Tired of getting stabbed

[artboas]

On the 49 /50, there are wonderful transom lockers which give great access to steering, plus massive amount of storage.
I have crawled into this space dozens of times. As well, on the foredeck, there is a substantial sail locker, which I have also lowered my body into several times a season.
In both of these lockers, every time I get out, I'm bleeding either on my arms or legs, (or both)
When Hunter installed the Bowmar hatches, they used self tapping screws, leaving many pointy bits on the inside of the hatches.
Every season I swear I'm going to fix this, but never do.
Well, I finally had enough of the self -mutilation.
The fix was easy.
Load a Philips bit into the drill.
In reverse, just wind them all out.
Then, chuck in a 5/32 bit, and run it through all the holes.
Then, set the drill clutch to a low setting.
Put a 10-24 tap in the drill, and carefully speed tap all the holes.
Get a bag full of 10-24 flat head machine screws 3/4" long.
Run the entire thread into the neck of a tube of 4200, liberally coating it.
Then, chuck the drill with a screwdriver bit, and drive in all the screws.
There should be about 1/4" thread exposed.
Then load on acorn nuts, and twist them tight.
Entire time frame to fix both stern and sail store hatch.
2 hours.
Why did I wait so long???? Must have enjoyed the pain I guess

 

[Johnb]

If your boat ever gets stolen your DNA will be all over it.

 

[Skipper]

Or you could have just cut off the exposed tips flush with a Dremel.
3 minutes.

 

[Jackdaw]

Ugh. Hate that. Screws on a sailboat have to be the #1 worst cost cutting measure a boat builder can do.

 

[jssailem]

Time is always what slows down a fix. Very good idea. Your bloody arms and legs will thank you.

 

[artboas]

Or you could have just cut off the exposed tips flush with a Dremel.
3 minutes.

Actually, this is not a good solution
Firstly, cutting through stainless with a small Dremel abrasive disk will take a substantial amount of time.
You will be leaving a burr exposed, so you're not all that far ahead.
If you try to cut them flush, you will wreck the anodized and / or paint finish.
It would be quite difficult to get into the crevices of the bomar hatch with the dremel, and the work would be inconsistent.
All things considered, the job was very quick, and it was all over & done in about 2 hours. The acorn nuts add a level of quality to the finish of the boat, versus cut off self tapping screws.

Here is the best trick in the world for "cutting" stainless bolts shorter.
Stainless is a very brittle metal, and fractures easily. Years ago I was helping to rebuild a cal 48, and we needed to shorten about 100 1/4-20 toerail bolts. To hacksaw through these would have taken days, plus the thread would be destroyed.
To shorten any stainless bolt, do the following:
Ensure that the bolt is installed securely. This will only work if the bolts are going through Fiberglas or metal. Do NOT try this with bolts going through metal.
Add a second nut after the primary nut, and wrench it tight.
Then take a pair of vice grips, and clamp it on very firmly inline with the bolt.
With a rubber mallet, give the vice grips a good whack, but don't get too carried away.
Then hit it back in the opposite direction.
Wiggle twice, and the bolt excess snaps off clean, with no thread damage.
This will work up to 3/8 stainless bolts easily.
This technique is ideal in confined spaces, such as shortening the excess bolts under a winch.
Why does this work so magically??
The thread is a very weak point on a bolt, and if you impart a lateral load, the crests of the thread stretch into the adjacent thread.
Just to convince yourself that the reason this works is because a stainless thread is prone to fracture, try doing this with even a 1/8" piece of stainless rod. It will bend repeatedly, but won't snap. Eventually it will break, but the end won't be dead straight as in the case with a snapped bolt.

 

[Skipper]

Actually, this is not a good solution
Firstly, cutting through stainless with a small Dremel abrasive disk will take a substantial amount of time.
You will be leaving a burr exposed, so you're not all that far ahead.
If you try to cut them flush, you will wreck the anodized and / or paint finish.
It would be quite difficult to get into the crevices of the bomar hatch with the dremel, and the work would be inconsistent.
All things considered, the job was very quick, and it was all over & done in about 2 hours. The acorn nuts add a level of quality to the finish of the boat, versus cut off self tapping screws.

Here is the best trick in the world for "cutting" stainless bolts shorter.
Stainless is a very brittle metal, and fractures easily. Years ago I was helping to rebuild a cal 48, and we needed to shorten about 100 1/4-20 toerail bolts. To hacksaw through these would have taken days, plus the thread would be destroyed.
To shorten any stainless bolt, do the following:
Ensure that the bolt is installed securely. This will only work if the bolts are going through Fiberglas or metal. Do NOT try this with bolts going through metal.
Add a second nut after the primary nut, and wrench it tight.
Then take a pair of vice grips, and clamp it on very firmly inline with the bolt.
With a rubber mallet, give the vice grips a good whack, but don't get too carried away.
Then hit it back in the opposite direction.
Wiggle twice, and the bolt excess snaps off clean, with no thread damage.
This will work up to 3/8 stainless bolts easily.
This technique is ideal in confined spaces, such as shortening the excess bolts under a winch.
Why does this work so magically??
The thread is a very weak point on a bolt, and if you impart a lateral load, the crests of the thread stretch into the adjacent thread.
Just to convince yourself that the reason this works is because a stainless thread is prone to fracture, try doing this with even a 1/8" piece of stainless rod. It will bend repeatedly, but won't snap. Eventually it will break, but the end won't be dead straight as in the case with a snapped bolt.

Whoops, I thought the screws were protruding through fiberglass hatches. IE a cockpit locker lid. But you clearly said Bomar.
All I had to do was read.

A cutting disc will lop off screws pretty quick. Then grind it flush with another pass.
On fiberglass, the underside. Not on nice Bomar aluminum.