[Public-List] Cutlass Bearing Flange Alberg 30

[John Birch]

Hi Peter,

They are lag bolts, tapped into the glass. There are no inserts.

Periodically, all bronze bolts underwater should be removed and inspected - 
perhaps once a decade or so. You should never use SS Bolts (deprived of 
oxygen, they become active and move the wrong way on the periodic table.

Buying silicon or manganese bronze marine bolts is hard to do, go to a 
reputable supplier - in the Toronto area go to Pacific Fasteners on Chauncey 
Drive off Islington to make sure you are getting the right bronze or monell 
fastners.

There are some instances where drilling and tapping machine screws into 
fiberglass is helpful to ensure a stronger attachment. One example I've done 
is the traveler track, another are the winches, all followed with as wide a 
washer or plate as can be fitted below and then lock washers, thread 
Locktight and then a nut. It makes for a particularly strong attachment that 
means the whole glassed area would have to break off - and I cant imagine 
the load necessary to cause such a failure.

The cutlass bearing attachment is threaded on to the bronze shaft tube, 
which is bedded throughout its internal length in the hull with Dolfinite 
from the factory, or some other adhesive caulk if retrofitted, then the 
bearing housing turned onto the threads on the tube and then the housing is 
bolted into place. I suspect the cutlass housing would do just fine without 
the bolts, but why test the theory. Ensure the lag bolts are going into 
solid glass and not into resin starved glass and insert them with lots of 
caulking on the threads.

Water migration into the glass will over time degrade the glass. If your 
holes are degraded, suggest adding a fresh low viscosity epoxy resin to 
re-wet the glass fibers after ensuring is all dried out.

Those lag bolts were cut with a tap to create the threads into the glass. 
You cant just drill a hole and use self tapping lag bolts or you'll crack 
the glass. The holes have to be threaded with a tap set first.

Caulking is critical to prevent water seepage into the holes, which will 
eventually break down the resin/glass bond in the area if allowed to seep 
in.

Hope this is a help

Best

John

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jeffrey" <fongemie at gmail.com>
To: "Alberg 30 Public List -- open to all" <public-list at lists.alberg30.org>
Sent: Thursday, July 22, 2010 8:53 AM
Subject: Re: [Public-List] Cutlass Bearing Flange Alberg 30


> They screw into the fiberglass. Not sure if there are any inserts or
> nuts imbedded in the fiberglass or not. I couldn't tell for sure when
> I had mine off this spring. it looked to be just fiberglass.
>
> -jeff
>
> Jeff Fongemie
> #116 Seagrass
>
> http://picasaweb.google.com/fongemie
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Thu, Jul 22, 2010 at 8:30 AM, Peter Milley <milleype at kingston.net> 
> wrote:
>>
>>
>> Do the two bolts behind the propeller on the Al 30, holding the cutlass
>> bearing flange to the hull just screw into the fiberglass or are there 
>> nuts
>> behind them on the inside of the hull?
>>
>> Peter Milley
>>
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>
> -- 
> Jeffrey Fongemie
> _______________________________________________
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