Here are the gudgeons and pintles. I polished one so you can see how it looks from the foundry next to how it looks after polishing. I used 120 grit on a belt sander to get the rough casting out. (Note: at the foundry they do very roughly grind them so they can see any flaws.) After that I used a random orbit sander progressing up to 320 grit, then hand sanded up to 2000, then buffed on a felt wheel. Note: the polished one isn’t finished- I skipped a few grits and went right to polishing just to see how easily it would polish. I will go back to the hand sanding and get those swirl scratches out and then repolish it.
Wood plug next to casting.
Attachment 401368
Rough cast untouched as it comes from the foundry next to sanded to 320 grit.
Attachment 401369
Rough cast again next to polished, but this was a quick test and I will sand more and repolish. I only polished this one side for the test- you can still see swirl marks. The other side not shown is still at 320 grit. Will work on these in the evenings after Petra goes to bed.
Attachment 401370
Casting these cost $250. They are huge and take a lot of metal.
Oh, I also bought all the hatches and storage bins, which were quite costly. This stuff adds up quick. I went with manufactured rather than making my own wood ones. They are at my warehouse so I can’t get pics right now.