Rigger Set-up

[nitro junky]

Go to home depot or lowes and get a piece of the whit melamine (spelling) shelving board in the lumber section. Works great for me

 

[Preston_Hall]

Go to home depot or lowes and get a piece of the whit melamine (spelling) shelving board in the lumber section.  Works great for me

89214[/snapback]

​

That stuff is definitely flat. If it gets messed up you throw it away.

If you want something nice then order a ground sheet of 1/4" aluminum.

 

[Norm Doerr]

Preston has a good idea. Go to a scrap yard. We have one here where I get material for all kinds of goodies. Or go to a marble shop and see if they have any mistakes for sale cheap.

 

[Ron Jefferson]

You Americans must have more money than _____. Glass man. It's flat and not that expensive if you know where to look. Aluminum and marble is a bit overkill, don't ya think? Unless you work at a machine shop or grave yard and can steal it.

Ron

 

[gil sonsino]

Ron I spent less than a 2170 for my alu jig......and it will last forever!

....and we are all Americans from north and south

Gill

 

[Brad Christy]

Guys,

Here's my take on it:

If it's made of wood, it's useless. It will constantly be warping here and there with the weather. Stone of just about any kind, while flat, is WAAAAAAYYYY too heavy to be taking to the pond. I have surface plates at work that are flat within .00002", and this is fine for initial set-up (a bit overkill, as Ron said.....), but I can't take it to the pond, which is what Joe K. is after. The glass is one thing I've never thought of. Yes, it's flat and cheap, but you can't easily put holes/slots in it and if you drop it or drop something on it......... Well...... You can get a slab of 1/4" or 3/8" Mic6 aluminum tooling plate, which is flat within .001", for a sizable chunk of cash, but it is a one time purchase that will last forever if taken care of. The Corian is just about the best option I see. It's light, flat (enough), easily cut/machined and can be gotten fairly cheaply at your local remodelling shop if they happen to have a kitchen sink cut out on hand. Something else to consider: You don't really have to have Corian. There are several "Generic" brands of solid surfacing material that are much cheaper than DuPont gets for Corian.

One of the coolest set-up boards I've ever seen belongs to Steve and Chris Wood. It was a Corian sheet, about 1/2" thick. It had slots cut in it for the rudder and turnfins for all their boats. Then, under the strut, they had milled a pocket where they could fit aluminum blocks with various angles and also shim them up and down. There was no guess work in their adjustments. I think they had blocks with angles in .1 degree increments, probably between 0 and two degrees or so, and various shims to control the strut depth. The boat sat flat on the board. You just installed your blocks and shims, then held the strut down on the stack-up and tightened the strut bracket. If you wanted to adjust the strut depth, you just added/removed shims. If you wanted to tweak the angle, select a different angle block. Simple, accurate, and repeatable.

Thanks. Brad.

Titan Racing Components

BlackJack Hydros

 

[Joe_Knesek]

Guys,
Here's my take on it:

If it's made of wood, it's useless. It will constantly be warping here and there with the weather. Stone of just about any kind, while flat, is WAAAAAAYYYY too heavy to be taking to the pond. I have surface plates at work that are flat within .00002", and this is fine for initial set-up (a bit overkill, as Ron said.....), but I can't take it to the pond, which is what Joe K. is after. The glass is one thing I've never thought of. Yes, it's flat and cheap, but you can't easily put holes/slots in it and if you drop it or drop something on it......... Well...... You can get a slab of 1/4" or 3/8" Mic6 aluminum tooling plate, which is flat within .001", for a sizable chunk of cash, but it is a one time purchase that will last forever if taken care of. The Corian is just about the best option I see. It's light, flat (enough), easily cut/machined and can be gotten fairly cheaply at your local remodelling shop if they happen to have a kitchen sink cut out on hand. Something else to consider: You don't really have to have Corian. There are several "Generic" brands of solid surfacing material that are much cheaper than DuPont gets for Corian.

One of the coolest set-up boards I've ever seen belongs to Steve and Chris Wood. It was a Corian sheet, about 1/2" thick. It had slots cut in it for the rudder and turnfins for all their boats. Then, under the strut, they had milled a pocket where they could fit aluminum blocks with various angles and also shim them up and down. There was no guess work in their adjustments. I think they had blocks with angles in .1 degree increments, probably between 0 and two degrees or so, and various shims to control the strut depth. The boat sat flat on the board. You just installed your blocks and shims, then held the strut down on the stack-up and tightened the strut bracket. If you wanted to adjust the strut depth, you just added/removed shims. If you wanted to tweak the angle, select a different angle block. Simple, accurate, and repeatable.

Thanks. Brad.

Titan Racing Components

BlackJack Hydros

89306[/snapback]

​

You got it Brad! I don't want to take the boat apart to measure it and I want to use a depth indicator for all of the measurements which means I have to be able to drill it. Problem is, nobody has been willing to sell the solid surface. I may just order the phanalic.

 

[Brad Christy]

Joe,

Helpin' out my bud........

What you're looking for.........

Thanks. Brad.

Titan Racing Components

BlackJack Hydros

 

[Chris Wood]

brad,

thanks for the complement.. the board is idiot proof. no guess work. my dad went a little over kill with the milled blocks ( from .5 degrees to 3 degrees ) in half and some quarter degree measurments. but that is the way he does things.

on thing i would suggest. our base is the corion material.. if you want. drill 4 holes one in each corner.. put adjustable legs that have a foot on one end with a threaded pcs and a nut. that way you can get it level on any surface any where..

and one other thing.. on the bottom. take some 2 x 2 alum angle and fasten it to the bottom lenght wise.. that way it helps with warping..

chris

 

[Joe_Knesek]

Joe,
Helpin' out my bud........

What you're looking for.........

Thanks. Brad.

Titan Racing Components

BlackJack Hydros

89322[/snapback]

​

That will work!

Brad, my boat is at the paint shop so can you measure your boat to make sure it would fit on a 15x23 inch piece of Corian? The tips of the sponsons can hang over the front.

 

[mark voorhies]

brad,
thanks for the complement..  the board is idiot proof.  no guess work. my dad went a little over kill with the milled blocks ( from .5 degrees to 3 degrees ) in half and some quarter degree measurments. but that is the way he does things.

on thing i would suggest. our base is the corion material.. if you want. drill 4 holes one in each corner.. put adjustable legs that have a foot on one end with a threaded pcs and a nut.  that way you can get it level on any surface any where..

and one other thing.. on the bottom. take some 2 x 2 alum angle and fasten it to the bottom lenght wise.. that way it helps with warping..

chris

89337[/snapback]

​

The wood boys have the ultimate set-up table, but there was a ton of work

that went in to milling all the insert angles, and have them fit into the table for

quick adjustments. If you can't find Corion or solid surface material cheaply,

which I doubt you can, buy some Melamine shelf material, seal edges with

a good primer and band edeges with Melamine banding. This will keep most

moisture out for along time and then also, like Chris said put 2x2 alum. angle

down lenght ( 2 pieces equally spaced). This should keep a 2'x4' piece straight

for a few years. Mine is still straight and level after 2 years. Also where I cut

out for turn fins, primered and epoxy sealed.One table for 21 to 90 riggers.

 

[Don Ferrette]

I just bought one with the "buy it now' feature.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...Pr4_PcN__Stores

Chris are you saying to use the angle on the corian as well. Thought that stuff doesn't warp. B)

This will be for shop use anyway.

 

[izitbrokeyet?]

I just bought one with the "buy it now' feature.  http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...Pr4_PcN__Stores

Chris are you saying to use the angle on the corian as well. Thought that stuff doesn't warp.  B)

89353[/snapback]

​

how much was shipping bro?

I'm using a really stout MDO and fiberglass board now...I'm looking to ship it and it's a P.I.T.A. I'm sure this would be lighter

 

[John Finch]

Hey Joe. Havn't talked in a while. I know exactly where you are coming from.

I have played with the belly/slope for a lot of years now. When Kentley and I were going for the 100 mph mark Andy's sponsons just didn't do it for us but the roadrunner sponsons did. That's when the questions starting going off in my head. Since then Kp and I took the f oval record with roadrunner sponsons on andy's tub. Then I got the 60 record with the same setup. BUT then when Don and I went for the 40 oval record with a pure sg boat it didn't happen until We put on a special set of sponsons I made for the boat and the record fell. Guess what. They had some belly. Can you guess where this is going. Everyone is looking at straightaway setup, but we run ovals when we heat race. i believe there is a big difference how the belly sponsons work vs the straight bottom sponsons when cornering is involved. Just my two cents worth on the belly thingy.

 

[Don Ferrette]

how much was shipping bro?

89355[/snapback]

​

$14.

 

[John Finch]

Joe,

Another thing that will help. The booms will flex, so you will most likely get a different reading when measuring on the setup table with the engine in the boat vs with the engine out of the boat. And, when you are done running for the day......check it again. Big differences.

 

[Don Ferrette]

Joe,Another thing that will help.  The booms will flex, so you will most likely get a different reading when measuring on the setup table with the engine in the boat vs with the engine out of the boat.  And, when you are done running for the day......check it again.  Big differences.

89359[/snapback]

​

We sure found that out the hard way...............

 

[Preston_Hall]

Brad,

Why in the world would you need something within .001" flatness? That is rediculous. If you think the shelf board material warps then it is because you stored it incorrectly. I buy 1 a year. Aluminum may be heavy but no heavier than most of the good setup tables/boards I have seen. Anyway, why in the $*%^ would you carry a setup board to the lake all the time. I only see them at record trials. All you need is something flat.

You guys knew so much about how to reglue a Hummingbird but obviously should have set back and read so you could learn something about setups and what a board is for.

 

[John Finch]

I don't use a board on my riggers now. Don got me hooked on the digital level and it works so well on the sg boats because the sponsons are flat on top. You set the boat anywhere, set the level on the tub, set it to read zero, and then put it on the sponsons to get the right angles. Piece of cake. My setup table is compressed wood and it may warp. Who cares.

 

[Joe_Knesek]

Joe,Another thing that will help.  The booms will flex, so you will most likely get a different reading when measuring on the setup table with the engine in the boat vs with the engine out of the boat.  And, when you are done running for the day......check it again.  Big differences.

89359[/snapback]

​

Thanks for the info John!

I built an Excel workbook to record and plot the results while @ the pond. I'm going to measure all four sponsons at 3 points from the trailing edge each side of the tub at 2 points and the strut at 2 points. I just want to make sure I capture all the data I need. I'm not saying I know what to do with it but I'll know if the boat has changed shape.

I've been using a Dell handheld with Excel for a few years to record fuel settings and have learned a ton. I'd use my laptop but I don't think I could stand the laughing from my buddies. Not to mention Preston!