Since the weather hasn't been cooperating, I've been unable to work in the boat yard. Nonetheless, I've been able to track down some supplies and get some good things done in the shop. I bought a foot of 4" square, 1/8" thick stainless tube to make a base for the chainstopper that would bring it up to the level of the chain as it runs between the windlass and the bow roller. It was unpolished, so I spent an hour or so sanding and buffing three sides.
I had a 5/16 inch cobalt drill bit (which is what it takes to drill through stainless), so that was the size I chose for mounting holes. Using water as the drill lubricant (a tip I got from a machinist), the drilling went more quickly than expected. Unfortunately, the holes in the chainstopper I bought were 1/4 inch, so I had to drill them out so that they would match the holes in the base tube. That was no big deal in itself, but it meant that the counter-sinks for the heads of the flathead bolts wouldn't be big enough. Because I didn't want to spent $100 on a 3/4 inch cobalt drill bit (if I could find one), I ended up grinding down the bolt heads using a grinder and the drill press as a makeshift lathe. It worked fine. I scrounged some free pieces of white acrylic sheet from TAP Plastics' scrap bin, cut them to size for end caps for the stainless tube, and then cut rabbets around them, hoping to get them to be a press fit. Amazingly, it worked perfectly.
When the new windlass arrives, I'll see how close I came to getting the chainstopper the right height. I'm anticipating I may need to raise it a bit further by putting the stainless tube on top of a 1-inch teak base, which is no problem.
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