Recent content by forestcreature

One option is to use 4x AA to D cell converters with some decent nimh rechargeables, like Phillips eneloops. The converters are shells that house the AA batteries connected in parallel. I did the same with arrays of AAAs to make up standby C cells, which we use enough AAAs that it's great to...

Thanks, the Jotun name has come up several times from what I've seen. I'm glad I went for a tiny boat! :D

Yes that makes sense. I guess these toys stand in for the bits of ourselves that we've had to trade away through vocation or duty &c. so it seems right to care for them.

But did it stay on? As you can probably guess, I find the idea of a handpainted boat subversively attractive.

This makes me wince. What is the attraction of pristinely smooth white boats if it involves so much work, and generates so much waste? Is it that onerous to jetwash or brush them down from time to time? I've never sailed this boat that I'm writing about, so all of my experience is on typically...

How thick is whatever you're trying to solder? If the tip of your iron isn't shiny silver all over then try and give it a good clean. It is said that you shouldn't use anything abrasive on the tip, but I've brought them back from the brink before with 1000 grit sandpaper or the back edge of a...

The largest repair had been exposed for more than 2 years! I only get to work on the boat erratically, repairing and filling sections at a time. I didn't think an epoxy finish would fit into that workflow without going through dozens of brushes and rollers.

Thanks. Also sorry about the swears.

[... time passes ...] I bought some sandtex to protect my epoxy repairs as I was making them. It seems a competent paint, but I noticed that it contains nasty sounding shit that shouldn't be in the marine environment. Here is one of the biocides: Substance Information - ECHA Does anybody know...

Have soldered hundreds (?thousands) of connections with a couple of soldering stations and with an anon 25W bog standard mains stick iron. The latter is the only one still working, and has soldered SMD components right up to lead window cames. It is also the most compact. I have found that the...

Thank you! I'm glad I asked :)

My GRP boat has large coach roof cutouts with thick acrylic bolted over from the outside for windows. I would like to fill the cutouts and install smaller portholes. My plan is to install peel ply between the acrylic window and the outside of the coach roof, and fiberglass against that from the...

+1 --- I thought that getting professional work done would mean some kind of tent and dust extraction around my boat. I was dismayed that every particle of grinding and sanding dust went into the environment. Perhaps many people naive to boating will also think that boat-building dust would be...

Off topic a bit but did you buy that motor a week or two ago from a guy in Surrey?

:)