NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
From: David Pike
Date: 2022 Aug 14, 17:13 -0700
Brian
In the UK "White Spirit" (oil-based paint thinners), is a trade name for "Turpentine Substitute". It's smells and feels more like Paraffin (Jet Fuel). It’s not “Denatured Alcohol” (95% ethanol, 5% methanol plus traces added to make it taste even worse than methanol). I tried various things, always with gradually increasing bubble size until I tried white spirit. My bubble hasn’t changed size since. I wished I’d managed to make it smaller to start off with, but Geoffrey Kolbe reckons its about right and he’s used an A12 in the desert. Incidentally, look at your grub screw very carefully. It probably requires a Bristol key rather than an Allen key. However, before buying one (they cost an eye and a leg), check your box. When I checked mine, I found the one which had been supplied with the sextant hidden in the folds of the felt. DaveP
