I Can See ( the FB Compass) Clearly Now

[Vincentc]

The old Danforth dome was clouded making the FB compass useless. It could not be removed without taking the steering wheel off. It was a major undertaking to remove the FB steering wheel. Thanks for the advice, but neither Penetrating Blaster, nor heat, nor hammer taps would break it loose from the shaft. I had to make up a puller with a section of pipe, 2 vice grips and a 3/8 bolt to get it free. The key was frozen and split in half as I forced the wheel off of the shaft.

I did not like the the positioning of the compass under the wheel, and decided to make up a compass platform so it would be easier to read the compass. It took an obscene amount of time and effort for me to design and fabricate, but I'm happy with the result.

 

[Mambeaux]

You are the MAN! I love it!!

 

[Canuck Dennis]

Inventive, well done.

 

[Vincentc]

Thanks,
Now I'll just run the boat, since I've fixed everything, except, uh . . .

 

[sgharford]

True Craftsmanship - 5 stars for that fix! Thanks for sharing. I have the same problem, the wheel could not be a worse place. I have a Garmin 4212 mounted in the small open patch of fiberglass in front of stock compass location. The lower left depth reading on display was blocked by the steering wheel for past 2 years. Recently built a 3" high block out of Starboard and mounted bracket on top of that as fix. However, learned a few weeks ago not to tilt Garmin too far back otherwise you jam your finger between wheel and Garmin in a quick spin. All part of the natural yin and yang of things I guess.

What is white material you used to mount compass in and cover up old hole? Looks like it has a nice shine to it (not like Starboard).

 

[Vincentc]

Thanks,
The flat horizontal pieces, are Hydrotek Meranti plywood, 9mm (or 6mm) at the top and 12mm at the bottom. The verticals are 5/4 Sapele, everything was rounded with a router, and glued together and coated with epoxy. After sanding, the flat pieces were painted with Interlux Brightside, Hatteras Off White, 2 coats and the verticals varnished with Interlux Schooner, 3 coats.

I thought about starboard, or the white HPDM cutting board from Sams (Club) but decided against it. Painting with Brightside is easy, but masking was a pain. I put on 2 coats of varnish before any paint.