Mounting Ship's Bell

[tborcher]

First of all, Happy New Year! to all my Tugnuts cohorts. Hope you have a year of happy and safe sailing. I have greatly appreciated all the help and advice from this site since I took possession of my RT-21 in September. It's my first boat and I have had a lot to learn.
I want to mount a small brass ship's bell to the exterior of the cabin (to the right of the door). It mounts with three screws. Not sure exactly what is "behind" the fiberglass exterior wall. Do I need to use those plastic anchor things (you see how tech-savvy I am) in order to secure the screws? Is there wood between the exterior and interior cabin walls?
Your humble sailor,
Tom

 

[Capt’nKarl]

Happy NewYear Tom
As far as I know that "wall" on the outside of the door is fiberglass. If this is your preferred place to mount your ships bell I would suggest drilling a all the way through and mount the bell with SS bolts, lock washers and nuts. I would be concerned using the screws by themselves would work loose from vibration. We mounted our ships bell above the center window on the teak.

Cheers!

Karl

 

[JeffE]

If the bell is one of those that are removable -- a mount that is screwed onto a wall, then a bracket slips into the mount and holds the bell, the good news is you can attach the mount with screws and 3M 5200, the bad news is I've had the bracket vibrate out of the mount, causing a relatively heavy bell to crash to the deck.

I think the 5200 will more than hold the mount in place, once it's set. The screws will hold it in place until the 5200 sets. Once it sets, you probably can't remove it.

Jeff

 

[SGIDAVE]

First of all, Happy New Year! to all my Tugnuts cohorts. Hope you have a year of happy and safe sailing. I have greatly appreciated all the help and advice from this site since I took possession of my RT-21 in September. It's my first boat and I have had a lot to learn.
I want to mount a small brass ship's bell to the exterior of the cabin (to the right of the door). It mounts with three screws. Not sure exactly what is "behind" the fiberglass exterior wall. Do I need to use those plastic anchor things (you see how tech-savvy I am) in order to secure the screws? Is there wood between the exterior and interior cabin walls?
Your humble sailor,
Tom

Hello Tom,

To address your specific questions:

The cabin walls next to the door are solid fiberglass...THIN, maybe 3/16" thick. No wood or core material. "Plastic anchor things" are not used in marine installations. Through-bolting with washers will be more reliable that screws due to the thin-ness of the wall. My prefered method of attaching things is to glue a block of wood or starboard material to the hull or wall, then screw the accessory to the block. Then you have made no holes which need filling later when you remodel. As the others have said, 5200 will work as your 'glue' for a wood block. 3M 4000 and 4200 will work well too. All of these 3M products can be removed with the proper 'debonding' solvent.

Fair Winds,

dave

 

[Stevan47]

Hi Tom: all the other guys' suggestions are great. Having said that, if you wish to check out my photo album, you will see that I have mounted my ship's bell in the same location that you are considering for your vessel. Basically, mine is mounted externally, stbd side, top of the door frame, just below the corner. Additionally, I first fixed a piece of white HDPE (high density polyethyelene) material to the door frame to give the mounting more strength and less strain on the door frame. Then I drilled holes in the HDPE for the bell brass hanger. Finally, I hung the bell using the pin and securing clip. All screws/bolts used are either 316 stainless or solid brass. My photo gallery can be found at 'stevan47' and/or 'rhapsody'. Hope this helps. Kind regards