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Dodger

  • March 03, 2012 3:32 PM
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    Message # 846838
    Deleted user

    Does anyone have an old Westsail 32 dodger I could use as a pattern? I am willing to pay a reasonable fee and for shipping.
  • March 05, 2012 3:15 PM
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    Reply # 848545 on 846838
    Anonymous member
    Alan,

    My gut tells me that you would be better off designing it from scratch. It's very difficult to use an existing dodger as a pattern for a new one, and you will have limited luck in getting it to fit properly. Perhaps if you can find just a good frame, you can work from that. But, it's not that difficult even to bend a new frame.

    Once you have the frame, make a pattern using clear acetate and you will end up with a much better fit. I would be happy to provide you with some good videos that go through the entire procedure. You will likely find that it's much less mystifying that you imagine.

    Jack
  • March 06, 2012 9:34 PM
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    Reply # 849970 on 846838
    Deleted user
    I concur with Jack. Twelve years ago we needed a new dodger.  My brother was a canvas maker but the boat was over a hundred miles away so he used the old one as a pattern. He said it was the hardest one he ever made, but it did fit perfectly. The dodger has to fit the frame, not the frame fitting the dodger.   

    We will be needing new cloth in the near future so we have just started building a one piece hard dodger using core cell.  It will be the exact shape as our old one which we really like.  Stereo speakers and a red/white LED over the companionway will be integral in the construction.  Weight will be 30/40 lbs.  

    Cost is a big consideration.  Here in central Ca. a complete dodger goes for @$4500.  If you just need new canvas that"s at least $1500 plus.  We'll build ours for less than $1500.  
    Jim
  • March 07, 2012 11:44 AM
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    Reply # 850587 on 846838
    Deleted user
    Alan: I have one in Napa Ca, not at all interested in shipping it! but if you let me know, and can come by, I could trade you it and most of its' frame, for some help when I am fitting and mounting the hard dodger. Like Jim, I am building a hard dodger divinacell and glass. I can post the rough design as a vrml file, if anyone is interested. But it is a simple hard dodger, which has evolved from the hard top I had over the old beat up canvas dodger.


    Jims #'s seams small 1,500.00, the foam is 500.00, glass and resin another 350+, templates boards and stuff 300+, paint 100+, hardware 200+, and the labor; well if I count that, it is another 3K+ so yes it is another boat project.

    Jim: I would be interested in your design +/- as I am getting to the point of No return on my design, i.e. I just cutup a few hundred dollars worth of foam. Also I am making mine the same height as the old canvas dodger 28" tall at the edges.
    Last modified: March 07, 2012 11:47 AM | Deleted user
  • March 07, 2012 4:23 PM
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    Reply # 850824 on 846838
    Deleted user
    Norm: There's an offer I can't refuse. Let me know where and when and if you need any special tools ( I have a lot). Thanks Alan
  • March 07, 2012 8:39 PM
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    Reply # 851117 on 846838
    Deleted user
    Norm, I had made CAD drawings on a dodger similar to yours based on the one on the Westsail Darma Bum, which we had planed on building when we got back from Mexico.  But when we were in the Channel Islands a boat came in from Hawaii named Aka, a Custom 37 built and owned by Ed and Francine McLaughlin.  The dodger immediately caught my eye. To me it was the best looking hard dodger I've seen and according to Ed one of the simplest to build. Ed had been a shipwright in New Zealand and have cruised the So. Pac. on and off for the last 20 yrs. They built this over ten yrs. ago while in New Zealand. Here are pictures of his hard dodger and a few of ours in the beginning stages.


    We'll probably exceed $1500, but right now we are under and only have glass and paint to buy. No pastern is necessary. We wrapped the material around the dodger frame, tabbed it together and took it home to finish. The frame is the mold and the dodger comes out looking just like the one we had. We will have to take it back to the boat a few times for fitting, but the bulk of the work will be done at home.



  • March 07, 2012 10:36 PM
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    Reply # 851246 on 846838
    Deleted user
    First trying use picasa. Hopefully this will work

  • March 08, 2012 1:59 PM
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    Reply # 851976 on 846838
    Anonymous
    I'm currently building a dodger as well. I found that you can buy 1.125" polished stainless tubing for about $90 for 20' This should be enough for the two bows....
    Once you determine the length of the bow that you want, use a piece of string and a marker to scribe an arc on a piece of plywood then cut it out with a jigsaw and then double it to get a bending form. Make a "shoe" to hold the end of the pipe at the end of the form and then slowly bend the pipe over the form. Switch ends after each bend to ensure equal bending from side to side.