Plastic Classic Forum

feetup

Yes please Rick, by all means take pictures. The San Juan 24 is one of my favourite boats anyway. That being said, and now I am really hijacking, I often walk past the Nanaimo Yacht Club, and sometimes out on to that little break water to the SE of you and I always look for your yellow hull, but hav...

feetup

I read a report a number of years ago by some chemists who were trying to synthesize the glue that barnacles and oysters use. They had encountered endless problems but they had several pages of glowing reports on what a fabulous adhesive it is. Works under salt water, nearly instantly, adheres throu...

feetup

This is not intended to hijack the thread, but I have been thinking about water born finishes for a while. I have used varathane diamond coat successfully for a number of non-boat projects, and have used water based instrument lacquers on a number of guitars now and get excellent results now that I ...

feetup

I have an Ingersoll Rand linear sander that is heavy, uses a phenomenal amount of air, and is like a bull in a china shop in any confined area. My 8 hp compressor works hard to keep up with it, and it's quite a shock when you first pull the trigger. I would choose a root canal before using it overhe...

feetup

Somewhere I read that smell is the sense that requires the least stimuli to evoke the strongest memories. I'm not sure if I worded that the way I read it, but the gist was that it requires less input then the other senses to bring about a full and complete memory. I guess that is why babies can reco...

feetup

I think the time of enlightenment for me was when I spied a book on the shelf of a local book seller entitled; "How To Lie With Facts".
I suppose I was a bit innocent before that.

Tim J

feetup

Don't forget that the inlet and outlet hoses also form an integral part of the muffler. Essentially, the water capacity would include everything from the exhaust riser to the inverted "U" in the outlet side. I am also wondering why you have so little trust in the design and manufacture of ...

feetup

Balance; I'm jealous. We have to plan carefully to get the whole six pack in if we have a fresh block of ice. The white wine has to wait till the ice melts a bit. We have begun freezing our fresh water in smaller containers that can be mingled with the food and drink. When they thaw we drink them. T...

feetup

Rachel; That's interesting. At work one way we check for invisible cracks or pin holes is to spray a thick red dye onto the material and leave it to soak in for about 15-20 miniuts. Then we wash the die off and spray a developer, which is nothing more than talcum powder in solution with alcohol over...

feetup

If you have the time to watch the epoxy fairing material cure, possibly while working on another area of the boat you can save yourself quite a bit of work by removing the worst of the high points while the filler is is in the green state, ie not sticky, but not completely hard either. Use a sharp s...

feetup

There were two areas on my hull that were always cold to touch, and that weren't enclosed by settees or lockers. Under the dinette and in the head. I glued narrow planks of western red cedar with thickened epoxy to the hull like ceilings in these points. They are about 3/8 inch thick and I stained t...

feetup

Ultimately, tabbing, while generally thin enough to provide some flexibility, will constitute a hard spot. The trouble with hard spots is not in their inherent nature, but in the execution. If a poorly fitting bulkhead is wedged into the hull and tabbed in it will flex the hull enough to show a ridg...

feetup

We use similar units at work for checking pre-heat temperature for the welders. The good ones are very accurate and the cheaper ones are far more accurate than we would need for our purposes. They can be fooled by a mirror like surface such as chrome or polished stainless. They are fun to check the ...

feetup

I would be quite surprised if epoxy and limestone was soft and flexible. However, as has been stated, a soft area between two rigid tabbings would still amount to a hard spot against the hull. I see no trouble having rigid bulkheads tabbed to the hull provided they fit cleanly and do not force the h...

feetup

While not an answer to the OP I thought this might be of interest. Of almost all common solvents out there, only acetone and alcohol do not contain some benzine. Lacquer thinners, toluene, xylene, mineral spirits, and good old paint thinner all contain at least a modicum of benzine. Benzine is prove...

feetup

Yeah, I would have to agree. I've made my living in a stainless fab shop for quite a few years now, and Zach pretty much got it as it is. Perhaps one note on center punching, since stainless work hardens badly, don't strike your center punch more than once. You can prick punch to help you locate the...

feetup

Almost like being an archaeologist, with messages from antiquity. You even have to interpret the ancient language.

Tim J

feetup

Ahh, that's better.

Have it up as wallpaper already.
Very nice, tastfull use of the light, and the contrast of colors. Must have taken weeks to paint the backdrop ; )

Thank you! I love a tradition!

Tim J

feetup

Liberty I guess one of the important questions would be the finish you intend to use. Oil? Varnish? The reason this is important is that oak has radial 'rays' that are quite prominent, and these rays take penetrating stains rather poorly, leaving lighter cross grain streaks which are most evident in...

feetup

I have noticed the conspicuous absence of a May photo of the month.
Not complaining, merely thinking in print as it were. I have very much enjoyed the photo's thus far, and use them as walpaper on my desktop at work.

Tim J

feetup

Rachel;

It comes right up for me, so it could be your provider.

Tim J

feetup

That's fascinating Peter. Is that out in East Sooke somewhere? I spent some time on the Vega website, what a wonderful boat. Looking at the pictures of yours, there is no way I would have believed it to be 27 feet. Talk about a lot in a small package.

Tim J

feetup

I think I would try acetone, soaked on, and then wiped off and allowed to evaporate, several, if not many times. The rapid evaporation rate of the acetone would tend to draw any oils from the grain to the surface. Also, acetone will tend to dissolve it whether it is mineral oil, or a vegetable/anima...

feetup

I would think, in a court, where the magistrate was none other than Neptune himself, if you can say that in all truth and with due diligence to search for said truth, that you have no knowledge of the vessel having been christened to any other name, and , notwithstanding the above, did wish to appea...

feetup

Welcome to the forum. I would be very surprised to see a propane tank in any shape other than cylindrical, or perhaps spherical. Propane tanks qualify as pressure vessels, and as such must meet specifics of engineering and testing. It is very difficult to engineer a pressure vessel in any shape othe...

feetup

Britton;

How about trimming the cut with a healthy bullnose, with a gracefull hand hold built in? Teak? Cherry? Walnut?

Tim (Feetup)

feetup

I don't see why not. You may have to remove the foot valve in the pump, essentially turning it into a spout, but the foot pump might just have the pressure available to push past the valve. If you can overpower the valves, you could have a double system where you could suck through a check valve and...

feetup

Rick; I have had to rebuild my rudder, and I changed out the Aluminum post/frame for 316 stainless, but the OD of the rudder post is smaller than the origional. The origional aluminum one was just 2 1/2" schedule 40 aluminum pipe, but I used heavier wall 2" stainless pipe and machined it d...

feetup

I can see this thread is becoming a ramble. The company I work for does a fair bit of contracting to a pulp mill way up on the North end of Vancouver Island. Beautiful place, but the mill was origionally built in 1913-18. Much of the equipment there is of that vintage, and the entire mill is old and...

feetup

Yes Rachel, the ribbon/scissors analogy is the best one yet. I wish I had thought of that. The "backing " thumb, (I think that would be a good name for it) can move in any direction, although it is much easier if you move it along the length of the tape, since it is harder to make the tape...

feetup

I read a post in another forum that described the building if a set of rudder bearings from thickened epoxy with west system 423 graphite additive. I have used this for hatch slides, but with graphite being at the top of most nobility tables I wonder about the sensibility of using it for use with a ...

feetup

I'm going to post another one of my hard to read, nerdy, "How To" posts on this. Take it or leave it. For inside corners, or for all that matter for any compound curvature, such as fairing out the jaws of a chock or fairlead, or for complex compound curved joinery there is a trick that too...

feetup

Ideally, the job is done with two people, the riveter and the bucker. In the old days of riveted hulls (and bridges and even boilers) the red hot rivet was thrown up from the forge with a pair of tongs and caught in something that looked like a garbage can lid. Then it was placed through the hole an...

feetup

Hey, an Ipod with a selection of tunes at about 120 beats per min really helps with sanding, and you won't even be distracted by the onlookers sayng "Sanding huh?"
Just got to remember NOT to sing the harmony parts too loud!

Feetup

feetup

I'm afraid you might have to trade in your rum for saki!

Feetup
After all's been said and done, there's a lot more said than done.

feetup

I belong to a few sailing sites, and cruise others regularily and I have to say that the quality of workmanship I see here, and the quality of attitude in the words I read is well above any other site I have visited. The general desire to do things right is outstanding, and the overall level of aqui...

feetup

Silicon Bronze sits midway between passive 316 stainless, and active 316 in the galvanic series for stagnant (ie. low oxygen content) seawater. If you use a 316 stainless cotter pin in a bronze shaft/nut be sure to bend the ends snug around the shaft/nut so that the pin cannot work and wear away the...

feetup

Don't forget to scrub with a wet Scotchbrite pad and rinse/dry to get rid of any amine blush. I'm not sure if anything will stick to that.

Feetup

feetup

This was the most unusual April I have ever seen here on Vancouver Island. The cherry and plum trees in full blossom, and almost a foot of heavy snow on the ground. We woke saturday morning with the power out to the sound of an enormous branch slowly breaking off a big maple behind the house. APRIL ...

feetup

Ceasar; The "rubbed effect" or "hand rubbed" finish is just that. You slop your oil or oil/varnish mix on the wood and then using your palm you rub and rub and rub till it begins to heat up from the friction, then you slop some more on it and rub some more. The oil seems to dissa...

feetup

The go fast racers, and the "keep the rail wet" crowd are really into colorful bottoms. It is important that everyone see the root of the keel, especially when a powerboat load of photographers passes to windward. I would be willing to throw down my magic bones and sacred winch pawls to re...

feetup

The disadvanage with maple is it's tendency toward rot, and dark staining if allowed to get wet. Very poor resistance to mildew also. Very hard and strong though. Oak would be even worse, with it's tendency to stain blue/black when wet. The reason teak is the choice of the ages is its tremendous sta...

feetup

I used to be a gunsmith, and it was very common practice to mix oils and varnishes to achieve a tough, waterproof oiled surface. On a gunstock, water proofing the wood is essential, because if the wood picks up moisture, say on a rainy day, the wood will move and throw the accuracy off. Oils by them...

feetup

I was on the Interlux site just the other day, checking out the 'Perfection' polyurethane. there are seven whites shown on the page and all but one look identical. They say something like "indicative only, see your dealer for accurate color chips." Good luck going to Worst Marine and hopin...

feetup

I would be a little skeptical of putting ANY flooring down on the sole of a boat without adaquate fastening. A lot of these engineered floors are a clip-together glueless system and as such if there is a moisture difference front to back (or I guess that should be top to bottom) there is bound to be...

feetup

I second Peter's suggestion of bamboo, although I'll raise it with a suggestion of a teak or walnut strip kind of the reverse of the standard teak holly, so to speak. I re-did Aquappella's sole with teak/holly ply and I was pleased at how thick the teak veneer was, and how tight the rest of the plys...

feetup

The diameter of the exhaust for internal combustion engines is not related to the "back pressure" so much as it is to the velocity of the exhaust gasses. The engineering gets pretty complex but the concept is that a moving column of any fluid has inertia and the quicker you move it up to a...

feetup

Well said Tim; Some how I knew you would hold that opinion. It shows in your work, and it shows in the other posts you write. In my experience with people I have found that the ones who are very careful and precice in the work they do are often the ones who are straight shooters when it comes inter-...

feetup

I spent most of a two hour ferry ride yesterday sitting beside a very pleasant and articulate gentleman who as it turns out owns a boat yard/marina. We talked at length about the sometimes uneasy relationship between boat yards and boat owners. I spoke of all the tales of woe I have read of and hear...

feetup

I did a site search but didn't find an answer. I think I read somewhere that you must not use "X" to bed polycarbinate, but I can't remember what "X" was. Or maybe it was acrylic that must not be used with "Y". I can't remember. They say that the bladder goes next now t...

Plastic Classic Forum

Search found 99 matches

monthly photo??

Graphite for rudder bearings

Kudos and other romantic notions

curling bamboo

The Other Side of The Coin

bedding polycarbinate deadlights.