The master becomes the student
Since I was a lad my Dad has been repairing and rebuilding wooden boats. Hence whenever I have any questions on wood (or rope), I give him a ring for his advice.
In the last few years he’s moved from racing boats to cruising the clyde and islands around the west of Scotland and hence his boat is a little larger than before. Following a trip around Bute one of the plates that held the mast stays had broken and bent the bolts.
Given that the parts for classic boats can’t just be bought down the shop, he needed to make a replacement plate. Shortly after, I got a call about how to drill 10mm holes in 6mm thick stainless steel. We had a long discussion about drilling slowly, using coolant, cobolt vs HSS drills and making sure that the metal was clamped firmly. You can see below that the results came out very well.
This week I got a report that the bracket is working fine and my Dad is off sailing again. It’s nice that the tables have turned and that I’m now the one being asked for advice.
Posted in: Uncategorised
Materials: Stainless Steel
Tags: Drill bits, Metal Work
Metal sculpture in brass, mounted on an 1800s French Coin
More or less my exact thoughts Grasshopper.