Germania Nova 1911 by KeithAug - FINISHED - Scale 1:36 - replica of schooner Germania 1908

[KeithAug]

2 hours ago, Keith Black said:

Acetone should remove the wire's plastic coating. 

Interesting. I’ll check.

[Keith Black]

 Keith, Acetone evaporates so quickly you'll need to place enough Acetone in a lidded jar to cover the wire you're trying to treat. I doubt I needed to mention this to you but there maybe someone looking in who just tries rubbing Acetone on the wire not giving it ample time to work its magic. 

[KeithAug]

I did a bit more work over the last couple of days.

 

I finished off a number of medium sized single, double and triple blocks. The 3 sizes I have rationalised on are 5mm, 6mm and 7mm high.

 

Depending on the use / location of the blocks they have various attachment fittings.

I also needed to make more of the strop brackets for the main and foremast gaff bridles (5 in total). This time however I was a bit more economical making 3 parts from each fabricated ring.

I then moved on from the main boom to work on the main and fore gaffs.

 

Two single blocks were attached to the main gaff saddle. These will take the main boom topping lifts (one on each side of the mainsail).

Then a double block was attached to the gaff to take the gaff hoist halyard.

 

I then attached the 3 bridles to the main gaff. (I did this before yesterdays debate on simulating the leather protecting sheath). Depending on the outcome of experiments I may have to revisit this.

Two blocks are attached to the end of the gaff to take the sheets for the topsail.

I also attached the twin bridles to the fore mast gaff.

I then attached the blocks for the for topsail sheets as per the main gaff.

 

 

 

 

[TBlack]

Nice looking blocks!

[shipmodel]

Just beautiful brass work, Keith.  I am always envious of your work.

 

Can you set up a link directly to this build log in your signature, the way you did for Altair?  My system is a bit clunky and I have to go to your profile before I can access this log.

 

Love following along, as always.

 

Dan

[KeithAug]

2 hours ago, shipmodel said:

Can you set up a link directly to this build log in your signature,

Dan - thank you for the comments - I think I have sorted out the link but let me know if it doesn't work.

 

 

[Keith Black]

It works, Keith.

[Wintergreen]

Hi Keith!

Just catching upafter some absence on my part.

Excellent progress and you truly deserve every superlative comment. 

Alas, what the others have said!

Keep it up 🙂

[KeithAug]

On 8/5/2022 at 8:49 PM, Keith Black said:

Acetone should remove the wire's plastic coating. 

Hi Keith, I am using Beadalon wire and the spec says the wire is nylon coated.
 

I cut 3 different diameters of beading wire and placed them in sealed container of 99.8% acetone and left overnight. In the morning the nylon was pristine, showing no degradation. I then looked up the compatibility of nylon with acetone and found the compatibility to be “excellent” ( I.e acetone does not dissolve nylon ). Acetone does however dissolve a range of plastics.

 

As an aside the acetone I have was bought in a plastic bottle - so clearly some plastics are acetone resistant. 
 

When you commented “It works” I am guessing you did a bit of experimenting?

 

Dan, Tom, Keith, Hakan, thank you for your continuing interest and comments.

Edited August 8, 2022 by KeithAug

[Keith Black]

 Keith, sorry it didn't remove the nylon coating. The Acetone I use comes in a metal container. I know it dissolves plastic because years ago when first started doing fiberglass work and using Acetone for the first time I made the mistake of pouring Acetone in a plastic container and had the bottom immediately eaten away. Since then I've been careful when using plastic around Acetone as I've had other incidents of plastic being melted. 

 

 My experience with chemicals has been OJT, using a chemical to preform a certain function but one not necessarily mentioned on the manufactures label. One time I accidentally mixed chlorine crystals and antifreeze resulting in instant flames. I say this as it's vitally important to read and follow the manufactures warnings and use at all times. 

 

 Edit:

 

 I Googled what would melt/remove nylon and there are chemicals that will work but they are dangerous to work with.

 

 Keith, is removing the nylon coating windmill tilting? 

Edited August 9, 2022 by Keith Black

[KeithAug]

36 minutes ago, Keith Black said:

Acetone in a plastic container and had the bottom immediately eaten away

Keith, yes it all depends on the type of plastic. Have you ever ever tried mixing hydrazine with peroxide - it makes wonderful rocket fuel and has even been known to dissolve pilots😬

[KeithAug]

44 minutes ago, Keith Black said:

I Googled what would melt/remove nylon and there are chemicals that will work but they are dangerous to work with.

Keith, yep I did that but thought I’d prefer a low risk hobby.

[wefalck]

As there are hundreds or even thousands of plastics around I tend to check their persistance against solvents, alkaline or acid solutions in Wikipedia. There is usually a section or table on this in the Wikipedia on the plastic in question. If not Google helps to find other resources.

 

Acetone dissolves e.g. polystyrene and acetate/celluloid, which is why it is often a constituent in the respective cements. It is usually sold in either metal containers (for mechanical resistance) or in HDPE (high-density polyethylene) bottles. (HD)PE is chemically rather resistant, which is why most chemicals and many foodstuff are sold in it.

 

I am afraid, Nylon is pretty resistant chemically. I think the only solution is to burn it off. 

 

And one piece of advice (from a sort of chemist): never mix two chemicals, neither liquids nor solids, unless you really know, what you are doing. There are stories of housewives nearly killing themselves with chlorine gas, because they mixed two toilet cleaning products ... it seems that this subgroup of the population is particularly nonchalant in using chemicals (gues how I know ...).

[KeithAug]

2 hours ago, wefalck said:

And one piece of advice (from a sort of chemist): never mix two chemicals, neither liquids nor solids, unless you really know, what you are doing.

Yes I agree. I was once in charge of a team looking into options for treating waste solvent from a nuclear reprocessing facility. The waste solvent (tributylphosphate in odourless kerosene) was stored on site and we needed some way of treating it. One of the chemists came up with the idea of reacting the solvent with hydrogen peroxide and for a while this became the front runner of the options. It never inspired me as a great option as it seemed too much like rocket fuel to me. Anyway it was eventually dropped as an idea.

[wefalck]

Sellafield or Dounray? When? In the late 1980s/early 1990s I worked on the UK RWM (NIREX) programme for BGS.

[KeithAug]

1 hour ago, wefalck said:

Sellafield or Dounray?

Eberhard

I left Rolls Royce in 1978 and joined BNFL based at Risley but working mostly on Sellafield projects. Initially I worked on Magnox reprocessing projects before moving on to take over the flowsheet design for the Thorp plutonium purification plant. I then moved on to waste treatment and was responsible for the design of the low active effluent treatment plant. After that it was solvent treatment as mentioned previously. Then Three Mile Island and Chernobyl happened and everything changed. I left BNFL in 1988 and moved to brewing where I damaged a lot more peoples lives than I ever did with nuclear energy.

Edited August 9, 2022 by KeithAug

[wefalck]

I gather then you were a couple of steps up in the flow-sheet from me. With the British Geological Survey (1987-1992) I worked on contract research for BNFL, NIREX and the EU on the various shallow and deep disposal programmes. Even though I had signed the 'official secrets act', as an 'alien' they would not let me onto the Sellafield site, where we had a research project going on. As I was mainly there to 'computer model' radionuclide migration in the environment, fieldwork was only a minor part and 'entertainment' for me. We had some good trips around the country side on tax payers expenses (but don't tell anyone ...).

[mbp521]

6 hours ago, wefalck said:

And one piece of advice (from a sort of chemist): never mix two chemicals, neither liquids nor solids, unless you really know, what you are doing. There are stories of housewives nearly killing themselves with chlorine gas, because they mixed two toilet cleaning products ... it seems that this subgroup of the population is particularly nonchalant in using chemicals (gues how I know ...).

This is most likely the reason for them pulling kids chemistry sets off the shelves, too many young ones blowing up their parents garages. I for one know that I killed off more than a few brain cells back in the day experimenting with the different chemicals provided in my set.

 

-Brian

[KeithAug]

1 hour ago, wefalck said:

I gather then you were a couple of steps up in the flow-sheet from me.

You could argue that I was facilitating your employment😀. 

[KeithAug]

39 minutes ago, mbp521 said:

pulling kids chemistry sets off the shelves

Yes Brian, our generation seemed to have lots of risky toy opportunities. My chemistry set even had a bunsen burner which I used for a bit of glass blowing. The kids today don't know what they are missing.

 

On the theme of safety I hear they have pulled Humbrol enamel paints because of safety concerns. My understanding they are reformulating them prior to relaunch. In my experience "reformulating" is a euphemism for making stuff worse at doing its job. All of us who have used Humbrol paints since childhood should be considering legal action.

Edited August 9, 2022 by KeithAug

[wefalck]

My father was a chemist and I had subsequently more complex chemistry sets ... at that time it was also quite easy to get chemicals, there was a 'technical' drug-store right next to the main department store in my university town.

 

The more dangerous thing were those experiments we did 'off the record', such as trying to make gun-cotton  🥴 ... my father had a text-book on explosives making and testing ... I also made black-powder, but it was not very good. Today I would become arested as a budding terrorist, if I would try to buy the ingredients.

[Roger Pellett]

It might have been dangerous but it was also creative!  

 

Roger

 

 

[mtaylor]

7 hours ago, mbp521 said:

This is most likely the reason for them pulling kids chemistry sets off the shelves, too many young ones blowing up their parents garages. I for one know that I killed off more than a few brain cells back in the day experimenting with the different chemicals provided in my set.

 

-Brian

Ah yes... fun times.  I had to sit in the driveway and not in the house or garage.  Wefalck's comment about explosives applied to me also.   Sadly, today we'd all be in jail for doing it.

[Keith Black]

 As kids we blew up more nonsense with black powder, empty Old Spice deodorant stick tubes, and a car battery. When I did my stint at Camp Lejeune AIT I loved the explosive training class and playing with C-4. One man's terrorist is another man's Marine. 

[FlyingFish]

11 hours ago, KeithAug said:

moved to brewing

I just knew you were a good chap.

[Dr PR]

I had to pipe in on this one. Back in the '50s and '60s I bought all sorts of chemicals in our local drug store and acids (sulfuric and hydrochloric) were available at auto parts stores. I did blow up a few things and burned a few. One day the druggist asked what I was going to do with some of the stuff I was buying. He said my father had told him he wouldn't be surprised to come home someday and find a hole in the side of the house.

 

But our (the kid across the street and me) biggest boondoggle was experiments with rocket fuels for a science fair project. We made a rocket from a 2 inch (5 cm) diameter 18 inch (47 cm) long piece of steel automobile exhaust pipe. It had a machined steel nozzle in the back and a wooden nose plug. The rocket was suspended beneath a long piece of fence wire pulled tight between two trees some distance apart, with a heavy blanket at the far end to stop the rocket. Our experiment was to measure the time of "flight" between the two trees with a stopwatch and rate different rocket fuels accordingly.

 

The fuels we made really weren't very impressive. We tried filling the rocket with home made gunpowder and it just fizzled and sputtered. So we went down to the local sporting goods store to buy some real gunpowder. The fellow said he wasn't allowed to sell gunpowder to minors. But he did sell us cans of shotgun and pistol powder (nitrocellulose soaked with nitroglycerine) - basically plastic explosive in pellet form.

 

We decided to try a quarter load of pistol powder in the "rocket". The other kid's dad lit our home made fuse and ran behind the house. I was watching from a distance. I saw the flash first and then the BANG hit me. Later a kid who lived all the way across town told me he heard the explosion. The rocket nozzle cut an inch deep (2.5 cm) plug out of one tree. We found shrapnel bits all over the neighborhood. We couldn't find the nose piece until we walked the probable trajectory across the street and through a field. It had hit and split a fence post about a city block away. Good thing the post stopped it because it was aimed at a window in a restaurant across the street! Fortunately none of the shrapnel did any damage to nearby houses and no one was hurt.

 

So our science fair project was over when the rocket blew up. But it caused me to have sympathy for the guys at Cape Canaveral who routinely blew up really big rockets back in those days.

 

Kids now days lead dull lives. Only virtual explosions on cell phones.

[KeithAug]

It is a bit difficult to understand how we all survived.

[Bob Cleek]

2 hours ago, KeithAug said:

It is a bit difficult to understand how we all survived.

If our mother didn't think it could "put your eye out," it just wasn't fun.  

[wefalck]

The worst of all was our chemistry teacher at school. He was a poor experimentator and things never worked out as they should have. One day, he wanted to demonstrate the exothermic reaction of 'thermite' (an iron oxide and aluminium metal powder mixture) and did this on the tarmac school-yard - he ended up being summond to the director of the school for burning a big hole into the yard ...

[druxey]

My, but I lived a sheltered childhood. My chemistry experiments were merely growing crystals in super-saturated solutions. OK, there was that time we kids made potassium iodide, saturated small pieces of paper with it and let them dry on the dormitory floor (this was at a boarding school). Late that night when the dorm monitor, a senior student, cam to bed, he always took off his shoes so as not to wake us. He trod on the pieces of paper and, potassium iodide being unstable, created a series of tiny explosions and an involuntary dance.