sidewinder parts

hi i just bought a sidewinder, but t did not come with the center board.

-i was wondering if the centerboard was the same material as the rudder

-also i am planning on fabricating my own centerboard and was wondering if anyone could send me some deatailed pictures of the centerboard, my e-mail adress is schwartzbwithu@frontiernet.net


-matt

and for what its worth im in rochester

Matt, the rudder and centerboard are the same material. Is the photo on the main portion of the website good enough or do you need more?

The centerboard is the most requested piece. It falls out too easy if the boat capsized and then goes straight to the bottom of the lake. Make sure to tie your new one to the boat somehow to prevent this.

Paul
Webmaster: sailmfg.com

paul i need more pictures of the centerboard, more angles, better deatail and so on. also do you know of any place that would fabricate one of these centerboards. my e-mail is schwartzbwithu@frontiernet.net you can e-mail the pictures there.


-thanks, matt

Matt,

The pictures are on their way to you. I don't know of a fabrication place but I am sure there must be something somewhere. I looked in the yellow pages where I live and found several. I think I might take my board to a few of these places and see of they can duplicate it. I get a lot of requests for centerboards. Would it help you if I could do this? It might take me a couple of months before I can get a quote, but I will try if you want. If I could use my original it would mean a better result, and I could probably figure out a way to ship a new one to you.

Let me know if you want me to try. I could probably check into this in the latter part of September.

Paul
Webmaster: sailmfg.com

Hi Paul,

Could you send me the diagrams for the centerboard as well? It seems I will need to get one made. Does anyone know the general cost of having one made from specs? I have the rudder so I can show the maker the material as such. Any other advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Ben

Hi Ben,

The only pictures I have are the ones posted in the Sidewinder section of the website. What I can try to do is find a local company who can make one. I can take my centerboard there and tell them to copy it. In fact, this is probably a good idea because I am routinely being asked for one. If they can make one, they can make more. I can discuss with them a group by if anyone else wants to chip in.

Should I do that? At least to get a price? I can do the same for the rudder, and then you and I could compare notes and costs.

Paul
Webmaster: sailmfg.com

It would be great if you could get a price. I am going to a machine shop today to get a price based on the image on the website. However, having an original will likely produce a better copy. We can compare prices then and decide.

I don't know what to do about the white knobs. Should I just have two holes drilled? If so, do you what a good hole size is? I looked at midatlanticrubber.com but have no idea which parts to order. Any suggestions?

Thanks Paul!

So, I went to the machine shop today and they will be getting me a quote shortly. One question they had which I wasn't sure from the photos are which edges are beveled and are they beveled on both sides? From the photo, it looks like all three edges (the two long edges and the rounded edge) that are in the water are beveled and I would guess that both sides of the centerboard are beveled. Also, has anyone created one out of wood with success?

I heard back from the machine shop. They estimate 3.5 hours of work at $48 / hr plus $125 for the aluminum plus a few other small things for a total of $294.14. If we ordered two, it would be $462.74 ($231 each). This was quoted under the assumption that the bevel goes around all all three sides that sit in the water. This seems expensive to me, not sure what other folks think.

I'm sorry - I was tied up for a few days and unable to respond. I have not had a chance to get to the machine shop, but I will try to find one and get there in the next day or so.

Paul
Webmaster: sailmfg.com