Port hole replacements

[syon]

Hi All,

Its been a while since i was last on here, and things are really booming on here, just by reading a few threads.

Anyway-

Since i became "landlocked" since 2004, i have used what knowledge i have garnered from solo sailing, and what i have seen amongst other liveaboard sailors, the cost of maintaining portholes and other items.

i have taken up CNC milling on a small scale, and have total access to Lexan, and composited plastics from where i am working, saving $$ for my next sabbatical.
I have come across some people that have found that the prices to replace a porthole is very prohibitive, needless to say, even discouraging.

I am wondering if the community would like to have an alternative way (cheaper, way cheaper) to having those portholes replaced.

Having had worked at Hunter sailboats in Alachua,florida, and SeaRay at Merritt island,Florida as well, (which got me hooked on the water , BTW),
I have made several attempts that were sucessful according to the owners.

All i would need is a template, and a picture and some measurements in order to make a replacement porthole-

Mind you, the sizes need to be under 8"w X 18", and you could, you you wanted to go with a different thickness from 1/4" to 3/8" to a max of 1/2"
Clear, smoky, or blue tinted, all are UV resistant.

If you are interested, please contact me via my email at syon007@comcast.net, and i would gladly assist you as much as i can.


Regards,
Sy

[Maine Sail]

I'm sure there are many who would be interested in another option! As long as this is sailor to sailor and this is NOT your primary business it seems ok to post this here though the mods will have to decide that not me.

One thing though is you really need to post a picture or most will never even consider it! New ideas need actual and physical touchy feely photos for anyone to actually bite.. Just my .02..

BTW It's Pea Soup out here! Typical Maine! Glad my cell broad band still works!

[RXBOT]

I'm sure any local glass company could supply cut to fit glass lexan or any other suitable material , just bring in a sample so they can match size.

[syon]

Good point, i'll get some pictures together and post them on here....
Its not my main business, its more of a side job at home, more of an idea that i came across, tried, and got good results thus far. just wanted to put it out there.
As far as having a glass company do it....ummm...why would you want "glass" on a sailboat?...lots of hazards in having glass on a sailboat when out bluewatering.

But thanks for the .02...

Sy

[Maine Sail]

Actually Syon most of the blue water type ports are made of very thick tempered glass.

New Found Metals, Spartan Marine & ABI are just a few of the high quality port manufacturers who use tempered glass and not plastic. I've even been on some serious off shore Sword fishng vessels that have large glass windows and even those are very, very thick tempered glass...

P.S. Most glass shops will also cut Lexan and Acrylic panels..


These ports are glass!!

[JohnRPollard]

Originally Posted by halekai36

Actually Syon most of the blue water type ports are made of very thick tempered glass.

That's my experience as well: The heavy-duty, solid bronze or stainless, through-bolted portlights used in purpose-built bluewater boats have thick, tempered, laminated safety glass.

Less robust portlights typically have plastic frames and lenses. In between, there are the aluminium frames with plastic (acrylic or polycarbonate) lenses.

Polycarbonate (Lexan) is a good strong substitute for tempered glass, but is susceptible to UV degradation in the long run. Available at local glass shops, as others have pointed out.

[syon]

well, if you prefer glass, i guess its all good, but you can't knock a sailor for wanting to contribute..

Thanks for at least reading....


Sy

[Maine Sail]

Don't take it the wrong way there are MANY production boats with plastic ports that will need replacement. Your idea with photos may be what they need. Not everyone is willing to cough up close to $2700.00 for eight ports (without labor) as I did..

[JohnRPollard]

Yes, please don't take that the wrong way. We have a tendency to split hairs a bit here, especially when we're bored.

I rebuilt all the solid bronze portlights on our previous boat, and it occurred to me that the knowledge I had gained in doing so was pretty valuable. I simply don't have time for a sideline business like that. If you do, I could easily see how it could be worthwhile.

What I would suggest is a sort of "turnkey" approach, where you make it real easy by sending the client a bunch of "blank" covers for their portlights. They remove their portlights, install your blank covers (to keep the weather out), put the portlights in the same box you sent the blanks to them in, and ship them to you. You rebuild in your shop, then ship them back and they return the blanks.

Come up with a fair price per portlight and it could be profitable, who knows? All the best of luck to you.

[sailingdog]

As if Halekai needed a reason to post more photos of his new port installation.

As Halekai points out, many of the higher-end ports use tempered glass, which is probably stronger and definitely more UV resistant than either acrylic (plexiglass) or polycarbonate (Lexan).

Originally Posted by halekai36

Actually Syon most of the blue water type ports are made of very thick tempered glass.

New Found Metals, Spartan Marine & ABI are just a few of the high quality port manufacturers who use tempered glass and not plastic. I've even been on some serious off shore Sword fishng vessels that have large glass windows and even those are very, very thick tempered glass...

P.S. Most glass shops will also cut Lexan and Acrylic panels..


These ports are glass!!