Cutting New Halyard Exits

[CJV]

Hi again..
So the boat's been in the water all winter, and the mast is up and full of halyards & lines. I'm re-considering using a jigsaw, favoring instead a grinder with a thin diamond cutting wheel. Does anyone have advice to the contrary?

I suppose I could cut one of the round openings and pull the lines away from the opposite side using a coat hanger, and then use a jigsaw. But the grinder strikes me as easier to control while on a stepstool on a deck.

[Brion Toss]

Hi again,
The image of using a grinder to cut holes, especially while on a stepstool on deck, just gives me the shivers. It is so easy to lose control, and go cutting off in an unintended direction, so easy to get kickback and hop. Some shops use routers, but even those are best done witht the mast on the ground, and templates to steer the thing.
The jigsaw is likely surer, but even that can be an evil problem. Be sure to wax the blade, to mark clearly where you are cutting, to tape off the adjacent area so the base doesn't scratch the mast, and to get into the most comfortable, braced position possible.
Also, watch out for conduit in the mast, plus all the other warnings I'm not thinking of at the moment. It's hard to uncut this stuff.
Fair leads,
Brion Toss

[Brian Duff]

just get a really sharp cookie cutter and a big hammer and 'punch' the cutout- its the fastest cleanest way.

[Matthew Sebring]

Throwing in my two-cents. A small router (such as the type intended for trimming laminates) works very well. Still, it takes a very steady hand or a template. If you only have one or two you can always go the slow way and hand cut with a hacksaw blade.

[CJV]

Originally Posted by Brian Duff

just get a really sharp cookie cutter and a big hammer and 'punch' the cutout- its the fastest cleanest way.

I'll get right on that.. ballpeen or just plain claw hammer??

[CJV]

Originally Posted by Brion Toss

Hi again,
The image of using a grinder to cut holes, especially while on a stepstool on deck, just gives me the shivers. It is so easy to lose control, and go cutting off in an unintended direction, so easy to get kickback and hop. Some shops use routers, but even those are best done witht the mast on the ground, and templates to steer the thing.
The jigsaw is likely surer, but even that can be an evil problem. Be sure to wax the blade, to mark clearly where you are cutting, to tape off the adjacent area so the base doesn't scratch the mast, and to get into the most comfortable, braced position possible.
Also, watch out for conduit in the mast, plus all the other warnings I'm not thinking of at the moment. It's hard to uncut this stuff.
Fair leads,
Brion Toss

OK.. we did some 'exploratory' procedures today w/ a couple of buddies. We put a grinder and a dremel tool to test capabilities. We hoisted the lightest of us using a bowman's harness, he used a rapelling stance, w/ a foot on the boom and another on the spin pole, pushing back on a shroud. The grinder produced the best results, moving effortlessly thru the confines of the template for the exit. We did not finish the hole, as we were out of time. The dremel is going to be great for finishing, and of course final fairing with fine sandpaper.

The technique proved feasible, but key is a solid stance and I don't recommend it without the harness and sure footing.

Best,
CJV

[Brian Duff]

Abrasive wheels should not be used to work soft metals like aluminum, as the aluminum will melt and 'clog' up the abrasive wheel, which may cause it to explode into a million little eyeball piercing pieces.
I can remember one abasive cutoff wheel (granted, on a 4.5" grinder) that came out of the pacage with some dagame, which an employee didn't notice. He proceeded to try and sever some 1by19 cable... zwing!...Good thing we wear safety glasses, as his pair picked up a big gouge that day, and his hat bill got a 3/4" deep slice, and anonther emplyee standing something like 20' away got hit too. Abrasive wheels spinning at very high speed are dangerous- and really dangerous when used with aluminum.

Also, when considering the feasablity of this technique, consider that with the holesaw/jigsaw/file technique, it takes a total of 0.5 man/hr to produce a beautiful, fair, and symetrical halyard exit hole. Thats clean up time too. I just cant see the grinder producing as neat a job.

That said, it obviously has worked for you, so good job. And be careful !

[kristian]

Agreed, the image of using a grinder on the mast, while aloft, scares the hell out of me. It's surprising, but good for you, that it's the best pick.

I always use 2 holes, drilled several inches apart, connected using a jigsaw and filed smooth. What kind of blade were you using on the jigsaw?

For example, I just cut 2 exits in Shields mast with a good Bosch jigsaw, and it took less than 30 minutes from marking to done.

[CJV]

Thanks all for the constructive advice.

Guess there had to be a downside. Yes, the aluminum ground off like butter, but interestingly did not clog the grinder wheel. I could see why that would be a discouraged practice, especially in a shop.

The dremel bit, however, did clog up right away. I switched to the flex extender and spun it down way slow, using a large cutoff wheel to finish the inside of the exits.

Anyway, perhaps the better approach might have been a diamond cutting wheel on an 18V circular w/ depth control. Recall that the key was that the mast is up, and lines, wires are alive inside.

Thanks again for the contributions.