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DIY Alu mast profile

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rolkite
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DIY Alu mast profile

Postby rolkite » Wed Mar 15, 2017 12:21 am

Hi, I m thinking about cutting a sailboat alu mast to get 2 walls and weld them in one piece.
Wall thickness is 2mm -wich increases to 3mm over an internal section of about 40mm -.

The expected result is an almost simmetrical profile: 90mm of chord wide x 18mm thick -in a 800 mm long strut-.

Do you believe this could work in terms of excesive drag or ventilation issues?
This project is aimed just for learning to foil and then sailing at low speeds (i mean 10 to 15 kts).

Thanks a lot for your help.

BWD
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Re: DIY Alu mast profile

Postby BWD » Wed Mar 15, 2017 1:32 am

if you can weld and fabricate aluminum well enough to do what you propose, i'm impressed.
it could work, but 18mm is thick and therefore slow. Production aluminum masts are about 13-15mm as I recall, highest performance carbon ones get down to 10mm or so, but you could buy a car instead.

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downunder
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Re: DIY Alu mast profile

Postby downunder » Wed Mar 15, 2017 3:03 am

What BWD said. Plus, why bother? It's heavy as...You'll always grab a lighter one no matter what.

tmcfarla
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Re: DIY Alu mast profile

Postby tmcfarla » Wed Mar 15, 2017 4:02 pm

If you want to learn to foil, just buy a cheap, used beginner foil. There are plenty on the used market for a few hundred dollars. It is hard enough to learn that I wouldn't want to be wondering whether the issue was me or the gear.

If you are determined to start with a diy foil, I think carbon over a wood core would probably be the easiest. Also, you can just buy an aluminum mast for very little money.

rolkite
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Re: DIY Alu mast profile

Postby rolkite » Thu Mar 16, 2017 2:29 pm

Im reconsidering this thing.
Thanks to all.


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