dgfoster
Diamond
- Joined
- Jun 14, 2008
- Location
- Bellingham, WA
48 or 52 or 54" What Length to Choose for the Next Featherweight Camelback?
I was recently contacted by a PM member concerning my next Foster Featherweight Camelback which exists only as a line drawing at this time. I had arbitrarily chosen 48" as its proposed length. But he suggested that a 52 or 54 might be a bit more useful and could still be scraped on a 36 X 48" granite surface plate. He noted that currently available SE's over 36" tend to be quite heavy and one that could reach under doves, be lightweight, and 50+ inches might be a very useful design. I think that using a design quite similar to my 36 but scaled up a bit could maintain its excellent rigidity and could weigh well under 40 pounds. The Featherweight 36 comes in around 22 pounds if liberal material is left in machining and come in at 19 pounds if it is desired to trim it down in weight. So getting the 48-54 to weigh mid-30's should not be difficult.
So, I'd like to hear folks opinion on this to help guide me in making the next lightweight design.
Denis
I was recently contacted by a PM member concerning my next Foster Featherweight Camelback which exists only as a line drawing at this time. I had arbitrarily chosen 48" as its proposed length. But he suggested that a 52 or 54 might be a bit more useful and could still be scraped on a 36 X 48" granite surface plate. He noted that currently available SE's over 36" tend to be quite heavy and one that could reach under doves, be lightweight, and 50+ inches might be a very useful design. I think that using a design quite similar to my 36 but scaled up a bit could maintain its excellent rigidity and could weigh well under 40 pounds. The Featherweight 36 comes in around 22 pounds if liberal material is left in machining and come in at 19 pounds if it is desired to trim it down in weight. So getting the 48-54 to weigh mid-30's should not be difficult.
So, I'd like to hear folks opinion on this to help guide me in making the next lightweight design.
Denis
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