Does anyone know how thick the tubing wall is on Hobie Wave backrests? I understand the tube is 1 7/8 diameter. I might try bending some up. Any other dimensions would be appreciated too.

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John

Nacra 5.0
CT
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The "small" tubes on my H18 Magnum wings are 1/8" wall thickness.
It might be difficult to bend 90* without breaking. I have seen some threads here where people bought pre-bent 90's & used them to assemble wings.

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Hobie 18 Magnum
Dart 15
Mystere 6.0XL Sold Was a handful solo
Nacra 5.7
Nacra 5.0
Bombardier Invitation (Now officially DEAD)
Various other Dock cluttering WaterCrap
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Thanks. 1/8 was my guess. I would like to use a mandrel bender to the forming, but will research it first.

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John

Nacra 5.0
CT
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I measured about .080, or metric 2mm, or 5/64" x approx. 13' long. Those bends are pretty small. I seriously considered making some and in the end just bought from hobie. Longest tube I could find were 12'. Airparts has the tube but then you have to ship it, bending T6 might be interesting also.


http://www.airpartsinc.com/219_ALUMINUM_TUBING_6061_T6.htm

Mark, that's great info. Do the bars sit about 16 inches above the deck? Is that a comfortable height ?

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John

Nacra 5.0
CT
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Laying on the ground, the top of the crossbar is right at 16". From where the bar inserts into the Wave crossbar to the center of the first radius that turns up is 6" measuring across the floor, not the actual curve. The upright is not 90 deg., more like 80-85, but closer to 80.

The Hobie piece is perfect, leaning against it and placing the arms across the top along with the tiller extension. LIke a lawn chair.

Thanks.

If you go overboard, do you ever climb back on under the back rests?

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John

Nacra 5.0
CT
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ctcataman

Thanks.

If you go overboard, do you ever climb back on under the back rests?

Depends how cold the water is.

The reason hobie used 1 7/8" od tubing is it fits the front crossbar about perfect, the rear crossbar is larger id, so on mine i put a piece of rubber about like is used on the cat trax on that tube so it wouldn't rattle around. Course then you have the rubber caps that go into the crossbar that the backrest slips into.

So what you could do is use two pieces each side, one 1 7/8 and one 2" od, bend the front using 1 7/8 then bend the back using 2", only if the slip fit between the two works and you can't find a piece long enough to do it with one tube, prob need a couple rivets.

Then you could make it adjustable, remember the lounge chairs with the adjustable backrest that would click into place as you moved it up and down, if you could find that same joint and use it on the uprights.... you could have an adjustable backrest for those big wind days.