Thinking of repairing a spin pole and want to check your thoughts/opinions in the matter.

The pole broke cleanly last year when my buddy's boat landed on it in a storm. (lesson learned: Always be sure the boats upwind of yours are tied down- not just your own). Got a new pole from Jill courtesy of my buddy, but wanted to see if I can salvage my old one as a spare.

Seems the AHPC poles are 40mm OD and 37mm =~1.46" ID. I'm intending to sleeve the pole and found a 2ft section of 1.5"OD 6061. This is obviously a bit too large. Plan is to slice it length wise and then compress to fit inside the spin pole.

Questions:

- Cutting the slit: recommendations on method? I have access to a table saw, but don't have a proper metal cutting blade. It's a bit crude, but thinking of just clamping the tube and using my sawzall.

- When sleeving the pole, does it makes sense to have the slit oriented on the bottom since that part of the pole is mostly under compression?

- Attachment method: Both epoxy and rivets? Just epoxy (rivets might create stress concentrations) or just rivets?

Perhaps all this a complete waste of time???

What's a blank Pole cost. What's your time worth? What's a failed pole in a race worth to you? I'm sure you can fix it but those poles are dirt cheap compared to the effort of Getting a good clean fix that's not going to have the chance of tearing your kite if it happens to run over the repaired area

you can cut aluminum with wood working tools - just go slow. Its a little scary on a table saw but I've done it before cross cutting a broken pole section. I haven't cut one lengthwise and would be a little concerned about possible tension within the material causing it to pinch down on the blade - go slow.

I cut down some spinnaker pole pieces to make a mold for a GPS mount. I needed a precise bevel for this to mount inside the flat mold pieces.


20150128_215428 by Jake Kohl, on Flickr


20150131_113405 by Jake Kohl, on Flickr

That said, though, a sunfish boom extrusion (I think it's the boom) is less than $100 and they are everywhere. It's typically the same diameter as our spin poles and more than long enough.

You are going to significantly weaken your sleeve by slicing it length-wise. I would either find the right size sleeve (lots of different aluminum tube sizes out there), use a small sleeve and "shim" it using thickened epoxy, or use an external sleeve.

sm

Questionable to fix one, but if you do...
a small handheld cutting wheel applied to the area marked by masking tape makes a good cut. Rivets work well, but you might be able to just drill the holes and glue it all together with epoxy.

go External sleeve, no cutting lengthwise

Sleeve it. Try this instead of rivets and glue. http://alumiweld.com/index.html If your going to split the sleeve on a table saw make a good pusher stick. I make one from a 2 by 4 about a foot long. I cut a 1/2 inch or so about 10 inches long. This leaves a couple inch step to push it through. This will keep your digits away. I assume your going to use a fence? You can also shorten a jig saw blade and cut it that way.

Throw that thing in the trash. First drill out all the rivets and remove all your blocks etc. I think I paid $24 for new material the last time I snapped a pole. Sanded it up with an orbital sander to remove all of the manufacture marks and printing. Of course it's not anodized and died. Works like a champ.

The Sunfish mast is close to the extrusion size but the lateen rig "booms" are much smaller.
I bought a Mast extrusion from a local Aluminum supplier for $135, never used it, I think its 16 ft long, possibly 14' that I don't need and would part with for $100 never used

Thanks guys.

The cheapskate engineer in me wants to find a cool way to fix the pole. But, the guy with too little time these days is questioning the sanity of the endeavor. Will likely just find another locally-sourced extrusion of similar size and leave the broken pole for some other creative use.

Regardless, I'm convinced that having a spare is a worthy investment for any big regattas. (as is tiller crossbar, tiller extension, etc.

Don't repair. No matter what you do you will create weak points, it's not worth it. The only time I would consider a repair is if I don't have a spare and want to continue a regatta.

In my experience the cost of shipping vastly outprice the price of material for long items like a bare spin pole. If you want a spare pole, just buy two. And use this opportunity to get other spares shipped to you in the same long box.

Don't forget to ask your fellow clubmates if they need anything as well, we've been doing it with carbon tiller extensions, when bought in bulk 3 meter long bare tubes they are really cheap. Add a golf grip at one end, a connector at the other and make spares for all your mates...