Keel Weights
The saga of building the keel weights continues. I managed to find an hour-and-a-half for cutting more lead laminations. In fact, I ran out of lead after making a grand total of 28 pieces. Altogether they weigh 23 lbs – that’s according to the bathroom scales, which may not be accurate. 23 lbs is 10.43 kilos, and the total nominal weight of one roll of 6 metres of 6 inch Code 3 lead is 13 kilos; therefore the leftovers approximately weigh 2.57 kilos, i.e., 5.7 lbs. That’s quite a bit of wastage, but nothing can be done to make it any less.
From a total of three rolls of lead I should be able to make 84 laminates, each about 1.5 mm thick, giving a final thickness of 126 millimetres, which is 4.96 inches. The plans show the port hand weight is 2 and 3/16 inch thick and the starboard weight is 2 and 5/8 inches thick, giving a total width of 4 and 13/16 inches. In theory, this means I should have enough lead to finish the job.
2 comments:
Hi Bill, Is there any reason you are not casting the lead?
The plans specify making the weights with lead flashing. By doing so they can be precisely made so that the stainless steel components for attaching them to keel exactly fit. The components are individually turned on a lathe.
However, since the factory that was doing the components has ceased trading, I shall probably improvise by using standard stainless steel bolts and nuts.
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