Cutting New Halyard Exits

[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