i550class.org

Guys,

İ have been faced with a simple issue to finish off my keel and bulb assembly. Both are bolted and epoxied together and they make a nice, but very heavy, pair pair ! Now İ have to fair the bulb, prime, and paint them with antifouling.
I have thought of many different ways of doing this but the issue is that İ basically have no place where to hang the keel so İ can work the underneath part of the bulb.
I could bolt a hook to the garage ceiling but i am not sure it will hold the weight of the assembly. I could forget about hanging it and just try to lay it on its side, them fair and finish one side after the other but İ am not sure it is the best solution.

Anyone actually finished their keel and bulb without hanging them ? Any easy solution ?

I suggest a simple tripod made out of 2x4's with a pulley at the apex. You need to tie together the base legs, but a rope going through holes in the boards would suffice.

Phil

thanks for the answer. Thought of a few similar things but never of a tripod. İt could, indeed, be the easiest thing to built . Tks

Hanging the whole thing might give you a better finish but I just painted mine one side at a time and rolled it over to do the other side.

Ron
The Voice of Mediocrity

Thanks Ron for sharing . I love that voice of mediocrity thing ! That is one more great name for a boat ...

It is somewhat really cool to know we all basically go through the same questions and idea.

I ended up going to the hardware store and bought a ready to use 8 to 1 purchase with hooks and a mechanical break. I also drilled a hole on my garage ceiling and screwed in a hook. I suspended myself and it held pretty good so I tried it with the whole keel assembly and it .....worked. So far so good. The purchase works great and I am just thinking about using it also in the boat to raise the keel whenever possible.

If it ever fails, I will follow the Voice of Mediocrity ( ) and finish it on its side.

Thanks fellows