Where can I find material for a steel centerboard?

[Buzz73]

I'm looking for 1/2-inch thick steel sheet for making a centerboard. So far, I cannot find anything locally. And the vendors I've tried on the Web don't carry anything that thick. Any ideas?

[Gary E]

I see you are in a small town that may or may not have a steel service center or a steel fabrication shop, look in the phone book. If none then look in the Battle Creek or Kalamazoo book. What you want is a service center or a steel fab shop that will flame cut a plate for you to your paper pattern or drawing if they have a CNC.

edit ..
You dont have to tell whoever it's a "centerboard"... he may not know what that is... when really it's just a piece of steel plate cut flame cut to the shape you want.

[ 10-20-2005, 08:18 AM: Message edited by: Gary E ]

[phiil]

thomasregister.com or globalspec.com. They are both industrial supplier listings. McMaster-Carr (mcmaster.com) also lists 1/2" stainless. a 2' x 4' piece is a mere $659! Have you checked with the junkyards? The cool thing about steel is that the used stuff is just about as good as the new stuff.

[merlinron]

buzz, look in the yellow pages under "steel- fabricators". i don't know where coldwater is, but any decent sized town/city nearby should have a place where you can get some. also try the local scrap yards. 1/2 inch isn't so heavy that it should be that hard to find. around here,i can call 1/2 dozen places and have it in a few minutes. you might need to buy used from a scrap yard(chaeper also), but as long as it's flat, a little sand blasting will clean it up.

[Thorne]

I was wondering about building one up from layers of steel. Unless there is to be no shaping of the plate or covering it with epoxy or glass cloth, why not fab one up with layers of metal?

This came up because my wife works for Seaport Stainless, but they don't carry SS that thick.

For a centerboard it seems easy to layer two or more sheets of metal with epoxy in between to get the desired thickness, as well as being able to shape the leading and trailing edges.

[Bruce Hooke]

I agree with Merlinron that it would be good to check into steel fabricators.

However, if you want an online source Metals Depot (http://www.metalsdepot.com) has 1/2" thick steel plate in sizes ranging from 12" x 12" up to 48" x 96". If you need anything bigger than 24" x 48" you had better be ready with a plan for how you are going to get the steel off the truck when it is delivered (even a 24" x 48" sheet is going to be pretty damn heavy)! Remember, the trucker is only responsible for getting the steel to the back end of the truck, it is up to you to get it down to the ground and into your workshop.

I hope the boat this is going into was designed for a 1/2" thick steel plate centerboard, because if not you are going to have to do a LOT of reinforcing of the centerboard trunk to handle all the extra load exerted by that much steel.

[JimD]

Originally posted by Thorne:
I was wondering about building one up from layers of steel. Unless there is to be no shaping of the plate or covering it with epoxy or glass cloth, why not fab one up with layers of metal?

This came up because my wife works for Seaport Stainless, but they don't carry SS that thick.

For a centerboard it seems easy to layer two or more sheets of metal with epoxy in between to get the desired thickness, as well as being able to shape the leading and trailing edges.I wouldn't risk it. What if it came apart? And shaping a board only 1/2" thick probably isn't worth the effort. It will provide negligable lift. My CB is 1/2" steel, not stainless but galvanized. It is called for in the plans. The CB trunk is sturdy and glassed on the inside but nothing all that special in terms of strength. The slot is strengthened and protected from wear by angle iron on the outside corners where the trunk meets the garboard.

[RobertZ]

I will 2nd or 3rd the comment about the steel fabricator. I am building a boat with a 1/2" steel centerboard as well. My father does steel erection and his fabricator buddy is doing the job for me. You should have many cutting options from a steel fabricator. They are cutting mine with a plasma cutter and grinding the radius on the CB with some other fancy tool. I would also suggest a scrap steel yard. Funny thing is, I got a quote from a scrap dealer about 3 months ago and the price was 0.16/lb. I called 2 weeks ago, and the price has gone to 0.38/lb. What is going on with the price of steel?

Also, my CB is being cut at the fabricators next week. They are also cutting the whole for the CB pin, radiusing the leading edge, and welding on the eye. Many of the steel fabricators will also be able to send it off and have it hot galvanized too. I am having mine HD Galvanized. Good luck and let me know if you still cannot find a fabricator. I will call my dad's friend and ask him about fabricators in Michigan. He used to work up there.

Robert

[ssor]

Almost any local welding shop has access to new steel and will know where to get heavy scrap.

For practical purposes the only shaping you can do on steel, after it has been flame cut, without a machine shop is a bit of grinding to round the edges and drilling needed holes.

In Michigan you won't be encountering salt water so careful painting should prevent serious rust problems.