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Roman

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Tampa, Florida
  • Interests
    Spanish 18th Century Shipbuilding @ Havana's Shipyard

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  1. Liberto Ámate Aguilar. Lives in Almería Spain. You will find more on his Facebook page. Very talented indeed.
  2. Daniel, il tuo Sciabecco è magnifico e molto bello. Grazie per aver condiviso la tua arte. Bravo Daniel, your Xebec is magnificent and beautiful. Thank you for sharing your art.
  3. I have a copy of this book and it is detailed to a degree that leaves very little to the imagination. The compilation of photographs that illustrate it speak for themselves. Beautifully segmented and illustrated to help the modeler navigate through the complexities involved in understandIng the process of building an Arsenal model. It is a how to step by step; it’s all there to see. This book is a classic reference manual of incomparable content. Congratulations. Roman
  4. Mahonesa was undoubtedly one of the most beautiful frigates of the time. The hull lines attest to the advancements made by the Spanish throughout the 18th century which of course made them desirable prizes for the British. Much is known about French and British ship building practices in the English speaking world and thanks to individuals such as Boudriot, Lavery, Dodds & Moore who have recognized the importance of Spanish technology and design we can see and appreciate its significance in architecture. Following Mr. Sorolla and his masterful rendition of the Mahonesa has been a treat. Adrian Sorolla is the author of a very valuable book titled “ Introducción al Medelismo de Arsenal” or Introduction to Arsenal Ship Modeling I believe it is available in English and published by ANCRE. No doubt of the value of his work. Masterful skills indeed. I look forward to seeing more.
  5. Bob those are beautiful castings on that table and simply elegant. These saws were ahead of their time. It reminds me of Inca saws, nothing overdone but wonderfully engineered. Roman
  6. Richard, I think your opinion is very much in line with most of us. The Byrnes tilt table is a relatively new thing compared to the saw itself. When I first purchased mine it was not available but I did get the micrometer and the fence extension. The taper attachment and a handful of blades came later. I cannot imagine most owners of the Byrnes saw did any different. It is fair to say; grow the machine as your needs grow! Yet it is a good thing if you have the means to get the whole kit in one shot. Roman
  7. Shawn, get as much saw as you can afford. Considering that Byrnes makes such a fine tool, look at it as an investment. I have all but the tilt table and it is in my short wanted list. What you think you will not use today, who knows you may end up using it or not in the future; however you will have a complete Byrnes machine that is truly unique. I do not think you will ever lose your money on these and to someone else, it will only make it more desirable that you have the complete Byrnes table saw; in case you decide to sell it or will it to your children. As Mark said the blades are made by Thurston but you can get them from Byrnes. Roman
  8. I must say that ship model building is after all a fastidious but enjoyable past time. We all have our own way of approaching and solving similar problems. I am quite sure that model makers of the 18th century were using tools that were state of the art then and along the way came another modeler who preferred to use 16th century tools. I guess that is normal in us humans. I would assume that we could all scratch build with less specialized tools but it sure is nice to be able to look in the tool box and have at your disposal a Stanley #6 or a scroll saw or the Byrnes saw or anything else that can make our life's easier. I am willing to bet that those great model builders of the 18th century would have used electric power tools had they been available at the time; but knowing what I know now from reading the comments, I must accept the reality of it all. After all, Beavers scratch build their Dams with a single tool, teeth. Thank god we are not Beavers. Respectfully Roman
  9. Marc, you used a word that is key to using all tools. Understand! while participating in this blog I realize that there are many modelers out there who do not have full size tools nor are they required to do the job, many are not even interested in them. Understanding the capabilities and the limitations of all tools is essential, be it powered or hand. I do not know any more than the next guy about tools but since I owned a shop with two dozen plus employees I had to be on a constant vigil so no one got hurt, and no one ever did. I am certainly not going to feed 3mm x 1.5mm strips thru a jointer of any kind even the little Proxxon, but I am in the interest of time going to feed 2"x6"x24" thru my Jointer once all the safety precautions have been taken. This is one of the reasons that make Byrnes tools so good. They are scaled for scale down work. Make no mistakes, all tools are dangerous including hand tools. They should be understood and respected but not feared. Have fun with them. After all most of the fun of ship modeling is the journey. Roman
  10. Don't be confused, all of this is food for thought. If all you want to do is cut strips from s4s (surfaced four sides) stock the table saw is the easiest to do that task with. If you are buying rough lumber, then you will need a tool to surface the stock. Please don't let any of this make you think that you need a warehouse full of tools to do ship modeling. As Dave mentioned before a well fettled hand plane and patience will take you there. As an example, in my situation I like working with Loquat (Japanese Plum). This wood is very common in Tampa where I live but not commercially available so I have to keep an eye out for fallen limbs or cut trees to harvest. In other words I am working with trunk or limbs 4" to 12" diameter initially. These will have to be cut into manageable 2"x6"x24" from a log once dry. This task is not suitable for a table saw but easily handled by a bandsaw or a handsaw if you so desire; from this point you still have to plane two surfaces one to lay flat on the table saw and the other to run along the saw fence in order to get somewhat accurate strips. Roman
  11. Obviously I can't speak for the man but I visited Jim at his shop a few months ago and he is very busy producing the four machines he offers along with the many accessories not to mention the myriad of projects he has at hand, so you never know. For those that are not familiar with him he is as you would expect an excellent ship model maker if he does not mind me saying so. In my book he is a renaissance man. Every time I have come out to see him, he has always been very gracious and accommodating. I don't know but when I visit his shop, it is a pilgrimage for me. God knows send him your requests. Roman
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