Bought a Never splashed Colvic Countess 33 on eBay, Looking for infos

[GregOddity]

Nicely done. Very good points. But here are mine. I have a box of carbon cut outs that I cannot use for anything as they are too small and were the rests of parts I did. Yes, I have worked with Carbon fibre before. I also have quite a powerful Rietschle vacuum pump. Top of the range when I bought it 10 years ago and as expensive as a small car. I have experience with moulds from exotic silicones to lost wax castings. As the fibre is under the stainless it will minimise the impact of UV and temp. The stainless will act as a heat sink for any heat absorbed by the carbon. Slippery is also something that I anticipate as wet stainless is quite slippery on its own, but changing the round shape of the handle to a squarer section is an attempt to minimise both effects, from the carbon and stainless, as it provides a more stable grip, even when wet.
Since I have both the stainless and carbon, anything else I may buy will be more expensive then using what I have. I do need some resin as mine is too old. But for detailing a small amount will do.
A good tip is NOT to use ANY wood on a plastic boat. Wood needs care and loads of sanding and varnishing and rots as well.
Plus was it not fun making your pole?

 

[GregOddity]

Greg - whatever else you may achieve in life, you have redefined the concept of displacement activity.

Designing a carbon fibre grab rail, for a bare hull that has been effectively abandoned in a yard since purchase 10 months ago.

If a more pitch perfect example exists, I have yet to see it.

: - )

OK I'm confused now. Did you not tell me just on your last post that I needed to think about fitting out the boat? And there's me thinking that by designing EVERYTHING we could then just start work. How do YOU do it? I'm sure you can't just .. start and use a screw driver and tape for everything.

 

[GregOddity]

Greg

Have you worked with carbon fibre before? I have, I've built a dinghy and if you look on here you'll see my bowsprit project for my Bavaria.

Have you any idea how much the materials are? Have you priced up twill? Resin? Vac pumps? I could also not think of a more unsuitable material for grab rails on a sailing yacht than super slippery "porn star finish" carbon fibre. If you want something that works and is cheap, why not just use wood? I thought you were going blue water sailing in the tropics...do you know what UV damage does to carbon?

I'd understand using carbon to save grams off the likes of an IMOCA 60 but you've got some heave displacement cruiser you're going to fill with tonnes of batteries. What on earth is the point of a carbon grab handle...which has lots of stainless on it anyway negating any use of carbon fibre?

Carbon is all good fun sexy stuff but at least use it in the right place like a bowsprit. Carbon rails on a Countess 33 is going to be daft. And wouldn't you be better off focussing your efforts on a rig first?

Here's my bowsprit by the way. Works beautifully. And I would never dream of using CF on a grab rail...it will be either too hot, too cold, too slippery, and when it gets damaged becomes a big splintery liability.

This is me teaching Phil how to TIG weld. On the back you can see my vacuum pump.

 

[Keith 66]

Tig welding in a T shirt, you are going to get a nice tan from all the rays........ Argon isnt nice to breathe in either.

 

[GregOddity]

Tig welding in a T shirt, you are going to get a nice tan from all the rays........ Argon isnt nice to breathe in either.

You’re absolutely right it should not be done at all wearing a t-Shirt. There was a fan above removing the gases. That was his first weld, so he welded like that for about 18 seconds on the video I shot. Still you're absolutely right about the t-shirt.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

Nothing wrong with Argon in that environment and exposure, it's an inert gas not toxic. However welding fumes are a different matter and their toxicity depends on the metals.

 

[GregOddity]

Nothing wrong with Argon in that environment and exposure, it's an inert gas not toxic. However welding fumes are a different matter and their toxicity depends on the metals.

It was stainless which is pretty harmless compared to most other metals and we had ventilation and a well aerated area. I also use a ventilated and filtered welding helmet. I’ve always done. But he does have a point. It was my responsibility not to let him weld for any amount of time without the proper safety equipment.

 

[GregOddity]

Next job on the list.
Hatch needs to come off then a good bit of sanding and polishing are going to happen. Start at 200 sandpaper progressively going up then using polishing pads to get it to 6000 grit.
On the frame I’m thinking a good acid bath is calling. Re-anodizing the Aluminium seems the way to go.

 

[Spyro]

Next job on the list.
Hatch needs to come off then a good bit of sanding and polishing are going to happen. Start at 200 sandpaper progressively going up then using polishing pads to get it to 6000 grit.
On the frame I’m thinking a good acid bath is calling. Re-anodizing the Aluminium seems the way to go.

I'll be interested to see how that looks. I have a bit of crazing on mine but always thought it went too deep to polish out

 

[anoccasionalyachtsman]

How thick is the acrylic sheet? I've heard that it is possible to sand it back to get rid of the cracks, but they are quite deep, you want a lot left. If you're taking it apart anyway I see that new 10mm sheet is in the £60 range - no brainer for me.

 

[Graham_Wright]

Greg - pm sent.

 

[GregOddity]

I'll be interested to see how that looks. I have a bit of crazing on mine but always thought it went too deep to polish out

It rather depends on how thick the panel is, for a 12mm panel you can in most cases get away with 11 left polished to 6000 grit (in my case) most just go up to 3000. If done well it will look pretty shiny with no marks to be seen. This one on the pic is old and deep. Panel looks to be 12mm so it would allow for 1mm off if the crazing goes deeper than it’s a case of a new panel of course. Where most botch it up is by going too hard on the first sanding. you want 200 grit. I got a bit much going on professionally at the moment so I don’t know when I can touch it. It will be in the next few weeks, I’ll post the pics.

 

[GregOddity]

Greg - pm sent.

:encouragement: :encouragement: :encouragement:

 

[GregOddity]

How thick is the acrylic sheet? I've heard that it is possible to sand it back to get rid of the cracks, but they are quite deep, you want a lot left. If you're taking it apart anyway I see that new 10mm sheet is in the £60 range - no brainer for me.

This one appears to be 12mm thick which allows for 1mm to be sanded off to expose unaffected material. They come up really good if you have the time and don't want to spend the money. Trick is NEVER to stay in one place or go too fast and accumulate temp.

 

[PaulRainbow]

I might be wrong, but i doubt that's 12mm thick, more likely to be 10mm.

That crazing will not polish out !

 

[GregOddity]

I might be wrong, but i doubt that's 12mm thick, more likely to be 10mm.

That crazing will not polish out !

When I measured it, I did it just out of curiosity then properly measure. I did come up with 13 mm so considering the outside angle I then rounded to 12mm but it may very well be 10mm, will only know after I measure it properly.

Paul I've personally polished MUCH worse than that crazing. it just depends how deep it goes. this one seems to be going close to 1mm deep, so if I remove 1.25mm from the surface, I will be at a layer not affected by the crazing.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

Given the importance and relatively small cost of a replacement panel it really is a no brainer to replace it. Cost out your time.

 

[GregOddity]

Given the importance and relatively small cost of a replacement panel it really is a no brainer to replace it. Cost out your time.

Haaa, BIG mistake Senor.. you are forgetting the Wife, she wants to do "things" on the boat. Great job for her.

 

[Spyro]

When I measured it, I did it just out of curiosity then properly measure. I did come up with 13 mm so considering the outside angle I then rounded to 12mm but it may very well be 10mm, will only know after I measure it properly.

Paul I've personally polished MUCH worse than that crazing. it just depends how deep it goes. this one seems to be going close to 1mm deep, so if I remove 1.25mm from the surface, I will be at a layer not affected by the crazing.

Starting with 200 grit is going to take ages and a lot of paper to get 1.25mm off.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

Haaa, BIG mistake Senor.. you are forgetting the Wife, she wants to do "things" on the boat. Great job for her.

I don't know your wife obviously but if she sticks at that and removes 1.25" progressively and polishes it, she's a good un.:encouragement: I certainly wouldn't be doing it even if I was brasic. Do an hours work for someone and buy new.