Mirror dinghy CNC files upgrades

We are on file update six, this saves plywood but adds more features, such as the rudder and dagger board foil, hidden side bulkheads, backer rings to the four round plastic inspection hatches, plus part #44!

Cut from both 4mm and 6mm okoume marine plywood, this kit will make you the lightest Mirror possible?

The decks are just loose laid in place in this picture, check how well they fit.

How easy was this? we started mid March, such work took time and required the first kit which is in the picture to be assembled and from that we further developed our CNC cut files.

Shipping locally or world wide should not be a problem.

Roy

HBYC Marina improvements

They are many and done year round, the fact that we never really see any of them is because many of the additions and changes are under the water.

The access bridge has just had a three day service,the lower swivel joint was given an upgrade thanks to a donation by Peter who just happened to have a large and suitable bearing doing nothing in his workshop.

The marina employs some very talented men who will try their hands at most jobs, when it comes to the underwater work, a team of pro divers are brought in, its similar with structural works like welding and refurbishment of the fingers and main spines.

The new bearing raised the end of the walk way to the extent that a new lower step could be added, this means the walkway should be closer to level  than it used to be?

Thats the bearing in the center,click on the pictures to enlarge them and see more detail.

The guys work as a close knit team.

Roy who is the the man standing is the teams forman.

This upgrade is just in time for the summer cruising yachts season, plus the large anchors that have been added to some of the berths to allow yachts over fifty feet long to be accepted.

Nice to see such work going on!

Roy

Veneer form (tm)

Simply the best way to apply a pre veneered plywood panel on a curved surface, you can of course use it as a flat panel.

The very best quailty and waterproof as well!

Veneer form will be available in various wood species.

Roy

Heritage Day holiday in Hout Bay

The picture is dated 2003 so some decade back and more, the conditions on todays Heritage Day are not so nice, plus the Hout Bay YC marina walkway was still out of service yesterday afternoon.

The picture was taken by Kate Turner Smith from her parents yacht the Muria, Tenacity.
The boat is a Dix 43 built in a ply/epoxy composite, its now for sale, please contact me for the brokers name and contact number.

http://www.legacyyachtsales.co.za/CM43%200268.htm

I have always loved this picture!

Roy

Superform bending ply with a veneer face

A new product will soon be released.

By the way., we have done something new I will send you some panel next delivery to play with
3 ply veneered flexible panel cross grain and long grain., In any veneer species the finished
Approx 3mm, 4mm, 4.7mm 0.02mm trials have been done in ASH, OAK, WALNUT, SAPELE...

You will be the first to try.....and give us your opinion

Clickon the image to enlarge and see the quality, the finish is in American White Ash

 
To have a pre finished Superform bending panel saves time and post gluing of veneer sheeting after construction.

A world first and we will see it first!

Roy

Hout Bay marina access control system

Thats it the orange dinghy, while they change the normal walkway finger that the bridge fits onto we have to access the dinghy, then move along the rope and climb onto the dock on the other side.

To be honest I decided not to bother but the system will work and is under the watchfull eyes of the 24 hour security staff that the club employs.

Well done to the marina staff and the specialists they employ to this kind of work, it requires a great deal of planing and work, that blue float system was constructed for this job alone.

Normal service may be back tomorrow?

Roy

Racing Mirror Dinghy kits

We are about to cut an order of ten Mirror dingies, all pre sold as far as I know, they will be cut to meet the  International Mirror wooden boat specification 2013, which is under consideration for some changes due to the fact that in most countries 5mm okoume plywood does not exist, or if it does its made to special order?

Kit set number one, this went together very well and Peter, the boat builder commented on how good the ply panel fit was.

Our plywood panels are a mix of 6mm and 4mm  okoume marine plywood to BS 1088 standards (stamped as such) we are making the timber list required as light as possible by cutting much of the internal wood in obeche, this is a very light timber which is grown in Africa.

Kits and prices are available on request.

Roy

Who designed the 1967 Hillman Californian Coupe?

This was a question I posted on The ImpClub forum last week, the answer took a few days to appear but then lots of info  came in, plus a super picture of the designer and the man who assisted with the aerodynamic styling.

It turns out that the designer was a very tallented man named Ron Wisdom, seen on the left below, thats Richard Sozanski center and Bob Saward to the right.

Hi Roy

Att is a photo Of Ron Wisdom (L) yours truly and Bob Saward (R) so now you have the stylist of the Coupe, Husky ,  Van and Asp  ( Ron) and the stylist of the saloon Bob .

An amazing photo and reply to my question!

I asked where and when the picture above was taken?

Roy, it was at the NEC cannot remember which show ,( with this year's show I shall be on my 25th NEC show ,)

Ah that was the Going Imp Places stand ,England .Scotland, France and of course Australia.See pics.

My car seen at the Killarney circuit some years ago. The car is now in the process of a full restoration, it seems there are no more than sixty or so left world wide?



Roy

Steel band packing your plywood kit orders

Some may wonder why we have to include a packing charge when the kit you have bought is shipped by road or sea? in this case we used a sheet of pine 9mm ply top and bottom, the five steel bands then can be made very tight to secure the package, which weighs in at 160 kgs.

The kit set is the DS 15 Sport boat and its some fifteen sheets of plyswoods, to keep the pack safe we use 16mm x 0.5mm steel banding and a special American made crimping tool, thats a new roll of 250 meters of steel banding in the case on the floor.

There will be very little change if anything from R4000 for the tools and banding you see in the pictures?

Made in the USA and we were told the best made.

Jims kit was collected today and will travel by road to his home on the East Coast of South Africa, he will have his kit order in a few days time.

Larger and or export orders can also be packed in a steel banded 16mm chip board crate, the extra expense is worth it.

Roy

About twenty five hours after the order was collected, this mail came in.

All arrived safely. Many thanks, Jim

The Phantom dinghy ply kit

We have just cut one, a new design to myself.

Seven panels in all, you will need to buy the plans first.

Lots of smaller pieces I note, the CNC machine really saves you time when we cut those out.

Pricing on request,

Roy

Dix Design DS 15 sport boat

This is a sort of mini Didi Mini Transat, scaled down to just 15 feet its going to be a real flyer.

Some pictures of the eleven panels we CNC cut to this design.

You could cut this out with a power jig saw but would you want to?

The acuracy of the CNC machine is so good that we are basically offering a one design that really does not need to be measured.

Roy

Tididi, Andrews yacht is so elegant!

Seen here in a pre roof fastening picture, Andrews Hartley 37 yacht looks so nice and its not even finished yet.

Check the fancy light fittings, they look to work really well.

PS. I have attached the latest picture. That is the first layer of the top in place just to check for proper fit. Still to be glued in place.

CKD Boats cc supplied much of the okoume marine plywood used in the hull skin and decking of this boat.

Roy

Toylander on the move

The works Toylander is now in a new home, a nice family with two sons, one about five and the other is two.

The yellow Toylander is now five years old, the top quality okoume marine plywood and epoxies with 2k auto grade top coats really do pay off over time. The Hillman Californian is now forty seven years old, same again, top quality paints pay off.

Toylander as loaded and soon to be on its way.

Nice!

Roy

Dix Design DS Sport 15 kit panels

We have had the first set of DS15 sport boat panels cut and they will be shipped to Jim the owner builder this week. Jim has already shaped and glassed the rudder and foil blanks we sent him a while back.

A file picture from the Dix Design web site.

Pictures of the various panels will be posted in the morning!

Now about to be built in South Africa,

Roy

Fitting out is the nice part of car restoration

When these cars arrive the years of rust and old paint jobs have to be removed entirely before we can even think of a repaint and then refitting.

New Lucas horns? no they are now about 48 years old but cleaned up well in the bead blasting cabinet.

Type Lucas 6H and model TPAR 545 and TPAR 512.

They are a matched pair with a hi and a low tone, making a very strong sound, later Imps came out with just the one horn to save money, thats how mean Chrysler became in the quest for a higher profit.

Mounted in their box, the original rubber grommet and Lucas colour coded wire, its purple with a black tracer, are fitted and the horns are ready for use again.

Roy