Chainplate holes

[Karl Teske]

I upgraded my stays with 1/8 inch wire and turnbuckles from D&R, very nice, but the pins are 1/4 inch. I ordered new chainplates with backups but the holes are too small and was told to drill them out for the larger pins. My concern is that the material left on the chainplate after drilling looks mighty thin and I like the original plates with the backups, they seem to have more surfice area in which to spread the load on the deck, so I would like to keep them. Any comments or ideas?

[jeadstx]

I had the same problem when I upgraded my stays to 1/8". My chainplates had two holes to attach the stays to. For a while I just used smaller pins. I was uncomfortable with the smaller pins, so I drilled one of the two holes larger to accept the larger pin. I haven't had any problem and I have been sailing in heavy winds since I drilled them out.

John

[Kleanbore]

I had the same issue on my 1974 DSII. The rigger at our club told me there was no problem using the smaller pins with the larger toggles, but it still bothered me a bit. I also called Rudy at D&R and he advised replacing the chainplates. Since I use the rear hole for the turning block of the spinnaker sheets, I didn't want to replace the chainplates.
My solution was to scribe a larger circle on the forward hole with the top of the circle tangent to the existing hole. I then used a Dremel tool to grind to the circle and cleaned up the hole with a reamer. This allows the use of a 1/4" pin without thinning the web of the chainplate.

[talbot]

Yeah, why did they stop making those 2-hole chainplates? And since everyone uses larger stays now, why do new replacement chainplates still come with 3/16" holes? And why do people still text while driving? (Sorry... as long as I was asking stupid questions, I thought I'd slip another one in.)

[jdoorly]

I think they (Dwyer) still make them but they call them stemhead fittings (DH699)...

http://www.dwyermast.com/items.asp?cat1 ... +Stemheads

On the other hand, that bolt pattern won't fit, you will have to make your own back-up.

[talbot]

Actually the 2-hole chainplate was different, same as the standard, but with 2 holes, both too small for a 1/4" pin. But it never even occurred to me to use a stemhead fitting for the shrouds, even though I've purchased stemhead fittings before, and have already made my own oversized backup plates. Doh!

It's amazing the power of naming. "If only someone made a stainless plate with two holes, one of them 1/4" diameter. But all l've got is this stupid stemhead fitting, and I couldn't use that because it isn't called a chainplate."