Re: LNCC63's workshop

Have I told you guys what I've been up to lately? This is what is presently occupying my weekends:

It is a 17-foot trimaran ... a zoom zoom sailboat. Anyone interested can see more here: http://www.pinoyboats.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1466 . Thirteen sheets of plywood, maybe 8 brd-ft of wood, 6 gallons of epoxy and less than 10 kg of fiberglass. The mast is going to be really interesting at 7.9 m made from plywood, epoxy, fiberglass and carbon fiber.

Re: LNCC63's workshop

Hi LNCC,

A friend of mine used to make wooden and fiberglass powerboats and he always had a hard time sourcing proper 1 inch marine plywood.

Once, since labour was cheap here, he got a contract to build (for a U.K. boat co.) a powerboat with the materials coming from
the U.K, specs and all. I saw the 1 inch marine plywood boards, and the 'sandwich' contained 8+ layers and really 1 inch !! He told me that the closest you could get real/proper marine plywood locally is from some company in Mindanao and even theirs was not that good, I guess the 'sandwich' (layers) was less.

Do you have the same problems now ??

Re: your mast, w/carbon fibre, are you making this or does it come ready made?

Cheers, 🙂

Re: LNCC63's workshop

Finally found hooks I could stomach buying:

Six of for P66 in the those American Home stops. I also buy disposable scissors there which are great for cutting fiberglass and not really caring if you get epoxy on them.

I think I need to get myself one of these face protection mask. I'm doing a lot of grinding with only eyeglasses as shield. 🙁 I have goggles but these are awkward to wear with reading glasses.

Do you guys know where I can get one that won't break the bank.

Thanks

Re: LNCC63's workshop

@Jay

Yeah you should wear a face shield if you are doing a lot of welding and grinding. To be honest though I don't use mine unless I'll be welding all day. You are right though that a face shield is the only way to go if you wear glasses like me.

Mine was not expensive, IIRC, it was P300 or so, definitely less than P500. The advantage of the cheap ones is that the replacement shield is not expensive. Take not though that these will probably not protect you against a flying bolt.

@tscotom

I think those design were old school or VERY big boats. Nowadays we use the plywood as core material of a composite structure with fiberglass as the outer layers which take all the loads. Plywood though has recently improved tremendously. We now have 5 mm plywood with 5 layers, no voids,waterproof and boil proof - in other words real boat building plywood. It is rather harder to get because of its limited distribution, and it is about 30% more costly but all of these are hands down all worth it.

I will be making the mast myself. We are however still working with the designer based on what materials are available locally since our aim is for other local builders not to have to import. Masts are presently a big problem for us. There are no facilities here to manufacture aluminum sections longer than 21 feet, and importing is just too expensive.

Got myself a present:

I've always wanted one of these 🙂

Re: LNCC63's workshop

that sure looks nice! i am also saving up for a cordless circular saw.

how is the weight on that? if compared to a corded one?

Re: LNCC63's workshop

Oh it is a lot lighter Bee. I do have a 7" corded saw but its 110v so I usually use my 10" which is heavier. Heavy is sometimes good though because the weight helps to steady things. I think though with this saw I'll be able to use my Jap saws less and prolong their life.

Re: LNCC63's workshop

Finally remembered to take a picture of my thicknesser:

These are its parts donors in waiting :):

New additions:

A vacuum pump and a clamp meter. Don't really know what I'll use the clamp meter for but it was too good a deal to pass on.

By the way, the portable circular saw works great ... at least for the 1x2x3 pieces I needed quick and dirty.

Re: LNCC63's workshop

Looks like it went to a lot of battles already and came back still kicking. With the kind of stuff you build then kudos for that Ryobi thicknesser.

Re: LNCC63's workshop

"Abused" is more appropriate actually.

I was planing a 250 mm wide piece just before I took the picture to a particular thickness. Checking both edges, the caliber showed a 0.1 mm difference. Yeah it needs calibration but that really the least of its worries. Honestly, I could probably live with a difference of 0.25 mm.

Re: LNCC63's workshop

LNCC,

re: your clampmeter, you can probably use that if you fix an aircon unit or something like that.

Or, if you become a demo presenter of those electricity saving gadgets on some homeshopping network, that yellow and red beauty will do just fine 🙂

Cheers !

Re: LNCC63's workshop

Or, if you become a demo presenter of those electricity saving gadgets on some homeshopping network, that yellow and red beauty will do just fine 🙂

Hahaha! that would be the day. The only reason I bought the meter was the guy really wanted to dispose of it. I've probably used a clamp meter only once or twice outside of school. The probes though fit my other Flukes nicely :).

The problem with the vacuum pump is that is Made in the U.S. so I had to go looking for my set of standard (imperial) allen keys. Good thing my son is always using my set of wrenches so he was able to tell me where the allen keys where. I only keep the metric set handy and I seldom use closed or open wrenches.

In the process of hunting for the allen keys, I foud several tools I did not know I had having completely forgot about them. Among the "long lost" were set of Irwin adjustable auger bits ... yes there was a time I did not own an electric drill ...only a bit brace. I also found two die handles, I nearly bought a third just a few months ago. Rediscovered the set of SDS bits, and remembered that I lent a buddy one of my bench grinders. So now I feel as if I'd just come home with a new load of tools that need a proejct to be used on. I'm sure some of you know the feeling well.

Re: LNCC63's workshop

My new Record vise mounted. Really happy with it. Thanks guys for posting it and for Bee for swapping me for it.

Here is my other woodworking vise that I still have not mounted and will wait till I get around to making a new workbench.

My vacuum clamping setup still under development:

If anyone is interested, there are more details on the PHBYC forum

Re: LNCC63's workshop

I have one of the Irwin too and am thinking of fabricating several interchangeable jaws material configuration for it.

1. Aluminum
2. Hardwood
3. Rubber
4. Brass if I find some
5. ?

Re: LNCC63's workshop

congrats Loius on the Record, very nice and very durable... nice woodworking vise as well... make your wb when you find a gap in your schedules...

Re: LNCC63's workshop

@Jay

Yeah you should wear a face shield if you are doing a lot of welding and grinding. To be honest though I don't use mine unless I'll be welding all day. You are right though that a face shield is the only way to go if you wear glasses like me.

Mine was not expensive, IIRC, it was P300 or so, definitely less than P500. The advantage of the cheap ones is that the replacement shield is not expensive. Take not though that these will probably not protect you against a flying bolt.

You got me thinking about the flying bolt part plus the fact that the other day a brand new wire brush made by Eagle went flying out of its riveted holder ( as soon as it touched metal ) while installed in an air tool. Luckily nobody got hurt.

The remaining unused wire brushes are now long gone in the garbage can.

I'm now looking for a face shield similar to this one. It's a bit bulky so buying it abroad and finding someone to hand carry it might not be a viable option for me now.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001VXXUWK/ref=ord_cart_shr?ie=UTF8&m=A26UI25H05IHIA