Non-Sailing Projects

 I'm kind of out of boat projects, so I've been welding up stuff. With the exception of some of the rebar, everything is recycled from scrap.

 

 One of my first efforts. Simple.

A representation of my F-24, sailing the lawn. The sail trim is sharp but it doesn't float well. Too many leaks.

Glasswing Butterfly mobile. The lilly pads (helium cylinder ends) under it will get bright metal flowers soon. Repurposed anchor chain, of course.
 

The planter was welded from old bedframes.

The head is an old worn-out weld chipping hammer head.

Steady rest, also mostly bed frame steel. Very stiff.

Rolling kayak rack. This makes loading it onto the car much easier, and rolling it away easier and neater. Bed frame, straps from old PFDs, and casters from Amazon.

If you have a portable metal band saw you NEED to make a stand/base for it. I use it 20 times as much now. Many examples on-line, and you can buy them for newer saws. I had to make this one, because the saw is older. Even a little table makes cutting parts and backing plates so easy and far more accurate.

The saw just lifts out of the base. A few screws take the table off, leaving the stock rest in place for hand-held use. But I've never taken it off the stand.

 For cutting long material, I have several adjustable stands, similar to those used to support long work on a able saw.  One was made from bed frames. The other is a photo light stand for which I fabricated multiple heads, either for support or for work lights.

 

I had this piece of glass, so I made this end table for our front porch. Bed frame.

 

More stuff that I have given away. More to come. Once you get the hang of it, welding open many fun possibilities. I have quite a few bits of tooling for my lathes (wood and metal) that involved both machining and welding--machining is subtractive and welding is additive--combining them results in great flexibility in fabrication.  

 

 

 

Tramp Lacing Knobs

 After 30 years the original knobs are breaking down. A few days ago a line tried to jump off. Time for replacement. The tramps are good and the line OK (replace in a 1-2 years?), but the knobs are toast.

 

 

The knob in the foreground is missing chunks. Behind is a portion of the 46 replacements I turned. 

 

I could have bought them, but I had something a little different in mind. The replacements are twice as strong and should outlast the boat. The screw is recessed.  There is non-skid on the top.

 

So I turned them from 1/2-inch HDPE on my metal lathe. The first few took an hour, figuring out the measurements, materials, and machining a mandrel. But after that I was down to about 3 minutes each. Not a bad way to spend a few hours.

 

 

 

 

Blanks were cut from 1/2-inch HDPE sheet using a hole saw with a 3/16-inch center bit fitted (1/4-inch is standard). They were then turned on a mandrel, and the hole countersunk on the drill press. Assembly line.

 

 Installing them was another matter. Most of the screws were seized and grabbing round heads with Vice Grips is a pain. But the end result was pretty.