SailNet is a forum community dedicated to Sailing enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about sailing, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, repairs, reviews, maintenance, and more!

Bending a bow pulpit to fit

6329 Views 14 Replies 9 Participants Last post by merc2dogs, Oct 23, 2009

jephotog

Discussion Starter · Oct 6, 2009

I am trying to fix up my little potter for cheap. I got a bow pulpit for the boat, but it came off something different and is not an exact fit. The support struts that are aft are a little too narrow. I could mount it as is and it would work, but I would like to bend them out a little bit.

Can the material that a rail pulpit is made of be safely bent? If so how do I do this?

1 - 15 of 15 Posts

DwayneSpeer

· #2 · Oct 6, 2009

bend it

It was bent to manufacture it in the first place. Use a pipe bender.

GaryHLucas

· #3 · Oct 6, 2009

The pulpit is tubing, not pipe, so it either 1" OD or 7/8" OD. It can be bent, but is hard to bend if what you are trying to do is actually straightening an existing bend. For the 7/8" tubing a 3/4" EMT bender will probably work the best. For the 1" a 3/4" Ridgid pipe bender would work better. The tough part is not kinking it. The benders used to make these rails have shoe that fits the tube exactly, and a half round follower block that fits the tube exactly. This keeps the tube from collapsing. However they don't straighten tubes well at all.

Gary H. Lucas

timebandit

· #4 · Oct 7, 2009

Chain it to a tree and chain to a car and pull ?

jephotog

Discussion Starter · #5 · Oct 7, 2009

GaryHLucas said:
The pulpit is tubing, not pipe, so it either 1" OD or 7/8" OD.
Gary H. Lucas

Thanks for the elucidation Gary between pipe and tubing, seems important to know before i bend and tweak the rail. I was trying to figure out how to get at a pipe bender as i am out of town M-F. The aft stantions just need to be spread out about 3 inches or so wider per side. I think just a subtle tweak at a few places along the rails running aft may get it to line up a little better with the bow.

I am not sure if they have a bender in Home Depot or not but figure I could sneak a few tweaks on the pulpit in HD this weekend, if not I'll try the cars and chains idea. Not really.

jephotog

Discussion Starter · #6 · Oct 21, 2009 (Edited)

3

This is how I did it

Just following up on my thread, so it may be used as an archive in a search.

I was able to find a conduit bender from Lowes for $38. First attempt was with me holding the pulpit while my wife cranked on the bender. It felt like it moved but no such luck.

The hard part is I needed to isolate the area next to where I wanted to make the bend from moving. The plan was to lash it to an immovable object the crank. Here is the setup. I made bend in two places along the area and then put it against the boat and it was a bit too wide. So I removed some of the bend and flipped the pulpit around and bent the other side. Here is a photo of the setup and the results.

PS the 3/4" conduit bender worked on 7/8" tubing pulpit and I guess it would work with 1" as well

See less See more

tager

· #7 · Oct 21, 2009

Sweet!

arf145

· #8 · Oct 21, 2009

Nice job!

nereussailor

· #9 · Oct 22, 2009

Looks good to me. Great job!!

Dave

scottyt

· #10 · Oct 22, 2009

i wish my pulpit was that easy to bend. mine has a top and a lower pipe plus 4 verticals ones and its racked out of square. i have tried to get mine to straighten to where i need it and it wont move. i have to make a new one in the spring, or use hydrolics to try to bend it

jephotog

Discussion Starter · #11 · Oct 22, 2009 (Edited)

scottyt said:
i have tried to get mine to straighten to where i need it and it wont move. i have to make a new one in the spring, or use hydrolics to try to bend it

Hey Scottyt,
Have you tried the conduit bender yet? I've got one for sale, cheap. I tried to bend it with out tying it down and got nowhere. After I secured the area next to where I wanted the bend to occur, so it would not move, I was able to apply bends pretty precisely to the location I wanted to. My first bend was too much and I had to remove some of it. I then put a few bends on each side I wanted to bow out so it came out as a smooth curve along the section instead of a single bend.

Granted mine is pretty basic and the amount of movement I had to make was simple, but you might get something more square then let the bolts do the rest.

GaryHLucas

· #12 · Oct 22, 2009

scottyt said:
i wish my pulpit was that easy to bend. mine has a top and a lower pipe plus 4 verticals ones and its racked out of square. i have tried to get mine to straighten to where i need it and it wont move. i have to make a new one in the spring, or use hydrolics to try to bend it

Having been an electrician in a former career I learned how to fix my mistakes! The tough part is always holding the darn thing. You might try to find a welding shop with a welding platten with the square holes. These things are a big thick steel table abut 2" thick. The square holes hold all kinds of clamps. This allows you to clamp something down really solid, and gives you a place to push or pull from.

Gary H. Lucas

scottyt

· #13 · Oct 23, 2009

jordan and gary, i am amaster electrician, i already have the benders. i have tried it the problem is its its racked. and out of square. it needs a jack to un rack it

GaryHLucas

· #14 · Oct 23, 2009

scottyt said:
jordan and gary, i am amaster electrician, i already have the benders. i have tried it the problem is its its racked. and out of square. it needs a jack to un rack it

That is the tough case, which why I suggested the welding bench approach. If you can hold it down you might not even need the bender.

Gary H. Lucas

merc2dogs

· #15 · Oct 23, 2009

scottyt said:
i wish my pulpit was that easy to bend. mine has a top and a lower pipe plus 4 verticals ones and its racked out of square. i have tried to get mine to straighten to where i need it and it wont move. i have to make a new one in the spring, or use hydrolics to try to bend it

I have had good luck and great results straightening pulpits and rails out using come-alongs, chains/straps and wood. If you could provide pics of what it's like I could maybe throw a few ideas out.

Ken.

1 - 15 of 15 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.