I needed a midpole snuffer ring for the F18 spinnaker that I got for my nacra 5.5 so I decided to try and make one. Here is what I have so far. The hoop is made of black teflon pipe that I bought at Lowes for about 3$ labeled for use with natural gas. The "clip" is of PVC pipe with a 2" inner diameter that I had laying around, and it clips onto the windsurfer mast that I am using as a pole very nicely. I bent the pipe into a ring with some elbow grease and a heat gun being careful not to kink it and then screwed it onto the PVC. The whole thing then got 2 layers of glass for a "skin" and filler to smooth it out before sanding. Lastly it will be painted.

THAT THUR BE SUM TEAM VELOSLUTTY ENGUNERN' BOY!

looks nice man!

That is really nice... I have my own DIY ring made of casting material (Ortho glass) over a foam pipe made into a circle- it is good, but not as smooth. How are you going to attach the bag to the ring?

Pretty work Alan. Can't wait to see it after it's all finished.

And it's Team LoVelo, not Veloslutty Mr. Toothpick pingpong ball

I am not sure about the sock yet. As of now I am planning to make it also unless I can find one that will work for really cheap. It will have to velcro on. Im still researching for ideas for a homemade one. Thank you Tad and Derek for the encouragement. Hope you all are having a merry Christmas.

Real nice Alan. See, you are a big boy and can work on your boat all by yourself! We need to get that rig done!

Alan-
regarding the sock... I just finished mine. I am doubtful as to whether the material is sturdy enough (relatively light white nylon from the wal-mart). However, it was easy to sew with a regular sewing machine (well, thanks to Mommy Pettengill over the x-mas break
I will post some pics of it attached to the pole if you are interested. I only need to add a grommet for the snuffer line to go through and then I will be set to try out the "new" spin.

Alan,

That looks pretty good! A coat of paint and it will look great. Any idea what it weighs? I would guess that my current ($200) hoop is 1.5lbs or so. Adhereing epoxy or polyester resins to plastic can be a little tricky an sanding them very rough before hand is advisable.

Jake, I think it weighs about twice that much but it was relatively easy and quick to make so there was a tradeoff. I am not too concerned about weight as much as function. I know this hoop would eventually evolve into a 2 piece mold design that would produce a hollow part as im sure others are made in this way and that would cut the weight to almost nothing. As for the epoxy adhering to the plastic you are right in that it did not like to stick but the glass sort of surrounds the plastic in this case so it was not too much of a problem but definately good practice to scratch up the pipe beforehand.

PTP, i would definately like to see pictures of your sock. I just bought some polyester fabric from walmart today that looks like it will work well and closely approximates the material that I have seen on working socks. It is very light and pretty tough. I also bought some 1.5" wide sew on velcro to use to attach it to the pole and hoop. Total cost, about 15 bucks. Hey mom, can I use your sewing machine?

There are several types of velcro, even one for maritime use. Try to boil the one you bought and see if it still locks after boiling and when wet.

Sewing a bag is relatively easy, but the mouth might be a challenge. You might want to add some cloth there to open it up.
1.5" velcro will create some friction when dousing and hoisting. Take care in the beginning, as the edges of the tape might cut your spi.
Also take care to make sure your bag will not slide on the hoop.
Stitching velcro can be a handful on a domestic machine, go slow and with short stitches.

Good luck with your project, and consider building your mould early as the retrieaval line might cut the glass on your hoop.

Alan, I have my old NF18 bag if you want to try to make it work. It has a blot rope in the hoop circle that slides into the hoop. If the diameter is right, you could possibly make it wok...somehow....maybe...hell, its free...

Really like the design and simplicity. If you want to reduce weight, you might want to use a piece of inflatable inner bicycle for the hoop part, de-flate after laminate and remove, them laminate the removal hole

Just for fun you can get a wheel barrow inner tube. There are inner tubes for inflatable wheel barrow wheels that are just the right size.
Inflate, wrap in duct tape. Coat in mould release,wrap in 2inch wide carbon tape. Wrap in peel ply and then packing tape.
The duct tape is more elastic than the peel ply and packing tape so when you increase the pressure in the tube the layup compressors and consolidates, squeesing out excess resin. When the resin cures unwrap. Cut hole in side to fit in glass tube that goes over pole. Remove tube through hole and and glue in pole tube.
Paint with polyurethane, all up weight around 300gms.
A pic is attached of the end result.

Regards,
Phill

My hoop was bent into 14" diameter circle, out of 1 1/4" aluminum tube, and welded at a 45 degree angle, to a 5" bracket that is hose clamped to the pole. I bought a fairly stiff nylon fabric from Sailrite ($60 including thread, velcro, and webbing), sewed the sock, doubled over the fabric at the entrance and attached it to the outside of the hoop with self tapping screws every inch and a half or so. Found some stamped stainless steel washers that were shaped to provide a recess for the screw head, and flexible enough to conform to the hoop when cinched down. Seems very secure, and all fabric and screws are far enough away from the entry to offer no resistance to the chute. All in all, looks like it'll serve for a number of seasons. I'll try to remember to attach a few pics.

Dave

H16. SC20 DC24

snuffer pics for Dave's midpole set up