equiptment

Can any one help? I want to enroll on the YDS cousre. The course itself suits my budget, but once you add equiptment and books, it gets quite expensive. Does anybody know where I can get drafting equiptment quite cheap (considering I am in the UK).
Also, is there any alternative to buying spline weights, (or any other equiptment for that matter) these alone cost $399 from the YDS. Any help gratefully received.

You can save a load of money by purchasing the books second hand...www.abebooks.com, has a good portion of them. Equipment, I found some of the art supply stores will order in the copenhagen curves to save on shipping from the US, and spline weights - make up your own template/mold and take it into a metal works shop and they will melt the lead for you incredibly cheaply, which not only saves on the shipping, but also the cost of the weight. There are patterns for the weights in various text books. It can be done on a budget!! Ebay have some draughting tables, A0 and A1 anything from 20 pounds in good condition. Get a few essentials, but don't spend too much on the manual draughting supplies..you will want to use a computer in no time if you are serious about finding work in the industry .......were there specific items you were looking for?

[gonzo]

I make my own weights. Make a mold with plaster of paris and melt the lead in any old cooking pan. A camping stove or a regular stove gets hot enough.

I have also decided to attempt to make my own weights after seeing the cost, plus the postage! But, this will be the first of this kind of thing I have made....so, this will probably seem like a stupid question on procedure .....

So, I make the shape of the weight out of wood (or is there a better material?), position the wooden model in a container and pour in the plaster of paris around it. Remove the wooden model once it sets, and then bake slowly to remove the moisture.....is there a secret with removing the wood? Do I cover it with anything like plastic or grease??? And is it removed once the plaster is completely set or once semi hard?

Also, are you setting the hook in the lead or attaching it afterwards? Any thing to watch out for once I melt the lead and pour it in the molds? From the previous threads, it seems the big thing is make sure the plaster of paris is completely free of moisture!

[gonzo]

YES, if the plaster is humid, the water will explode and crack the mold. I make the plugs out of clay; it's easy to work with. Playdo will do just as well. I drill a hole and set the hooks in epoxy. Wire coathangers are perfect. My weights have screwed on drawer knobs on top. I prefer them to indentations on the sides.

Can you reuse the molds? Or do you need a plaster of paris mold for each weight you want to cast?

[Paul Browne]

There's a good article on making spline weights on Duckworks Magazine. Try

http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/r/a...plineDucks.cfm

If you can't get in, some parts of Duckworks are for subscribers, so you'll have to subscribe. You might want to anyway. It's a good e-zine.

Cheers,

Paul Browne

http://www.geocities.com/geezerboat

[gonzo]

I made ten out of the last mold and it is in fine shape still.

[edneu]

27 ounce Elkhorn/Westlawn Spline Weights are available for $27.50 each from :

Craig Smith or Dave Hopton
Elkhorn Composites
25 Grove Street
Watsonville, CA 95076
Tel: (831) 722-1654

They can be seen at :

http://www.westlawn.org/news/spline_weight.shtml