Home   |   The Boat   |   First Mate   |   Admiral   |   Guestbook 

Date: 2 October 2015. Backing Plates.

© janice142

Aboard boats often we utilize backing plates. They are used to reinforce or strengthen an attachment point. I have lots of them on Seaweed. Larger yachts do too. Of late they have been an essential part of the galley changes I am making. Today I will show you my newest money-saving backing plate solution.
 

If the only tool you have is a hammer, soon every problem begins to resemble a nail. It is the same way with hinges for me. I find them useful for attaching items in lieu of braces, brackets, and shelf supports. With a backing plate, hinges are almost perfect.
 

First, know that I have a propensity to use hinges. I have bunches in the jar with the blue lid near the front
 right of the picture. This is a LARGE peanut container from decades ago. Hinges up to almost 8" long fit inside.

 

In the galley I have been making changes. The latest is described in the Securing a Refrigerator (fans too) article. Atop my new refrigerator/freezer, I wanted a shelf.
 


Hinged (see above) at the aft bulkhead, I can raise the shelf when necessary. With the shelf out of the way, I should be able to remove the refrigerator with relative ease. I will simply move the microwave, then lift the shelf.
 

That is important. Behind the refrigerator I have a pair of fans. One blows on the compressor and the other sucks air from the cabinet. Having access to replace the fans is going to be important down the waterway.
 

You can see the space between the outer hull and the inner liner. That is a great place to vent the heat from my reefer.

 

I *thru-bolted the hinge, with a pair of backing plates. One is on the inside. The other is on the outside of that bulkhead.

*Thru-bolted is a fancy way of saying the fastener (bolt) goes from the inside, through to the opposite side of whatever you're attaching to. In this case, I'm going from the inside of my galley cabin through the aft bulkhead and will attach the nuts on the opposite side of that wall. On boats, walls are called bulkheads.


I've used FENDER WASHERS AND NUTS to secure the backing plate
to the aft bulkhead.


 

 

Screws, Nuts and Bolts, plus Fender Washers

 
Screws have a pointy end that holds tight when inserted in wood.
 

I keep a variety of screws in a little kit that is easily accessible.

 
Nuts and Bolts: Sometimes bolts are called machine screws. They are the ones with the flat end. A nut holds it fast when it's thru-bolted through something. To thru-bolt means to have the bolt penetrate fully to the opposite side of whatever you're holding together. A nut then keeps the bolt from pulling out.
 

FENDER WASHER and NUT
 

Fender Washers are very large (usually at least four times the size of the nut) flat disks that help *spread the load. For this project my fender washers are the size of a quarter.

Standard washers are just slightly larger than the nut.

 


*Spread the Load means that a larger surface is involved. As an example, you can with relative ease pull a sewing pin through a piece of fabric. If that pin has a larger end (such as a pretty bead) it will be much more difficult to tug through.
 


It's a similar principle for Fender Washers. They spread the load (enlarge the contact point) so that pulling through should not ever happen. That's the theory anyway...

The backing plate also helps spread the load. That's why backing plates are used so often in boats. Anything mission critical will have a backing plate. All your cleats do, your windlass, the swim deck attachment points, handrails, etc.


But back to my galley... The ideal solution would have been to use StarBoard as a backing plate. It's the correct color (white) and thus would match the exterior of Seaweed. Really, it's wonderful stuff. Recently I used some StarBoard (pronounced Star Board) scraps in another project described in the
StarBoard Stops piece.

But this is now, and alas, I didn't have enough for the needs at hand.

Aboard Seaweed, saving money is a necessity. Because I didn't need the strength nor quality offered by StarBoard, I could come up with another solution. I knew that using wood outside in the cockpit would be my last choice. Essentially, I wanted a StarBoard knock-off at a bargain price.

That's when it dawned on me that cutting boards are a similar material. They are made from a plastic that won't easily break. I decided to buy and use a 1/4" thick cutting board as the backing plates required for the galley shelf project. The one I bought from Walmart was $12 and measured 15" x 20".
 


Three strips were cut, each 17" long. That's the length of the stainless hinge.


Tomorrow I'll tell you about that.
 


Addendum: Todd in the Comment section below rightly pointed out something that I was not clear about in this article. Specifically, in no way, shape, nor form would StarBoard or even worse, a cutting board be suitable as a backing plate for a cleat, windlass or other high-stress item on a boat.

For those, 1/4" stainless would be a good place to start. That's what I have for my windlass, samson post, etc.

And thanks Todd, for catching that.


Have you ever used unusual items as backing plates in a pinch?
What did you use and is it still serving the purpose?


Regarding the Comments Section, found at the end of every article:

  • Before you type in each block be sure to hit the backspace key. Coding inserts a space in every box. Your email address will come back as malformed unless you remove that space. (You don't have to include your email address.)

  • The capcha is case sensitive.


COMMENTS:
 

© 2015, 2021, 2023

Categories: Boat Talk, Characters, Gear, Money

Canning 10 Pounds of Chicken ~ Previous Post ...      ... Next Post  ~ Backing Plate Concerns

Archive

The Archive holds a running list with synopsis of published articles, and links to same.

Aphorism Alert:  You can do anything you decide to do. Amelia Earhart.

Contributions to my Cruising Kitty via
 
are always appreciated.

Every gift helps.

The Cruising Kitty is what boaters refer to as spending money. There's never enough aboard Seaweed!


I am also an Amazon Affiliate.


My Buddy, and his girlfriend...

Copyright © Janice Marois  |  Home  |  Archive  |  Topics  |  Boat List  |  Site Map  |  Email Me  |