Sail Delmarva

Anchor Testing

2026-03-03T11:25:00.004-05:00

But different this time.

Since I have become a competent welder, I've decided to break anchor performance down, one component at a time. Yes, they are interrelated, but it's where you start. The idea was spawned by having a number of Mantus Dinghy anchors left over from testing. They are modular, coming apart quickly for storage under the seat of your jet ski. But even larger anchors, of many brands, have transitioned to bolt-together constructions to reduce shipping costs.

I've started testing:

Multiple sizes, from 4" to 9" fluke length.
High and low shanks (Delta vs. Bugel).
Multiple fluke shapes, including curves side-to-side and front-to-back.
Multiple fluke angles.
Multiple crown (the joint between the shank and fluke) positions.
Shaping (streamlining) of edges on flukes and shanks.
Fluke point angles.
Split toe flukes (like Fortress and Knox).
Sand and typical Chesapeake layered mud.

What have I learned so far? A few things.

The most important variable, by far, is the fluke angle. A few degrees steeper, and it doesn't set at all in firm bottoms. A few degrees less, and it sets easily but doesn't hold as much. The usable range is probably as narrow as 24-32 degrees.
Shank shape and height, attachment method, crown position, and fluke shape, within a surprisingly wide range, make very little difference, as long as the fluke angle is correct. Some room for optimization. Balance can matter with a roll bar, and is vital without.
Chesapeake mud is more complicated than I thought. Open areas, exposed to tides, the loose stuff is washed away and the bottom is more uniform (unless it is slate washed free of all sediment). However, in the creeks, leaves lay down compost every fall, resulting in a mushy even semi-liquid layer that is too light to consolidate. Then comes the underlying clay, which is covered with oyster shells from centuries ago back when the Chesapeake was perhaps the most productive oyster grounds in the world. The challenge is super soft mud, which won't hold beans, over a layer that can be hard to penetrate without the right anchor and technique. Traditional answers have been either a really, really big anchor, or to let the anchor "soak" for 20 minutes, sinking down through the soft stuff, followed by careful setting into the underlayer, which may or may not work, depending on the anchor type and setting method details (it's not just drop and back down).

Time to make some more models!

2025-12-21T07:05:00.007-05:00

If the step is too far (icy decks become a problem this time of year and my knees are getting older) add a railing. A pull-in line also helps.

The railing is welded from 1 1/4-inch square tube. It is attached with lag bolts, and the top is reinforced with a 1 1/2-inch steel strap around the piling. The paint has a non-skid finish. About 2 hours of cutting and welding, followed by painting and installation.

Why You Don't Inject Epoxy into a Wet Deck to Effect a Fake Fix

2025-12-15T18:48:00.012-05:00

I tried to explain this over and over, but the editors always wanted articles on short cuts to fixing a wet deck. Well, injecting epoxy into mush is not a way to fix anything. It's not going to bond, doing a proper repair is more difficult, and now you have all of these holes.

Looked at another way, this is why smearing the surface to be bonded with mud and then working in the rain is not a good way to work with epoxy. It's not OCD to get things clean and dry, it's just ... obvious.

Telltail Locations

2025-11-29T17:05:00.002-05:00

Add enough and your sails will look like something from a wind tunnel lab. Yes, you can do well through experience and looking at the shape of the cloth, but they do remove some of the guesswork from sail trim. I've been doing this for over 40 years and I still appreciate a full set.

The main leach tell tales can suck around behind the sail intermittently at the top when trimmed for peak power. The jib telltails should never suck back. Jib stall is worse than main stall since it will reduce the flow over the main.

The

Tying Up a Wide Boat

2025-11-25T09:23:00.002-05:00

Tying up a wide boat can be complicated. I can only reach one piling from the dock. The slip does not fit the boat.Currently, I use the black lines in the illustration, but as my legs get old I wish I could tie it nearer to the dock (a big step). But I must tie it well off to allow for tides.

I'm considering putting a pulley or low friction ring on the port bow line piling and lead the tail back to a cleat on the dock so I can adjust it from there. But I worry about chafe. The strong winds and wakes come from aft, so I can probably just keep an eye on it.

Gulls and Halyards

2025-11-23T17:48:00.004-05:00

Some attest they love the sound of gulls. It reminds them where they are. I think they havn't been around the water long enough to get sick of the screaming vandals. All the noise tells me is that I'm in a messy harbor. The Little Mermaid had it right.

"Mine, mine, mine, mine, mine, mine, mine ...."

As for halyards, I have no problem with stepping on an unoccupied boat and tying them off. They left a nuisance behind, so they have no reasonable expectation that someone board to fix it. When they see it tied off they might learn from that.

[Once 40 years ago someone tied mine off. When I came back I saw the string and I was immediately chastened. It never happened again, not because I'm a great guy, but because it was an embarrassing lesson I didn't want to repeat.]

Line Hangers

2025-11-04T12:29:00.003-05:00

Whether halyard tails or docklines, sailors always have ropes to hang. A few ideas. Bags are good to, when there is room (the lines will grow more algae in a bag).

Button Line Holders from United Yacht Manufacturing are my favorites for halyard tails. Easy to adjust or replace the string. Nothing snags on them. Comfortable to lean against.

For dock lines and other spares, I like these DIY aluminum non-snagging holders installed in a locker. I can hang multiple lines on one hook by slinging the coils. I've used them on several boats without a failure. Strong and light.

Need a more heavy duty bender? Shif the spacing in the vice to adjust the radius. A bolt between them can help (home made).

Or really heavy duty. This is good up to 1/2-inch rebar and is what I used to make some of the yard art. Home made, but you can buy them (mostly lighter duty). Very handy.

Non-Sailing Projects

2025-09-29T18:14:00.001-04:00

I'm kind of out of boat projects, so I've been welding up stuff. With the exception of some of the rebar, everything is recycled from scrap.

One of my first efforts. Simple.

A representation of my F-24, sailing the lawn. The sail trim is sharp but it doesn't float well. Too many leaks.

Glasswing Butterfly mobile. The lilly pads (helium cylinder ends) under it will get bright metal flowers soon. Repurposed anchor chain, of course.

The planter was welded from old bedframes.

The head is an old worn-out weld chipping hammer head.

Steady rest, also mostly bed frame steel. Very stiff.

Rolling kayak rack. This makes loading it onto the car much easier, and rolling it away easier and neater. Bed frame, straps from old PFDs, and casters from Amazon.

If you have a portable metal band saw you NEED to make a stand/base for it. I use it 20 times as much now. Many examples on-line, and you can buy them for newer saws. I had to make this one, because the saw is older. Even a little table makes cutting parts and backing plates so easy and far more accurate.

The saw just lifts out of the base. A few screws take the table off, leaving the stock rest in place for hand-held use. But I've never taken it off the stand.

For cutting long material, I have several adjustable stands, similar to those used to support long work on a able saw. One was made from bed frames. The other is a photo light stand for which I fabricated multiple heads, either for support or for work lights.

I had this piece of glass, so I made this end table for our front porch. Bed frame.

More stuff that I have given away. More to come. Once you get the hang of it, welding open many fun possibilities. I have quite a few bits of tooling for my lathes (wood and metal) that involved both machining and welding--machining is subtractive and welding is additive--combining them results in great flexibility in fabrication.

Tramp Lacing Knobs

2025-09-20T21:18:00.001-04:00

After 30 years the original knobs are breaking down. A few days ago a line tried to jump off. Time for replacement. The tramps are good and the line OK (replace in a 1-2 years?), but the knobs are toast.

The knob in the foreground is missing chunks. Behind is a portion of the 46 replacements I turned.

I could have bought them, but I had something a little different in mind. The replacements are twice as strong and should outlast the boat. The screw is recessed. There is non-skid on the top.

So I turned them from 1/2-inch HDPE on my metal lathe. The first few took an hour, figuring out the measurements, materials, and machining a mandrel. But after that I was down to about 3 minutes each. Not a bad way to spend a few hours.

Blanks were cut from 1/2-inch HDPE sheet using a hole saw with a 3/16-inch center bit fitted (1/4-inch is standard). They were then turned on a mandrel, and the hole countersunk on the drill press. Assembly line.

Installing them was another matter. Most of the screws were seized and grabbing round heads with Vice Grips is a pain. But the end result was pretty.

Snubber Design

2025-08-17T11:36:00.005-04:00

How can we get more stretch from a bridle?

More length. Yes, but there will also be losses from friction. In the left center (below) illustration the stretch would be 5 feet in 50 feet, given the assumptions about line size and stretch, but it is only 4.5 feet because some force is subtracted by friction over the bow.

Double around a low friction ring (left illustration). The problem here is that we lose a lot of tension going around the ring. They are only 70-75% efficient in a 90 degree bend (testing). Stretch goes down to 3 feet and a new chafe point is introduced. What if we use a thinner line (center right illustration) to increase stretch? The safety factor stays the same and stretch goes up to 3.4 feet. The only way the doubly method comes even close is by using pulleys, and it is still less efficient.

What about energy absorbed by friction? Yes, that is valid, but work is still force through a distance and the damping distance is still reduced. The same effect would be had by using one size larger rope, and without the chafe risk.

In fact, there is fourth case, (left), where the stretch increases to 8.4 feet, using a 0.5:1 purchase. In stead of rigging the bow as a 2:1 purchase, a line runs forward, but on the side deck a reverse purchase is rigged, so that the forward line moves twice as far as the side line stretches. Complicated, though.

Shore Power

2025-08-13T16:59:00.000-04:00

A boat a few marinas down burned up a few weeks ago. The cause is not clear, but bad shore power is suspected.

There really should be a marine code for 15 amp shore power, but there isn't, so things like this are too common. Oh dear.

Strain relief. The ring is missing, the cord is not looped around the pedestal, and the plug is tortured when a storm comes. But the owner isn't around the boat on windy days. It's a locking plug, right?

Not marine 30 amp shore power, but there are in-use covers, GFI, and strain relief. And all they are running is a battery charger and a bilge pump.

Making Your Own Parts

2025-07-30T17:42:00.001-04:00

I needed a winch feeder block so that I could cross sheet for certain operations. Specifically, reefing on port tack requires two operations on one winch.

I had a large low friction ring I didn't need. I had some 1-inch thick HDPE sheet. I have a metal lathe.

Works perfectly, VERY high load. The HDPE was turned to make a top, bottom, and core for the LFR to run on. The oversized LFR allows for a wide range of in and out angles, and the large core provides friction as low as ball bearings. he full story is in Practical sailor.

This could be made on a 3-D printer. For me, the lathe was faster and I could use solid HDPE. A printer would be faster if you were making more than one.

I need more boat machining projects.

Why Did I Sell My PDQ, Why Am I Downsizing?

2025-07-12T13:00:00.003-04:00

This was a while ago (about 7 years), but I never posted it.

November 2020

I've been asked this question dozens of times by friends, family members, and fellow sailors. And although I was certain sometime ago it was the right thing to do, it took me a long time to understand and get comfortable with the reasons. It's many things, of course. So will apply to other people, some only to me, I supose:

Kids Grown

My daughter is finishing grad school, so we just don't do the same family and friends cruising that we started when she was about 8.
I've done the cruising I wanted to do with that boat. Been everyplace I like multiple times.

Down Sizing

Financial. There is a small money aspect, but it's not about cash flow. First, I really hate waste (read "Keeping a Cruising Boat for Pennies") and I didn't feel like I would be using the boat enough. I like the idea of house, car, and well, life that fits my actual needs. Nothing excess or superfluous.

Simplify

The Need to Keep Learning

I'm not learning anymore from the boat. Handling the boat has become as familiar as pulling on my shoes, and it is the learning process I enjoy. That is why I am always testing things.
I've tweaked this boat as far as I want to. I like to study a boat and then decide how to upgrade her in subtle ways, always endeavoring to maintain a factory look and feel. Nothing should look pasted on and the changes should work with the original design (which in the case of the PDQ 32 is pretty darn good). Though I could probably point out 100 small changes, the most important ones were revised settee bunks, winterization fittings, inside genoa tracks, Heat, AC, modified keels, and 2' transom extensions. A lot of this is on my blog, but some has also been reserved for Practical Sailor or Good Old Boat. If you want to tweak a boat sensibly, you should subscribe to both of these. They both good search functions, particularly PS.

My Sports Car

I like the feel of the wind. I like a boat that tacks on a dime and that one person can throw about in tight harbors. A bicycle will always be more fun to drive than a Winnebago. You only need the Winnebago when you are cruising; for a day sail it feel ridiculous.

I am in no way satisfied with the PDQ 32 and Shoal Survivor specifically. If I wanted a cruising cat for where and how I sail, I would be looking to buy exactly this boat. She's fast, durable, roomy, seaworthy in a blow, and easy to singlehand. She's tweaked exactly the way I want her. I don't think there is another cruising cat that would make me happier, and I'm including some pretty fancy rides. I trust her to go anywhere, any time.

I will be getting another boat and soon. It will back to my performance multihull roots. I see myself a little bit as the older Englishman in the flat hat and the open top sports car. I sold my SUV and bought a Mazda 3 (zoom). The focus will be daysailing with a few solo overnights. Yup, I'll tweaking it. Speed will be one thing, but this time I will be more interested in nimble handling for the singlehander. I want something "fun." Unfortunately, this means giving up a meaningful cabin and (gasp) a real toilet. Damn. I've got a dry suit for winter.

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I have no intention of leaving this forum. I have too many friends here. I will maintain my blog. After all, it started when I have Stiletto 27. I will maintain some PDQ stuff like the Word version of the owner's manual. But the way I see it, a new boat should help invigorate my writing, opening up some new topics. An who knows. In 10 years I might be looking for a PDQ again. Sailing is sailing.

But I'm not going to be one of those sad sailors that has a boat at the dock that doesn't get used but a few times a year. If I'm not sailing her every week or two, year round, it's time for someone else to love her and for me to find another boat to love. I could never stand to see a boat just sit.

I thought the PDQ was going to be my retirement boat. I really did. Good quality and would do everything I wanted. However, I have owned three boats, each for 10 years, and I think I think that is simply my nature. Thankfully, I do not feel that way about my wife, which is my constant.

Grok Goes on a Rant

2025-07-12T13:00:00.000-04:00

(From "Stranger in a Strange Land" by Robert Heinlein, for those of you that are young or do not read science fiction. A Martian word that means I understand you deeply.)

xAI has apologized for Grok's "horrific behavior" and said that new instructions caused the AI chatbot to prioritize engagement, even if that meant reflecting "extremist views" from user posts on X.

Put more simply, the AI is dumb enough to read from social media and believe it. And so are people.

I'm scared for what social media can do to society. Maybe I'm part of that too. Read Socrates: learn to question everything, to look at everything from several perspectives, to evaluated things for yourself, and finally to recognize that virtue, morals, and even "truth" change with time. Not as easy as listening to sound bites, is it?

2:1 Main Halyard

2025-06-23T20:18:00.001-04:00

Thirty years ago, when I had a Stiletto 27, I switched from a wire/rope halyard to a 2:1 high modulous line halyard. Part of the reason was a wonky shoulder, the same one that is flaring up now. Both the Stiletto and my current F-24 MK1 have bolt rope-in-slot luffs, which can be high friction for the size of the sail. It's a new sail and moves as smoothly as any I have seen, so that is not the problem.

I'm not sure how much clearance there is between the fully hoisted sail and the masthead. Some, because it tension well with a winch. But I need to hoist and probably look from down the dock with a spotting scope.

These images give me an idea of the other clearances.

There seems to be enough fore-aft offset between the pulley pin and the pin the topping lift is secured to for the dead end of the 2:1 halyard. My blue ladder is hanging from the main halyard (red), so it looks to be a good 1.5 inches forward of the pin. If I knot the halyard to the pin, the knot will not contact the sheave attached to the head of the sail. But I will need a low-profile sheave stack. I might just lash a large LFR to the head grommet, pretty slippery with Dyneema, low profile, light, and no chafe points.
There are some sharp spots cause by a shackle hitting the masthead I should do something with. But they have not chafed my current halyard, so probably not a big problem.

I'm thinking 8 mm NER Viper with a stripped (about 6 mm) last 25-30 feet is the proper rope. The current halyard is10 mm polyester DB.

Hero Life Jackets

2025-06-16T12:26:00.002-04:00

Yeah, I know it is PFD in the us.

I very nearly never wear a PFD sailing. It's hard to fall off a multi-hull and it's easy to rig jacklines and tethers that will keep you inside the lifelines.

Whitewater kayaking, or open water paddling, yes. Beach cat and dinghy sailing, yes. But I don't wear the common inflatables. I wear either a whitewater-specific PFD or a Hero Waterwear inflatable. What you do not want is:

Auto-inflatable. If it inflates while you are under the boat you will not be able to swim out. This has happened too many times. They also snag on everything when inflated.
A jacket with gadgets attached. A light. A PLB. A radio. They will snag on ropes, and much worse, lines when the boat flips. You want something clean and simple, with no snag points.

I was asked to test a HERO some years ago, and it has become a favorite. It's comfortable, better than a fixed PFD. Unlike an inflatable, it is not a snag machine when inflated. In fact, it is the smoothest, least snag-prone jacket I have ever found. It is just as effective (turning and flotaion) as standard inflatable PFDs.

Not in the way paddling.

Pops you right up, even if starting with an intentional inverted kayak capsize. It contains some foam, so it can be worn on manual and will still provide some flotation.

Easy to deflate. Standard oral inflation, backed up by foam, should you go in more than once in a day (which kayaking and dinghy racing are not that unlikely).

My one recommendation is to pre-wet it on really hot days. The cooling effect is very nice.

Hero Waterwear

Homebuilt Wood Lathe

2025-05-12T15:31:00.007-04:00

Well, not quite.

This winter I've gotten into machining and shop stuff. Metal lathe. Milling machine. Improvements to many shop tools. Learned to weld (I bought the machine several years ago but didn't get enough practice to get good at anything other than straight passes on 1/4-inch plate required for certain oil tank floor repairs). Originally I was thinking about sailboat modifications/inventions/repairs, but the shop has taken on a life of its own.

I rebuilt the wood lathe I was given in middle school. I was a piece of junk from the back of a 1974 Popular Mechanics (cheap American junk, don't blame the Chinese). Dissatisfied with it's performance, this winter, I replaced the tool rests (made several new shapes and sizes), tool rest banjo (the new one, made from channel, is many times more rigid), tail stock quill (snapped--increased the quill size, improved the adjustment, and increased the center diameter from 3/8-inch to 1-inch), ways (lengthened to turn 55-inch spindles, and replaced with thicker walled pipe), built a steady rest (very rigid--based on in-line skate wheels), and most recently, built new ball bearing headstock (far more rigid, 20 times less runout, and much smoother), buile a self-tensioning motor mount (quieter and easier speed changes), all in the quest for improved, precision, rigidity, and reduced noise. All that remains of the original lathe is the tailstock casting and the ways foot casting. Over 90% replaced, virtually all with home built parts. None of the original moving parts; they either worked poorly or broke. Between welding, the metal lathe, and milling, it seems I can make most things. And retired folk have time (I'm still working part time, barely).

So, the question is, if you replace the head of an ax when it chips, and then replace the handle when it breaks ... is it the same ax? I painted the lathe a new color, in recognition of this rebirth.

In fact, I've spent very little money on tool and shop upgrades. I bought a cheap Chinese metal lathe with good bones, then adjusted and upgraded that. It can now turn steel t good precision. I added milling set-ups to both the lathe and drill press (they excel at different operations). I bought a really cheap welding machine and tuned that. Between that and a trove of WWII machine tools I inherited from my great uncle, I can make most things. He was a machinist at the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria and also family black sheep. I've learned more about him from the tools he used than from family conversation. I don't even know what he looked like, because his image was snipped out of picture albums, including pictures from the wedding of his daughter! After she was married, he went to the store and (figuratively) kept going. Between me and my Dad, and our experiences with his wife, we know why. No one else talks about him: "We don't talk about Bruno ...".

The lathe gained so much weight I had to add a hoist to haul it off the bench into storage. Fortunately, any good sailor has a lot of old pulleys and much rope lying about.

Many of my creation contain an odd collection of weldments and machined bits. Some examples ...

I inherited may dies, in 4 diameters, but only one holder. So I made three more, including guides, mostly from pipe. Rings were cut, bent to diameter, and welded. They were then turned to precise dimensions and then welded together. Tabs were welded on and threaded for handles. A machinist would turn the rings from solid stock, a fabricator works with what he has.
Lathe drive spur for soft woods and spaulted logs. Normally they are milled. Mine was fabricated almost entirely by welding, then hardened and tempered.
The center, quill, and shaft for the wood lathe were metal lathe projects. Nothing complicated, simpler than the cannon, really.
The bandsaw table is used on a daily basis. A lot of steel needed cut, some of it quite precisely. The Porta-Band has power, but the table gives you control. The belt guard was a fun sheet metal project. I learned those skills in middle school. It was bent from an old gas furnace access door, using a 6-inch machinists vice and some angle iron as a break. One piece, with the screws tapped into the headstock. I welded up the miter; one less thing to rattle or shake. I hate stick welding really thin metal. It's so easy to burn-through and so hard to hold an arc at very low amps. Welding up the 3/16-inch plate for the headstock, and the 3-inch channel for the tool rest banjo,on the other hand, were relaxing.
The radius turning attachment for the metal lathe (for odd-sized pulleys) required turning and milling (on the drill press) of steel. But the square hole for the lathe tool was filed out using WW II square machinists file. It didn't take long and the fit is snug (secure by a machine screw, of course).

I need a new project. I'll we installing a new solar panel on the boat soon, along with a LiFePO4 battery soon. That might yield something interesting. Look for it in PS, and eventually, perhaps here. (Update. This is done and it's working fine. Go lithium! So much easier to lift into place.)

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Update 5-15-2025. Building a deep hollowing rig for vases. A metal lathe and welding required.

Update 6-29-2025. Added a bowl steady rest, conventional steady rest, and a deep hollowing tool. All home-built, all very rigid.

Need a Vice?

2025-05-08T19:29:00.003-04:00

Clamp-on vices are never satisfactory. They slip and twist and the surface is scared. They are not strong enough. My solution is a drill press vice mounted to a sheet of plywood. The underside of the sheet has cleats which prevent the vice from twisting or sliding. It also provides a work surface you are unafraid of scaring.

I had the vice (it normally lives on my drill press at home--oddly enough, to hold metal bits that that are being drilled), but it would only be ~ $40 at Home Depot or on Amazon. Multiple holes allow mounting at 90 degree orientations.

The bolts grab T-nuts, saving time. The sheet can be slipped into the locker for storage.

Sometimes you can jam a part between dock boards or hold it with Vice-Grips, but sometimes you need both hands plus the firm grip that only a solidly mounted vice can provide.

Metal Lathe -- Concave Radius Turning Attachment

2025-04-09T11:21:00.006-04:00

Small radius curves, like the Wheel thimbles and small pulleys are turned using a form tool; a chisel ground to the desired profile. But with metals and small lathes this becomes impractical from a tool pressure perspective at about 0.10" to 0.25", depending on the metal, and about 0.50" for plastics. You can turn larger radius curves in a few other ways:

Freehand, with a special chisel, like on a wood lathe. The chisels are small and it is very slow on metals. It is also difficult to make repeatable parts.
Remove most of the material with standard tooling, then smooth it up with a large rat tail file. Tricky.

Or you can use a radius attachment. However, most are made for convex curves (which are much easier to free hand and/or make with conventional tooling), and those that will turn convex won't do deep curves, such as a low friction ring or wheel thimble. So I made my own.

It covers 11/16-inch to 2-inch and up to 1-inch past the pivot deep. Enough for my needs.

Somehow it reminds me of one of the robots on the old MST 3000.

It looks dead simple, but it must be very rigid, very compact, and quite precise, so it took a good many steps:

Careful band saw work
Milling a slot
Facing and turning a rod down
Concentric boring
Threading several times
A square hole
Indexed milling of the hex at the top
Fitting the bearing surfaces so that it turns smoothly but with no flex
Parkerizing of some parts for rust prevention
Grinding the custom chisel

It replaces the tool post and is rotated in use by a 6-point socket with a T-handle from above (see below). The chisel is symmetrical to cut both ways. It uses tiny 1/4-inch blank pieces.

I made the 1/2-inch drive Tee handle from #4 rebar with some welding and careful grinding. Why waste good rod? It fits perfectly and is used with other setups on the same lathe.

I've gone kind of shop-crazy this winter

2025-04-06T21:15:00.001-04:00

Just a few of the projects:

Lathe-related

· Shim or re-fit all lathe control handles. They were sloppy.

· Cross slide lock (homemade). Required for facing. Or you can keep one hand on the main crank.

· New cross slide hand wheel (homemade). The original was too small and did not have a bearing.

· Tailstock lapped to ways. Bad alignment.

· Center finding gauge (homemade).

· Compact depth gauge (homemade).

· Bump center (homemade). It’s a thing made from ball bearings to help align work in chuck.

· Milling 90 degree plate (homemade) that bolts direct to compound. Also hold-down bars and studs.

· Milling 90 degree plate that fits vertical slide (below) (homemade). Additional hold-down bars and studs. Toe clamps from 2-inch schd 40 pipe (homemade).

· Marking/bolting 90 degree plate (homemade).

· Vertical slide.

· Vice for vertical slide.

· Fitted milling vice. Handle needed re-machined. Mounting holes.

· Keyway mod in lathe tailstock. Stock keyway was omitted at factory due to casting error.

· Mods to drill press milling vice.

o Handles and gibs.

o Wider jaws with 6 screws and pressure plate (homemade).

· Three machinist’s jacks (homemade), mostly for use with the drill press and lathe.

· Built shallow drawer under work bench for mics etc.

· Built drawer under lathe (right side, for lathe accessories), with lift-out tray. More trays lower.

· Built drawer under lathe (left side), for milling accessories) with lift-out tray. More trays lower.

· Several other drawers to organize drills and boat fittings.

· Organizer behind chip guard.

· Ways cover (attached with aluminum strip embedded with rare earth magnets).

· Shallow, removable chip tray under chuck-half.

· Face plates (2). Fitted from older lathe.

· Hand turning rest (wood or metal) for metal lathe (homemade).

· Hand turning chisels for metal lathe (2) (homemade) .

· Chuck spider (homemade) (accessory to chuck short stuff).

· Parting tool holder using hacksaw blades (homemade). Very good for brass, not steel. Got 1.5 mm parting tool from Buyaholic.

· Manual die holders (1.5- and 2-inch) (homemade). Not lathe mounted, but can start 1-, 1.5-, and 2-inch on lathe using chuck to keep it straight. Removable handles.

· Die pusher with aligning fit (homemade).

· Tap follower. From great uncle.

· Die grinder tool rest mount (homemade). Includes short hose extension and air control valve.

· Drip coolant at tool post. Mounts with magnet. Probably over kill. (Also a bad idea—can’t see what you are doing, mess in mechanism, corrosion. Better with a spray bottle or squeeze bottle.)

· Indexing for lathe head (homemade) (24 increments). Great for making hex and square heads.

· Precision filing guide (homemade). Can be used for end stop or depth control.

· Larger dog for turning between centers (homemade). (I still have my old 1975 small home-made dog!)

· Assorted custom handles for hex sockets and square drives (homemade) (chuck and tool rest).

· Radius turning attachment. 0.625” to 1.5” (homemade). For wide pulleys, such as trailer rollers, genoa leads, and low friction rings. A precision job, requiring milling, turning, threading, and indexed grinding. But not much bigger than my thumb.

Other projects (all homemade using lathe, welder, band saw, drill press, etc.)

· Bending lever, large stock. Up to ½-inch rebar.

· Bending rod jig for vice, small stock. Bar stock and up to about 3/8-inch round … maybe.

· Band saw table and stand. Fence from speed square. Sled from scrap.

· Improved hold-down tee-nuts for drill press.

· Tuned up cross slide vice for drill press. Now I can mill on the press, up to ½-inch steel plate with ½-inch end mill.

· Centers (top and bottom) for drill press table. Good for accurate concentric drilling.

· Wooden clamp to hold work from spinning.

· Steel fence for drill press.

· Drill press clamp (Keats Plate) for round stock center drilling.

· Drum sander table.

· Tool handles. Lots, mostly for files.

· 9-inch disk sander stand. 90 degree fence.

· Cradle for angle grinder (just for spin-down). I’m going to upgrade this to 12-inch when I run out of 12-inch paper.

· Scribe/awl from triangular file. Full length tang. Very hard.

· Light bracket for drill press. Old eyes appreciate this.

· Switched outlets to control air compressor and shop air filter.

· HEPA-rated show air filter from 5 MERV 13 20x20 filters and a 20x20 box fan. Allows welding indoors. Every shop should have one. Also great for remodeling mess.

· Soft jaws with magnets (both vices) . Aluminum and wood.

· Parallels with magnets. Parallel edge clamps for non-magnetic parallels.

· V-blocks. Many sizes. Wood, steel, and aluminum.

· Table saw sled and mini-rip fence. More accurate and less dust.

· Zero clearance insert for table saw. Less dust.

· Two hole deburing tools; one from a counter sink and the other from a ½-drill with the clearance angle reduced (plus handles).

· Edge deburing tool from a rusted triangular file plus a handle. My favorite.

· Up-side-down holders for 5-minute and G-Flex epoxy.

· Cradle for angle grinder (for spin-down).

· 90 degree and variable angle brace/clamp for welding

· Mini-chipping hammer from rebar. My new favorite.

And I'm sure there were more. And I'm reaping the benefits, as I now have just the tool or jig I need to do things more quickly and with better precision. More practice helps too.

The cost? Barely anything, since most were homemade. With welding, milling, and a lathe, you can make most things.

Have a Portable Band Saw? Make a Table.

2025-03-26T15:50:00.002-04:00

I should have done this 20 years ago.

I was surfing the net on a business trip and came across a super simple table for a portable band saw that I could make from a scrap under my porch. The scrap even had the bends I needed. To use it, you clamp the edge in a large machinists vice. Unfortunately, although many people manufacture these and variations, my saw was too old to be supported. DIY time.

First, I made a very slightly larger rest for the band saw. I had realized that if I just clamp the band saw in the vice (soft jaws) a slightly larger rest would allow some delicate part trimming without mounting the table. That could be handy. Also, it would give me something to screw the larger table to. The screws holding the original rest came loose chronically, and I wanted to take this opportunity to lock them down tight and use red Locktite. I knew that using them repeatedly to mount a table would eventually result in stripping ( I could re-tap them larger, but it would be tricky to drill the hole without complete disassembly of the saw).

I then took a sheet of heavy cardboard and did a few quick mock-ups. Simple. Clamp the band saw in the vice to do the trimming of the table. Four 1/4-20 flat heads tapped into the new rest hold it down. A cable tie holds the power "on" and a switched outlet with switch 30 inches away provides control. (Some prefer a foot switch, but a conventional shop band saw just has a switch--I like being able to adjust my balance and stand on two distracted feet.)

I used this table, clamped in the vice (rotate the vice 90 degrees) to cut four trapezoidal backing plates out of bronze for a fellow sailor. It was like cutting paper with scissors. Also perfect control; I could keep the blade on a penciled line, neatly erasing only the line.

So I made a stand. Too often you need the vice and the band saw alternately. There are dozens of designs on the net, made from whatever scrap is on hand to fit the saw they have. The most common threads are a fork at the top to hold/grasp the top/forward handle, and a cradle for the back and bottom. Mine was welded from lightweight 2-inch angle and 3-inch channel, but there are no-weld designs out there. You could manage with an angle grinder and drill. Keep it simple.

The band saw just drops into the stand, no clamps or bolts required. Just gravity and a good fit. It sits stably on the workbench, but if it is in the way it is easy to pick up and move. Portable enough to take to the boat. You could use it sitting on the ground (you would need some sort of remote switch, if just a power strip).

If you have a portable band saw, make a table and stand, or buy one if available to fit. Really.

Finished

2025-03-22T17:44:00.001-04:00

The barrel and hardware were phosphate conversion (Parkerized) treated. This protects against rust and also provides a more authentic color without the gloppy thickness of paint. I like still being able to see the tool marks. Cannons were lumpy.

The carriage was made from some 100-plus year old oak I had laying around. I made square nuts for the tie bards from hex nuts. The iron bands on the wheels are 3/4-inch conduit with the galvanized etched off and Parkerized.

In principle I could fit it with the aiming and restraint ropes, load it, and fire something. It's bored through to the touch hole about 0.27 inches, if I recall correctly. The breach also opens, because I turned the knob as a separate piece and threaded it to the main bore. The elevation wedge is functional.

I wanted some lathe practice. I think I also wanted to demonstrate that a Vevor lathe can turn steel. You just have to tune it up, use small radius tools, keep them sharp, and take thin cuts. Much of the materials was removed using power feed. I suppose it is old school, but I have some Stelite bits that I really like. They hold an edge longer than HSS and can be sharper than typical carbide tips.

A Tiny Cannon

2025-03-15T15:45:00.001-04:00

Most machining projects have been practical. Time for something impractical.

This started out as a rough 1-inch iron bar t6hat I found rusting under the porch when I moved in. Probably not a very good grade of steel, something from concrete work or surveying.

About 5 inches long and slightly more than 22 caliber, which would be about 1:20 scale for a 9-pounder. Basically, I scaled it off the lump of metal I had. I'm not that particular a modeler. I really just did it for the lathe practice.

I've read many places that the the Vevor-type lathes won't turn steel. In fact, it's about the tuning and about the tool grinding. Any deficiencies in finish or precision are more a result of my inpatients than machine limitations. Machine rigidity is an issue, but flex of the work itself and chucking challenges are actually more important. Most of this was turned between centers, much of it using power feed and light cuts, about 10-20 thousandths at a time. Sharp tools help.

I found number of drawings of Armstrong-pattern guns. They were common for about 150 years, through the Napoleonic wars through the Civil War, with many variations based on size and which foundry they came from.

Now I need to build the carriage. I have some old oak, steel sheet, and black safety wire.

I wonder. Should I leave the cannon as polished steel, or should I Parkerize it or otherwise turn it black? I think black, including the steel hardware on the carriage.

Parkerizing

2025-02-22T14:53:00.003-05:00

One of the first things I did when I got my lathe was begin sifting though stores of old machinist's tools that I had inherited, through my grandfather, from a great uncle who was a machinist at the US Navy yard in Washington DC during WWII. New torpedo designs and such things. Also some old wrenches, some I wanted to use, and some for antique and nostalgic value. Some were my other grandfather's fathers, well over 100 years old.

After a quick wire brushing I though them in a pot of warm water/phosphoric acid product called Barnacle Buster. I had a gallon left over from a PS project, and reasoned it would be good at loosening rust without excessive corrosion. In fact, it works very well. Most of the taps, dies, files, and wrenches looked quite good after 30-40 minutes and a light follow-up brushing. A few I left in longer, since they weren't there yet, and that is when I noticed something odd. They were turning gray.

A little research revealed that what I was looking at was a phosphate conversion coating, related to the Parkerizing finish we are used to seeing on firearms. Zinc is added; little doubt a few items had some zinc plating that I had not noticed. Manganese is included in the patented Parkerizing formula, as is treatment at an elevated temperature.

Obviously enough, heat speeds the process and helps remove any traces of residual oil (hot phosphate is a strong de greaser). Concentration helps. But too much speed and the surfaces become rough (more etching) and the evolution of bubbles can lead to streaking and poor treatment of the bottom (also blinded by bubbles).

The upper wrenches are 100-125 years old. They work fine.

The lower wrenches are nothing special, but are good grade and in fine shape after rescue from a rusty tool box. The photo does not do them justice.

I'm writing this up for Practical Sailor, but the short version is this:

The recommended concentration, which is a bout a 4:1 dilution, or about 5-7% phosphoric acid.
Room temperature to 150F. About 120F is probably the best balance of effectiveness, evenness, and minimal etching.
A little zinc seems to help. The easy way is to plop an old anode in the pan for 5-10 minutes before adding the parts. More zinc creates a thicker, blacker coating, but it is more prone to rubbing off and seems to reduce durability, so minimize the zinc.
You can reused the dregs for many batches over months. Top up with water. Add a little acid if it seems to slow. There will be some sludge, from grease and from the old rust, but it doesn't seem to hurt anything. It settles out and you can pour off the clean liquid. A stainless pot with a lid from the thrift store is good. A hot plate in the shop is better than using the kitchen stove!
Lightly oil. Mixing any old oil about one in four with mineral spirits gets the oil into all of the crevices, and when they drip off and dry, leaves just the right film. I dunked then in a shallow pan; I had a lot of taps and dies, plus wrenches with internal parts. For general use, I have a jar with a lid and keep a brush and a drip-off pan next to it.

It really does not add much rust protection, but the coating really helps hold oil and the parts I make (lathe , milling, welding) look better. As for old tools, with a exception of some rusty feeler gauges that were beyond saving, even the files and taps came out sharp, little different from new (treatment for files and taps was more brief).

The main advantage of this treatment, other than it is dead easy, is that unlike paint or galvanizing, it does not add thickness. Everything works as it did before. Pretty cool.

Mini-Lathe Tuning, Modifications, Upgrades, and Tooling

2025-02-07T00:58:00.007-05:00

2-1-2025

2-7-2025 I revised this a week later to list some second layers stuff that isn't primary but that is hard to accomplish much without. Simpler than writing a second post and then expecting the reader to fit them together.

Nearly a month into playing with my Vevor MX-S716G 8"x16" lathe I've learned a few things and stepped up both my skills and the machine's capabilities several notches. As I said, I had operated a home-built lathe 50 years ago, and I inherited a small assortment of machinist's tools from my great uncle (worked at the US Navy Yard during WWII), reducing the pain of buying tooling. The first cutter I tried was one I ground, under my father's watchful eye, when I was 14.

Why the Vevor 8x16? I could say I did some "research," but I just read reviews like you. It seemed to meet my needs for a price I didn't mind (about $700). So far, so good.

This is a small lathe with limited power and rigidity. It will turn plastics and soft metals easily, but for steel take very light cuts. It will do it well and accurately, but you need to keep the tool pressure low. What reduces tool pressure?

Sharp tools.
Light cuts. If you feel resistance, maybe lighten up. Practice.
Slow feed.
Higher RPM, because the cut is shallower for a given removal rate. Also, higher speeds can de-couple the natural frequency of the light3weight lathe from the chatter frequency, resulting in a better finish. However, the trade off is heat. Carbide can stand more, high speed steel next, carbon steel least. As a starting point, 1/2-inch aluminum and brass can run as high as 2000 rpm and steel at 1000 rpm with light cuts (you can run slower, of course, though the speed can be unstable below 400 rpm because of reduced hp and momentum. The larger the diameter, the lower the speed (you are trying to keep the surface speed constant. When facing a large part you will want to adjust the rpm as you across the face. Obviously, if the part is unbalanced, either fix the balance or slow way down and feed very slow.
Very small tool tip radius. You want to be cutting a very narrow chip on steel. This also means slow feed, because you are by definition cutting spiral, and the smaller the radius the more obvious (use a sharp point and you are cutting threads!). So feed slow.
Lubricant. Motor oil works well. There are many cutting products. Water-based (dilutatble in most cases) products provide better cooling, but you use more to get this effect. A drip-bottle is handy, but so is a pump oil can and a small spray bottle. IT depends on how much you need and where you have to reach.

Set-Up. They come assembled but adjusted loose. Expect to clean everything, adjust the gibs, oil all of the ways, and grease the gears. Take your time, expecting to spend several hours on tuning.

Just the same, there were some fixes that needed tended to early on.

Metric tools. It comes with OK Allen wrenches (long T-handled ones are better) and crappy wrenches, but not all of the sizes you need (7 mm for the gibs lock nuts).
Bolt it down. Sturdy bench. The more rigid the better.I added a plank if 1-inch marine ply to the benchtop and 3-inch backing plates on the underside. Overkill, but shake is bad.
Work light. You can't have enough.
Mount it with several feet of clearance to the left of the headstock end so you can have stuff hang out. The tailstock can be within 10 inches of an obstruction (you will slide the tailstock off ocationally).
Mount it close to the front edge of the bench. You don't want stuff there anyway. Most people build a rack for stuff behind it, sometimes hanging off the chip guard on the right side. But wait until you see what works.
Tailstock ways ground and filed. The casting was just bad. Even locked down it wobbled. The bed, cross slide, and compound ways were all ground well, just the tailstock was bad. 20 minutes with a file set it right. It is helpful to have a tailstock chuck and put something long it, so you can make sure the tailstock is straight.
Align the tailstock with the headstock. up/down, fore/back, and also angle. BTW, the tailstock can be adjusted to the side for turning shallow tapers (like Morse), but this feature is mostly used only for alignment.
Tailstock keyway was missing, I suspect the result of casting finishing error. The tailstock chuck would spin when not locked down. The key is a thick washer with a flat side, installed down a drilled hole, and the hole was not properly drilled to allow the washer to sit flat. As a result, the installer just left it out.This was actually a little tricky, in part because it is hard to see and you've got no drawing to work from. It required the turning of a new washer, grinding the flat to fit, and finishing of the hole. But it turned out fine.
Re-fit all the handles. They were sloppy feeling, and this can affect accuracy. Some required shimming of the axle diameter, some required washers. The compound handle was too small and the handle was not designed to pin, so I made a new one from scratch, turning the handle and using some 3/8-inch square bar for the cross piece.
Cross slide lock. Yes, you need one. Otherwise, the cross slide can move away from the work while facing or using a boring bar. Many videos on-line.Most show milling a T-shaped block, but I just welded some 1/2 x 1 flat bar to some 1/4 x 1 1/2 flat bar and ground it to fit. Very smooth. A recessed Allen cap screw locks it.
Ways chip guard. An accordion-shaped bit of rubberized cloth that you can get on Amazon for $6. Attach to the headstock and cross slide with magnetic tape. Chips are not so damaging, but if you use a grinder or sand paper, the grit will cause wear.
Polyethylene washer (or stainless/brass) under tool rest center bolt. This allows the clamp to turn more easily, resulting in less movement and easier clamping. So easy.
Debur tool rest center hole, top and bottom. Was causing some very minor rocking. Check for flatness too.

Tooling. Stuff you need. I'm going to assume standard hand tools and a grinder. A lot of other things help, like a drill press, Port-a-Band, welding machine, and well, a full shop. I will just point out the vital and lathe-specific.

Lathe tools (chisels). A set of indexable carbide-tipped tools ($25) are good if you have never ground tools before. I had and I inherited a stack. But they are still very nice and stay sharp a long time. Their Achilles heel is that they are brittle and don't like discontinuous cutting, such as rounding square stock. High speed steel is tougher and less likely to break (I've chipped some inserts, but not HSS).
Shims, many thickness in 1/32-inch increments. The lathe tools must be shimmed to the exact level of the lathe spindle. Even tools holders from the same kit vary. Cut from scrap, about 3/32 wider than the slot so they are easier to position. I like aluminum and brass to protect the tool rest.
Blank tool stock. The easiest way to turn a pulley (you're a sailor?) is to grind a tool to the profile of the groove. I have one specific to 1/4-inch Amsteel, of course. I'm sure I will make more.
Tailstock chuck. You can't drill without one. $25.
Center drills. Because they are short they are just better at starting a centered hole than a regular drill. And for centers, of course.
Taps and dies to about 1/2-inch, holders, and a drill set from 1/16- to 1/2-inch by 64ths. Can be either metric or inch, since you don't need to match up. You can thread on the lathe (metric or US), but you won't want to, since changing the gears is a PITA and there is no thread dial. And many builds have need for tapped holes other places, like the cross slide handle I made. Also a center punch.
Files. All kinds. for knocking off corners and cleaning things up. And for fixing up the lathe. A big mill file is a start, but add smaller ones and rat tail files. Fit small handles (you can make these).
Drill guide. I already had this, but get one. By far the handiest way to drill 90 degree holes in shafts for set screws, a very common task. Not technically a lather tool, but used in conjunction.
Deburing tools. I have a 1916 scraper, plus a 3-edge scraper I made from a rusty triangular file and two more for holes made from a broken drill and an old counter bore. Something.
Soft blow hammer. Use this to set tapers in the tailstock.
Center marking gauge. Some things you hold in the chuck, but many are better stabilized with a center in the tailstock. The old school 90 degree T-type works fine (you can make this).
Measuring tools. A digital caliper is the workhorse, but you'll add more. A separate, compact depth gauge is very handy. Make it from 5 inches of 1/8-inch steel 1-inch of rod, 1/2-inch brass rod, and a small thumb screw tapped in the side.
Scribe. A pencil is not good enough. For better visibility, cover it with Sharpie and then scratch through that.
Bump center. This is an alignment tool. It took me a few weeks to figure out that I needed one, and boy can it be handy. Make you own with 1/2-inch square bar and some in-line skate bearings.
Face plates.
Chuck spider (for chucking short things--Google it). I welded up my own from 1/4-inch stock and ground/filed it flat. Get the simplest one you can, with legs no more than about 0.35-inch wide (to chuck 1/2-inch work). Plastic is OK, the load is not the great.
Thin aluminum jaw guards. For protection soft items. Today I turned a tiny brass lamp finial adapter, just 3/8-inch long. I used the spider, plus a nut and washer to locate the surface just above the jaws.

Milling. And then there is the milling stuff. Yup, it will do light duty milling on brass and aluminum, but I expect it to struggle with steel. It is also no substitute for a separate drill press. Tip: set your gibs tighter than you would for turning and take light cuts. Lots of lube, and don't hurry.

The cross slide on mine is about 0.006-inch out of 90 degrees to the headstock. You won't notice it turning, but you will when feeding across the bed. You can compensate by placing a thin spacer behind the work, once you know the angle.

Milling 90 degree plate. You can buy this for $50 or you can make one--I welded one up and then ground it flat. Lots of holes on a grid. I tapped mine so that I can just use studs and drilled bars. It bolts in place of the tool rest.
More shims. Mostly aluminum or brass to protect the work.
Marking/bolting 90 degree plates and squares. Can be bought or made from angle iron and filed square.
Assorted small clamps. Get them as you need them. Used with the 90 degree milling plate.
Milling vice. Get the simplest one you can, with vertical travel. Simpler means more rigid. Bolts onto the cross slide. Like the lathe, mine required some rework (handle, gibs, and mounting bolts, spacers and bushings [that's what a lathe is for!]). $50
End mills (a set). I'll probably get a slitting saw (turn the arbor?) and some woodruff-style cutters soon. Maybe a round end mill set. I need to see what projects I have.
Files. Machinists were making accurate parts with files long before milling machines were invented. vital for final touches that make the difference between OKish or poor, and very good.
Small V-blocks. Very handy for drilling or milling small shafts. I made a 1/2-inch x 2.5-inch block from 1/2-inch rod (flat on the back side) and will make more.I doubt the standard sizes would be of much use.

Hand Turning. Wood can be turned, of course (I have a wood lathe, but a small lathe has advantages too). Metal can also be turned, with small chisel and care.

Tool rest. You can use a piece of 1/2-inch square stock in the tool holder, but it is limited. I welded up a nice stiff one from 1/2x1 strip and 1/4x1 1/2 strip about 6 inches long that bolts in place of the tool holder.
Hand tools. Some folks use graver's chisels. I made adapters that pressed into 1/2-inch ID tubing that hold 1/4x1/4 lathe bits with 2 set screws. The tips are ground differently from standard bits, typically like a V-wood turning tool, but with less rake. Then I slipped wood handles over the end of the tubing, making them close to the length of a wood turning chisel, because that is what I am used to. Mostly handy for turning rounded ends.
Expect to use it for wood as well. Tool handles, for example. You can do it free hand or using the slides for precise work (fitting handle ferules, for example).

Tool Storage. There are a lot of bits and pieces. I have a tray on the chip guard for keys, Allen wrenches, and scribes. Trays to my right hold lathe bits, center drills, jigs for holding pulleys and similar, face plates, and shims for lathe bits. Another tray holds all of the milling stuff. A shallow drawer to one side holds measuring and layout tools. A rack on the back of the chip guard holds commonly used items, such as keys, Allen wrenches, scribe, depth gauge, and dead center. Lubes are on the table to the left. A chip brush lives on the chip tray to towards the tailstock

Scraps. You will need lots and lots of aluminum, brass, plastic, and wood scrap. Rods, tubing, and plates. Hole saws are darn handy for turning thick plates into thinnish round blanks for pulleys and the like.

If I added up the cost of all the tooling I'm pretty sure it is more than the lathe, but I had a lot of it and made a lot of it. I've only spent ~ $75, but that's a cheat number.