lost overthruster @ slane weir
Hi guys
I lost a "overthruster" on sunday at the weir in slane. had to pull out of the boat as theres a lot of trees blocking the archs in the bridge. The part in question is either stuck in the the trees under the bridge or it made it as far as the bank, beside the mill house hotel ( thats left of the river as you look down river) had a good look around but it was getting quit dark so this hampered our efforts.
the part is made from a clear plastic material with some foam glued on the underside. This is a home made overthruster that i got from the guy who sold me the boat. If anybody is down that direction and manages to recover it please shoot me a mail or txt
on a second note if any body has made one of these before and know the type of plastic, (i know its not perspex) or how to soften and shape it it may be just as usefull to make a new one.
Cheers
Ray
0863406228
cheers kieran
If you come across contact details for him send me a txt
thanks again
I have made two if these before and its pretty straight forward. I used plastic off a plastic barrel - one the same size as an oil barrel.
I cut out roughly the correct shape first and then using a BBQ heated the whole thing. Then while it was hot I put it on the cockpit and shaped it to what was needed and using a wet towel cooled off the plastic fast enough so that it held the right shape.
A little bit of tapering at the edges and it was finished, had both of them in Uganda and they worked perfectly.
If you need any more information just let me know.
Just see this now. I used a plastic called Pet-G Vivac. It's similar to perspex in appearance but unlike perspex it is plyable at lower heat and will bend at more than one angle.
I got it from Access plastics. up at the back of the airport near finglas. I'm sure they are in the yellow pages.
it's been a while but bought a 1 foot by 2 foot piece. 6mm thickness but you could go thinner.
Get a friend to help. Stick it in the oven at home to heat it evenly and as soon as it gets plyable lift it out, place over cockpit and press it into desired shape.
Leave it on cockpit and trace line around it for trimming.
If you are cutting it with a jigsaw you will need to spuirt water on blade to stop it melting plastic as you cut and clogging up blade.
Pet G floats unlike perspex so you'll probably not need to glue on foam.
Probably best to put a small bolt trough th front end of it and a small hole in cockpit rim as a guide to keep it in place when pulling in deck.
Every time I change my boat I just stick it back in the oven for a couple of mins and press it on to new boat for snug fit.
Hope this helps.
Bren
Never test the depth of the water with both feet.
Hey Ray
Id put a post up looking for Brendan Masterson. As far as I know he has done this and should be able to sort you out...
Kieran