Those Eureka moments!

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Hi chaps!

Reading the previous post, Neil mentions, having the occasional “Eureka moment!

It seems a good idea for a special thread?……..Eureka moments are moments of pleasure and ought to be shared!

 

My first EM was discovering the idea of covering the hull of my JDAW with card strips with rivets punched through!

Not only did it save hours of filling and rubbing down, but has a realistic appearance

From then on…….Everything suitable had card and rivets…..as if you haven`t noticed!

 

What`s your Eureka Moment?

 

Bob

 

It was a real treat painting the hull too!

Edited By Bob Abell on 22/11/2011 09:33:45

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

[Eric Moffat 1Participant @ericmoffat1]

G’day Bob, your rivetted hull looks very realistic.

I vaguely recall reading an article in mb years ago where someone had used an implement looked like a pizza cutter, but instead of a cutting wheel it had a type of gear wheel. I twas used to mark card to look like rivets. I think the tools original purpose was to mark out stitching in dressmaking or embroidery or suchlike.

I thought at the time it seemed like a good alternative purpose to put, what no doubt was a valuable tool,normally used by our equally valuable ladies.

 

Regards

Eric

 

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Bob. Thinking about it, my eureka moments have been mostly having the idea for the next boat! That is, the ODD boats. The other ones have just been things I fancy making.

 

Minor moments include finding waisted airgin pellets made jolly good windlasses for the Titanic, the spring loaded mast for the Herald, Meccano bits for the drive on the Toyboata, the stip sticky-backed LED lights for the carrier.

 

Ashley.

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Hello Ashley

 

I can see the Waisted slugs doing quite a good job as windlasses, having the nice knurly section.

 

One of my early boats was the giant Colin Archer model by Billings and was a real pain to assemble at the pondside!

So I sawed the mast in half and fitted a sliding sleeve.

I could then transport it, fully rigged!

 

The Becker rudder was an Eureka moment and a pleasant novelty when first fitted, as I thought out my own mechanism

 

Feathering paddlewheels are nice to see, rotating and going through their weird motions, but are very labour intensive to construct!

 

Bob

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Bob, Ah, paddle wheels..From my book on Paddle-warships, it shows something called a “cycloid wheel”…google that..

 

Basically it says “each float is cut into several strips (horizontally) and set stepwise, in advance of each other along a cycloid currve”.. so instead of a single paddle blade, you have in effect each blade cut up, and so you dont get one big splash but a few small ones…. just as fiddly to make of course. Not as good as afeathering wheel, but better than a common wheel and less prone to damage.

 

Ashley

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

I needed to make a ships wheel for my Great Eastern, and decided to make a decent job of it, for once……..Rather than guess it and hope for the best!

 

The tricky part was……….How to drill the spoke holes in the wheel rim, accurately?

Without a dividing head, this is quite a problem.

 

The lathe spindle was a good starting point, on removing the gearchange cover, I was pleased to see a 40 tooth sprocket on the spindle

 

I made a metal lever, pivotting on a nearby stud and filed a single gear tooth on it. which engaged with the spindle sprocket………..Nice eh?

 

I next made a drill guide that fitted the toolpost and was positioned in front of a length of tube material, gripped in the chuck.

 

With the gear and spindle clamped up, it was a simple matter to drill the tube by hand, using the toolpost guide to line up the 1.5mm drill.

The process was repeated, eight times, drilling a hole every five gear tooth spacing.

 

The process was a complete success and the precisely drilled ring was a thing of great beauty and a joy forever!

 

The dividing mechanism…………..Just so fiendishly clever?

 

 

It was an absolute treat to see the holes so neatly drilled.

Can`t wait to use this feature again, soon!

 

Well, I hope you chaps appreciated this little Eureka moment?……..I certainly did!

 

Bob

[John.RedearthParticipant @john-redearth]

Hi

My little moment was discovering the value of aluminium flashing. It is now my 'go to' material for lots of things. In particular I used flashing for hull plates as the card is used in the top Photo on this page. the difference is that aluminium cannot be water damaged. A friend said I should avoid it because it would be difficult to glue on and keep there.. that heat and cold would cause the plates to come off. A tub of 5 minute apoxy and fifteen years later and it is OK. And a few rams into various banks.

I have a little video I made about this http://youtu.be/oOVgibpwj48

Cheers

John

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Bob

Your lathe jig is a superb piece of lateral thinking and just goes to show what a lifetime of engineering experience can produce. How many 'young bucks' would even know how a lathe works never mind have the skill to manipulate such a complex tool and operate it outside the normal parameters.

May I suggest that make another wheel and video the process for youtube so that other model builders can benefit from your Eureka moment.

Paul

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Thank you, Paul

I'm really glad you took the patience to study the process and realise what was going on!

You have the makings on an engineer!

Previous to the method described, I usually marked the spacings out, as best I could, but was never a pleasing sight!

Don't feel like doing another at the moment though

Regards……Curly

[LARRY WHETTONParticipant @larrywhetton68737]

hI bob, Eureka moment are a when you tried to solve a problem then give up,

then when i go back to what i left mostley to the cost of things being a scratch builer and a fairly good

joiner i seek an cheaper item like my use of IKEA blinds mostly found in skips and boot sales

also trying to improve my engineering skills to make a pair of paddle wheels wich i have put on hold

so i looking for help on the feed back on the web site cheers Larry…

Edited By LARRY WHETTON boatman76 on 10/06/2012 11:53:47

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Hello John Dutton

I liked your video and the aluminium sheet idea and also the small detail stuff too

Next time you post a link, make sure you leave a large space before pasting the link and then it will highlight itself for easy clicking on

Larry

The kit for the paddle boat Glasgow has paddle wheel kits which can be purchased separately

Don't know what size they are though.

Your cheap source of planking material is a Eureka moment all right!

Bob

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

You have the makings on an engineer

Thank you Curly this is high praise indeed especially from such an experienced machinist, I'm afraid that my precision work is confined to the CAD and that I would have to go a long way to be as good a job-shopper as you are.

Paul

 

Edited By The Fat Controller on 10/06/2012 13:44:25

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Another Eureka moment ……..Rather than a Senior moment!

I am in the process of trimming a wibbly wobbly plastic hull and it is not very satisfying.

The hull was awkward to hold and cutting a neat line was beyond the pale!

Then the idea came to me!………..Clamp a steel rule to the hull, in line with the required cut line and Bob`s yer Uncle!………Simply cut done to the steel rule!

Like it?

[LARRY WHETTONParticipant @larrywhetton68737]

Hi Bob ,

another great eureka moment, you should have a coulom in model boat mag,

what you think Mr Bishop ? cheers Larry…..

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

You flatter me, Mr Whetton!

These eureka moments don't grow on trees you know!

Bob

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Larry

I like the idea of Bob having a little column in the magazine.

Called Bobs Workshop he could dispense little nuggets of model building knowledge, something involving lathes, bandsaws and tricky engineering details.

Over to Mr. Freshney.

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

I'm quite content, posting the Eureka Moments in this forum only

It may sound a nice idea for a column in the magazine but to have to invent new ideas every month would put me under unwanted pressure

Thanks for your kind thoughts though, chaps

Bob

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Fair enough Bob.

[DuckyParticipant @ducky]

Here you go Bob

One of those moments for you, Son John (RJR Maggie "M&quot came up with this one for me.

Instead of filling those milk bottles with dirty poo water, came up with this idea.

As you can see its recycled weights from out of vertical blinds

Cleaner and less bulky, better than going on a land fill somewhere hey.

Duckie

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

This was a Eureka Moment too

I needed two brass rings and not having any sheet brass, I resorted to bending strip material the hard way….ie……..On edge!

The clever part was turning a groove in the lathe chuck backplate!

The brass was pressed into the groove and gently hammered round the bend!

Quite often, the brass needed to be annealed on the jolly old gas stove!…..But it worked!

Prop guard on Great Eastern

Capt B

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Yep! Got another!……And it`s a cracker!…….Don`t know how I do it for the money!

Got a nice little handy rotary sander, which is lovely with a fresh sanding disc!

But aren`t the spares expensive?

So I use normal abrasive sheet, cut into a rough circle with an old pair of scissors and stuck it to the backing disk!

Stuck it with what, I hear you ask?……….Double sided carpet tape of course!…….Eureka!

Hooray!…..Fresh sanding disks for nowt!

Told you it was a cracker!………….Archy

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Problem……How do I clamp the pointy end to the hull?

Place a clamp as in photo

Then clamp the clamp!………A simple trick worth remembering

Hope you like it?………..Bob

[Kimosubby ShipyardsParticipant @kimosubbyshipyards]

Hi Bob, a eureka moment for me!

I am finishing a restoration project on an old sea racing yacht, and having made the sails set about fixing the luff hooks. As usual I ran out, so ordered some more only to find that the style had changed (and the size too).

Not to be disheartened, I put my brain into "Bob" mode and asked myself how would he make them. So measuring the style I had already used I devised a simple jig by fixing short brass pegs into holes drilled in perspex (because I had some and it was 12mm thick.) Trial an error got the distances right, and Mk II is shown below in use.

To get the first one off the jig, and find it the right shape, size and same as the master was a true "eureka" moment – I then went on and made another 40 in 2 hours, and only condemmed 2 for being out of shape.

It just shows what can be done with some thought and logical process!

Kim.

Edited By Kimosubby Shipyards on 09/09/2012 10:09:42

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Very well done, Kimmo!

A true Eureka moment without a doubt!

A fixture is the only way for mass production

Inspiration for us all!

Bob

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