There are times

For the for the first (and only) time boat builder good and proper tools are not usually a priority. If they last the life of the project that's all I can hope for. Sometimes there are needs for specialty tools. Welders, presses, cutters etc. The expense of buying these cannot be justified if they'll only be used once or twice.

So today's task was to press the cutlass bearing into the bearing housing.

Bearing carrier with cutlass partially pressed in

So for this job I decided, upon advice from the Interwebs, to make my own tool for this job. A piece of threaded rod, some nuts and a few large fender washers would do the job (maybe).

I needed to tack the fender washers together due to the large hole in the large one. No biggie, I have a little inverter stick welder. Perfect tool for that job!

These would bear against the bearing carrier and the cutlass. As I turn down on the nut it would force the cutlass into the carrier (in theory).

Using the custom tool to install cutlass bearing

So to make a very long (3-1/2 hrs of frustration) short I ended up only getting the cutlass about half way in. The fender washers collapsed under the stress and split in half making my tool useless.

Wreckage

In the end, after about 3-1/2 hours of frustration I called it quits. See the video below.

Packed up my shit and headed to see my buddy Vince. He's got a repair shop in Prescott and has a hydraulic press! The perfect tool for the job!

The proper tool for the job

Thanks to Vince and Andy for getting me past this step. It's a small step but an important one.

Standby....