I was a little scarce last week and the week before. The Seattle Times is doing a feature on the lunar lander dwelling. It had to get substantially finished for the photo shoot by last Thursday. Built like a boat with epoxy and vacuum bagging. The usually away-team problems compounded by metal fabrication that didn’t … Continue reading Back. What This Time?
On the lunar lander dwelling project one of my holy grails has been finding blow-your-mind glowing 12v switches. One company I saw at IBEX had some for what $30 each I think it was. An earlier one I bought online was only slightly cheaper and didn’t actually work. These beauties look great. They glow in … Continue reading Glow In the Dark 12v Switches
VHB tape is wonderful stuff to stick things together. It was created for attaching windows to things, with no fasteners. However, I just had an illustrative example of when not to use it. I was very impressed with the VHB tape on the lunar lander dome. It had a steel frame to stick to. Straight … Continue reading When Not To Use VHB Tape
The lunar lander deck panel got a can of Kiwi Grip spread on it, then rolled out. I predicted it would take an hour. It took about 5 minutes and looks pretty good. Thicker gives a bigger pattern; thinner gives a more mild pattern.
I got the epoxy primer on all the furniture in the lunar lander dwelling. I used a Matson 2 part epoxy product that seems to be just like 545 but at about half the price. With Awlgrip T00031 reducer it rolls and tips wonderfully. I buy at Farwest Paints here in Seattle. They sell a lot … Continue reading Epoxy Primer
Wood Boatbuilding Fusion Some time ago I was invited to give a lecture to the Seattle Central Community College school of wooden boat building. I advisd them that their futures were not in steamed knees and nuances of refastening a hull. I told them that the future of wood boatbuilding was in fusing wood/epoxy technology … Continue reading Wood/Composite Fusion
In the past I have always sprayed Awlgrip Hi-Build. I was in an interior situation in my lunar lander where I could not spray. I had tried brushing once with T0006 reducer years ago and it was a mess, so I was skeptical. I have to say that the T0003 is wonderful. I strongly recommend … Continue reading Brushing Hi-Build
One of the things that I have learned doing the lunar lander dwelling project is how much I like to use “magical” light. By not charging the rock star design fees, I only do the standard scope of work, not the frosting, being like most boat designers. My lighting design has been workmanlike. Light can make … Continue reading Light On My Multihulls
Did I just step in it? I have been using this plywood both on boat projects and the lunar lander dwelling. Seal Brand. The ferries for Uganda were also made from this brand as I was told. I looked it up and it turns out they might be one of the major bad actors in … Continue reading Indonesian Plywood
Sometimes I forget not everybody knows about G-10. It is a phenolic fiberglass sheet or shape that can be machined into anything. I am using it to fabricate hinges for the Beckson ports on the lunar lander as the windows must be much thicker than stock. I get mine at McMaster-Carr. http://www.mcmaster.com/#grade-g-10-phenolic/=zs44n4