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. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Navigation List archive: www.fer3.com/arc To post, email NavList@fer3.com To , email NavList-@fer3.com -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---