Helm Rail

Well, the rail behind the helm station turned out to be a piece of cake compared to the stair well.

Used the same procedure as before with a little rearrangement of the order. First, I used one half of a wooden clothespin as a form and bent the un-annealed brass wire into the proper shape. It was the perfect shape of the rail. I bent each end, one at a time, around the end of the clothespin. I cut the rectangle at the point where the rail went through the bottom leg of a support.

Next, I searched for the proper form for the curve of the rail. I measured it out and determined a cylinder with a 2.25" radius would work best. I finally found an air freshener spray can that fit the bill. Then, after annealing the wire to make it more malleable, I bent it around the can.

The supports slipped on one at a time at the joint in the wire. The upper supprt hole was strung on the wire and moved around until the lower hole lined up. It was slipped onto the wire then moved down. I arranged it so the break in the wire fit in the lower hole of a support. It was all secured with CA and the break in the wire is hardly visible.

I drilled two holes I marked in the deck for the proper placement of the supports and secured the assembly in place with two drops of 5 minute epoxy.

With the railings completed, it's just a matter of gluing in the rest of the sub-assemblies such as the helm, control levers, depth tube, etc.