My new hull and trailer

**chuckitt** · 04-12-2009, 09:22 AM

Yea, the drain plugs are 1.25 inch instead of 1 inch. Wal-mart should have them too. It,s hard to remember all the small parts when you were here.
Thanks, Chuck

**buster** · 04-12-2009, 11:01 AM

Hey Duane,
Haven't you heard of "The handyman's secret weapon"

, Yea that's right, DUCT TAPE

Dave

**Duane Scarborough** · 04-12-2009, 01:06 PM

Papee,

Gee, why didn't I think of the little fans? Hmmm.... I think I've got one of those somewhere.

Chuck,

I took the 1 inch plugs back and looked for 1 1/4 plugs. No luck.

Buster,

I didn't think about duct tape. Duh. No problem. I've got plenty of other stuff to keep me busy for a while.

Thanks,

Duane

**Duane Scarborough** · 04-12-2009, 05:23 PM

Chuck,

I did some measuring and sketching today. And decided that I am definately going to build my Mini with low side by side seating. I'm planning to arrange it so I can shift the battery and gas tank far to the right hand side for when I'm running solo. That should compensate pretty well.

If I don't like it, I can rebuild it later. I really think I'll be happier with it this way.

It won't look like a typical airboat, but I've learned to follow the voices in my head...

Thanks,

Duane

**chuckitt** · 04-12-2009, 06:41 PM

Thats the good part of building it yourself. If you like it and you make it work, then you are a leader and others will follow. If it don't work to good then you can rebuild it and say "no, that don't work, It's been tried before"

Chuck

**Duane Scarborough** · 04-12-2009, 09:51 PM

Chuck,

I started cutting metal this afternoon. I "thought" that a cut-off wheel in the die grinder would go thru the 304 SS pretty quick. WRONG again.

So I pulled out the Sawsall. I made 2 cuts thru 1/8" by 1-1/2" 304 SS flat bar with a new Dewalt 24 TPI metal cutting blade. It took a LONG time for each cut. It was obvious that the blade wasn't going to last long.

I headed to Lowe's, hoping to find some carbide blades. Didn't find those, but did find some diamond blades. They were $35.00 each. Ouch.

Instead, I picked up a 5 pack of Lenox 18 TPI "Gold" metal cutting blades for $18.00 to try. With some cutting oil, it sliced thru the 1/8" by 1-1/2" 304 SS flat bar almost like a hot knife in butter. Maybe not that quick, but pretty darn quick. Seconds instead of minutes.

Duane

**buster** · 04-13-2009, 01:00 AM

Duane,

When you need a break from cutting up all that high priced metal,

check out my latest post in General Tech Talk on 084 Starter Alternative.

It ain't fancy. but it works for me

Dave

**chuckitt** · 04-13-2009, 07:13 AM

Hey Duane, we use a 14 inch chop saw and the Norton abrasive blades. The Norton thin blades also debur the best on the side of the blade. The blades are about 6.00 dollars each and last a long time.
Chuck

**Duane Scarborough** · 04-13-2009, 05:45 PM

Chuck,

That's what we use at work. Unfortunately, I don't have one at home. The Lenox Gold blades work fine in the Sawsall.

Thanks,

Duane

**Duane Scarborough** · 04-13-2009, 07:44 PM

Buster,

I read it, and replied. Thanks for sharing your solution !

Stainless steel certainly isn't cheap. And it's much more difficult to work with.

I tracked down a local supplier that has "reasonable" prices though. It looks like I'm going to spend about $500.00 on metal.

But, I'm going to spend a good bit of time in salt water, so I think I'll be much happier using SS. I've waited a very long time to start on this project, and want to make sure that the end result pleases me. If it takes more time, and a little more money, I'm O.K. with that.

Thanks,

Duane

**buster** · 04-13-2009, 08:52 PM

Duane,

Do you realize that chop saws have gotten a lot cheaper recently? I saw a chineese unit advertised today for $58.00 at Harbor Freight! A chop saw is the only way to go when you have a lot of cutting to do. It will save a lot of money in sawzall blades!

Dave

**Duane Scarborough** · 04-13-2009, 10:31 PM

Dave / Buster,

I'll check that out. For now, the Lenox Gold blades seem to work fine in the Sawsall. They're 5 for $18.00, and appear to hold up well enough to make at least 15-20 cuts per blade. My test cuts yesterday were on 1/8" x 1-1/2" flat bar. I figure they'll do even better on the tubing. I've got $390.00 worth of metal so far that I want cut up into little pieces NOW. It'll be this weekend before I get much more done on it though.

Thanks,

Duane