The brass machine screws arrived this afternoon so once work was done I went down to the workshop to fit them. Although the required length is just 12mm I bought ones that were 20mm in length and cut them down to fit. The reason being that I’m more likely to use 20mm lengths and they come in packs of 20.
It didn’t take long to cut the machine screws to length, grind the ends so that a nut fits and then to fit them to the outer housing.
I still do not have a simple way to mount the LED in the bottom of the outer housing, so I just made up something that will do for now and if it proves to be deficient in any way then I can find a better way then.
I did take the time while the light was still in the sky to sand and put the fourth, and last, coat of varnish on the hatch runners. Once this is hard I shall put the hatch on, probably in a week or so since the temperature is still in the single digits and will be for at least the next week according to the forecast.
The mounting of the LED is not that difficult, it is the wires that are the problem.
So this is the way I’m going right now. This is the underside of the LED mount with the LED and the wires held to the wood with hot glue.
I have reassembled the compass, now to try out the lighting.
I have a variable power supply in my office which I set to 12V and connected the LED. This is the result with the office light on.
And with the office light off. Not at all bad.
Except that the inner housing has been put in backwards and the lubber line, which should at the front of the compass is at the back. So I will have to change that.
While I had the compass open again I took a photo of the LED mount. As you can see, it is very simple. Hopefully the huge blob of glue I put on the wires and wood will hold and stop them from being torn off.
Here is the compass the correct was around. You can see the word AFT on the outer ring at the bottom and the lubber line now opposite, where it should be.
So, the compass is done and now needs to be installed into the cockpit. But, since I get into and out of the boat on the starboard side, putting the compass in now would be right in the way, so I’ll put it aside somewhere safe and install it closer to the launch day.
Time for a cup of tea.