NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Sextant Project
From: Greg Rudzinski
Date: 2008 Mar 28, 15:31 -0700
From: Greg Rudzinski
Date: 2008 Mar 28, 15:31 -0700
Last year I set out to locate a Plath sextant that could provide
parts for my U.S. Navy MK 3 M.Low. Daily watching of Ebay finally
produced a Plath which was not functioning according to the owner.
Upon receiving the Plath it became immediately apparent that this
instrument was too good to cannibalize even though the sextant looked
like it had spent the night with the Sampsonite Luggage gorilla. The
first order of business was to completely disassemble the sextant then
soak the arc in ammonia. Scrubbing the arc with an old toothbrush
removed all the built-up corrosion. The mirrors and filters only
needed a wipe down with alcohol. No saving the 4x40mm scope so the
lenses were removed to create a sight tube. No saving the lighting
system either. Everything went back together as it came apart.
Working the micrometer drum through the entire arc repeatedly with
light oil helped to smooth out the operation of all the moving parts.
A last touch was to strap on a digital watch to the sight tube with 24
hr. GMT displayed. Finally I was off to the beach for calibration and
testing. Observed LOP intercepts were within 3 nautical miles GPS .
This instrument has now become my traveling small craft sextant and
sees more action than my three other sextants combined.
Lesson learned- One sextant project in hand is worth two on Ebay.
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