Just finishing making some dividers out of old brass flat stock I've had for 10 years.
I hand sawed the brass into long wedges, used a small file to get it in shape, used some old aviation hardware with a plastic washer between the wedges, and presto... damn near perfect dividers - they work great.
Generally store bought brass dividers come in 7 and 8 inch lengths. I couldn't decide which I might want so I made mine 7.5 inches.
Just goes to show a navigator doesnt need to spend gobs of cash to have some tools.
Next - maybe a plotting triangle from old plastic.
BTW - the photo shows where I live in relation to the last great sea battle of ww2. The upper divider point is on my house. The lower divider length shows the southern route the Japanese navy used to attack the America forces at Leyte. The pencil is on the Surigao straights where the battle took place. The Surigao southern entrance is 88 nm from my house. Japanese lost and the surviving ships went back the same way they came.
Leyte is where general MacArthur returned to the Philippines.
My island is where Magellan was killed... lots of history here.
Cheers
I hand sawed the brass into long wedges, used a small file to get it in shape, used some old aviation hardware with a plastic washer between the wedges, and presto... damn near perfect dividers - they work great.
Generally store bought brass dividers come in 7 and 8 inch lengths. I couldn't decide which I might want so I made mine 7.5 inches.
Just goes to show a navigator doesnt need to spend gobs of cash to have some tools.
Next - maybe a plotting triangle from old plastic.
BTW - the photo shows where I live in relation to the last great sea battle of ww2. The upper divider point is on my house. The lower divider length shows the southern route the Japanese navy used to attack the America forces at Leyte. The pencil is on the Surigao straights where the battle took place. The Surigao southern entrance is 88 nm from my house. Japanese lost and the surviving ships went back the same way they came.
Leyte is where general MacArthur returned to the Philippines.
My island is where Magellan was killed... lots of history here.
Cheers