My Latest Project - New Portlights !!

[Maine Sail]

Hi All,

I've not been around as much lately because it's that "work on the boat" time of season..

For my latest project I installed eight New Found Metals stainless steel portlights. The transformation from the old plastic Beckson portlights to the NFM portlights is even better than I expected. They are not cheap but when the price is compared against their plastic counterparts they actually become quite a bargain.

The NFM portlights are very, very well built and made from solid cast & polished 316 stainless steel. These are not cheaply made stamped frames! The thing I really like about them is no visible fasteners on the exterior of the portlight..

The biggest benefit, that I had never considered or counted on, is the additional light in our cabin. It's like someone flipped the light switch. I guess there is a visible difference between real glass and tinted plastic..

If you're interested in how to do this install you can read my latest "how to" here (advanced warning this article is quite long):
Installing New Found Metals Ports

Before:

After:

[sailingdog]

Very nice Halekai. How long did those take to install??

[Maine Sail]

Originally Posted by sailingdog

Very nice Halekai. How long did those take to install??

They took a lot longer than I had anticipated. I have about 45 hours into them or 5 1/2 hours per port but that included polishing the cabin sides and varnishing the teak trim rings. Applying the butyl, from the outside as I did, took about 50 minutes per port. The stuff is tenacious and it was very tough to squeeze it into the gap and get two passes. The actual installation/clean up after the holes were cut & prepped took about two hours per port.

NFM says to seal the m from the inside, perhaps because it's easier? Unfortunately or fortunately, I never seal anything on a boat from the inside as I just don't agree with the basic premise or concept. I'd rather spend more time installing than tracing a diverted water leak from a seal on the inside of the cabin....

Seating the Butyl:


Sealant & Butyl:

[sailingdog]

Just curious...roughly how much are the NFM ports and what size are the ones you installed???

[Maine Sail]

Those are 4X14 and were about $200.00 +/- per port but then I needed teak spacers @ 40.00 ea and the bolts, metric pan heads were $5.00 per port & screens. For eight ports I'm running close to $2400.00..

[lbdavis]

Once again, amazing. Thanks for the write up and the photos.

[sailingdog]

Thanks for the info Halekai.

[AboardIndigo]

Nice work Halekai. They really pop.

[artbyjody]

Nice job... Question though - what really makes those templates so special?

Couldn't they create a template in paper for someone to actually make one themselves? I considered those ports - but who wants to purchase and wait 5-6 months to get a template to install them.....

[Maine Sail]

Originally Posted by artbyjody

Nice job... Question though - what really makes those templates so special?

Couldn't they create a template in paper for someone to actually make one themselves? I considered those ports - but who wants to purchase and wait 5-6 months to get a template to install them.....

Usually you don't have to wait that long to get one but 4X14 is the most popular size and they recently built a new factory which slowed things a bit.

What makes them so special is that they are made of a very thick 1/2" PVC type plastic and they have built in drill guides at each hole so you don't drill your holes crooked. The other thing that makes them special is that all you pay for is the shipping. You give them a deposit and when you're done ship it back and they credit you the $90.00.

Sure you could make one, it's very easy to trace the trim ring onto paper then transfer that to wood or plastic, but why? The plastic alone would cost three times the shipping...