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Date:Thu, 18 Nov 2021 23:50:02 GMT
Old Stuff
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Sam and I worked 1/2 the day on the teak grates that are on the floor of
the cockpit. We have one more to do so we should be finished tomorrow.
We are pulling out all the old bronze screws that were poking through
because the teak has worn so thin. We are drilling the holes out epoxying
and pinning with dowels. Perhaps this will get us a few more years service
on the old parts. We will sand them down and oil them after we are
finished. Then we can start on other things like deck boxes.
I had someone come and look at the engine yesterday so that we could fix a
water leak in the raw water pump, and check a rattle I was hearing in Cyl 3
or 4. It turned out to be 3 and it was not valves as I feared but is a
noisey injector. We are going to replace/rebuild the raw water pump and
and put in a new injector.
I also received the Simmonds Precision levelometer that I ordered from
ebay. I took it apart. It's so beautiful with it's brass bellows and
meter setup. The plunger is not the same but it will work in a pinch. I
love old simple equipment. It's elegant in it's design and I don't know
why we don't continue using things like this. Things that are built to
last and built to be re-built are simply amazing to me.
Often times when I fix things I'm a bit unorthodox but typically I
rebuild/fix them stronger and better than original. I'm much more
concerned with functionality than I am with beauty. I find the beauty in
the function more than the form. Should I have used cross grain bungs out
of teak? perhaps. Should I have used groved trunnels to contain the glue
better? perhaps... but the solid dowels hold tighter slip less and the
thinner layer of glue holds better. If they expand at a different rate, as
long as they don't split the wood they just get stronger. Do they look
pure and polished and professional? No, not really and they're not all
lined up either. Why not lined up? becuase if you line up every screw on
the same grain line the wood will split. So they are dancing randomly
around the pieces of wood to not hit the same grain. If they do
eventionally get wet and deteriorate then they are easy to drill out and
replace. And if they last another 10 years I've done well with $4 worth of
dowels and 12 hours work.