Hot-bent centerboard

P

paolograssi

New Member
Dear all,

ten days ago I had the bad idea to leave my Laser gear inside the car under direct sunlight for a few hours while I was at work planning to go sailing in the evening. I think temperature in the car reached 50-55 °C and the result is that the centerboard, which was probably somehow compressed by a seat, has now the exit edge S-shaped!
I thought to re-heat it to straight it again but I fear the result could be even worse.
Anyone has any experience with this kind of damage? Any suggestion about how to fix it?

Thank you
Paolo
 
i have heard the warnings of this but have never heard of it actually happening. well it can only get better so i say go for it or find a more sure way to fix it.
 
sailor327 said:
i have heard the warnings of this but have never heard of it actually happening. well it can only get better so i say go for it or find a more sure way to fix it.
Click to expand...

It happens more often then you would think.

Gouv's method with the iron is a good way to fix it. I'm not sure it's mentioned in his writeup on his web page, but start off with the low setting on your iron (aka silk/delicate) The high/cotton setting is great for pressing your clothes and it also leaves a really cool impression on hotel carpets and desks, but may be a little too much heat for the Laser blades and you may end up with bubbly plastic goo where your blade use to be.

There was a writeup in the Fall 2005 "The Laser Sailor" (That's the NA class magazine) by Ned Jones of Vanguard that also gave a slightly different method of fixing bent edges. His suggestion is to put the blade back in the car to heat it up and then clamp two nice straight pieces of hardwood (such as oak) one on each side. Allow it to cool back to room temp and check/repeat if nec.

You can substitute the iron for cooking the blade in the car and then clamp it when you discover that your blade is crooked an hour before the start of the first race :D toss the clamped blade in the drink to cool it off

Things to avoid for heating - propane torch and the Wagner heat gun (the one that you use to soften up paint for paint removal) Don't ask me how I know ;)
 
the same thing happend to me. what we did is since my dad and i both fly RC planes, we have a covering iron. its a iron that can only go up to 216. you can get this from www.towerhobbies.com. we got a wet papertowel and put it on the blade. we then put the iron on. we then were able to bend it back by hand back.
 
go for it if you make it worse oh welleither way you need a new one. or if you fix it then you save your self 400$ (CAD).
 
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