Thursday, August 18, 2016

Organic Carbon Fibre Masts, August 2016

Here is an update for August, 2016. I picked up my 
trees, and have done the rough work of converting them to "Organic Carbon Fibre" Masts. Of course, this is only going by what my high school biology teacher told me trees were made of, with a few years in between to make the memories a little fuzzy. Anyways, it is much easier to let Mother Nature do the layup of the carbon fibre than doing it myself.
Also had to build some heavy duty saw horses for this step.  
 I have the best pole completely power planed as the main mast, and the second best pole about 70% done, before the belt in my planer melted. I have just exchanged it on warranty, as the planer and replacement belt are discontinued, but one local store had some of the old stock still.
Next is to take the belt sander to  the poles, cut to length, and put on a coat of paint.
There is a third pole in case I find major flaws in the first two.
 I also bought two 50 gallon water tanks, here is a picture of the starboard tank in position, and at the bottom of the picture is a corner of a 4" deep 37x37" tray that will form my shower pan. The pan will get a sump pump and an elevated grating to stand on while showering.

Not shown is a 32 gallon tank that will be installed for grey water, when in a location that does not allow discharge.







I purchased the various fittings to fill and vent, as well as a 8" clean out with rubber seal for each tank. Once I have the tanks and bulkheads all figured out, I will cut and install the fittings