Building a mast

None at all but don't count on the hardware to hold it together, do a *good* glue job, Resorcinol or epoxy. Hollow masts are common and 22' isn't very big. Never built a hollow one myself, always solid (some laminated but solid). Here's a starting point...

I can't help you with the design other than to suggest possibly wrapping it in criss-crossed fiberglass / epoxy when it's done...

BUT... I want to see photos of the progress if you can. Neat project!

use it for a mandrel and make a carbon fiber tube by wrapping it around. you can get prepeg fiber tape for not very much. do a thick buildup in the places where you need the attachments, but you won't need any of the hardware that simply holds it together. you'll just need to vacuum bag it when curing. after you're done, you should be able to lift the tube with one hand, it will be so light.

That was a flagpole if we are thinking of the same episode.

Sailed a lot of scow during my teen/college years... A, E, M20.... You could more easily post to a scow sailing forum and buy a aluminum mast for cheaper than building the new one (time IS money). But if you have more time than money....

Reminds me of the CF mast that Harken built for one of the brother's A scow - three cf tubes joined by alu triangular sections (point forward) and a track for the mainsail boltrope mounted to the rear of the triangular sections. Folded like three of them expensive suckers before they gave up on the concept.

D'ohBoy

Norm did a show I saw where he built a mast out of sections if I remember rightly. The op might want to look into that.

My mistake, I think you're right. Apologies to the OP.

Guess I'm getting old and my memory is going.

RE: Subject

Take a look at Fred Bingham's book, Practical Yacht Joinerey, he covers building a wood mast, step by step.

Lew

Get clear straight-grain quarter-sawn spruce, in the longest lengths you can find. Get it as soon as you can and put it down to season, sawn into about

That C scow is a powerful boat, and it'll want a well-built spar. So you should do your research. There's a lot of information available in books on boat building. West has a good manual on using epoxy for boatbuilding tasks, and it'd pay to study it.

A pleasant project - I envy you the opportunity to do it.

Good luck, Tom Dacon

P.S. you might also take a look at the old stick. Depding on its condition, it's possible that you might be able to get it apart, clean it up, and re-glue it. That wouldn't be a bad approach if the condition would allow it. For sure you'd end up with a spar that met the original specs.

My father repaired his cracked spruce Nite (iceboat) mast via a similar methodology. This may be your best route. Spread the crack, used some powder-based water-mix glue, positioned the mast to cause the glue to flow into the crack and taped it tight with packing tape. Worked like a champ and still in use decades later.

D'ohBoy

Wooden boat had an article on spar building. Go to

The technique uses a bird's-mouth joint. Basically you rout a 90-degree rabbet in one edge of each plank with the rabbet set at an angle appropriate for the number of planks in the spar (e.g., 45 degrees for an 8-sided spar). You glue up the planks with the square edge of one plank settled in the rabbet of the adjacent plank. Glue 'em up all in one session, round off, install hardware, and yer done!

Crude plank illustration:

_______________________ square edge |_______________________< rabbeted edge