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Re: homemade outboard

68.4.211.130

Another frustrating night of work here. I picked up a drill bit sharpener today at home depot because I was tired of watching expensive bits go dull on me. I dilled the pilot holes like you said, the smaller bit seemed to have less trouble getting thru the metal. But then I start drilling with the 1/2" bit. it drills for about 1mm before becoming dull. I sharpen it and drill then sharpen and drill etc. I got to the very last 1 mm of steel to be drilled into the hole then the drill bit chuck starts to slip. I hand tighten as hard as I can but no good. By this time I am getting kind of pissed because I am like getting nothing done. I took out these two vice grips and clamped them on the drill chuck to tighten, I pushed it a bit too far and the chuck breaks with the drill bit stuck inside the drill. I even clamped a vice grib on the bit and started hammering trying to get it out of the drill-it wasnt coming out. Total progress for the night...1/2 of one hole drilled, a dull bit, a broken drill and a bloody elbow (bumped against the sharp steel). I hope things get better after this hehe. Tomarrow I will try to laugh this off, get a new drill and drill bit to finish the hole. In the future I think I will do like you and use a more powerful welder or torch to make the holes.
Regarding the chain, I am not sure why its too fast either. A motorcycle chain does spin that fast as well as a automobile timing chain. Adding more pulleys would be fine for keeping the belt pulle contact, but the idlers are $40 bucks each and makes this project more work. Too much work to find a junkyard and I dont want to wait for ebayers to mail them to me. Things are starting to get difficult so I want to keep this as simple as possible. I love the wood/fiberglass idea, I could make about any shape I wanted. I havent thought much about the housing yet and a going to do other stuff a bit before dealing with that. Perhaps if I ignore that problem long enough it will go away!
I got this perfect metal left hand rotation prop today in the mail, its small and looks to be in the 1-2 hp range. About a week or two ago this guy said he would send me one for free because he was interested in seeing if this would work... so the day was not a total loss. (the prop you see in the photos is right hand)
No updated photos today. As soon as I drill that last 1 mm on the last hole, I will put the bolts in, drill smaller holes for the motor, mount the motor, attempt to measure for the belt, get a belt then start her up just to see what it is like. Do you know how to measure for belts, is it center of one pulley to the other? By the way I am using a stardard "4L"? automotive type belt. Found some drilling tips at the link below if you are interested.
http://www.c34.org/faq-pages/faq-stainless-alum.html



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