Project 46 Pedestal (Binnacle)
The pedestal/binnacle is finally under way! Every boat needs one of some kind, but buying one is out of the question, that is unless we win the lottery or something!

The head that will hold the bearings/ shaft/ and chain sprocket, has been a continuing issue.

As shown in the Gallery photo (right), the head was originally going to be quite a bit larger but due to the height of the compass and the display above it, the head had to be shrunk down to a bare minimum. This ruled out the possibility of "rolling" the thin stainless plate reserved for the purpose without a machine shop/fabricator.

The shaft is the same as what was used in the pilot house, 1". This is a very common size so the bearing blocks are cheap and available. We were fully ready to use one of our quality stainless cooking pots as for the enclosure when I spotted a cool looking heavily made

pot in Canadian Tire. I think it is for ice, but could be used for anything as it has no handle. The gauge seems heavy enough so I bought it!

 
A hole was carefully plasma cut out so as not to damage the nice  shiny finish.

Next a ring to mount the aft bearing on was cut out. This will support the bearing and will be connected to the support pipe for strength. Because the ring is hidden there's no point in prettying it up. (This close to launch an air of impatience is emerging! )

Nuts were carefully welded on to the ring which will allow access to the sprocket and forward bearing.

The photo below shows everything together. The corners of the bearings had to be ground off a bit to fit.

Boy am I lucky to have found that "pot"! Next the base, and odd looking thing, was cut out from 1/2" plate. The little ears are for the handrail mounts.
Leveling the pipe is extremely crucial as this determines the sprocket angle there being very little room to move the bearings up and down. 2 hours with a grinder ensured everything fit snugly

The base must take on a pleasing shape, but be functional. The 2 "ears" on each side were cut out to attach the handrail that goes around the whole thing to.

This hand rail will also support a display screen and partially the compass.
The bending of the handrail to go around the pedestal needed to be a good smooth one, and I'm running out of SS pipe! Professionally built pedestals ( or binnacles what-have-you ) usually have a 1.5" pipe around it. Without heat, this kind of curve in that size pipe would be impossible, so I chose the 1" instead.

The bottoms needed to be angled in of course, mostly to narrow the tripping hazard, but also because the base is already big enough. They also needed to be angled back a bit so the whole rail would end up a little forward of center. This is to facilitate the centering of the compass mount. It's pretty big with 2 balls on the end that might become finger catchers. Best leave at least 3" there.

  
 
The shift and throttle for the engine, I decided, will be mounted on to the side of the pedestal. This way the cables can feed down through the same hole, and the handles won't get in the way of the seating.
Devising a method to do this took more than a couple of brain cells, and much humming and hawing as I put it together.

The main things I had to remember were:

(1) The throttle assembly can't be put together ( because of silly engineering) inside the "box" so must have a plate and cutout large enough to insert the whole thing put together.
(2) There must be an access panel below the arms so the cables can be connected ( if they can't be connected and stuffed into the top hole!)

(3) The panel must go low enough to allow clamping of the cables to the mounting plate using little nuts and screws.

(4) The cable center ( off by 1.5" from the handle's pivot point) must line up with the center of the pipe, but be far enough aft that the cables are aimed towards the back of the pipe to avoid the chain.

(5) The hole in the pipe must be long enough and angled in to allow a smooth flow of the cables as they head in through the cockpit floor.

(6) And most importantly, it must look aesthetically pleasing! In other words it better look good. The pedestal is  the center of interest on a sailboat, much like the navel is on a belly dancer. It's what you're standing next to when you wave to poor land-locked dreamers on the beach as you sail by. :)

 
The control cables are 15 footers with Teflon lining we found new on eBay. They are 1/4 of the price the throttle control companies want. It's amazing how smooth they feel! Bicycle ones suck compared to these.
A cleft over hunk of pipe cut off off of the pedestal pipe was cut to be a 3/4 round, then plates welded to the ends and top made the enclosure. The photo left shows a never-to-be-seen-without-an-endoscope view of the inside of the box. Once ground smooth, it really looks fine. Can't wait until the polishing starts on that!

 
As I welded the base to the verticals, I took measurements during the cooling to see how fast and how much it moved, then opposed it, or over opposed it in predicting how far it would swing back the other way.

The compass stand did the same thing as I welded it, but to a lesser degree. It's just a matter of patience.

Occasionally I would step back, or look from above ( photo left ) to make sure nothing horrible was happening. It may be out but 1/4" here or 1/8" there but as long as it looks even and proportional, it doesn't matter. This is something one learns while doing the interior. Because of curves and angles assisting optical illusions, it's sometimes better to purposely knock things out a bit so the eye perceives it as it should be, even though it isn't aligned at all.
The bar across the top is to support the display unit ( I have yet to build )  which is going to be about 2.5" thick but needs to be angled toward the viewer. This is why it is sunken forward instead of straight across. The hooks ( which will have rubber balls pushed over them when not in use ) will be used in tandem with  the small "U"  below for a cockpit table. Having a table in the cockpit while at anchor is a wonderful experience to eat at. We wouldn't be without it!

What's Next:

The cables will be connected up and the unit mounted. Over winter I will build the display unit. That will be listed here.**

 


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