CPDDET

What do you mean by "Big Jobs"?

Great work, Pat!

Glad to hear your recovery is progressing, maybe not as quickly as you like but progressing. And nice choice on the wood!

I purchased this set of Starrett pin vices a couple of years ago. Not cheap but nice quality that should last for many years.

Moving along on my Bluenose and currently building the chainplates and deadeyes. My question is should I reeve the two (top and bottom) deadeyes before attaching them to the chainplates? Seems to me this would be easier to do before. Thoughts, advice and opinions welcome. Dave

Gluing sandpaper to rigid pieces of wood should solve the rounding off issues. I use several different sizes of wood for this, everything from popsicle sticks to 1 X 1 X 6 blocks for faring. Just purchasing sheets of sandpaper in various grits and use spray adhesive to make your own sanding sticks.

Manicurists buffing blocks come in handy as well.

Finally finished the forward boom buffer. I decided to simplify this build a bit using three pieces of 3/32 brass tubing, 1.5 mm bolt, nut and washers. After flattening one side of a washed and grooving one side of the center piece of tubing with a triangle file, I soldered the washer to the tubing. The other washers acted as spacers and the wire as the “legs”. This was all held together by 1.5 mm brass bolt which fit nicely through the pieces of brass tubing. This was all held together with the brass bolt and a brass nut threaded on the end and finished with Casey Black. Not extremely detailed but I’m happy with it as it looks much better than the white metal piece that came with the kit. The “cover” for the boom buffer came from 3 laser cut pieces in the kit. I glued these together using Titebond Quick and Thick white glue. Once dry I hand painted the piece. All that was left to do was to drill 2 holes in the deck for the boom buffer “legs”, mount the piece and then add the “cover”. Now I have to install the cleats / chocks and the deck will be complete. Looks like the white metal ones that came with the kit will be usable, just need to be filed a bit, cleaned up and painted. Then its on to the chain plates.

After having the opportunity to get a closer look and feel at a variety of brushes I purchased Princeton Velvetouch synthetic blend brushes. They were a bit expensive but Blick gives a substantial discount if one purchases 5 or more brushes. I picked out 11 and paid $58. Without the discount they would have been $110. By the way, my prior brushes were Dynasty Set #25 gold nylon. That set of 10 brushes set me back $15, so these Velvetouch brushes are quite an upgrade for me. I also picked up a container of The Master Brush Cleaner and Preserver. Thanks to all for your advice, comments and support. Dave

Thanks! I was just researching synthetic vs natural for acyclic paint. Looking at soft taklon in a quality made brush.

Finally getting around to replacing my paint brushes. My old ones were a cheap set (10 brushes for $15) and I'm about fed up with them. At least the old set taught me what sizes I use most often so I won't throw money away on sizes I don't need. Will be going to Blick Arts for the new brushes and see they offer brushes in soft, medium and stiff synthetic bristles. Of course my cheap set isn't labeled as any of these but I'm thinking of buying soft or maybe medium. I use 80 percent Tamiya paint mixed with 10 percent thinner and 10 percent extender. This mixture works well for me. It's thin, but not too thin, so Im thinking a softer brush for a thinner consistency would work best. Any advice would be much appreciated. Dave

Thank you for the compliment, Toolman. Now that camping season is about over and the RV has been put away for the winter, I can finally get back to the shipyard. Except for Sunday football, of course.

Pat, I can empathize with you after going through surgery myself last year. Hang in there, take care of yourself and remember, this too shall pass.

Hang in there, Pat. The old noggin will work it out.

Looks great Pat. You may not be able to work in the shipyard but I'm sure the gray matter will won't be taking any time off. Wishing you a successful surgery and a speedy recovery.

Let's not forget razor saws and jeweler's saws as cutting instruments

However, seldom will one cutting tool cover all situations. I keep a small supply of disposable scalpels on hand to use when they are the best fit for the job at hand. Cutting tools are no different than files, sand paper, paint brushes ect. The right tool for the job is best.

I find a scalpel blade a bit too flexible. A properly honed and stropped craft / carving / hobby knife blade works best for me.

As always, your outside the box ideas are ingenious. Thanks for teaching me new tricks! Wishing you a speedy recovery.

Thanks, Pat!

That's a real compliment coming from someone with your skills. Thanks!

I took the plunge some time ago and purchased a set of 3 pin vices from Starrett and never looked back. Not cheap but a quality tool.

First off I have to thank Richard (AKA retiredguy) for his help and guidance in fashioning these bilge pumps. He has been more than generous in answering my question and providing assistance. As long as these took to build, it would have taken much longer and a lot more *#!?**#! without his help. Here is a pic of the pumps that came with the kit. And here is the plan drawing of the pumps Starting with a 3/8 round brass stock on the lathe I turned it down to .306 inches. Painted the surface with a black marker and scribed the different areas that needed to be fashioned. Still on the lathe I made the first cut .081 inches from the face of the piece and turned the stock down to .205 for .148 inches. Then moved .136 inches from the face and turned down to .171 inches for .093 inches. This fashioned the body of the pump. I used a #5 drill bit to create the “bowl” and a #29 drill bit to make the hole for the plunger. Then moved to the mill. I used a 3/64 inch end mill to cut the space between the 2 “ears” and then removed the unwanted material to form all 4 “ears”. Putting the chuck on a right angle bracket, I used a #76 drill bit to make the holes through the “ears”. This should be the right size for the .6 mm bolts I plan to use. This is the piece after turning and milling. I used a 5/32 end mill to create a half circle cut for the spout and used .010 thick brass to fashion the spout. I soldered the spout in place and did some filing to shape it. So here are the 2 bilge pumps with the spouts. And while they aren’t perfect, I believe they are a big improvement of the white metal ones that came with the kit. Now I will attempt to build the plungers and linkage, don’t hold your breath for the next update as this may take me awhile.

Learn something new every day!

How would one control temp and humidity in a storage unit?