Parts wanted: clips for OE ladder

[jonbrush]

Hi all,

I have been enjoying the chats here since I bought 23 Sceptre OB last spring from "Entourage". I do love the boat and just want to do a few things to it. (Of course it's under some snow out on Shelter Island so that will have to wait).

First on the list is to be able to move the 'inside' ladder for bow access for anchoring. My friend Rod Anderson rebuilt the ladder last spring, and it works great attaching to clips on each side of the cockpit. But the clips to move it forward are gone, along with the hinged wooden piece they attach to. The clips are plastic and metal and screw into the gunnel on each side. I've seen pictures of the same clips which are used when the cuddy hatch is removed, to get on the bow. I hope my description is clear enough, I can't get to the boat now to take a pic.

Does anyone have a couple of these lying around, or know where I can ask?

Thanks,
Jon Brush
Boston and Shelter Island, NY

[jonbrush]

So, last spring I started searching for new clips so I could use the cockpit ladder to access foredeck from cabin. No one had any lying around but Mitch Lindsay ('flexpat') offered to make some using his engineering and his son Jordan's 3D printer. After a lot of measuring and photos, we have the result! See my album 'Jon's Sceptre 23' for photos. They work perfectly (not on boat yet).

You may note that the color is a bit off for the color scheme for my boat. Not that I'm complaining mind you, but I'd like to paint them white. I've got some Rustoleum 'plastic undercoat' which is supposed to be good for all kinds of plastic, followed by a finish coat. But does any expert here have a better idea?

Anyway, if anyone needs a prototype of anything (or some clips) I think the person to talk to is Mitch. I owe him a beer or 6.

[FLexpat]

Here are pics of the actual part and an graphic of the 'part' printed as a pic from Solidworks (3D CAD program). Purple sucks for color but free was hard to argue with even though I have no idea what kind of plastic it is or how durable it is.

If anyone has a good working knowledge of 3D printing and what plastics can be used, please PM me.

If anyone needs the Solidworks file I will be happy to provide it.

[CoreyTrx]

There's 3D printing services online you could send that file to and they can make it any color plastic or even different metals.

[abl1111]

I'd have to look for it, but I had bought a spare one of these ladders on eb*y ( it broke like my original did ). It had clips that were 'made' out of aluminum box tube. It worked great ! Just an idea - there's more than one way to get it done.

[jonbrush]

Mitch had another idea, using aluminum stock, before we went with plastic. Wonder if it's the same plan?
My ladder was broken too. If you look at the pictures posted previously, you can see how Rod Anderson ("Otterhound") rebuilt it using teak so it's virtually new.