Howdy Howdy...

L84dinr

New Member
Hello Y'all,

Well I am a laser owner. Having purchased a Laser II last year; I bit the bullet and found a '74 laser and traded a motorcycle for the boat. I went in realizing that i was probably going to do a mast step repair along with replacing other deck hardware; and i will have to "end for end" the upper mast as it has the typical bend.

The boat is a '74 hull; the last four numbers of the HIN are 0874. Which i find kind of neat, as I believe it was around '74-75 when i "learned" to sail. Had access to a laser and a sol cat during that summer when i was a teen and sailed everyday that summer. good times. Wore the seat out of a couple of pairs of cutt offs.

As an aside the mast step doesnt leak... but it is not right. THere is a handball size of epoxy in the center of the tube where it looks like someone tried to pour resin in the bottom which set up in a small hill instead of making a flat "floor". No worries i will install an inspection port, and fix and repair as time permits.

The reason for a laser along with the Laser II was my son was bascially meat on a rail and not paying attention to the basics of sailing. SO i figured i would throw him out in his own boat and he will have to learn.

Off on a tangent...I had asked about a year ago how difficult it was to step a laser II mast. Found out it isnt that difficult, and the Laser II is a blast to sail.

Take it easy.

Raymond
 
Nice to see another person looking to keep a classic Laser alive. Mine's a '73 that is almost as old as I am.

Try to avoid having to do full step repair by cutting away the deck and installing a new tube if you can manage it. If you can find a way to grind down the epoxy ball in place and then pour new epoxy over it with the boat level, that will save you a lot of time, money and hassle.

In my case, I poured the epoxy "down hole" with the boat level in both directions on its dolly. After the epoxy cured, I had a flat new step at the bottom that held water fine. Got a new stainless steel plate for the bottom, liberally coated one side with 5200 and dropped it down. Tamped it in place with the mast and let it set. No more leak and the step is properly reinforced. I have a plastic wear plate for between the steel and the mast step to allow the mast to rotate freely.

That was the hardest repair to make to my boat. Everything else was deck hardware and cosmetic.

Does your boat have the old foam flotation or the air field Cubitainers? The original owner of mine had the foam and he went to the trouble of chipping it out and removing it at 5 inch chunk at a time through fore-and-aft inspection ports! So his effort made shoving new reserve flotation into the hull a piece of cake. That is one upgrade I recommend if you have the old foam if only to lighten the hull.

Matt
 
Hello Matt,

I miss-spoke. I am not going to cut the mast step out... I plan on installing an inspection port and glassing the bottom of the tube to strengthen the mast step.

The top of the hill in the mast tube is about 1/2 an inch too high, so that a tape reads about 13.5. So in theory i should only have to remove about 1/2 -3/4 of an inch of material... then pour some resin/epoxy into the hole to make a level hole for the base of the lower mast. This part has me flumoxed... Been running through various scenrios thinking how to grind/cut the material down.

A previous owner has already installed the plastic cubitainers, havent seen any foam, yeah! I need to count and see how many are in the hull... But no foam.

Thanks,
Raymond
 
Raymond,

How about an extra-long drill bit from Sears? They sell ones that are 24 to 48 inches long. An auger or general purpose bit will allow you to drill out holes and essentially grind away the excess epoxy. Measure depth beforehand and mark the bit with tape for the maximum depth into the tube and you should be able to just work the material out one hole at a time. When when enough holes are drilled, work the bit carefully sideways to grind out the walls between holes , flip the boat over, dump out the loose material, rinse with water and repeat the process until enough is gone. Level boat and pour new epoxy.

Not a sexy way to do it and you might ruin a $10-$20 drill bit in the process but simple. Cheaper than a new mast step kit. :)

Matt
 
The drill bit is a good idea... I can look in my shop i think i have a 1" bit with the wierd shank for use in hand drills. With a little mavguyvering i can make that work by tack welding an extra "stem" for length. as long as it is turning slow i can remove some material.
Thanks!
I have noticed that most folks install One 5" deck inspection port. Would a six inch be too big? What about two 5" inspection ports... one on each side of the mast?
I have wondered why folks only use one inspection port? Is it for appearances? or do the holes weaken the deck? Two holes would make the work inside the boat easier... and allow more stuff to be carried on the water in the bags. Just wondering out loud.

Thanks again.
Raymond
 
there is probably an extension you could get for a drill that can level out the mast step very easily, drilling a bunch of holes will work but its time consuming.
 
The drill bit is a good idea... I can look in my shop i think i have a 1" bit with the wierd shank for use in hand drills. With a little mavguyvering i can make that work by tack welding an extra "stem" for length. as long as it is turning slow i can remove some material.
Thanks!
I have noticed that most folks install One 5" deck inspection port. Would a six inch be too big? What about two 5" inspection ports... one on each side of the mast?
I have wondered why folks only use one inspection port? Is it for appearances? or do the holes weaken the deck? Two holes would make the work inside the boat easier... and allow more stuff to be carried on the water in the bags. Just wondering out loud.

Thanks again.
Raymond

Some (very technical) people use a single 5 inch hatch (remember the hole is bigger when you cut it so the hatch outer ring can sit properly) and a small camera so they can watch what they are doing on a monitor. Others use 2. In practice you will probably need 2 hatches to ensure you get all the way around the bottom of the step.

I recently reapired the mast pot on a 46,000 vintage hull which appeared to have a manufacturing fault as there was a large void around a 1/3rd of the top of the mast tube on the inside. I could get away with a single hatch to fix this. I did chuck some resin and glass tape around the mast foot while I was there though despite it looking and feeling very solid and being water tight (better safe than sorry I say).

Good luck with the reapir and then enjoy the fruits of your labour!
 
My lasers an '81 and is older than me does that make it a classic? :)

Perhaps. I consider a 29 year old boat a classic just like a car. What do you think?

I would argue a Laser could be argued as being classic when every other sail number in your local fleet has six digits and the lowest is in the 130,000 range. That short sail number does stand out a little. :) I expect a few headshakes when they see "10270" on my sail compared to the boats around me.

Matt
 
The top of the hill in the mast tube is about 1/2 an inch too high, so that a tape reads about 13.5. So in theory i should only have to remove about 1/2 -3/4 of an inch of material... then pour some resin/epoxy into the hole to make a level hole for the base of the lower mast. This part has me flumoxed... Been running through various scenrios thinking how to grind/cut the material down.

I think a simple and pretty cheap solution would be to get a drill sanding disc pad (ie a rubber disk with an arbor sticking out) and then get yourself a long enough drill bit extension for it to reach the bottom (if the 12" is too short to reach when chucked in your drill then get a 6" too - or spring for an 18" one). The rubber disc will probably be 3 or 4 inches in diameter but it shouldn't be too hard to cut down to a diameter that would fit the mast step. Trim an adhesive sanding disc and slap it on the the rubber disc and sand away.

Here's a do-it-yourself link that would probably be even cheaper to customize.
 
I think a simple and pretty cheap solution would be to get a drill sanding disc pad (ie a rubber disk with an arbor sticking out) and then get yourself a long enough drill bit extension for it to reach the bottom (if the 12" is too short to reach when chucked in your drill then get a 6" too - or spring for an 18" one). The rubber disc will probably be 3 or 4 inches in diameter but it shouldn't be too hard to cut down to a diameter that would fit the mast step. Trim an adhesive sanding disc and slap it on the the rubber disc and sand away.

Here's a do-it-yourself link that would probably be even cheaper to customize.

Actually that type of solution is what has been bombing around in my head. I have a small air operated "angled" die grinder. There is an attachemnt for green scrubbers for cleaning up metal, such as carbs, combustion chambers, etc... I have been thinking of looking around the local tool store and seeing what i can find to make the die grinder work "down hole". The grinders have a tendency to "walk" so I will probably slide a 3" tube of pipe in the tube to protect the mast step tube.

Until LL baseball season is over all DIY projects are on the backburner. Now is the time to collect the parts to get the job started and finished. Besides i have the duece to sail.

Thanks,
Raymond
 
Hello All,
Thanks for your thoughts and time... I wondered through the candy store (Northern Tool) and found a 12" extension tool. I am able to attach a rubber pad which i can attach sanding discs. By attaching it too a drill I should be able to get in side the tube and sand the hill down and achieve a level foor. I will insert a piece of fence post pipe to protect the inside of the mast tube.



Thanks Again for your help and ideas,
Raymond
 

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