aplumma

I am sorry that I can't help you on this and locking it was not something I thought about doing. Hopefully you can get the awareness of the flaws in the homes systems.

Art

If you are having issues with sticky bunkers this is a product that works almost to well.

http://www.amazon.com/MaryKate-Liquid-Rollers-Trailer-Lubricant/product-reviews/B00144EZJ8

I use it on my Ranger and it loads with a light turning of the winch.

Art

Just a note on steels they are not a sharpening tool. They are used to take the burr off and stand the blade edge back up. The hardest part of sharpening a knife is keeping a consistent angle the finer the stone the longer it takes to remove metal so a coarse stone can do more damage to an angle than a finer stone in a short amount of time. If you want to see if you are holding an angle and sharpening to the edge of the blade (otherwise you are not sharpening you are just removing metal from the shoulder and changing the angle) you can scribe a mark with a sharpie and check to see how many passes it takes to remove it from the edge. I use an electron microscope when I am sharpening a blade for competitions on blade sharpening ( yes there are contests for something that stupid) and the final sharpening run at .05 micros leaves no tool marks and will cut you with no resistance it makes a razor blade seem dull when done. The edge on an average knife does not need this since it is such a fine edge it would roll cutting something as soft as cardboard. If you become prolific using conventional stones and want to take it to the next level then a set of water stones are a fine addition to blade care. They are very soft and make a sharpening slurry that will give you a great edge. I personally didn't like that style of sharpening and prefer to use diamond paste and balsa wood to cut my final edge however you need to have the knife stationary and move the balsa wood over it to keep from cutting into the wood.

Art

Heat and inconsistent angles prevent an electric sharpener from being worth anything fora fine edge. I use a unit called the wicked edge.

https://www.wickededgeusa.com/product/pro-pack-ii/

this unit is more expensive than what most people will pay for using for just the family needs. I also use a large grinder unit for shaping and polishing

http://amktactical.com/epages/3c926a50-9aba-43a5-9571-098ee03f1288.sf/en_US/?ObjectPath=/Shops/3c926a50-9aba-43a5-9571-098ee03f1288/Products/33

This unit grinds from 18 grit to 3000 grit polishing belts.

Art

And I like a flexible softer blade to skin a fish. We all have our preferences I guess. Is the customers hand the one in your Avatar Art?

LOL no he is a french chef that years of cutting frozen meat and other hand abuses have left them in poor shape. Over the years I have replaced the handles on a few of his favorite knifes. Most are high carbon knifes from the 60's and 70's that after a little love and some regrinding and polishing are brought back for another round of use.

Art

The knife has a tip that is used to slice with. The backside of the edge is for scaling fish or can be sharpened to be used to slice the belly. You has less chance of poking your hand on a pass thru fillet. I personally prefer the wider fillet knife it is a little more ridged and is easier to hold flat while cutting the skin off.

Art

Thank you for the complements The top knife is black walnut and the 3rd one is a rose wood and maple layered knife. The 3rd one is fitted to a customers hand he has arthritis and has trouble with his grip. I use a block of wood and some hardening putty and have then make a caste of their grip and work from there.

Art

Here are a few I made this winter.

Art

I have been making knife for years and the 440c is the main stay of the fillet knifes. The hardness can be between 54 and 59 depending on the annealing process. The cyro process yields the hardest measurements. A properly sharpened knife at 20 degrees will hold an edge that have lasted a few guides 2 or 3 months with proper touch ups. As you get into harder SS metals your flexibility suffers and while the blades are harder this is a two edged sword. The knife will hold an edge slightly longer but is more difficult to resharpen. The curse of knifes is the sharper the edge the easier it is to roll the edge which feels dull. Most knifes need a few swipes with a ceramic rod to straighten out the edge which can be done 3 or 5 times before a regrind is needed. I grind all of my knifes up to 1000 grit then polish the edge using diamond paste finishing off with .05 microns which is a mirror finish on the edge. The knifes at this level cut amazingly but a few contact cuts with the cutting board will roll the edge and need to be ceramic rod. Before I paid for a high end knifeThe best thing to do is to practice sharpening knifes until you can make a consistent sharp edge otherwise you will have an expensive dull knife that you will be disappointed with.

Art

Thanks for the final statement lets put this to bed.

Art

Reasonable access may mean you can get into the boat to retrieve items or work on the boat during certain hours of the day.

Art

First off STOP we do not tolerate veiled threats. I will lock anyone's account for this if it happens again.

Art

Lowrance if you take the time to learn it. I have HDS series on all three boats and love them. I however have not even seen a Hbird so I am biased.

Art

Welcome Brucki thank you for the intro. hopefully your reports will be full of fish.

Art

On another line ........ his speech was punctuated by massive outbursts from the crowds of HOYYA HOYYA which he took as a good sign after his promises of better living conditions. He finished and the chief invited him to see the reservation as they went thru the pasture the chief told him to walk carefully and not step in the hoyya.

Art

I have the original carpet in my 89 Ranger while it shows some wear it does not look bad. it has been garage kept though so that helps. The lower section I changed to vinyl so I had a place to land fish and hose it off. The casting deck will always be carpet because the vinyl get to hot in the sun down here.

Art

Lets see Grizzly the lab mutt ate. A exhaust gaket for a 1961 comet, 1 road flare, box of strike all matches, dress blue sock, green wool sock, 2 sockets from a 3/8 drive set, the middle of a one piece lanolium  floor and wait for it 3 inch crab shell with the points intact. They all came back out either one end or another with no damage. 

The dog was as close to steve starr as you can get. 

Art

We used to be lol

 

Congrats, seriously.

 

Man it can make a huge difference.

 

I might get my treaty 3 cop buddy to escort me over there with a peace offering, like big cliff suggested. Bury the hatchet so to speak.

 

Now whats a 60+ old immigrant from who knows what country want as an offering? It obviously cant be native lol.

 

A pound cake???

A pot of maize and a few plastic beads should square things up. lol

With that said a gift certificate to a local restaurant might work,

Art

I pressure wash mine no issues I also prop open the hatches and sun dry it so I don't get any mold growth.

Art

Here is the picture of the shaft with a 1/2 moon key. Remove your steering wheel nut and you can see a key down on the shaft in most cases.

Art

Copy and paste from another website.

Egersund, Norway– Navico – parent company to the Lowrance brand – announced today that the International Trade Commission (ITC) has ruled that Garmin Ltd. DownVu™ scanning sonar products violate Navico’s patents for DownScan Imaging™ technology. This ruling reverses an initial determination issued by an Administrative Law Judge this past July, previously announced by Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ:GRMN). In addition, this is the second adverse ruling in two weeks by the ITC that finds that Garmin is violating sonar patents.

The ITC DownVu ruling prohibits Garmin from importing, selling, advertising, and aiding or assisting distributors or retailers in selling all its infringing DownVu products, including the echo, echoMAP and GPSMAP products with their respective transducers. Specifically, the Commission has issued a Cease and Desist Order barring Garmin and its distributors from selling, or aiding others in the sale of, these products and has also issued an Exclusion Order directing U.S. Customs and Border Protection to reject their importation.

While all ITC orders have a 60-day period before taking full effect, the ITC has ruled that Garmin must post a bond equal to 100 percent of the value of infringing products, when they sell from inventory or import any of these products into the U.S. during the 60-day review period.

Further, any Garmin products claiming to feature a “design around” solution are subject to ITC or U.S. Customs approval in order to confirm that such an alternative solution does not likewise violate Navico’s patents. As of this writing, Garmin has not initiated the process of submitting alternative designs.

Garmin could file an appeal with a U.S. Federal Court in an attempt to challenge the factual conclusions or show the law was incorrectly applied by the ITC; however, in the meantime, the importation and sale of Garmin products featuring DownVu technology are subject to the ITC ruling.

“We are extremely pleased that the ITC has ruled in our favor,” said Leif Ottosson, CEO, Navico. “We have invested considerable time, effort and resources to develop and bring (Our DownScan Imaging) to market. Our patents are designed to protect that investment.

“We offered our competitors the opportunity to license our technology and incorporate it into their products for the benefit of their customers – and many have. This offer was also made to Garmin, but they declined – putting everyone who sells their products in a difficult position. The situation is unfortunate for many dealers and distributors in the marine electronics marketplace, but we will continue to vigorously defend the intellectual property that protects our position in the marketplace.”

The International Trade Commission is an independent governmental agency in Washington, DC responsible for addressing patent infringement disputes relating to goods that are manufactured abroad and imported into the United States.

Art

Thanks Art. I've never read anywhere that someone regretted going to hydraulic steering despite the cost. Since I won't be replacing my boat anytime soon, I might as well dive deep and spend the extra. I just got a quote this morning from a recommended US supplier of $880 USD for the Seastar Pro with 16' hoses shipped to Niagara Falls NY. That's about $1170 CDN, plus tax and the cost of crossing the border to get it. My Canadian pricing from a local marine supply has the same equipment at $2219.98 plus tax. That's a substantial difference I can't afford to absorb. I'll try to find a better price here before I pull the trigger but I doubt I'll get close.

I am running the seastar set up on a 350 commanche Ranger with a 150 and it runs great.The removal of the old cables are easy as mentioned by cutting them out but to get the new cables in you need to pull the motor or really fight to get them in. The seastar fishing the 3/8 inch hydraulic cables was a breeze and the head unit was also easily put in. The bonus is you will never have a rusted hard to move cable again.

Art

Yes it is but I will never have cables again. The ease of replacement made it easier to swallow. It took about 3 hours to do the conversion and the hardest part was removing the old stiff cables. The new ones are flexible lines that feed thru the hull area. The steering install of the pump is bolt in place. Check to see what adapters are needed for the motor. The end results where I did it at home and while it cost more than the cables it was cheaper than sending it to the shop to have them put in a set of cables.

Art

http://www.onthewater.com/applications-side-scan-sonar/

Here is a few examples of side scan and a tutorial.

Art

If you are structure fishing and looking for specific ledges or sunken objects then they are worth there weight in gold. I use the lowrance HDS 7 gen 2 and it works great. I will say the features of the gen3 are worth buying even though they are more expensive. The advances in the systems are going into hyperdrive and features are being added every few months. The ability to see things abstractly will determine if side scan will be helpful. I have shown people it in operation and read it to them and they see the features and some just see streaks and blobs.

On a side note Garmin has been found in violation of patents from navico

http://www.tradeonlytoday.com/2015/12/federal-agency-rules-garmin-violated-navico-patents/

Art