Sunday, January 23, 2011

The Coamings


So I have started working on the Coamings. I can't claim the carving, I tried some smaller work, and it came out fine, but my practice pieces on larger letters were less consistent. So I sent the coaming to Wood Graphics Ireland who did a nice job.







Of course cutting to fit is a job and a half, since you have compound angles and a curve.




But I need to figure out how to join the ends

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Making More Cleats


You can see the blanks here, the curves are cut on a drill stand with a 20mm Forstner bit. ThenI cut the horns before putting a 1/12 slope on each side. Of course, with my new found confidence, I made the base a little too short, but since they are for a 14' sailing dinghy, they should cope ok.



A rasp and a belt sander clamped upside down on a table with an 80 grit belt will do most of the shaping, and then you cut strips of a sanding belt and do the insides of the curve shoe shiner fashion.
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Friday, January 14, 2011

Making Cleats


Ok, so it took about 2 hours to make this, and it turned out a little thin on top. But since it's only going to hold the centerboard pennant, it should be fine.

Now that I have an Idea what I am doing, I think I will be able to churn one out in about 15 minutes.



  • A simple guide on the drill press means I can cut the holes for the curves without carefully measuring each block.
  • The order of cutting on the bandsaw is all important when some of the cuts are not at 90 degrees.
  • It's a lot easier to round the end of the cleat on a sander than on a bandsaw.
  • When you are joining a curve (20mm drill bit) and a straight line, don't try for a perfect tangent, cut inside the tangent, tidy up with sandpaper or a file.


It is still hard to explain why I spent all that time, instead of just buying a half a dozen nylon ones. At least it's hard to explain to some people.

Monday, January 03, 2011

The Drill bit

 
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One home made brazed drill bit. Not pretty, but it worked just fine.

Sunday, January 02, 2011

Tool Maker

All I needed was a 3/8" drill bit, about 2" long, and with a 1/4" hex fitting on the end. You see I could not get a drill in to the gap, so I'd have to use a ratchet with a hex drive.

No problem, I have lots of long drill bits, lots of screwdriver bits, a grinder with a cutting wheel, a Propane/Butane torch (1610ºc / 2930ºf), and some brazing wire.

I chopped the drill bit short, chopped off the end of the screwdriver bit, covered the joint in flux, and cooked it a little. The brazing wire melted and slurped into the joint just like in the videos on you-tube, and suddenly I had a 2" drill bit with a hex drive. Not the prettiest joint in the world, and I doubt it would hold up to much abuse, but it was good enough to drill a hole by hand.

10 minutes later, I had the hole sorted out in the Centerboard case for the pin. And after a little playing about, I had the Centerboard mounted.

Progress at last.