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TonyOlsen
United Kingdom
20 Posts |
 Posted - 27 Jun 2017 : 17:35:42
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I'm after a helm panel in either plastic, fibreglass or wood, suitable for a Norman 20 cockpit, does anyone have one they no longer use or know someone or company that makes them.
Thanks in advance
ollie |
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cliveshep
Thailand
1324 Posts |
Posted - 28 Jun 2017 : 04:53:21
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Make your own - they are not that hard. Finding a good grp one would be almost impossible I'd say.
Really they are quite easy if you have basic carpentry tools, and can cut holes in a piece of aluminium for instruments.
This one is entirely of old wood and ply covered in thin foam with leather-cloth stapled over it. Fixed with brass screws and cups.
Picture of one of many I made here:
Finally living the dream!
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Mfuller
121 Posts |
Posted - 03 Jul 2017 : 15:48:52
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| I've been toying with the idea of making my own. Unfortunately my wood working skills are terrible (despite being the son of a carpenter!) |
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TonyOlsen
United Kingdom
20 Posts |
Posted - 02 Aug 2017 : 21:18:32
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quote:
Originally posted by Mfuller
I've been toying with the idea of making my own. Unfortunately my wood working skills are terrible (despite being the son of a carpenter!)
Clive, do you have any plans or drawings/measurements for this panel or did you just make it up as you went along ?
ollie |
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cliveshep
Thailand
1324 Posts |
Posted - 03 Aug 2017 : 04:58:46
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Made it up as I went along Ollie. Some dims you can take yourself as circumstances dictate them.
Depth to bottom - you need to be able to put the ply infill panel back in if you use the port berth as a berth and not just a seat. So the bottom has to end above that. In the one pictured is ends about 150mm above the loose panel, it could extend a bit lower.
The top line is governed by the coach roof, you need to go just below the down-turned coach roof port edge. If you want to hide wiring coming in from the toilet compartment from ceiling lights etc then you need to drill through into the double skin void, you then need to carefully drill upwards through the bulkhead at a shallow angle into the void starting from at least the top console batten line so the hole is subsequently hidden. Depends if you want to get wires through the double skin from the cabin light, light above galley, and the socket for the mast lights outside.
Hint - to fit cables through the double skin you need to strip out the cockpit hatch frame, prise the two skins apart enough to "fish" wires through with an old solid whip aerial or metal rod or similar. I used a 6mm wide flat drain cleaning spring as you can push and twist it about with a bit more flexibility than a rod.
The width is controlled by the cabin door frame, obviously you need to stop before you sail past that!
Projection is controlled by two factors, one is you have to get the steering box behind, and allow the cable to turn to the side to dive into the side panel out of sight before it goes to the transom through the bench-seat/bunk.
Second is you need to fit an instrument/switch panel into the top, what you intend to install will define the projection, and also the angle of the top. I did one Norman where the top panel held a top-mounted twin lever Teleflex control for the engine so that helm position had a fairly flat top so the gubbins below the twin lever didn't hit the toilet bulkhead.
The whole thing needs to be fairly easily removed for access, my one has 5 screws for the side panel, of which two hold it to the main unit so needn't come out for removal, and has 2 on the right, one top and one bottom, and 3 on the left, which hold the whole thing onto 25mm x 25mm battens fixed to the bulkhead behind. Removing it exposes the wiring loom and steering unit.
You'll see I fitted a switch panel with fuses all accessible without removing the console.
Another variant I did on one boat was laminated in Formica, had hinges on the port side, and two screws only to starboard side. It also had a cubby hole below the helm in the sloping part for bits and bobs. On that one it went all the way down to the bottom, the loose infill panel was slightly shortened and dropped onto a batten fitted to the console.
Another was of similar dimensions but with a varnished ply construction, with an aluminium dash panel drilled for individual switches and utilising old 12 volt instruments from the breakers yard out of an old Jaguar. (Modern cars don't have pretty round dials) That panel was then covered in black leather cloth glued on with Evostik before switches etc were refitted. Aluminium is easy to cut and drill. Fixing of that one was with chrome-plated mirror screws.
Another hint - the wiring loom from an old washing machine has loads of colour-coded wires, most with spade connectors attached, very useful for wiring up consoles and fuse panels. Likewise stripping out the loom or part of it from an old car at the breaker's yard also gives lots of useful colour-coded wires of suitable thicknesses. The alternative would be 50m coils of different gauges and colours and that is very expensive.
Hopefully you'll have so ideas to inspire now?
Finally living the dream!
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Edited by - cliveshep on 03 Aug 2017 05:22:52 |
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helm panel
