Cisco,
Speaking of Ali', there was a product I saw years ago. Some Joker was selling what looked like 60/40 Soldering sticks at a market but were made for Gas Welding Ali'. It looked like a neat product and was demonstrated by welding anything from Aluminum Cans to broken castings.
Have you seem or tried said product??
Ron
Got some of those Ali sticks from a show.... Work brilliantly.
The actual rod is almost pure zinc.
I have used them on many a job but the trick is to wire brush the weld area with a stainless steel brush first a standard wire brush doesn't work as well.
Sounds good Gizmo. Are they "Eutectic" brand? They were making a bunch of low temp welding/brazeing/soldering sticks a while back.
Usually quite expensive to buy but many industrial shops will split packs and sell by weight.
Comes back to the old problem Ron. Are you going to be using them enough to justify the gas bottle hire.
You are on the money there cisco!!!!!!
The BOC bill, in front of me is for a "G size" Oxygen cylinder exchange, at $170.16
and a "G size" Argo shield Light, exchange for the MIG is $225.10.
On top of this is the annual bottle rental charge of $172.32 per cylinder. ($14.36 per month, per cylinder plus GST)
The buggers are not shy in ripping us off!!!
ouch!!!!
Well! There you go then. It was just a thought. Like Chook said "The Shiites now how to rip you off!" Just like Politicians "Now this won't affect you at all" Yeah Right! Not until the Those getting taxed start passing it along, so if an item is base taxed and each handler adds a percentage to the item Then the end purchaser get STUNG! big time. Everyone thinks just because you have a job you can afford to pay more. I have seen first hand how it all works from the workshop floor to the ATO. Bugger them then, I'm glad I am out of it.
Ron
Recycling is the way to go, I quite often head over to the Recycling Station on a shopping trip.
Lumiweld is what the stuff is branded as over here. I did a perfect bit of welding/soldering on the engineering show stand..... got the stuff home and never managed a decent joint with it, though I think my MAPP gas blowlamp is way too hot for it.
Slow progress still, but great just to be able to wheel it around and sit in it. Next up, brake, seatbelt mounts, steering, and the "other hand steering thingy whatsit" for launching.
Cheers Col
Slow?colk, slow is good "More haste less speed" "Do it once and do it properly"
Looking good though. The lads out of the west here are knocking these things up a dime a dozen but they have a lot of time on their hands "Old Farts" you know[}:)]
. They have a lot of $$$$ to chuck about us folks what have to battle for time and money have to build and maintain
.
Ron
Bit further... and running out of things to do to avoid the mast and sail! Haven't a clue what the rubber is - exhaust mounting maybe.
Not finished yet. Sort of designing as I go along - mostly to save working out all the angles in the different planes for the extra bit of hand steering.
Handbrake just visible. Locked off but there in case I ever get near something I can brake on. Seat belt mountings and belt added which I will be using as the runway is as rough as..........
Mast is a roach pole/feather flag pole. Fitted for effect! (I also stuck on the 9m sail at this point and discovered that feather flag poles are cheap because they have no stiffness, I need to think a bit more about the mast length BEFORE buying the ally, and 9m looks stupid).
Cheers Col
Col,
That is looking quite nice. You are doing a nice job. Are you going to name her??
Ron
Well this is where my slow progress has got me.
Few details to sort here and there, but largely missing a sail and that's it. Mast top has a nice little swivelling top from a bit of nylon bar and a couple of cheap bearings of EBay (total cost £1.78 as opposed to Blowkarts £49). Rigging needs shorter loops on the boom. And hand steering needs finishing. Next step is sort the sail(s) and drag one of my friends round for a quick check (K950) then try and get it all to Elvington next month. If all goes well there its off for plastic coating after any minor adjustments.
Cheers Col
P.S No name yet Ron, just seems to be eluding me, which is a first!
Nice job Col,
Looking at that Set of Wheels I think you need to talk to Paul about Sail Cut/shape before making a cut decision as I think she is worth that little extra effort to gain the maximum out of her.
A name may come out of your first scare, B-I-T-C-H ? Slew Foot Sue? you never know what habits she has until she lifts her skirts and runs and then a name may come.
Ron
Looking a lot sweeter than what you started with colk.
Your sheeting system looks good but may need some reconfiguring and you don't appear to have a downhaul on the front of the boom yet.
Have a dredge through the forum to see what others have done.
Apart from this site, this is where I'm blagging other ideas from.
No boom down haul on that, so I left it out. My collection of blocks was bought as and when bargains appeared and has ended up at 6:1 (as the Pacific Magic) not the 7:1 on Mikes Class 5 (K911) and only cost £50 inc the sheet! Hope I've got it right.
Definitely sweeter...all the algae has gone off the bottom
Cheers Col
Good job Colk The sheeting system looks fine
Cisco is in a mini yacht mindset I think
You have a class5 type setup there
Just slide the blocks on the boom forward or back until you get the balance
right It looks quick ! 
Hiko. I've got it set so I can swap the blocks further forward on the 'floor' and spin the boom round to get the internal bracing forward as well. Thanks for the help with the mast which was a pain to hand fit all the joints till I discovered 'zirconium' disks for the angle grinder...for the last bit! Next up is mangle the sewing machine for the sails. Hopefully next photos will be with sail or better still, under sail.
Cheers Col
top effort there , its looking great. those blocks would cost 50pnds each here.
you are going to sooooooo...... enjoy your reward
Col,
You mentioned names earlier on, just looking at that sail number you could remove the 11 and Have K9 on yours. Name your Beasty D4 or D4 Dawg. That will Pique Curiosity.. Surely the Numbers would be obvious to people??[}:)]
Ron
Can't be sure Ron as I've not got my licence yet but I think I get a number when I get my log book signed off - not worked it out yet. But I think I might get told off if I nick someone elses number!
Just in case someone else is thinking of doing it here's my mast crane in bits.
White cap is for windsurfing type sails, black crane is obvious. Bit of nylon bar, offcut of exhaust, 2 bearings bought for another project (99 pence for 2) and a bit of time. Easy to swap tops in seconds and less than £2 for it. So less than a cup of coffee in York.
Cheers Col
Now that is what I like about this site. Most builders/Recyclers are innovators. If it doesn't exist, I'll make one. If it can be adapted, I will do so. One doesn't have to hold a Bachelors degree in Engineering nor any other related topic. Just a good imagination a little knowledge and a will to achieve a final outcome.
Great stuff Col, though I would suggest you be a little careful or you will finish up among the ranks of landyacht, Chook, TP1 etc. Now we can't have that can we? Especially not a Bl##dy POM[}:)].
Ron
Now I have to change the crane on the 'Mojave 5' in order to even be in the same league as that... Oh well, no sailing anyway......
Mast crane about to hit the MK2 phase with a beefed up top plate as its bent slightly under a full sheet in. Cost probably up another 5p! So still short of Blokarts £49. Another 24 attempts before I've made a loss.
Sail has been a f'ing and blinding nightmare to stitch, and finally sussed it on the last few runs - the dining room table is not big enough. But if it lasts a year till I can sort another one out again it'll have been very worth it.
Still outhaul to sort, battens to get to correct length, and a load of little jobs that I spot when I think I've finished. Then there's the trailer to finish off so I can shift it off the drive.... except the tow car is in need of a re-wire, MOT (road worthy-ness test) and a few other bits and bobs. Keeps me off the streets though.
Cheers Col
Heres my 5 cents worth Colk
Your boom is too low and you havent yet sheeted the sail in hard judging by the luff of the sail
Have a look at K911 in the post above you can just see the rear of every batten cup
on the lower 5 battens and the boom is bowed down as it is sheeted in hard
Your boom needs to be about where the bottom batten is Whether you extend the mast or shorten the sail is your choice
Class 5 rules from memory [if you care about them ]say no part of the boom
should be below eye level.
You are 100% correct. I bought the tubing for the top section and cut it to suit a different sail Assessed the work involved and decided this one was an easier one to resurrect. Put it all together and thought 'damn my heads in the way, followed by my feet'. I've already ordered a bit of ally tube to lift things up. You can just see a bit of tape showing out the bottom of the mast pocket and that's the lowest it can be for Class 5. And you can guess I went for the mast length option, I am not touching a sewing machine ever again if I can help it. The air has been blue here on and off for a week. Going to be saving my pennies up and paying a sail loft to sort the next one
Cheers Col
My Father used to say to me on occasions "fools shouldnt see half done things"
How right he was!
still looking great though. I reckon you must be soo pleased with the result.
welcome to your new addiction. I still reckon its one of the cheapest addictions you can build
