabin to make up the 1" difference.
Last year I replaced that Teak board with 1" Trex and still had enough of the Trex to make up the 2" that I had to cut off my mast which was only going to be a temporary fix. I like Trex but it's too heavy and I don't think it can glued.
I hadn't really planned on using the PVC FB because it's not exactly 1" thick, but the stuff is lighter in weight and the fact that it can be glued, made it possible for me to resaw it on my bandsaw using a 1/2" blade and a fence to get that desired thickness. My finished extrusion wound up being 1/8'' longer than it should have been, but it was just a matter of loosening the turnbuckles on my stays to get the desired tension.
I think that if you can get a piece of this stuff and resaw it on a bandsaw, trace out the pattern, cut it out and shape it, it will work like a champ after its caulked in the grooves of the centerboard slot. All you have to do is go over it with a little bottom paint later and it will probably last longer than the original wedges. Good luck with that.
Joe
Rich,
I've seen StarBoard. Wayne uses it on his boat. This stuff looks all together different than StarBoard to me. It resembles pine shelving with a white prime coat.
In fact, I just now called my son just and asked him what this stuff is called and he said that it's called PVC Trim Board. I'm pretty sure that Home Depot and Lowe's carries it.
The guy on that site of the link I posted calls it foam board which is a misnomer I think, because this stuff is as strong and tough as ordinary wood boards. Like Trex, it's probably impervious to rot.
I have some wood trim on my house that is close to the ground that keeps rotting out every few years and I think that I'm going to have my son replace it with this stuff. My farmer's porch has a Trex floor and that stuff is amazing. Nothing can kill that stuff.
What I did was get some modling clay (dollar store), cleaned and repaired the wedge areas in the trunk, put just the pin up and pressed the clay\putty in. Then I got some two part silicone molding compound (craft store) and mixed and formed it around the clay molds. Once dried, I mixed some epoxy with filler and loaded the silicone molds. Once cured, they just popped right out. I tried plaster molds but had a hack of a time getting the wedges out.
Beauty of using modling clay is that you get an exact fit.
Oh I predrilled the holes for the plat mounting screw.
regards
tom c
Tom,
Were the original wedges missing on your boat or did they get broken when you tried to remove them?
When I removed my wedges they got slightly broken and I wound up reconstructing them with epoxy and filler and using them over again.
I had used a fish fillet knife to get in between the caulking. I heated the blade with a blow torch and that helped to get the blade to cut through the caulking and free the wedge.
The modeling clay seems like a good idea to me. Hey, whatever works.
Good idea, Tom. I have the old ones out of the boat. A friend and I have discussed using the outline of these to make some prototypes out of "1x" stock to get an idea of what the correct thickness should be (or, what we'd like it to be 
). The old ones are in rough shape.
). The old ones are in rough shape.
Pvc wood for wedges
The material you are talking about is AZEK and it is used for trim boards. I made a motor bracket wedge out of it a couple of years ago and it works great. You can get it at almost any lumber yard. You may be able to get a cut off there vs Home Deort l. I know you can get short lenghts
Since one of the wedges was "wood" and smaller than the other, I mad enew ones. No probs with the clay comming out. Looks like there is a slight bevel on the sides. I suppose one could wax prior to putting in the clay. I say clay, but who knows what that stuff comming from you know where is made of. :-0
tc
Hi Peter,
I'm glad you chimed in on this. I wasn't really sure what they called that stuff. A guy who owns this site http://www.bertram31.com/proj/tips/index.htm calls it PVC Foam Board.
I've mentioned this stuff a few times on this forum as a possible good material to use for a transom block because it can be glued with PVC cement. As you probably know from my ramblings, I used AZEK to construct a mast extrusion to gain back the necessary height I had to forfeit when I had to cut 2" off the bottom of my mast. So far it's worked out just fine. I recently removed it and added two more 1/4" bolts to it and stuck it back into my mast.
The boat has been at my house for a few weeks while my outboard is being repaired and just Wednesday I decided to put the mast up and hang the boom and tarps. If I can't be on the water at least I can hang out on my boat and see the lake across the street from my house.
Joe
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I think that if I didn't have any wedges to duplicate a pattern I would use a T bevel in the groove to duplicate the two angles on a piece of cardboard. Then all you need is a measurement of the base of the wedge and the length of the wedge between the bottom of the fiber pin and the top of one of the plates.
I'd cut out the cardboard and check it for the fit. If it looked like a reasonable fit I would transfer it to 1/4" plywood which would be the pattern to be transferred over to the AZEK.
All you need is just this one plywood pattern to make two wedges.
After you've made your two wedges, you'll need to identify each wedge by marking it because the outside of each wedge which faces the centerboard, is beveled more than the inside which fits into the groove. You'll need to make sure that you bevel the right side of each wedge because these wedges only fit in the groove one way.
I'd cut out the cardboard and check it for the fit. If it looked like a reasonable fit I would transfer it to 1/4" plywood which would be the pattern to be transferred over to the AZEK.
All you need is just this one plywood pattern to make two wedges.
After you've made your two wedges, you'll need to identify each wedge by marking it because the outside of each wedge which faces the centerboard, is beveled more than the inside which fits into the groove. You'll need to make sure that you bevel the right side of each wedge because these wedges only fit in the groove one way.
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