Jib track for self tacker

[ballystick 72]

Anyone got any good ideas and/or where to source a bent-to-curve track for a Noelex 30, can you bend/roll just a normal one? who can do it best/cheapest? Or does any one know of a better system?

[Absolution 7]

Anyone got any good ideas and/or where to source a bent-to-curve track for a Noelex 30, can you bend/roll just a normal one? who can do it best/cheapest? Or does any one know of a better system?

 

I noticed in the harken catalogue that you can order track bent to a specified radius from them. I have the track from a Ross 35 that is currently snapped in half but could probably be welded up if you want to try that.

[TimW 1]

I recently re did my self tacker track.

 

Just started with a straight bit of track. Pre ordering it bent from Harken takes a while to deliver and I thought was quite expensive.

 

Got a piece of 6" x 2" about 400mm long and cut the track radius into it (actually a slightly tighter radius is ideal).

 

then just clamp the track into the curve (a bit at a time), then move it along 100mm and do again until ther track is the same radius as you want to end up with.

 

It is actually quite easy. I always put a short length of ply under the clamp (about 50mm long) and put it straight on top of the bolt hole to avoid cinking the track.

 

It pays to keep the car handy as well, you can run the car on the track as you go, and this way you can reverse bend out any bumps that might cause the car to bind.

[Guest]

Excellent post there Tim!

[wheels 543]

Or take the track to an engineer that has a sectional roller. Fairly commen machine for most engineers. Tell them how much bend you want and bingo.

[Terry B 71]

Changing tack/hijacking thread - apologies.

 

Who (around Westhaven preferably) can sell me a short piece of tubular s/steel and bend it to a specific shape.

[Guest]

Steelworks in Hillside Rd, Glenfield. They can bend/roll all sorts of stuff to very accurate measurements. They make stuff for racing motorbikes and aircraft so would have to be pretty damn good if they do that. Reasonable price and nice guys as well.

 

As Tim pointed out Yes the rolled tracks are just tickled straight tracks.

[ballystick 72]

Where do you get the track from? As from Harken it is about 4 x the straight price. Bending the shop bought track ends in cracks structurally and in the anodised surface - not good

[Guest]

They ALL come out of the extruder and start life straight.

 

My track was apparently bent using the holes in a telephone poll. 26 years later and it's still working fine........ but that technique may explain the odd flat spot it has

[wheels 543]

How much of a bend did you put in it Ballystick?? You can'tput too much bend in because the car won't slide along it nicely.

Terry, what are you needing, because if it's not too big, we might have something lying around at CRA and I can bend it in Big Betsy the Bender for you.

[Deep Purple 511]

I find walking round the Westhaven engineers with item in hand, gormless look and a box of beer gets any job like that done while you wait or at a the very least a "have it done tomorrow"

[ballystick 72]

It has an approx. 2.5 m radius, a nice gentle curve, knot unlike Knot Me's track so the car still moves easily. In Tga there are engineers that can roll a soft non-anodised track if I can find one. Fine line's offer of a broken track sounds interesting as there is less load in the central area and I am trying to make a pivoting or self-aligning track as on a friends Tornado to eliminate the torsional stresses of the standard Marten built model. The track broke when cranking in the jib on the weekend in the southerly blast that came through Tauranga on Sunday afternoon, many boats were flattened in a similar way to the Akld-Tga race 2 yrs ago. So if the outer ends of track can be built to take those loadings then it should be better in the long road, temporarily I'll be rigging it with jib sheets and barberhaulers to make it through winter, if it's not too adverse to use it may stay that way, just have to get the angles right for correct trimming and adjustability,

[wheels 543]

You don't need to roll it then if it is that light a bend. Just draw a pencil line where it needs to go and drill the holes along it and as you screw it down, pull it around to follow the line.

[Absolution 7]

Wheels, the trick with a self tacker is that its not screwed to the deck all the way along and the section is also quite stiff. i.e

 

[TimW 1]

Where do you get the track from? As from Harken it is about 4 x the straight price. Bending the shop bought track ends in cracks structurally and in the anodised surface - not good

 

Hi, if you go about it carefully you won't get any cracks.

 

we too have a roller machine but I found the track was bending more at the holes so I went about it the way I described above and it worked out great.

 

it was a standard piece of Harken track

 

If you are worried about the anodising you can buy the track un anodised.

 

Then bend it and get it to the radius you want.

 

Then have it hard anodised.

[wheels 543]

Thanks Finline, I wasn't thinking of that kind of thing.I thought we were talking a T track screwed to the deck. Sorry. Now I understand. Hmmmm, I wonder oif I can do that with my inner headsail???

[Absolution 7]

Thanks Finline, I wasn't thinking of that kind of thing.I thought we were talking a T track screwed to the deck. Sorry. Now I understand. Hmmmm, I wonder oif I can do that with my inner headsail???

 

If it doesn't overlap the mast then it should be possible. When they are setup well they are a real dream to sail with.

[Terry B 71]

Wheels, thanks for the offer but I've solved the problem (which, as it turns out, largely existed in my mind not in reality!).

 

And Sundreamer - I use that gormless look a lot (it does come naturally though).

 

My wife calls it the male version of dumb blond - "Gosh, Mr timber man, where do I buy a really small piece of teak, Pwease hewp meeeee"

 

"Oh you have a small piece left over from another job - how kind sir". 6 pack appears, new buddy made, problem solved. But don't abuse the relationship by asking for freebies all the time!

 

A very wise man once told me that you should always ask. If you don't know, or you think you don't know, ASK!

 

People actually like helping others. And the proof of that is in these forums.

 

 

And daylight saving starts in 5 weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Kaihe Atamai 2]

Anyone got any good ideas and/or where to source a bent-to-curve track for a Noelex 30, can you bend/roll just a normal one? who can do it best/cheapest? Or does any one know of a better system?

 

I had a replacement self-tacking jib track made by John from Sparloft for my Ross830 earlier this winter.

 

It was as others described - an anodised Harken I-beam track rolled and bent to the final shape. The track was pre-drilled, which resulted in small bulges at each drill hole which the previous track had as well. It was a rush job and though John did a good job I think that in the future I would look at other track options, at the least ordering one pre-bent from harken (my impression is they do the bending before the drilling / anodising which should be an improvement).

 

During this process I tried to figure out how the curve should be designed. My impression was that you start with a perfect arc such that the center is on the stay and so that it is in-plane with the swing of the jib. Then you add a bit of fall off at the outer ends to promote the release of the car during the tack (so that it slackens when the pressure is off). Any other considerations? With the old track the car sometimes did not go to the end of the track in light winds

[Guest]

Make sure you get it just the right height off the deck to take your feet off at the ankle.