flipstart
Sep 08, 2003, 02:51 PM
Here is an old woodworking trick that may help to make wooden mounting brackets to use for float mounting, rudder mounting and a bunch of other related uses.
These mounts are meant to replace the plastic landing gear brackets often used to attach floats and rudders as well as landing gear wire.
You can make them any width, thickness, length for almost any diameter of rod or tube. I use spruce or cedar, but almost any wood should work. You will need a drill press.
Simply clamp 2 strips of wood together, cut to your thickness and width together, using two scrap strips to outside that are about 3/4" inch thick for stiffness. I make mine about 18" long and clamp on each end. You may have to use a third clamp in between as you drill the holes for more support. This will make make several brackets of your choice in same setup.
Mark your hole location, centered on the inside edge of 2 strips, or offset to one side if you need more clearance on larger applications (wood does not stretch very well) Mark as many hole locations for brackets and/or variations you can get from this one setup.
Carefully drill each hole full width for each bracket, unclamp, cut to length, drill mounting holes and you are in business. If you drill too much off center. one side may be scrap, if centered, each side can be a row of brackets. For rudder mounts, I use brackets offset drilled with a piece of brass tubing of correct ID.
I hope this is clear as mud, but it is a lot easier once you give it a try. They look better than plastic and work just as well. Sorry I do not have a digital camera. Flipstart
These mounts are meant to replace the plastic landing gear brackets often used to attach floats and rudders as well as landing gear wire.
You can make them any width, thickness, length for almost any diameter of rod or tube. I use spruce or cedar, but almost any wood should work. You will need a drill press.
Simply clamp 2 strips of wood together, cut to your thickness and width together, using two scrap strips to outside that are about 3/4" inch thick for stiffness. I make mine about 18" long and clamp on each end. You may have to use a third clamp in between as you drill the holes for more support. This will make make several brackets of your choice in same setup.
Mark your hole location, centered on the inside edge of 2 strips, or offset to one side if you need more clearance on larger applications (wood does not stretch very well) Mark as many hole locations for brackets and/or variations you can get from this one setup.
Carefully drill each hole full width for each bracket, unclamp, cut to length, drill mounting holes and you are in business. If you drill too much off center. one side may be scrap, if centered, each side can be a row of brackets. For rudder mounts, I use brackets offset drilled with a piece of brass tubing of correct ID.
I hope this is clear as mud, but it is a lot easier once you give it a try. They look better than plastic and work just as well. Sorry I do not have a digital camera. Flipstart