DIY T-Top

[Off-Peak]

Here we go?. Project #2. Our boat came with a maroon bimini top and I could not stand the set-up and clearance, while my wife had issue with the color?. SO, I am making a T-Top (TT) for my boat. I have read the naysayers comments and agree with them for the most part, BUT being a DIY?r I just cant walk away from this one?. Pro shops do excellent work ? I hope to create a top that we are happy with at a cost that is keeping with the 1990 CC Sportcraft 202 Fishmaster.

I have a few custom elements that I want from a TT that I could not get justify paying for? I wanted the structure to be clear of the existing walk way and not stick out any further than my current SS grab rail and the wife wants a bit more shade in the front of the boat. If she had her way, the TT would more like a hang glider in size? I also want the ?top? to be removable for travel in longer distances?

How deep am I..? Well???.. Over my vacation I made the plans and ordered the pipe. I purchased 1.66 OD - 6061 T6 schd 40 at $3.70 per foot in a mill-finish at a local yard. The final finish must be applied after the bending ect. I was geeked-out about a black finished frame, but now I an having second thoughts since I saw a few off-white TTs that look very nice with Black fabric tops.

I will finish the frame on Saturday. Another ?cost? is my time ? it took me about 5-10 minutes to bend these pipes. With that in mind, I plan to get this over with in one day and not dilly to long at it?. I used well packed playground sand in the pipe = smooth bends, no kinks, no cracks, no heat ? all cold bends I was impressed how well the 6061 T6 (extremely hard aluminum) bent in the bender. The 90 was a test, the two tubes are the rear uprights that will be used? (the tan masking tape records the bend, measurments, and center)
More to follow?
-OP-

 

[jonesg]

Re: DIY T-Top

I'm looking fwd to a complete construction article that I can copy .
Have you seen the tops that can extend fwd, they fold (or slide) back when underway, its a good way to cover a bit more of the bow.

I was thinking about PVC pipe but its probably not rigid enuf.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: DIY T-Top

PVC works very well when done right, you have to use some 45* to angle brace the tower.

 

[Off-Peak]

Re: DIY T-Top

well... i didnt get to do as much as I wanted on the project today, but here is what I got done... I got the bends and a moc fit complete. I need to cut a few more lenghts as cross bars and additional bracing for the top... Hope to finish on sunday...

 

[jonesg]

Re: DIY T-Top

Are you using the cheap bender that home depot sells?

 

[Off-Peak]

Re: DIY T-Top

no, my local HD only sells a pipebender on a stick for up to 1 OD conduit... This stuff I am working with cant be bent with human strenght & is 1.66 OD... For this project I purchased a 12 ton pipebender from a store called Tractor Supply for $59.99. It bends 3/4-2 1/2 pipe with just a few pumps... Its a knockoff - same as harborfrieght ect... I will post a pic of that too so folks can see... I am off to HD as we speak!!!
-OP-

 

[Off-Peak]

Re: DIY T-Top

and I am back...!!! Like I said, this is my 1st boat and lots of stuff is new to me like the PRICE OF SS BOLTS, WASHERS & NUTS....!!! Now that is over - back to the project...

I got the top almost dialed in and was able to do a test fit. I am whipped(tired) and out of shape, dealing with this top was all the fun I wanted today, so for now I am calling it a day.... I'd still like to get out and install the rubrail, but there is always monday ;-)

Here are a few pics of the progress and for now its all back in the garage until I get a helper to assit... My younger brother (17) is my jack of all trades and he can help later this week... The kid is amazing!!!!

This was just a test fit to see what it looked like... The front to back ratio and additional supports are in the works as well as wiring for overhead lights and speakers. Once the legs are firmly mounted (rather than ducttape) I will get a better feel for the height, level, and front-2-back shade coverage. The lenght is 90", but that is to cast a shadow over the front seating area where my wife plans to sit with the baby... (PROUD DADDY HERE!!!)

-OP-

 

[sailinon51]

Re: DIY T-Top

That looks great, a very nice job cant wait to see it completed. But tell me what are you using for connectors, and where did you get them. Im wanting to do something to my pontoon boat. it does not have a top on it at all.

 

[Off-Peak]

Re: DIY T-Top

That looks great, a very nice job cant wait to see it completed. But tell me what are you using for connectors, and where did you get them. Im wanting to do something to my pontoon boat. it does not have a top on it at all.

thanks for your feedback - i am happy with the progress thus far..... I purchased my fittings from a guy named ASH on ebay? Below is a link to his store. He offers 1?, 1 1/4?, & 2? fittings? I got the idea from a recent visit to a theme park and studying the handrail systems used to corral tourists waiting to get on rides?? The handrail system seemed sturdy, adjustable, & clean. I noticed that TACO METALS sold the fittings and the hunt was on to undercut their price. Note: The finish on the TACO product is better than that of ASH, however I plan to refinish the aluminum upon completion so its not a big deal for me... ASH ships pretty quick and is fair? (I could not find better service & product at a lower cost & you can return any unused fittings for full refund) He also sells the metal pipe at yard prices, but shipping can take fun out of buying pipe online. Good Luck!!!
-OP-
ASH http://cgi.ebay.com/WALL-FLANGE-1-1...5721037QQihZ018QQcategoryZ41500QQcmdZViewItem
TACO ://www.tacometals.com/prod-level4.asp?Action=SubCat&StartPage=Home&c=1&sID=23

 

[kg5388]

Re: DIY T-Top

http://www.duckworksbbs.com/hardware/bimini/hinge-sc/index.htm

has the needed hinges and fittings for tops ordered some for mine but haven't had time to make it yet

 

[jonesg]

Re: DIY T-Top

I'd pay for that.!
Put a price on it and watch em fly out the door.

is it an optical illusion or does it lean too far back in the ground level pic.
Looks like it would induce a lot of drag, due to pos' angle of attack to a headwind. I was under the impression that bimini's ran at a slight neg AOA.

Are the anchor points strictly in the console, no floor mount?

Some of the stainless welded frames I've seen look extremely over engineered, overbuilt and over priced to match. $4K-$5K.

 

[Off-Peak]

Re: DIY T-Top

I'd pay for that.!
Put a price on it and watch em fly out the door.

is it an optical illusion or does it lean too far back in the ground level pic.
Looks like it would induce a lot of drag, due to pos' angle of attack to a headwind. I was under the impression that bimini's ran at a slight neg AOA.

Are the anchor points strictly in the console, no floor mount?

Some of the stainless welded frames I've seen look extremely over engineered, overbuilt and over priced to match. $4K-$5K.

Thanks for checking this out....!! You are right its not balanced at all.... it would have a ton of drag like it is. I was having a tough time setting it up alone & since the legs are not mounted yet - only taped to the console. I have opt'd for a 100% console mounts, but you can get the floor mounts for the same price (about $6each). I was thinking I would make a few of these to re-coop the cost of the metal bender, but when I got the bender for only $59 bucks I closed my dream TT shop !!!

This concept could ship in a box 20x96 box well under normal domestic UPS shipping... The thing that makes this a little different from the other open-a-box TTs is that the TOP its self can be moved from front to back based (pic) on your placement. The other open-a-box tops are fixed. This may not be a big deal to some, but for me and the wife, we wanted to control the shade on the front seat. Not to mention, I made the top longer than the open-a-box-tops...

I hope to get helping hand to work the height and angles out this week... I 'think' the front legs are 3-4" taller than the rear - this can be overcome by cutting the front legs at the top -or- lifting the rear in the mounts. (the mounts are not on the console yet)

More to come!!
-OP-

 

[jonesg]

Re: DIY T-Top

It looks like you could use tie wraps, zip thingies, instead of duct tape on the rear supports, that wat you could slide it up and down to change the AOA, loosen the top connectors.?

 

[Off-Peak]

Re: DIY T-Top

It looks like you could use tie wraps, zip thingies, instead of duct tape on the rear supports, that wat you could slide it up and down to change the AOA, loosen the top connectors.?

I know... I know.... Of all things D-U-C-T tape!!!!!! I had the duct tape out from sealing off the ends of the pipes before bending (filled with fine play sand)... I am ready to mount the legs now, but in the heat of the moment I just used the tape as a 'sliver band-aid'... Trust me, after removing the sticky funk from the console, I wont be using it again. The neat thing about the mounts is that the back legs can twist & slide up & down until the nuruals (sp) are tightened since the bends are at the top.
-OP-

 

[jonesg]

Re: DIY T-Top

It would be kinda funny to have it adjustable on the fly, like a trimable spoiler. ahh well...bed time..

 

[erikgreen]

Re: DIY T-Top

Outstanding work, especially with less than perfect tools.

FYI, 6061 is actually some of the best aluminum to work with... it's the most weldable, bends the best (it's not hardened as much as some other alloys) and polishes up nicely.

I personally bought a harbor freight bench bender (made for solid bar) and bought a set of 1 inch tube dies for it from a place in Wisconsin. I have one of the pipe benders too, but because pipe is a bit different size from tubing diameters it likes to kink the pipe unless I use sand as you did. I like the tubing bender better, but it's limited to 1 inch pipe. I've been using 1 inch 1/8" wall 6061.

Thanks for the links to the shop selling the fittings... I'll definitely use some of those for my boat.

Erik

 

[drewpster]

Re: DIY T-Top

I was wondering if you could detail your bending process for me? I have wanted to learn to do it for years. I have heard of filling the pipe with sand but have never tried it. I have a hand rail I need to make for my old tug. Will the process work on stainless using the press bender you mentioned in smaller sizes? (1" stainless) I have started to buy one of those benders several times but thought it would kink stainless. Any suggestions?

 

[Off-Peak]

Re: DIY T-Top

I was wondering if you could detail your bending process for me? I have wanted to learn to do it for years. I have heard of filling the pipe with sand but have never tried it. I have a hand rail I need to make for my old tug. Will the process work on stainless using the press bender you mentioned in smaller sizes? (1" stainless) I have started to buy one of those benders several times but thought it would kink stainless. Any suggestions?

Of course.... It wont hurt to add (1) more tool to the shop!!! First watch this YouTube clip... It is a great baseline and is the same bender I used and the most popular under $100....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWT3N3m4bE4&feature=related

No, that wasnt me!!!! LOL!!! This guy can take credit for me buying a roll of duct tape & getting me started... Anyway.... A couple of things:
-I bought the clean sand at Lowes called Play-Sand for $3.99 / 50lbs. The sand lasts forever since you empty the dry sand back into the bag after the bend.
-These guys use a water and common sand cocktail.
-They taped off the ends after packing the sand...
-I used tape & 1" OD steel plugs ($1.50 Lowes) and hammered them in after packing the pipe full of sand. You'll be shocked at the compression rate of sand... so once the pipe was packed as full as I could, i hammered in the fittings to get an extra 1.5" of packed sand
-These guys use a level or two
-I used my eye and did LOTS of test fits - i didn't know the angle I was after
-These guys mount the bender in a vise like the directions say
-I used the bender on its side due to the length on the pipes and types of bends. I just laid it on the driveway since the bender has tabs on the back to keep it level.

I don't see a reason you will have trouble unless you cant pack the sand in tightly... I have a SS backrest for my leaning post that is aftermarket & would fit much better IF it was slightly bent. I can't get sand in it, SO I plan to fill it with water & freeze it (deep freezer) then make the slight bends. i saw the freeze trick on a TV show called 'How Its Made' for brass horns ect..

Now check this out... http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-bend-tubing/ click the pics to take you thru a bow bend... A DIY jig worked for him... If your pipe is 1" - hand bending is prob out of the question.

let me know if you have any Qs

-OP-

 

[vwfoolwhy]

Re: DIY T-Top

Updates Please!!!

Mike
Methuen, MA

 

[Off-Peak]

Re: DIY T-Top

Updates Please!!!

Mike
Methuen, MA

well... the only update from me is that I ordered the fabric top. Its a sunbrella with SS eyes every 4" Blk with Blk lacing...

i am just on the fence about the final frames finish. I LOVE black, I LIKE off-white/matt white, and can LIVE with mill or silver finish.
-OP-