I ordered many plastic parts from Plastruct (see their web site link on my Links page) that I´ll use to construct the massive piping and other pieces of equipment on the fireboat. One of the other pieces of equipment is the telescoping boom for the Aerial Ladder. Here, you can see three (3) pieces of ABS Square tubing that will be used.
The tubes fit inside each other with just enough clearance and no play. At the moment, the tubes are too long but they will be cut to size very soon.
	Cutting the tubes was a simple matter of measuring the length of the ladder sections, marking the line and then cutting the excess with my power miter saw. As you can see, the sections are progressively longer.
The forward end of the boom will eventually rest on a rubber bumper atop the Boat Deck. The aft section attaches to the boom spindle.
	To accomplish the attachment, I first had to glue Celtec onto the end. Another piece of Celtec is inside the boom and glued in place for stability. A ¼" hole was drilled through the Celtec to accept a piece of tubing for the axle.
Here, the ladder is atop the boom, but only temporarily. I still have to mounting brackets and paint the boom prior to installation. But, you can see what it will look like. The bucket is not in place yet!

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Copyright © 2003 - 2008 John T. VanderHeiden
Last Updated Tuesday, April 13, 2004 6:29:19 PM