Compass Mount

Posted by Mac on Nov 16, 2004

Hi Gang,

Just mounted a Suunto compass on a wooden base to a highly radiused deck, and think I may have come up with a different and maybe easier method.

I had a bunch of hardwood parquette pieces left over from some flooring work I did a few years back.

I took 4 pieces of the 4 3/4" long by 7/8" wide by 5/16" thick pieces of (in my case) maple and my trusty low angle block plane and beveled the edges a bit so that, when placed side by side, the assembly matched the curve of the deck where I wanted to mount the compass (twixt front hatch and chart bungees). I covered the deck with waxed paper, slaped some unthicked 30 minute epoxy between the pieces and assembled then so that they lined up with the center line of the deck. Kept the pieces in place with masking tape.

Put a 1 1/2" diameter sanding drum in the drill press and went to work on the rubber base of the Suunto. I had removed the lower two rings with an exacto knife and was now shaping the remaining ring's front and back to the deck radius.

When the wood pieces had cured overnight, I used a drafting compass to make a circle dead center with about a 1 inch larger diamenter than the Suunto housing. Jig-sawed the disk and sanded a bevel around the upper circumfrance.

Three coats of Epifanes Varnish later, siliconed the compass to the base and the base to the deck using 3M Marine Silicone.

Took it for a spin this afternoon and promptly got lost. 'Course I haven't learned how to use the gall-darned thing yet. But it didn't fall off and it sure makes the kayak look like a serious boat.

I think this multi-pieced mount would look especially good on a strip built, when made of contrasting cedar strip scraps. So I now have to build a stripper to go with my compass mount.

Don't laugh, kids around here buy Honda Civics to go on their huge mufflers.

Best...

Replies:

• Re: Compass Mount by Mark Camp on Nov 17, 2004