Here's a close up of the axle.I bought the solid round section from a local scrap dealer who sells by weight.This had been tapped at either end which made it easy to bolt a retainer washer on the outside of the wheel
I must say I was in serious denial about the screw holes being in the wrong place.My internal narrative went along the lines of "Oh I'll be alright- just take it for a spin if it breaks we can fix it then". But Self Preservation kicked in and told the first narrator to shut up.So off I went the recycling shop and bought 2 more sets of skis
What an amazing pile of hardware! Surely some boffin in the forum must be able to suggest some use of this stuff in a build?
And here are the horrible holes.I have never paid so much attention to such small holes in my life.I'll harvest the useable sections more up towards the front end this time
Select to expand quotetryhard said..
And here are the horrible holes.I have never paid so much attention to such small holes in my life.I'll harvest the useable sections more up towards the front end this time
I'd keep the holes. They'll come in handy for attaching the back support to the seat tubes
H
Here's my neighbor's handiwork.There's a bit of fiddling to do to make it work but I can sit in it without my butt hitting the butt protector
Looking good I guess you are going to put something along the top edge of that aluminium to make it safe and a seat belt too
to hold you in when things get wild You cant be far away now Where do you intend to sail, beach ? car park? or somewhere else?
Select to expand quotetryhard said..
This so nice with its new paint job I might just keep it in my backyard so it doesn't get dirty
you'll have to have a good think about that front linkage as you have ALMOST NO STEERING.
the problem with those types of joints is that they have to bend AND twist . and they usually cant twist enough.
have a look at hiko's polyeurathane joints.
as a cheap alternative 1/2 steel reiforced hydraulic hose does the same job
I don't understand the no steering comment.When I push on the pedal it pushes the wheel over.The linkage has a universal ball joint at either end.Can you explain further?
And yes I intend to put something on the top edge of the aluminium.I thought of plastic hose slit along its length and forced over the edge?Any other ideas?
As to the maiden voyage I have arranged for the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra to play some suitable stirring piece ,probably Wagner, as I hurtle along a popular Dunedin Beach which I have arranged to be cleared of people who might get in the way.My Orthopaedic Surgeon will be present in case of ahem any slight mishap and of course my personal film crew to record this historic event for future generations.Life will never be the same again.It might even spawn a new movement-Skiwism
This is the last post I'll be doing for a week or so.The build is nearly done.I still have to finish the seat.Happy Christmas
Split hose or timber strip will be fine At times you will be wanting to grab that windward axle so something to soften the edge on your arm
will be a good thing to have
What better way to start the new year than finishing off my build.Tomorrow I will buy some dinghy braid.I calculate I will need about 6 meters.Then I can go for a blat.
Here are some close up photos following the last jobs today.This one shows tapered stringer which sits underneath the seat support tube to give it about 25 mm rise above the deck at the back
The mast was too low in the sleeve so I made this small block so the mast could be elevated a tad.This was necessary so the rake adjusting bolt engaged at the bottom of the mast.The plastic bit is from a downpipe.The protects the leading face of the mast where the bolt connects with it.I nailed a staple to the small block so i can easily hook it it if i need to
Here is the finished seat.Now that everything is bolted down and together the set up is quite stable.It will be interesting to see how it performs under load
I replaced the drilled out rivets with ones with a bigger head.This was to cover the messy holes I made
The edge protector is some garden irrigation tube which was easy to cut down the middle.I have glued this in place
And finally I made a fat O ring out of a short section of bicycle inner tube which I rolled.This should stop gunk from going up the main spine tube
Select to expand quotetryhard said..
The mast was too low in the sleeve so I made this small block so the mast could be elevated a tad.This was necessary so the rake adjusting bolt engaged at the bottom of the mast.The plastic bit is from a downpipe.The protects the leading face of the mast where the bolt connects with it.I nailed a staple to the small block so i can easily hook it it if i need to
I don't think the bit of plastic tube down there is going to give any protection for the mast. The bolt will cut through that in minutes. Suggest a bit of stainless steel tube cut similar to that. Good thought though. Also have you strengthened the base of your mast with an insert of hardwood or ally tube?
And here is the finished article.Now my question:the sail is fully battened and even with a lot of pull on the mainsheet there is a baggy bit along the mast.Do I need to recut this sail to reduce or eliminate the curve? I tried taking the battens out which helped a little but what is lacking is the smooth foil from mast to sail.
Thanks Clem.Yes the mast has a inner section of alloy about 8mm thickness which runs up 100mm from the bottom.Will this suffice ?
Select to expand quotetryhard said..
Thanks Clem.Yes the mast has a inner section of alloy about 8mm thickness which runs up 100mm from the bottom.Will this suffice ?
No no no, Not 100mm... Make that 1000mm, Or even 1200.
My mast is alloy.Does your advice still apply? If so does the inner section need to be a tight fit?
As Clem said you need a stiffener 1200mm or so in the bottom of the mast
this can be another tube like a section of mast or timber planed to a taper to fit the mast
Cut a cross in the top 75 mm to eliminate the hard edge and lessen the stress there
If the tube you have is a loose fit it can be put in with silicon sealer or similar to take up
the slop All the load of the sail is taken on the lower part of the mast and not spread out like it is on a windsurfer
I have decided to recycle my boom for the stiffener.Do I cut a cross in the top of this too?
Your fibreglass boom should be fine as is If you were using a really stiff pipe or some such the cross cut idea just
takes away the stiff to flexible hard spot. You will need a stiff boom with your centre sheeting (ask me how I know!)
You could test your boom with those pulley blocks you have fixed up in the centre of whatever boom you intend to use
The loads are quite high on the boom as you can guess from the number of pulleys
When the sail is loaded up and the mast is bent back you may well find the shape of the sail looks a lot better than it does when unloaded just sitting there
That knobbly front tyre is going to chuck some sand in your face! You may want to think of a mudflap or something
Goggles too
My boom is alloy not fibreglass.I bought a thicker wall version which I will use instead of the one shown in the pics
Do I cut a cross in the top 75 mm of the stiffener section?
It will be easier on your mast and wont hurt at all perhaps 50 mm will be enough and if you make the cuts wider at the end then the tube will give a little
and avoid the hard spot say 3mm or so at the end of the tube and a hacksaw width at the end of the cuts Its not an exact science Do what you think will do the job
If your aluminium mast is a windsurfer one it will be thin and wont take kindly to hard spots
I have one of those with a fibreglass insert section at the base and a short piece of timber inside that right at the bottom
where the mast step is It has been good for many outings so far
