Save-A-Boat - The Forum for Plastic Classic Rebuilds!

With digital cameras and computers it is easy to take and keep photos to document our boats. If you are like me, a photo of a nut is not enough to show me what size wrench I need to loosen it.

This gave me the idea of putting a wrench on the nut or fitting when taking the photo.

Below is a photo of my water lift muffler with the drain plug which needs to be loosened to let the water out when the boat is hauled for the winter. Now before I start crawling into the cockpit locker and standing on my head I wouln't have to drag lots of wrenches with me "just in case".

Someday, it'd be nice if someone would build an entire structure or mechanism that used only one size nut. Something to strive for.

Someday, it'd be nice if someone would build an entire structure or mechanism that used only one size nut.

For a start, wouldn't it be great if someone built a boat that only had metric or SAE fasteners, not both?

Someday, it'd be nice if someone would build an entire structure or mechanism that used only one size nut. Something to strive for.

We'd still choose the wrong size wrench. ;-)

Great idea for taking the picture, BTW..

JonnyBoats wrote:

Someday, it'd be nice if someone would build an entire structure or mechanism that used only one size nut.

For a start, wouldn't it be great if someone built a boat that only had metric or SAE fasteners, not both?

Speakng as someone who grew up in the UK with 4 different gauges (Metric, SAE, Whitworth and Imperial) I can say that 2 is MUCH better than 4.

My father has spent a lifetime making incredibly detailed scale models and he always sets a one inch wide tape measure in the photos of the full scale pieces he is trying to model. Even at a distance the one foot markings are clearly visible and in the closeups the inches are clear. He measures the graduations on the tape with a dial caliper, and the dimension of any specific piece in the same plane and using ratio and proportion with simple algibra, cross multiplies a result. I.E. if one inch measures 0.375" and the piece you are trying to dimension measures 1.031" then it would be 2 3/4" etc.

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