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Which windlass is best?


LadyG

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1 minute ago, Mike Tee said:

You probably won't until the day you forget to take it

That is correct, I feel like a bit of a pratt, but try to look "nonchalant".

Edited by LadyG
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I always thought it would be quite good to drill the end of a Dunton windlass and poke in a cut off piece from the end of the handcuff key. I don't know if or where they might still be used (recall them on the Leicester section a number of yars ago) but having an inch of that sticking out would attach to the magnet. 

 

Once inserted one would drill through from the side and knock in a roll pin to secure it. 

 

Pillar drills are cool. I no longer have one. 

 

 

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8 hours ago, dave moore said:

It could be an idea to it a small Jubilee clip on the shank. If it goes in then a magnet should recover it. Just a thought.

 

Should, but probably won't. 

 

 

Have you chucked it in the cut and fished it out with a magnet to test your idea? My guess would be "no"! 

 

 

 

 

 

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If the windlass itself was a powerful magnet it would really easy to retrieve with an old big steel nut on a string or a chain. Trouble would the sudden loving attraction to anything steel ,iron, and the problem of yanking it off paddle spindles to remove it, also levering it up and off if plonked down on the boats steel roof. Should be good fun though. :closedeyes:

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5 hours ago, bizzard said:

If the windlass itself was a powerful magnet it would really easy to retrieve with an old big steel nut on a string or a chain. Trouble would the sudden loving attraction to anything steel ,iron, and the problem of yanking it off paddle spindles to remove it, also levering it up and off if plonked down on the boats steel roof. Should be good fun though. :closedeyes:

If you made the boat roof magnetic too, but the same polarity as the windlass, then it would just nicely hover above the roof instead. This could also work for hulls and aid in collision avoidance. To help with identifying boat polarity only red and blue would be permissable paint colours.

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Doing the sides would be good for mooring against the piling and stopping other boats contacting. 

 

North to Larboard and South to Starboard. 

 

This way the boats would stay away from each other but you could clamp to piling easily. 

 

ETA oops! boats traveling and pointing the same way as a moored craft would clamp onto it! More work needed !

Edited by magnetman
typo
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57 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said:

If you made the boat roof magnetic too, but the same polarity as the windlass, then it would just nicely hover above the roof instead. This could also work for hulls and aid in collision avoidance. To help with identifying boat polarity only red and blue would be permissable paint colours.

But as any fule no, static magnetic fields can't make anything hover stably. You'd need to build some kind of active AI stability control system (like drones use) into the windlass, maybe with a wireless charger on the boat roof so you don't have to plug it in to recharge. Then you could have a GPS/cellular locator built into it too so you can track it if you ever lose it.

 

I feel a patent coming on... 🙂

Edited by IanD
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On 20/03/2023 at 12:26, IanD said:

Surely hydraulics are the one paddle you don't want a long/ratchet/geared windlass because they're very low effort, you want a shortish windlass so as not to wear your shoulder and arm out with the incessant turning...

 

Maybe not on lock gear but I can think of two hydraulic lift bridges where I would like a slightly longer throw. Banbury and one up the North Stratford, mind you, I am sure a slightly larger cylinder on the last one would help.

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3 hours ago, Hudds Lad said:

If you made the boat roof magnetic too, but the same polarity as the windlass, then it would just nicely hover above the roof instead. This could also work for hulls and aid in collision avoidance. To help with identifying boat polarity only red and blue would be permissable paint colours.

For a long time I thought Tesco used big magnets as my boat always stopped there for some reason, only realised when the credit card was presented at a till.

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11 minutes ago, IanD said:

Nice jokes, so long as you mispronounce "patent" like many people do... 😉

 

(it's "pattent" not "pay-tent"...)

In English it is pay-tnt. 

 

British pronunciation:

 

IMG_20230331_103942.jpg.2a362baeb4de9347c756b84d22baff12.jpg

 

 

Edited by magnetman
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7 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

For a long time I thought Tesco used big magnets as my boat always stopped there for some reason, only realised when the credit card was presented at a till.

This raises an interesting line of investigation. Has anyone checked canalside pubs for large magnets? I feel some serious research is in order. They could be hiding them in the barrels so they’ll need emptying, similarly the top shelf bottles would make an excellent place of concealment!

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2 hours ago, magnetman said:

In English it is pay-tnt. 

 

British pronunciation:

 

IMG_20230331_103942.jpg.2a362baeb4de9347c756b84d22baff12.jpg

 

 

 

Well I've being working with patent agents in the UK (and abroad) for many years, and every single one of them says "pattent". Even the English ones. And I'm equally sure that most of the public including you -- and Google -- don't. Which doesn't make it correct -- if the Daily Wail is the most popular UK paper, does that mean they're right? Right-wing, yes...

 

But I'm sure you (and Google) know better than all those people who actually do this for a living... 😉

 

1 hour ago, Hudds Lad said:

This raises an interesting line of investigation. Has anyone checked canalside pubs for large magnets? I feel some serious research is in order. They could be hiding them in the barrels so they’ll need emptying, similarly the top shelf bottles would make an excellent place of concealment!

 

They wouldn't, big magnets wipe out the mag strip on credit cards. DAMHIK... 😞

Edited by IanD
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22 minutes ago, magnetman said:

I think the chip and pin would still work and the contactless payment option.

This was in the old days when the mag strip was used all the time...

26 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said:

So you’re a NO for the research team then?

I'm certainly up for research into canalside pubs. I'll leave my cards at home and pay with my phone, like all the yoof -- and me, nowadays -- do... 😉

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