This morning I was able to get some lead smelting work done, but this afternoon I've got to get going on the "honey-dos." I have made the lead pour into the centerboard socket to keep it from floating back up into the trunk, but if it hits something it can still swing up.
 |
| Lead CB Weight in its Pocket |
 |
| 50 Pounds of Ingots |
 |
| Lead Ingots |
This was the bottom of the pour. The pits are due to gas bubbling up to the surface. The top side was quite a bit rougher, since that's where the bubbles were going. I have it smoothed down quite a bit, but still some to go. The low spots on both sides will be filled with thickened epoxy. The area needs to be smooth, because this is a part of the centerboard that will be submerged.
I spent the rest of the morning pouring ingots. This bucket contains 50 pounds, and right next to it you can barely see another bucket that contains 40 pounds. I'll need another 110 pounds or so to finish the ballast. The ingots will be placed in burlap bags--20 pounds of lead per bag, and the bags will be placed under the floorboards. Works out to eight 20-pound bags--four bags on each side of the keel.
Here are some of the ingots. I have a standard lead mold that makes two 1-pound and two 1/2-pound ingots at a time. On the left are two ingots I made by pouring lead into corn muffin pans. They average about 1 1/2 pounds each.
All this reminds me of when I used to pour my own diving weights back in the 60's. We were much less careful back then--no respirators or face masks. That's probably why I have so few brain cells left.
No comments:
Post a Comment