Nacra 5. 2 beam end caps

murry's used to carry em'

Not any more. I just broke one myself and they are hard to come by used. You may be able to modify a prindle end cap to fit if the beams are the same diameter. Might be a good project to get a machinist to do? If anyone wants to get a batch made out of aluminum I would be willing to kick in. Or if anyone knows of a supply...

The Nacra dealer in Aus makes boats they may have some?

edited by: Wolfman, Jun 03, 2010 - 12:34 PM

Murray is out and they are the ones that told me. I am wondering about wood. Either turn them ona lathe or use a 4 inch hole saw out of marine plywood.

Wood would work, or even UHMW plastic if you have a lathe a router and the time. It might be an idea to check with the Brisbane Cat Center in Australia. They still manufacture boats so they may have a stock or manufacturer for those.

D.

when i got mine it had no caps

i wanted to get some

but i find the hole in the beam 1 of the few places when i can grab the boat to lift it, so they wont be getting covered

Prindle beams are tear drop shape, nacra beams are round.

Wolfman wrote: Not any more. I just broke one myself and they are hard to come by used. You may be able to modify a prindle end cap to fit if the beams are the same diameter. Might be a good project to get a machinist to do? If anyone wants to get a batch made out of aluminum I would be willing to kick in. Or if anyone knows of a supply...

The Nacra dealer in Aus makes boats they may have some?edited by: Wolfman, Jun 03, 2010 - 12:34 PM

Super Cat beams are round and they have alum end caps, but I am not sure they are the same size as nacras. Maybe worth finding out.

I just redid my beam straps, and went over the 16-18 lb-ft of recommended torque by a bit, and it closed the slot in my front beam on both sides, so the totally rigged home made caps I had for the front no longer fit.

I think I'm going to try to make some out of west epoxy fairing compound. I wouldn't worry about it except that I cut my feet once every couple weeks on the rear beams.

My 06 Murray's catalog has a nacra crossbar end cap Part # 56-3503. I did a search of the online catalog.... not there any more.

I was just looking on youtube at how to make carbon fiber parts. mmm carbon fiber. End caps would be a good primer for foam and carbon dagger boards and rudders. Just have to figure out how to make a mold now...

Guys, here's what I did with my 5.0....(5.0, 5.2, 6.0...all crossbeams are the same Dia.) go to your box lumber store, get a schedule 40 end cap for a 3" PVC pipe cut the lip off so the rounded end fits flush over the end of the crossbeam. Usually there is a line to follow where they moulded it. Next, take a 3" schedule 40 PVC pipe, cut 3/4" off for the new lip inside the crossbeam. Epoxy it to the cap and for added security I used thin screws of appropriate length. Make sure you cut a gap in the pipe to fit the tramp slot. What's cool is the PVC matches the color of the hulls, they're rounded and cost just a few bucks plus they look better than the black ones. Wish I had a picture but the boat is on Hobie Beach 60mi. from here. Maybe this weekend.

edited by: nacraman57, Jun 03, 2010 - 09:29 PM

That sounds like an easier solution! Thanks Nacraman!

My beams are 4 inch diameter and 3 7/8 inside diameter. I am having aluminum ones made (free). I will see how that goes. The pvc sounds good but his beams are not the same size as mine.

If the person making them wants to charge for them and a bit of business let me know. Aluminum ones would look badass and last forever!

I will let you know how they come out. It is experimental at this stage.

How the heck did the censor on the site let me get away with badass? 🙂

I picked up 3 used ones, & made the fourth out of a scrap of double thickness 3/4" plywood. I had some leftover epoxy from repairing my Invitation after some kids new to sailing ran out of water & ideas all at the same time. I mixed up a small amount, using only 1/2 the required hardener, & painted it onto all surfaces of the plywood. Due the reduced hardener, it took several hours to set up, but this allowed the epoxy to absorb into the wood grain. You have to keep turning the wood so as not to get "runs". The next day I applied a second thin coat, mixed at the recommended specs.
This worked very well so far. After the build, I weighed the plug on a scaled used for measuring powder charges,(I used to do a lot of shooting & reload my own rounds)accurate to tenths of a grain. I then let the plug soak in a bucket of water for 10 days, & weighed it again. The difference was not measurable within the scales margin of error, so it is water tight, for now. I forgot to paint the damn thing black, so it sort of stands out.
I also have some 5" x 3/4" strips of white HDPE. I may try turning some out of this material. It also floats, so you have a chance of recovery if you break a trap bungee & drop one in the drink.
The aluminum ones sound cool. When I saw the price at Murrays, $30, I decided that was way to much for a couple of pieces of plastic, & started scheming.

Cool, and the HDPE is less abrasive on the bungee. BTW, the end caps should be secured with a small SS screw into the beam.

Make sure you have the end caps in place befor torquing the straps down. If you don't, there is a very good chance you will take the beams out of round (they will collapse) at 16 to 18 fpds and the end beam caps will not fit, even new ones.

Kevin-

kbugel wrote: Make sure you have the end caps in place befor torquing the straps down. If you don't, there is a very good chance you will take the beams out of round (they will collapse) at 16 to 18 fpds and the end beam caps will not fit, even new ones.

Kevin-

/second

I took mine to 18-19, as they were still easy to turn (i know, 18 lb-ft is 18 lb-ft, but they weren't trying to bind or anything--the anti seize was doing great) and my rear beams held their shape fine, but the front ones totally collapsed on the track. God help me if I ever need to get the tramp back off. If I'd thought to make the caps ahead of time I certainly would have done so.

I changed out my beams with a nice used set this year (purchased through thebeachcats.com; thanks for the site Damon) after taking them to 18lb-ft two years ago. manual says to make sure the end caps are in place; now I know why. Lessons learned

Kevin-

How do they look?

We might be able to make them. I would not suggest wood though it will sure work. Fiberglass is a preferable option. Aluminum would be possible, even anodized, there are CNC machinists I have connections to. In the latter case, a batch of a certain number will be necessary, I'd say at least 40 units to make it worthwhile.

Best would be a technical drawing, but a few photos will do for now.

Kbugel, yeah that little gem about NOT tightening straps until caps are in is buried in the assembly manual. I read it several times on the way to Hongkong last week, & picked up a few of those tidbits. I had initially thought the low torque rating was due the brass/bronze(?)fitting in the hull, but the manual does make reference to collapsing the track in the beam.

MUUMP, thanks for the heads up on the bungee abrasion, I hadn't considered that. The holes in the caps look a bit rough around the edges, I'll try to smooth them out a bit, possibly line the hole with epoxy, or a small ferrule. You really can't cover a piece of the bungee, as experimentation showed that it moves to much. I did see where the caps (they were used) had a small screw to retain them, & I replaced that as I don't want to loose the damn things, they are getting hard to replace.
I think Eric goes without, as he likes the handholds, but I can see some newbies,(myself included) slicing open water softened appendages on the exposed beam edges.

edited by: Edchris177, Jun 06, 2010 - 08:49 PM

I need an endcap (4") and I found them for $15 ea. kind of expensive but less than murrays and better than cobbling it up. They are Identical externally to the nacra 5.2 rearbeam caps. There are quite a few available but I would need to purchase more than just one or two they are sold in a package of 25. If anyone wants to go in with me I will purchase and then distribute them. Thanks.

I'm open to going in for a set of spares (4 for my boat).

For the cost though I would certainly rather look into something more sturdy like a machined aluminum replacement. The reason the end caps are so scarce is the darn things pop off or shatter quite often (in my case they probably get brittle with sun and freeze/thaw).

I will jump in for 5

Here's the pics of my homemade endcaps. WhenI picked up yhis boat, no endcaps came with it. When I saw the prices for new ones I got sticker shock and made my own. Refer to my previous post for instructions.

nacraman57 your image is broken. how do i see your previous posts?

nacraman57 wrote: Here's the pics of my homemade endcaps. WhenI picked up yhis boat, no endcaps came with it. When I saw the prices for new ones I got sticker shock and made my own. Refer to my previous post for instructions.<img src=" .thumb.jpg">edited by: nacraman57, Jul 04, 2010 - 11:08 AM

FYI, I just finally made end caps for my 5-2. I used 3" ABS caps like what Nacraman suggested. They came out great!!! This site rocks!!!