Nathan rode in from snowy Michigan. Along with Bart we finished casting the bow rollers and cleats for Aluminum Bronze and then Nathan demonstrated once more that you can become a proficient MIG welder in less than 5 minutes.
Metal Casting, Aluminum & Aluminum Bronze with Match Plates
Ya just gota love the beauty of pouring molten metal into a mold and watching something form that will last for thousands of years. It just never grows old.
And we got lots of great assistance from Bart, Richard, Chris, Betsy, Paul, Tom, and Drew Smith who drove over his thermocoupler and even those tourist; Thomas, Jason and Ed that dropped by and were totally cool about hanging out while we were really busy. And our Mazzios Pizza delivery guy who got the cheese bread with jalapenos here while is was still hot. Awesome Weekend. Seeker Crew Rock! Oh! And happy April Fools Day! …that was Betsy’s work.
Seeker LIVE – Apr 1, 2017 – Metal Casting, Plasma Tables, and other stuff
We started off our Saturday 10 am Live Feed with some casting and we got 5 pours done today. Betsy shot a second casting of a bow roller later in the day that is posted on the FaceBook https://www.facebook.com/ohmymy40/videos/10211406922024711/
Thanks to Richard Day, Chris Browning, Paul Hatch, Bart Robinson, and Drew Smith for helping out with the castings today.
Casting Patterns, Flask, Camera Gimbal and Routing Rubber
With Sean White’s help we are ready to do some casting this weekend as the weather allows. Scott Rokeby fixed us up with an awesome gyro stabilized camera, and we cut the last of the fuel tank gaskets. We have very much enjoyed your project photos! And I am all out so send more. Attach a photo to SVSeeker@ymail.com and put “Project Photo” on the subject line. Share your creative side and be an inspiration. –Doug
Laser?
We learned while cutting the panels for the Mizzen sail; the really small one, that measuring and cutting the each panel correctly is very important and it takes a long time. We already have the shapes for each panel in CAD so wouldn’t it be dandy to cut them on the CNC Table. They are actually too big to cut in one go, so we’ll need to cut part of the panel along with some registration marks and then move it over and finish the cut. Routing is out, or we think it is. I’ve not seen anyone try to route cloth, even Sunbrella which is a heavy plastic cloth. Besides, the edges need to be burned so a hot knife like a soldering iron needs to be used. I have not seen that either, but I think it would work. Razor blade drag knifes are used but again that will not burn the edge and keep it from fraying. So how about a laser. Yes, it’s the stuff from child hood fantasies which means with have to compensate for the “you’re just doing it with a laser because it’s cool” syndrome. If we don’t compensate for that we end up owning something like a 3D printer before we have any clue how to use CAD which becomes apparent to our friends when we only print toys from Thingiverse. So what’s the scoop on these lasers? Will a Chinese 3 watt laser cut Sunbrella at a reasonable 20 inches per minute. Will it make it through 70 panels. Would be better off just letting the CNC Table mark the panels with a sharpie and cut them with our hot knife?
Robi Akerley-McKee, one of our viewers sent us a design for a “drag knife” attachment for the CNC Table that holds a pen style soldering iron that can be fitted with a blade.
Drag knife designs are available on Thingiverse. Maybe there is an idea there for incorporating a soldering iron with a knife blade tip into a 3D printed holder.
Betsy’s Coffee Cake
Most Saturday mornings when we have crew, Betsy will whip up a coffee cake or muffins. Here’s her recipe for the coffee cake that tastes as good as it looks. There are mixes by King Arthur, Krusteaz and Betty Crocker that are similar as well as a recipe on the back of a Bisquick Box. For the purist, here’s the ingredients.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 egg
- 2 cups flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- pinch salt
- 3/4 cup milk
FILLING
- 3 tablespoons butter, softened
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
TOPPING
- 5 tablespoon butter, softened
- 3/4 cup flour
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1/4 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the vanilla and egg.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt. Alternate wet and dry ingredients until combined. Don’t overmix.
- To make filling & topping: in a small bowl, pinch together the softened butter, flour, sugar and cinnamon until soft crumbs form.
- To make topping: add the butter, flour, brown sugar and cinnamon to a food processor and pulse until coarse crumbs form.
- Grease a 9×9 baking pan ( I often use a 9″ pie pan). Pour in ½ of cake batter.. Sprinkle the filling over top, then pour in remaining cake batter, and spread carefully across the top, disturbing the filling layer as little as possible.
- Sprinkle the topping over the top and press lightly so it adheres.
- Bake in preheated oven for 45-50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool to warm before serving.
Seeker LIVE – Casting Patterns, CAD 2D to 3D, and Pepakura
The ships blacksmith Sean White is back with to show his paper working skills. And we answer that persistent question about getting a US Coast Guard Certification. And show some of the casting patterns we are working on.
Metasequoia: http://www.metaseq.net/en/
PepaKura: http://www.tamasoft.co.jp/pepakura-en/
Tender Davits, CNC Routing and more
Almost done with the davits, getting along cutting patterns for casting our bow rollers. Making plans for adding a 3D printer to our Tormach CNC mill, and still thinking about where to put wheels under the boat. Many thanks to Herb for his help!
Seeker LIVE – Mar 18, 2017 – 501c3, Tormach 3D Printer, Tools and Storage
Join us for Betsy’s coffee cake and meet Herb who is launching a fascinating career in gymnastics for paraplegics. And we are looking for tool for our CNC Mill. R8 spindle, hold down, vice and cutting tool donations are welcomed.