Homemade Bimini??? Has anyone tried to do this?

[NetDoc]

Pricing out Biminis has shocked me. They are little more than a tarp, but the prices are exorbitant. Anyone have any stories about making the cover and/or frames? I am thinking about using PVC for the poles and have no idea what to use for the cover.

 

[gtochris]

Re: Homemade Bimini??? Has anyone tried to do this?

How about purchasing an "Anchor Shade", I bought mine from I boats for around $150 I believe?

works just like a Bimini, just not to be used when under power!

 

[IslandManMitch]

Re: Homemade Bimini??? Has anyone tried to do this?

I need to replace just the canvas on my pontoon boat and was surprised at the price. I have some aluminum awning metal that I'm thinking about screwing to my frame for a lightweight hard top.

 

[UncleWillie]

Re: Homemade Bimini??? Has anyone tried to do this?

Pricing out Biminis has shocked me. They are little more than a tarp, but the prices are exorbitant. Anyone have any stories about making the cover and/or frames? I am thinking about using PVC for the poles and have no idea what to use for the cover.

PVC has no compressive strength. Clamp the end of a long piece to a table and in a few days the other end will be on the floor. It will bend and just keep bending.

If you have more time than money, find a local boat bone yard.
Salvage a set of poles and hardware.
Use the remains of the canvas as a template for a new top. Sew up a new one.
The vinyl covering is available by the yard. Not the best, but cheap, is oilcloth from the fabric stores.
Steel wool to the old hardware will do wonders, So will some grey rustoleum.

Happy scrapping.

 

[hostage]

Re: Homemade Bimini??? Has anyone tried to do this?

I think I got mine for $225 to $300. Boat stuff can go for a lot, though I thought it wasn't that bad of a price for the bimini kit.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Homemade Bimini??? Has anyone tried to do this?

I'd hit C/L and fleabay way before I'd mess with pvc and tarps

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Homemade Bimini??? Has anyone tried to do this?

Pricing out Biminis has shocked me. They are little more than a tarp, but the prices are exorbitant. Anyone have any stories about making the cover and/or frames? I am thinking about using PVC for the poles and have no idea what to use for the cover.

Yes! Last summer I saw a boat with a PVC frame and blue tarp on top. 14' boat, 6' high top. Looked like a floating lemonade stand. I gave those floating hillbillies a wide berth.

Watermen sometimes use wood frames and tarps, but those are work boats.

IOW your homemade rig will look like crap.

Like it or not, someone on the boat is going to grab the frame for support, and there it goes, possibly pitching the errant grabber overboard.

The only way to do it homemade is if it's cool. Cut bamboo and lash it together; cover with palm fronds. Serve drinks with little umbrellas in them.

 

[ziggy]

Re: Homemade Bimini??? Has anyone tried to do this?

this bimini top was in my local craigs list the other day. maybe ya can do something with that.

 

[cribber]

Re: Homemade Bimini??? Has anyone tried to do this?

Have you checked with Blackbeard Marine Towing & Salvage in Key Largo and google around for other salvage yards would be your cheapest best option.

 

[BRICH1260]

Re: Homemade Bimini??? Has anyone tried to do this?

I say spend the money and do it right. You don`t want to be the boat that everyone points to and laughs. I`d rather go without that to half asp it.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Homemade Bimini??? Has anyone tried to do this?

IOW your homemade rig will look like crap.

Ayuh,.... All homemade, No pvc...

 

[Adam76]

Re: Homemade Bimini??? Has anyone tried to do this?

Ayuh,.... All homemade, No pvc...

That looks great Bond-o, is the top solid or a tarp.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Homemade Bimini??? Has anyone tried to do this?

That looks great Bond-o, is the top solid or a tarp.

Ayuh,... It's a heavy weight vinyl/ canvas material that I bought,...
The Supplier called it Nato surplus tent material...
Battleship gray on the outside, olive drab inside...

I wish they had more of it,...
It's Well over 10 years old, 'n the Only blemish is a nick I put in a corner years ago, 'n it hasn't spread...

 

[Fireman431]

Re: Homemade Bimini??? Has anyone tried to do this?

Bimini tops, complete with frames are all around $275 up here (Daytona area)

 

[cobaltboats]

Re: Homemade Bimini??? Has anyone tried to do this?

I would try ebay, I see cheaper newer tops you may be able to use. You get what you pay for. I would consider a kit with the cheaper fabric so it fits right before a homemade one.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Homemade Bimini??? Has anyone tried to do this?

I'm pleased with the inexpensive one I got here http://www.safeguardcovers.com/v/vspfiles/biminis/biminis.asp

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Homemade Bimini??? Has anyone tried to do this?

Bond-o, your "homemade" looks great, but it also hardly looks "home made." I'd call it "custom." But certainly not the "homemade" look I see often. And I am sure your time a materials cost more than a bimini, which was the OP's point.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Homemade Bimini??? Has anyone tried to do this?

Bond-o, your "homemade" looks great, but it also hardly looks "home made." I'd call it "custom." But certainly not the "homemade" look I see often. And I am sure your time a materials cost more than a bimini, which was the OP's point.

Ayuh,... Thank you....
It was built in my garage, by me, start to finish,... aka: Homemade...
The material costs were minimal, as in the aluminum is scrap I dug up...
Scrap conduit, scrap RR crossin' barricades, 'n scrap hospital bed parts,...
The fabric was less than $8.00 a yard...

While I know it's not exactly what the OP is lookin' for, as it's a semi-rigid top,...
It is in fact Homemade...
Though, I did barter the seam in the fabric, as I didn't have a sewing machine then...

 

[alexr254]

Re: Homemade Bimini??? Has anyone tried to do this?

This is actually a project me and my father plan on doing to my 26ft cruiser. We intend on making something similar to Bond-o.

But we will use Pressure Treated/Marine Grade/Oak wood and cover it with fiberglass epoxy. For us working with wood is much more simpler then metal.

The quick anwer to the OP is, yes its doable. IMO stay way from PVC to support anything, its lightweight plastic which is prone to fail....

 

[NetDoc]

Re: Homemade Bimini??? Has anyone tried to do this?

I actually make a LOT of my dive equipment since I can't find anyone who makes what I need. Sometimes, I modify what others have made to suit my purposes. No one has ever suggested that anything I have done looks homemade! Quite often they want to know where they can buy one. 4 years as an apprentice machinist in UF's department of Chemistry, 2 years supervising a student machine/weld shop for UF's college of Architecture and thirty years of being in the automotive industry, I simply don't make things that look bad. Well, at least I don't show them off! What I do need is INSPIRATION and not a bunch of nay sayers telling me I can't do it. Bond-o, that looks RIGHTEOUS! I may have to think about a semi rigid solution. I really don't like my windshield either (not tall enough) and I am thinking of building an aluminum dive platform as well. I have not bought a welder as I already own too many tools, but YOU have given me some inspiration. I might buy one of the cheap Biminis suggested by ezmobee in the interim, but I am thinking that I really want that welder now! Thanks to both Bond-o and ezmobee for injecting some sanity and fun rather than negativity in this thread.