Archive for the 'tools' Category
Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008
Slim and the Braces
Keeping with the band names theme I give you Slim and the Braces. I rebuilt the engine model (for the last time, I swear) from the technical specs of the M4-30. You can see why I call it Slim.
Originally I had decided to cut out the rear pan under the ladder after I glassed in the middle set of stringers. In usual fashion I took back what I thought and decided to brace everything and cut it out. The brace also makes for a good place to sit and contemplate your woes.
It was raining like crazy today so I rigged up a shop light to the cabin roof. The extra ambient light and the cool weather made for very pleasant working. I also got a chance to use an incredibly old tool to rough up the fiberglass. It looks the the grandfather to the norton stripping brush.
Where it really shined was when I ran it in reverse. Instead of the normal stripping action (which was pretty good) the spring loaded tips would hit almost dead on and bounce back, almost like one of those really expensive pin scalers. Between this and a little help from the beast the bilge was ready for stringers and glass in short order. Tomorrow I’ll buy the wood (good Doug-fir is apparently really good for fiberglass cored construction).
Tuesday, June 17th, 2008
Introducing: the FairMaster®
“Hi folks! Ever get tired from constantly having to sand your hull fair? Tired of those aching arms and blistered hands? What about that annoyingly constant ’swish-swish’ sound of that long board? Well not to worry, its days are numbered! Introducing the FairMaster®! Don’t be fooled by its ghetto construction and obvious use of second hand parts and recycled materials, the FairMaster® is a precision piece of fairing technology home-grown right here in the USA.”
“The FairMaster® is like someone else making 10 passes with a longboard for your every one! It’s orbital action also makes sure that you never sand out a gouge and feathering is a snap! With its small, old, rebuilt 1/3 sheet sander power source the only thing to tire out are the old-school felt and brass bushings! Read the rest of this entry »
Friday, June 6th, 2008
TIG time
Ok now I have an even better reason to get my TIG setup. My parents have a pop-up camper that they use pretty regularly to go camping. This thing and I have never ever, ever gotten along (the design is kind of on the chinzy side which matches the finishing) but my parents love it. Sadly (for them) the beast has a pretty nasty case of rot in the undercarriage and hitch set up. The bright minds at StarCraft decided that they would put the battery in a frame that is directly welded to the chassis and then have the ground lead to another part of the chassis. Naturally where the ground was located is pretty much just rusty pieces of paper and the battery box is in slightly better shape.
The “professional” estimate for the whole repair is something like $1,500 and that doesn’t include repainting or repairing the other rusted out areas like the leveling legs, lie downs, bumper supports… oh did I mention that the entire frame is just painted steel, no hot dip galvanizing here.
Thursday, May 8th, 2008
Warming up.
Not just the weather, It’s high time I got back on the [important] job. I had planned on going to see the site today but the soggy conditions today and the prediction of all day rain tomorrow made me think otherwise. Whats a boat guy to do on a rainy day away from the site? Simple, kit out!
First order of business, a new respirator. All last year I used a 3M 7000 series half mask. At the time I thought it was great, comfortable, adjustable, cheap… until I started working in sweltering heat with a grinder inside the cabin. Misery, pure and simple. The mask wasn’t designed for constant work in hot conditions with a pair of goggles. The mask would slip, the goggles would fog, eyes would be sore, kind of a mess. This year (May is my boat-work New Years) I’m going with a full face.
My uncle works in the chemical industry and told me to look at masks that are designed for the working professional not the hobbyist. Originally I dismissed this because he’s a bit of an equipment freak but now I can see what he was talking about. If you are working 8 hours a day, 6-7 days a week for 6 months you’re pretty much performing a full-time job in a mask! I looked at 3M’s full faced offerings but wasn’t impressed with their cartridges anyway and wanted a change.
Monday, November 26th, 2007
Framing the winter cover
Before I shrink the boat, I have to frame it. I decided to go with a frame work made of 1 1/4″ PVC pipes attached to the stantion bases. So that the stantions themselves don’t act like levers as the frame moves with the wind, I took them all out and replaced them with 18″ pieces of pvc pipe. These new plastic stantions will allow the frame to move in the wind and don’t put any stress on the bases. The 1 1/4″ pvc is then screwed to the 3/4″, the 3/4″ is screwed into the bases, and the screws are tied to the bases with 250# test dacron (see, failed kite projects do get second chances). The pvc ribs will have a 1 1/4″ ridgepole at the top and each side will have 3 stringers made of 5/8″ x 1 1/2″ x 40′ douglas fir (aka ripped down homedepot 2×4’s). The whole thing will be clinched together with bailing wire with help from a Clamptite tool. Well, that’s the plan anyway.
Sunday, November 25th, 2007
Operation Mast Down (part 2)
Ok remember when I said this wasn’t a one man job, well it turns out it wasn’t a two man job either. My little sister had nothing going on today so she was roped (no pun intended) into helping out. We started out by aligning the rails to the stands and the mast while I had Julie soap the hell out of the cars so they wouldn’t bind on the rails.
Wednesday, October 31st, 2007
Plasterers rock!
Almost a century ago, when someone wanted fancy pants molding (or moulding as everyone outside of the US calls it) in their home they didn’t go to home depot and buy some extruded plastic rods and nail them up. They hired a plasterer to make a profile that they wanted and use plaster to literally mould up their fancy molding (get it, mould-ing).
Fast forward a 100 years later, boats are being made out of a moldable goo called resin, a guy with a big job wants to shave some time off his project; plasterer techniques to the rescue! It took a day of trial and error to get it down, but now that I have, there is almost zero fairing to do. Using the profile makes the entire surface uniform so there is no need to use a long board. I let the goo cure, and go at it with the half sheet. I’ll hopefully get both of the joints done before it gets too cold.
Monday, October 29th, 2007
My new best friends
Hi everyone, I’d like for you to meet my new friends, DeWalt “Heavy” Grinder and Porter “Half Sheet” Sander. Jack took a look at my big job and puny sanders and hooked us all up! Thanks Jack!
No, seriously, I can not tell you enough how amazing an 8″, 2 Hp, soft backed pad disk grinder is. What would have taken me 3 hours took only 30 minutes! The half-sheet sander is like a super rough long board and lets me rough the whole thing out nice and quick. At this rate, if the weather holds I might be able to have the whole boat faired and ready to prime before the winter! woah!