Friday 11 July 2008

Greenhart,yes green wood as well as Purple





Following the trip I made to Brasil,Guyana,Surinam,then Trinidad and Tobago,I later went back to Guyana on a timber fact finding mission,it was an eye opener at the time.One saw mill was able to offer me hand squared logs of Greenhart in 60 ft lengths,thats about 18.3 mtrs long,he reasoned,the logs are up to 90ft so,supply in 60ft will be no problem!I also found out that Prince Charles was given a Greenhart Fishing Rod,he used it in Scotland?

ST. GEORGES CATHEDRAL
This Gothic cathedral holds the distinction of being the tallest timber church in the world standing at 43.6 m.(143 feet tall). The cathedral was built between 1877 and 1892. Its foundation stone was laid on 21 November, 1889 and it was consecrated on the 50th Anniversary of the Bishop on St. Bartholomew�s Day, August 24, 1892.
At a cost of $160,000.00 this cathedral was designed by Mr. Arthur Blomfield of Montague Square, London. The church was opened on 26 March, 1893. Constructed from greenheart and English oak, the original edifice had an Elizabethan look before its studs and bracing were covered with greenheart siding. On account of the excess weight placed on the building's foundation the greenheart sidings were removed.

The church has a beautiful wrought-iron chancel screen, rose window and stained glass panels on the eastern side of the building. This cathedral is the fourth building constructed by the Anglican Diocese in Guyana. It is built in the shape of a cruciform of greenheart wood. The nave and roofs are sustained by iron columns in Gothic style reminiscent of the cathedrals in London.

FNB Currency Rates


Fridays rates on 11/07/2008 First National Bank.

Forex Rates


All exchange rates are updated regularly. However, the rates that you receive in a FNB Branch may differ to these rates due to changing market conditions and the amount of your transaction. Please contact your nearest FNB branch if you wish to buy or sell foreign currency.


For your convenience, our Forex Calculator is available online.


Please note
Bank charges and commissions have been excluded

You can receive these rates by subscribing. These rates will be emailed to you at 09h00 and at 16h00 on valid business days.


The following European monetary area currencies have been incorporated into the Euro currency:

ATS, BEF, DEM, ESP, FIM, FRF, GRD, IEP, ITL, LUF, NLG, PTE, SIT, VAL.


Public Exchange Rates against the rand for amounts up to R50 000.


Published at 2008/07/11 10:04:00 AM


Rand per foreign currency unit

Description Code Bank Selling rate Bank buying TT Bank buying TC's Bank buying notes
EURO CURRENCY EUR 12.4619 11.9642 11.9338 11.9521
BRITISH STERLING GBP 15.6100 14.9864 14.9369 14.9712
US DOLLARS USD 7.8624 7.6181 7.5621 7.6104

Thursday 10 July 2008

Purple wood?




Yes it exists,from the forests in Guyana,South America:

The trees are prized for their beautiful heartwood which, when cut, quickly turns from a dark brown to a rich purple color. Exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light darkens the wood to a brown color with a slight hue of the original purple. This effect can be minimized with a finish containing a UV inhibitor. The dry wood is very hard and dense with a specific gravity of 0.86 (54 lb/ft^3 or 860 kg/m^3). This wood is quite dense, and if it is to be worked, then a sharp carbide blade is required to cut it. For uses of this wood it is prized for fine inlay work, woodturning, cabinetry, and furniture. The dust can cause nausea.[citation needed] The wood is also known as amaranth and violet wood. Overharvesting has caused several species to become endangered in areas where they were once abundant.[citation needed] http://www.iwokrama.org/newsletter/dec05/images/en_purpletree.jpg


[edit] Species

Wednesday 9 July 2008

Happy Birthday to our Blog

B&G Mast head unit




Can anyone supply a Brookes and Gatehouse 213 mast head unit,part number 213 or similar,new,used or repairable,this is what it looks like.

Roy

Wanted B&G hydraulic ram for a Network Autopilot



It is the lower blue ram that is the minimum we require,that serves a single steering position,the upper one a duel position,can you supply either unit?



This is the control unit,we can use a second unit too.

We have the computer and just need the Linear Drive Hydraulic Ram to complete our system,instruments and repeaters will also be considered,what have you got we can use?

Roy

Its winter in South Africa


Some may think that if this is Africa its always warm,most times it is but each July/August we get our share of cold weather,with it the rains,much needed for our summers but also snow on the high grounds too,skiing holidays are even possible!This picture is of the mountain pass Customs Post out of the highlands kingdom of Lesotho,its the well known Sani Pass,more or less impassible without a 4x4 vehical.

Roy

Tuesday 8 July 2008

Argie 10,July madness clearance sale




Here we have a demo kit that we played around with for sale,the price of this boat as a kit is R5248,the price of the dinghy built and painted is
a crazy R5775,less 5% if you pay by means other than a credit card,thats only R5500,or U$710 ex works,the pictures are of a similar 'sister' boat.

Roy

021 510 7206 works

Sunday 6 July 2008

Rudders and Foils CNC shaped



The finished job,primed with twin pack etch primers and ready to ship,this order went to New York,USA.



Glassing the shaped surface with biaxial glass cloth and 205 laminating epoxy.



Painted and ready for a power planer to do the next part.


Spray painted,any colour will do but a brite or dark shade will be easier to see as you plane away the unwanted wood.


Laminated Clear Oregon Pine Foils

We made the first set of Didi Mini Transat in the old way of a series of templates shaped to the designers profiles,this is a half profile shape of hardboard,set to every 200mm or so,it works but slowly,one pair of rudders and a foil takes one person over three days to do the basic shaping.We soon worked into using the CNC machine to profile in 3D,then cut the profiles every 50mm,this then gives us a pre cut shape and is quite easy to machine plane to size,we picked up a few tricks as we went,have a look at the pictures.The paint can be any colour,it shows up at the bottom of the cutter slot as we shape into the foil,it tells us when to stop shaping!

Roy