Ok here we go...PMF!

[dales133]

I hear you bud i think we may be kindred spirits,i can sense your frustration at times and i know you sense mine
As for the bushes and striker plate thing... i am totaly with you on the striker plate thing.
Ive hung or adjusted more striker plates and doors than i care to remember and i intend to use them but as my ribs are all visable i wanted to slieve the holes i bore through them with something both to stop wear and give the attention to detail im after.
I want it to look like a well fitted out,built to last, moneys no object (although it verry much is of course) boat of the 70s or so.
The ribs need! slieving
How much reaction am i likly to have nickle plated steel to aluminium?
Its only 1.3mm clearance if i use the tube i got today with a 1mm wall.
Was mostly concerned with phosfrecence or what ever its called inhibiting the movement and degrading the aluminium.
Ill swap it for stainless if you advise that way

[noseoil]

Dale, I made a small jig out of two blocks for locating the holes in the hatch. I measured the depth inside the ribs, with the latch body in place, to get a location in the ribs for the offset from the inside edge to the center-line of the rod. One block has the hole in it with a center-line drawn on it, the other sits on the rib & forms a "T" or cross to keep the depth the same on all holes. I just drew a center line on the ribs where the rod went through each one to locate the holes & the jig (made on my drill press) held the depth & alignment. I didn't use a liner or sleeve on the hatch holes, because they are supported by the latch mechanism & two ribs each. With three points lined up, it's not going to wear out the wood & a bit of wax in the holes will act as a lube for a long time.

Here's a picture showing my measurements from the edge of the blocking to the edge (top & bottom) of the rods. I didn't worry too much about the rods moving up & down as they swing through the stroke on the radius of the plate. I just wobbled the drill slightly (up & down) after the inner hole was drilled to let the rods have a bit more play as they move where they're closest to the latch mechanism. It works very well this way. A smooth rod in a wooden hole with wax won't wear out the hole until after I'm gone. Not my problem!



I was more concerned with the side walls and the mounting point in them (automotive type door bushings per Brian's suggestion) than the hatch itself & the holes in it. My thinking about the alignment, gasket squash & hatch engagement is that with everything in place & working, I'll drill the holes once the hatch has had a chance to settle into place & compress the gaskets a bit. A week or two of sitting with the weight of the hatch should take care of things and it should settle down as much as it's going to over time. I've run some fairly tight tolerances in the loft or curve of the hatch & gasket mating areas, but it's pretty sloppy (about a full cm on each side) in the side-to-side department. My total compression for the gaskets will be about 0.10" or 0.25mm, give or take a few hundredths.

[dales133]

Nice idea with the jig mate,i was thinking along those lines myself.
I was going to ping a chalk line and then set the jig to it.
My latch is a bit different to yours but not totaly sisimilar but the latch rods push out completly parralel.
Ive had alot of years experience with building maintenance and lock adjustments and what im thi king of doing witch you may want to consider for better seal compression is grinding the end of the rod into a long steep cone with a flat tip so when you push the hatch closed it shuts so the tip of the cone locates the bush or striker plate right on the end of the taper so that when you turn the handle it mechanicaly forces around 3 to 5mm extra compression on the seal.
The other issue kc raised about people having issues with even seal compression,if needed im going to get the guy that does my waterjet cutting to make me up a lock tab to lock the center of the hatch aswell as the two sides.
He cut me a 3mm stainless bracket yesterday to fit a well loved old broken belt to to pull the hatch down

[KCStudly]

Plastics.

For the inner ribs I think noseoil has it right, just a well placed hole or slot with a nice small round over and wax.

For the outer ribs I would use acetel (Delrin) or PTFE (Teflon) bushings with enough clearance to handle a little play. Perhaps flanged, maybe one inserted from either side of the rib. make 'em a press fit 'cuz not too much will stick to them.

No messy metal on metal wear products; no drippy lube; and no dirt collecting in said drippy lube.

[dales133]

Thats a sensible option.
A guy i spoke to today can order me some bushes with a ptfe coating on a metal cylinder that is 10mm ID,my rods 9.02m.
Might go look at the automotive parts joints tomorrow and see what i can drag up.
Thanks for the input boys,much apreciated

[dales133]

Got hardly anything achieved today except drive around everywhere trying to find suitable bushes for the lock,
No joy!
Looked in a bit more detail for a paint colour but cant quite find what i want.
The only thing of any real purpose i achieved was disasembling the lock so i can fit it through the ribs as it wont in one piece and it had great big solid rivets holding the arms on and now ive got to locate them and find a way to press them.
I also cut a dado in the back of one of the center ribs to run the light cable through as i have nowhere else to hide them as i have no inner skin.
Came up pretty good considering i had to freehand it down a giant curve an inch wide.
So i have a wireless clean finish and i sanded the back of the ribs so its free off varnish runs ect for hopefuly a nice snug fit to the stucco sheet.

[OP827]

Thanks oleg and mike,
I said im a slacker because im verry self critical of myself and my work and theres realy no good excuse (except some financial hurdles) why i should be this far behind.
I tend to over think and procrastinate alot faced with some decisions.
Im more than capable of turning out good work but i tend to seek perfection at the cost of productivity at times.
Especialy in untested waters i stare aimlessly at the task at hand then think about it for days and after a couple of false starts i do the job,it turns out fine and ive wasted good time.
One of my less redeaming features

Same with me, Dale. While I think this "wasted time" term may be quite close to reality, it may not be a 100% correct description of what is really happening. "There is no technical or other problem that cannot be solved, it just requires time and funding." - just came to mind, can it be a quote by someone?

"You never fail until you stop trying"; “A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new”;“Imagination is more important than knowledge.”
- A.Einstein.

[dales133]

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[dales133]

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Theres the crude but efective slot to run my light wiring
Just got the outer skin on the hatch....first hot day of spring...no fun with the fast cure sikaflex

[dales133]

Outside skin on and a bit of spac action.

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[dales133]

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Busy day in teardropland!
Got it on and flush trimmed up.
3rd coat of spac filler on.
Happy with my progress today,got off my arse early and put in a whole day

[Sheddie]

Good days work, hatch is looking good.

[dales133]

Thanks bud.
Covered in sikaflex and dust.
Ive had cleaner days but was a verry dirty satisfying day.

[KCStudly]

Looks good. Nice to be able to sit back and enjoy the result of a good day's work.

[dales133]

Thanks kc,just been out blocking the spac filler down.
Do you recon id need to prime the spac before the pmf?
I was even thinking of a watered down coat of tb2
The other issue is how it will stick to the poly on the top spar,
I plan on taking it over the edge a bit and covering it with the hinge.
Might put the canvas on today