Thanks Reb!

Got the fresh batch of Loctite sleeve retainer and it is *hopefully* curing nice and solid right now.

In the meantime the boat stand is drying and I made a couple of exhaust tips for the boat.

Here is the stand, notice the nifty all purpose Dixie Cups holding it off the table.



And my new aluminum 'big block' exhaust tips.

I like your tips.
A’ nit it nice to just to make the parts you need.
Love my lathe & mill.

Don M.

It's a dream come true Don. A dream come true...

I made my flag mast/stern light base today. I turned a piece of aluminum rod and then bent the tip at a slight angle. I need to find a suitable lamp to attach to the top of it.







All that is left detail wise, is a deck navigation light and the dashboard.

Posing by poolside.

wow that is very nice ! awsome job

Kmot,

You know it has to be wood.

Nope, it doesn't!

Okay, the bearing retainer worked this time and I am able to give full power without the bearing "next to the universal joint" popping out.

However, I have discovered another problem. You guys in Oz breaking props, this may have something to do with it.

I was amazed to see the stuffing tube oscillate wildly when at middle range rpm's:

http://media.putfile.com/Propshaft-S...e-Oscillations

This will certainly have to be addressed. I'm not sure but I have a suspicion the propshaft itself is whipping and that is making the unsupported stuffing tube oscillate. I have already started making something to support it.

The oscillating problem is caused by the drive shaft being supported in two places only (the ends of the stuffing tube) and in the middle without support it wabbles, making the out-end to oscillate. The Shaft needs two bearings in the middle (1/3 and 2/3) plus the ones at the end.

Captured this still picture from the video.

Had quite a time today, making the propshaft stuffing tube support strut.

First thing was to cut a base from sheet brass. Then round the corners off. Then anneal it. Then press it down on the hull to get the right curve. That was the easy part.

I had already made the strut, and I was drilling a pattern of lightening holes when the drill bit took it and pulled it from the clamp. So the holes got off alignment and I got mad so I just took the drill and made random holes in it.

So next it was time to silver solder the strut to the base. It took a while to get it aligned straight and at a perfect perpindicular angle using a pair of alligator clips but I got it and soldered it okay. Next came the real hassle. Trying to get the tube soldered on, perfectly aligned straight and also even from side to side. Working with silver solder you don't get any 'flex' time. The instant you remove the heat it is fixed in place. I ended up pulling it off and re-soldering at least a dozen times. I finally got it about 95% right and said that was as close as I am gonna get!

So at this point, it was looking okay. But next came the cleanup. I ahd to grind with the Dremel, and sand with emory cloth to get all the excess solder that flowed around off the part. Then I wanted to nickel plate it so I had to buff it as much as possible. This is where the real nightmare came in.....

Mr. Boss Buff was not too happy about having to buff down this little part in the 104* heat. So he snatched it from my hands and threw it down on the cement. It got tossed about five feet away and I could see it and picked it up. It slightly dented the tube, but otherwise was okay. This was a 'warning shot' from MBB but I did not heed it.

So I started back into the buffing and this time Mr. BB snatched it HARD and slammed it against the wooden stand and it pitched into the bushes somewhere. Uh oh......... I started looking through the bushes and could find it. I searched and searched. I was thinking "you idiot, now you will have to make the part all over again!" I called out my wife to help me look. I was getting to the point I was about to cut down all the bushes to the ground to find it. The it finally showed itself, gleaming like gold against a dark brown backdrop of dead leaves. Whew!! That was a close one.

This time, the base was bent up about 45* and a chunck of the tube was missing. Aarrgghh!!

Well, I still had to finish buffing the part and so I looked Mr. Boss Buff right in the eye and told him who's boss! lol... And finished the part as much as it can be done on those particularly large wheels.

Then back inside the shop to try out that nickel plating system. It works. It's pretty easy to use. But I need to learn how to make the nickel plating thicker. I polished the part by hand with a cloth and cream after plating and some of the nickel rubbed off. But it was good enough.

Mr. Boss Buff...



So here is the completed strut:



This shows how close I got on the alignment. "Close, but no cigar!"



I drilled the holes in the hull for the 0-80 bolts. Guys, the hull is very thin in this area! I tapped the holes, then hardened them with CA and tapped them again.



This pic shows the nice curve that I had in the base plate that matched the hull. Before the buffer took care of it!



Anyway, here it is after buffing and straigtening everything:



Here it is just after nickel plating:



And after polishing the nickel plate:

So here it is on the stuffing tube shaft and hull. In this pic you can see the chunk that got broken out of the tube:



The good side:



And with some prop 'bling'







I also decided to glue in the bearing at the prop end of the shaft. So it is curing overnight.

Now I can get on with the dashboard. I hope!

Started on the dashboard today. This is the first cut from the sheet. These massive snips were given to me by my mother-in-law. Her husband used to work for Union Pacific railroad company as a mechanic. These snips used to be used to fix locomotives. That's cool.



These big snips actually can make quite delicate cuts. I used the scissors only for the curved cuts.



Comparison to the original dash:



Cleaned up the edges with a belt sander.



Taped the old dash to the new dash and then drilled the holes for the steering wheel and shift lever. Also punched and drilled holes for the aluminum dash to attach to the original dash.



Tacked down the ends of the dash to a piece of 2x4 timber so I could have a stable platform for damascening.



Set up the jig in the mill and started on the damascening.



Two hours and ten minutes later, not including set-up time, it looked like this. Approximately 600 swirls.





I removed the decal from the original dash, exposing the wood laminate. I then glued the new aluminum dash to it, and secured it with 0-80 socket head screws.



Next, I need to make some gauge housing rings, and print some gauge faces. Then install them on the new dash.

BTW, I tested the driveline today and everything holds in place and the oscillations have been damped out. And it sounds wicked!

like I said over on rc groups looks great

I cut the engine instrument gauge bezels today. After the first batch of 10, and digging through the chips to find them, I got smart and used a paper cup to catch them.



The bezels, in two sizes. 1/2" and 5/16"



This is the basic idea. The bezels are nowhere near finished. They will be polished and smoothed over.







And of course, there will be gauge faces made for them.

I also made some rings with slight knurling on them. Going to make gas caps out of them.

Nice work!!!

Thanks Don!

Got the gauge bezels polished and installed on the dash. I shrunk down some Stewart Warner faces and then printed them on photo paper and covered them with clear tape for a glass effect. Then cut them out with scissors and glued them into the bezels.







Next, I installed the dashboard into the boat. Previously, I had removed the grey cloth tape that covered the seam and sanded down the chunks of glue from the original dash and also sanded the entire length of the mating surface for a good bond with the CA. After the dash was firmly installed, I cut some cockpit coaming and used white glue and masking tape to hold it in place while drying.





I also got my jackstaff stern light installed.



To make gas caps, I took the stock exhaust tips and cut off the spouts. The resulting contoured 'cap' fits the knurled rings I made.





After I sand down the remaining high spots and finish painting the tops, I will install my 'gas caps'.

The factory uses a gray cloth tape to simulate metal. Well, I have never seen any gray cloth that looks like metal. So I stripped that crap off the hatches and applied chrome tape instead. Now that looks like metal!



After the 'gas caps' had been sanded and re-painted I glued them to the aluminum rings. The caps had little nubs on them so all I had to do was drill a hole to mount them. They are supposed to simulate 'screw on' caps so no need for flanges and bolts. Made it easy.







Well, the dash is finally finished.



A couple more poseur pics...







After that, there was nothing else left to do except put here in the water and see if she floats.







I could barely crack the throttle and this big boat slipped through the water easily. With no reverse on the esc I was pretty nervous about it so I brought it back to me. I then decided I would do a 'stress test' on the motor to see if it would get hot. (Stupid idea I realize now!) So I held the boat, and went full throttle and counted down 60 seconds. Man, it has pretty good push against my hand. Anyway, I take the boat out of the water and figure I will mosey on over to my shop and get my temp gun. I lift off the hatch and SMOKE is coming out. Ah geez..........

Well I get my temp gun and start looking for the 'smoking gun' and can't find anything overheated. Motor was around 95* except one spot near a brush was around 105*. The esc was around 103-105* and the batteries were in the 80's. What the heck? I let it cool off for a few minutes and then powered it up again and all seemed okay. I then ran the motor and it worked fine. I think I missed a bullet!

I want to find a deck mounted navigation light in the right scale. Any ideas?

well how did that spektrum preform,its the dx6 right?

wow the is a fantastic looking boat , congrats man !
what is the powerplant ?

Reb, so far, in the pool, it worked fine. lol... Will hit the lake later.

eyekandy: Thanks! It is a Johnson Mini-EV. Like a 900 or 970, something like that.

yea my boat will not be at the TOP of a lake the C.Q. has a free bord of 1/4" the hull is 1-5/8'' tall,the cabins are about a foot tall 36" long so she's wont be sailed on a body of water no bigger than 100' good luck too ya at the lake!

A successful maiden voyage!

The boat motor ran flawless. The esc worked flawless. The water cooling system worked flawless. The boat planed and maneuvered flawless. I am soooo happy with the result!





I used a Graupner 40mm two blade carbon prop. 12 IB4200 cells. After 5 minutes of running I pulled it back in and checked temperatures. Motor was 95-120*F depending on spot. Esc was 110-120*F depending on spot. Batt's were 118*F. Not bad at all. The performance of the boat looked very scale like.

Video later.

Fantastic! Congratulations on your maiden voyage. Don't forget the video.
Sunny_B