Drew's blog

Armored Harbor

Posted Tue, 03/02/2010 - 15:02 by Drew

I've been thinking building some sort of armored harbor for Huntington to park in when she's not needed and I think I may finally have a viable design.  This involves modifying a styrofoam cooler by cutting off one end and cutting a hole in the bottom.  Then I can toss this in the water upside down.  Hopefully it will float and might require some balasting to make it float level since one end was cut off.  Either way it would hopefully provide some protection from stray rounds damaging the club's rescue boat.  I hope to go shopping for foam ice chests in the next we

Servos

Posted Tue, 03/02/2010 - 14:48 by Drew

I've noticed that many people in the club seem to be unaware of a lot of the sweet new available out there.  Some of these are:

Micro:  Hitec HS-65 - plastic (HB) or metal gears (MG) -- small strong and fairly quick

Mini: TS-35 (Tower Hobbies)  At $20 this thing can't be beat for strength or speed.  I however haven't heard any anecdotal experience about this servo.

Metals and Plastics

Posted Sat, 02/20/2010 - 16:48 by Drew

I've been thinking about building a windchime or two for myself and any friends who might want one.  In the process of looking for suppliers for the materials, I found a couple companies that have an interesting selection of metals and plastics in both smaller and larger quantities than my usual goto company, McMaster-Carr.

http://www.onlinemetals.com/index.cfm  These guys seem to have a large selection of both metals and plastics at reasonable prices.

 

Eager to Sail

Posted Tue, 01/26/2010 - 21:37 by Drew

I met with Brian the other day for lunch and this has made me excited to go sailing and see if Huntington needs any more work. She hasn't been in water since her recent visit to the yards so I am concerned about her water tightness. I am also very curious to see if her propulsion is adequate to assist the larger ships with docking and rescue maneuvers. I am also curious to see how her new control scheme works and if I'll need to make any adjustments. I looked at the 10 day weather report and it doesn't look good but I am still hopeful.

Looking at Gear Boxes

Posted Sun, 01/10/2010 - 14:29 by Drew

I was thinking today that Brian has a lathe so he could probably bore out the pinions used in the gearboxes on Huntington rather precisely. When I did it back in the day I was using a hand drill so they're not exactly straight or precise and hence wobble a bit. 

Looking for Bow Bumper

Posted Sat, 01/09/2010 - 17:07 by Drew

I've been dying to take Huntington for a sail or do something with her but it's been so cold and snowy lately.