Gooseneck

To the right is the mast attachment for the gooseneck, after being stripped of paint and sanded.. It was okay, but the holes had been worn down and were a little ovalized after 20 years.

At some point in this project I pretty well lost my mind and all sense of perspective, so what the heck I'll replace it and keep the old one for a spare.

Simple, right? Well, the replacement from South Shore came in with FOUR bolt holes, not Five. Note that on my gooseneck, the holes aren't exactly lined up straight, nor are they evenly spaced. . Apparently the builder just drilled the holes free hand.

After some despair, I sent the gooseneck back to South Shore and purchased a blank casting, so I could drill my own holes and mill the aluminum down to fit the chrome plated bronze thing that goes between the Mast Gooseneck part and the Boom Gooseneck part.

To drill the holes, I built a jig. A 1 inch dowel fit the inside radius of the gooseneck, so I affixed it with epoxy putty to a piece of scrap wood. After sanding it down with a belt sander to be perfect, I glued some stop blocks on the jig to hold the gooseneck very precisely.

Then I clamped the old gooseneck on the jig and copied the holes into the wood.

Adding the holes for the vertical hinge pin was much harder. This is a 1/2 inch dowel jig, held in place by a couple of pine shims and clamps. This was a clear case of "measure 30 times, drill once".

Holy Cow! The bolt holes onto the mast all fit exactly perfect. I thought they'd need adjustment with the Handy Dremel Tool,
but nope!
I'd pat myself on the back, but it might hurt.

Somebody was smiling down!

The hinge pin holes (right) required a bit of grinding and filing to get them to line up.

Now to grind down the top hinge plate to 1/2" thick, to ensure that there's a full range of swing, then clean it up and paint it.

Transferring the holes from the wood onto the new gooseneck by hand was a scary exercise. Just clamp it down tight and hope for the best!