bent bow pulpit

[deniseO30]

Apparently, The PO or marina had the mast laid on top the bow pulpit at one time. The part that goes out around the headstay/sail where the running light hangs from is bent down a couple of inches. You would almost think it looks ok at first glance. This bend seems to be pretty common on bow pulpits. Anyway, I know about pipe benders but I think it wouldn't work here because the bend is right at the First vertical tube.

Heat and bend? Will it polish up again? Get some strong friends and see if they can help? Use stout boards and clamps?

[Faster]

This is a typical scenario (usually from someone nosing into a piling at some point) and can be a tough problem.. esp when the bend occurs at a supported part like the vertical rail. It's extremely unlikely that it will ever take on its original shape. Even if you manage to "straighten" it, there will be a wrinkle in the tubing. Also there's enough "spring" in SS that you'll have to overbend it to get it to go back to where it was.

Some gently applied brute force may do as good a job as anything else, but you need to be concerned about the loads transfered to the mounting bases. Often the relatively thin skinned balsa cored deck will not like the forces that trying to bend the pulpit back will apply.

Best to try with the pulpit off the boat, but that's not something everyone wants to get involved in. Also you may well shift the thing enough that the original mounts don't line up.

Might think about living with it if it kinda looks right anyway.

[Tartan34C]

If it were mine I would leave it alone.
All the best,
Robert Gainer

[bestfriend]

Bending it back by force will also make it weaker than it already is.

[SEMIJim]

The bow pulpit on our boat is slightly awry. It's not something one would notice unless one was looking for it. (The surveyor noted it, for example.) I would never try to tweak it back myself, for fear of making things much, much worse. And having a pro do it would probably run a couple hundred dollars, at least. So we live with it. Unless you're prepared to pay a pro to deal with yours, you might consider doing the same.

Jim

[SEMIJim]

Originally Posted by bestfriend

Bending it back by force will also make it weaker than it already is.

How d'ya suppose the pros do it?

We had a fairly badly dinged pushpit. One stanchion was bent badly enough to require tubing replacement. The rest they simply "wrenched" back into shape.

Yes, it's true, the more and more-often metal is stressed, the weaker it becomes. But I suspect that with the small amount of deflection we're talking about here, and the fact we're not talking about numerous repititions, it's not really an issue.

Jim

[deniseO30]

I"m not opposed to taking it off this winter. Need to re-bed all the stanchions plus recore all the holes anyway. It really is a small deflection.
thanks all!

[bestfriend]

Well, you can do the math if you want,





but I was expressing the same thing you are. If you can live with it, leave it.

[camaraderie]

Would a "come-along" type of approach work for you?
That would entail a loop of rope with one end around the bent part and the other end around a stable part in the direction you want the metal to move. Insert a pipe or dowel into the loop and begin twisting it until the pressure of the twisted loop raises the bend back to where you want it.

[sailingdog]

If you're going to be removing the whole thing in any case, you might as well try straightening it out. A single effort to straighten it is not likely to reduce the strength of the stainless appreciably. A controlled come-along approach, provided you can firmly mount the pulpit off the boat would probably work. Another approach would be to use a hydraulic floor jack and a large plate to spread out the force.