Porthole rain shields

[coopec43]

I know there is a 2015 thread on "Rain diverters" or "Rain Shields" but I have decided to open up a new thread.

I'm building my yacht and I have just bought the last of my mattresses for $1200. They have a non waterproof covering so I am a bit concerned about (small) leaks in opening portholes. I looked at commercially available shields but they cost about $A89 each (and I need x12 of them) so I made some up myself.

The total cost for the twelve was around $50 but took several days. (That wasn't a problem as we have had record rains in Perth WA) I kept the price down as I got the perspex out of a recycle bin (for nix)

I'm wondering about the design of them: are they going to snag ropes? (I've glued them to the cabin side with Fixtech)

[Fore and Aft]

Coppec43 years ago a customer of mine made some out of Perspex using a metal plate for a mold and his oven at home to cook the Perspex. They looked pretty professional.
Cheers

[coopec43]

Originally Posted by Fore and Aft

Coppec43 years ago a customer of mine made some out of Perspex using a metal plate for a mold and his oven at home to cook the Perspex. They looked pretty professional.
Cheers

Thanks for that.

I looked into molding the perspex sheet with a hair-dryer but they are not hot enough. I might put a sheet in the microwave and see what happens. It's still raining often here so the pressure is off since I made up these.

Of course the ones you buy are curved perspex so they must use heat

[Fore and Aft]

I wish I had seen how he did it. I thought using a dinner plate for a mold was pretty creative.
I wonder what the oven smelt like after cooking Perpsex?
I remember cooking some epoxy paint in a microwave on a cold day and it was not much good for food after that.
Cheers

[coopec43]

Originally Posted by Fore and Aft

I wish I had seen how he did it. I thought using a dinner plate for a mold was pretty creative.
I wonder what the oven smelt like after cooking Perpsex?
I remember cooking some epoxy paint in a microwave on a cold day and it was not much good for food after that.
Cheers

Maybe something like this would be a possibility?


Plastic Trays Acrylic Transparent Rectangular Heavyweight Serving Party Platter Food Tray

[s/v Jedi]

I have seen some videos of guys building large ovens from insulation foam sheets for baking parts with powder coating etc. They made it look easy, using an electric heat element and thermostat. I decided to give a new paint system one more try before building ovens

[coopec43]

Originally Posted by Fore and Aft

I wish I had seen how he did it. I thought using a dinner plate for a mold was pretty creative.
I wonder what the oven smelt like after cooking Perpsex?
I remember cooking some epoxy paint in a microwave on a cold day and it was not much good for food after that.
Cheers

Epoxy flavored meat? Nah! (I wouldn't like that)

Did your wife speak to you after that? (I must admit I used my Wife's SS serving tray for a fiberglass mold but I had it back in the cabinet by the time she got home) I did look at a plastic disposable meat tray as a possible mold for a rain shield. Maybe?

[Fore and Aft]

Coopec43 the microwave was from a Coates Hire Smoko donga, I kept it spotless so hopefully the company never got billed for a new microwave.
There is certainly plenty of good molds in the kitchen, but I am a bit cautious about venturing there after being busted using the wife's flour sifter to get lumps out of Q-cell. still I was wondering if there is a roasting dish that could be used for a half mold to make your rain shields.
I like the meat trays, pity they are not tinted otherwise I reckon it would be fun to use one for a window shield and see how long they last? I am not sure how they would go in the oven. If I remember rightly my customer told me he laid the Perspex on the metal plate in the oven then pushed it into place once it was soft enough.
Cheers

[coopec43]

I might try that tomorrow. I have a butane torch and plenty of perspex.

I never allow my wife to chuck out used roasting dishes as I keep them for my "recycled" nuts and bolts. I'll try using one of those dishes as a mold and report back tomorrow.

[Tupaia]

You need a large blow lamp the type used for tarring roofs, 250-300mm flame. I heat formed my windows a 750 x 600mm sheet of Acrylic took 22mins to reach malleability. The trick is to evenly heat, keep the flame moving and keep turning the item over. Once like a piece of soft leather lay it on the mould and clamp it down using oversized edges that can be trimed off when cold.

[Benz]

Cooper, those look great.
As far as snagging rope, well, everything will try to snag ropes. You have to practice good rope management, but I can't imagine there's a lot of bights of rope going by just there.
By the way, microwave ovens work by making water molecules vibrate. If you try to melt plastic in there, it won't, and you'll just end up blowing the micro's fuse (ask me how I know )

[coopec43]

Originally Posted by Benz

Cooper, those look great.
As far as snagging rope, well, everything will try to snag ropes. You have to practice good rope management, but I can't imagine there's a lot of bights of rope going by just there.
By the way, microwave ovens work by making water molecules vibrate. If you try to melt plastic in there, it won't, and you'll just end up blowing the micro's fuse (ask me how I know )

OMG! I wondered about that! (I was going to give it a wide berth)

[coopec43]

It's just about bed time so I'll see if I can look at these tomorrow (I think they are relevant)

Perspex is another name for acrylic

Poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), also known as acrylic, acrylic glass, perspex, or plexiglass, as well as by the trade names and brands Crylux, Plexiglas, Acrylite, Astariglas, Lucite, Perclax, and Perspex, among several others (see below), is a transparent thermoplastic often used in sheet form as a lightweight or ..

https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...haping+perspex

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5nP7MDf63Y

[Bill O]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

I have seen some videos of guys building large ovens from insulation foam sheets for baking parts with powder coating etc. They made it look easy, using an electric heat element and thermostat. I decided to give a new paint system one more try before building ovens

Depending how much work space you have the easiest oven would be a regular food oven someone was discarding due to an upgrade renovation. Plenty on craigslist here for free or very cheap.

[Bill O]

Coopec,
Do your rain shields stop the bounce back of water off the deck in heavy rains?

We have some prototype rain shield that have several slats in them and the bounce back is still problematic.