thibaultron

Well, if you do use toothpaste, your model will, at least, be Minty Fresh!

Just watched it on Amazon Prime. Quite a good movie, worth watching.

If you are thinking of buying one of the several flavors of Mini-Lathes (7X10 to 7X16), or already own one, this is a must have book! I am not a professional machinist, nor would I claim to be a highly skilled one, just a hobbyist. I have, however, rebuilt two 12 inch Atlas lathes, and spent a fair share of time using them. I recently had to sell my last Atlas, and as part of the deal, picked up the new owners old Harbor Freight 7X10 mini-lathe. When I started with my Atlas lathes I bought several good books on using and maintaining a “Full Size” lathe, including the Atlas and Southbend manuals, and used much of what I learned. This book is the equivalent for the mini-lathes. This book is filled with chapters on the construction of various vintages of these lathes, discussions of how to adjust them for better precision, and work piece finish, and easy modifications to improve their range and usefulness. The book is also fair in pointing out the strengths and weaknesses of a mini-lathe. The book explains how to use the lathe for those who have never used one, as well as several projects that you can use to improve the lathe and your skills at the same time. I would recommend the book to those who have been using this type of lathe for a while, if only for the adjustment tips, examples of after-market accessories available, and the projects. Many of the adjustments are the same as for a larger lathe, but there are also many specific to these types.

And, in twist of plot, the space ship and crew, are attacked by the Giant Claws Of Death!

To protect softer metals and wood, used brass or aluminum shims between the jaws and the work peice, and tighten the jaws enough to hold the piece, but not distort it.

If you get a 4-jaw chuck, make sure it has metal jaws! Some companies will sell you a cheap one with plastic jaws. These are useless for metal work.

I looked it up. It is a larger than normal Authentic Holland kit. POB rather than solid hull and about 30 inches long. I would start out at $99.99 US or the equivanent Dutch.

On a note about the C/D model shown above. As I'm sure you know the later models had the spine at the tail, and a tailgunner. With the earlier models, there was no room for a tail gun. That is not the reason the spine and thicker aft fuselage was added though. During a flight in an earlier model B-17, it encountered a violent storm. As the crew desperately tried to make it to an airfield, the tail was twisting around so badly that the rivets were failing and the aft section of the plane was slowly coming apart. Finally the pilot ordered the rest of the crew to bail out while he fought to keep the plane in the air. The crew made it out safely, but the pilot, who could not leave the controls, without the plane immeadeately crashing, died when it finally came apart. After this, is when they added the spine to stiffen the tail, and then had room to add a tailgun.

DesignCAD has a curved line tool, that follows the points you give it, to give a smooth line for a frame, etc. An example it this trailboard I made by tracing a scan from the ME Willie Bennett plans, using the curve line tool. I gave them this graphic and they now supply in their kit. Their graphics are color, I made this starboard one grayscale, so as not to infringe on them.

The weird thing about the German bombers, is that they never developed a 4 engine bomber, even though they had a 4 engine airliner, that they used as a reconnaissance aircraft. They used them to track Naval and convoy ships.

I'll be following this. I have the same kit in my stash.

Great job, looks great!

No, I can't remember the color of the one I bought.

Beware of the kits they put out at the end of production! My neighbor was interested in a simple kit, so I bought the last one Hobby Lobby had, after they stopped production, and gave it to him as a gift. When he started it, they had only supplied the planking for one side, and had changed the parts list in the instructions from Quantity 2 to Quantity 1! I gave him my older kit so he could finish it. That kit listed quantities of 2 for these parts.

I like the grating, nice work!

I have to wear regular glasses all the time. Can the Beleshi Glass Lens headband be worn while wearing regular glasses?

I would say, no more than half. A quarter would not allow much adjustment on the real thing.

When you finish repairing the siding, I would suggest putting some of the mobile home vented skirting around the bottom, to prevent rain splash from getting on the bottom of the siding flooring joint, and wicking back between them. I dont think the latice will do an adiquit job.

I don't remember if you have or planned for one, but a porch roof over the doors. This would make unlocking, and opening them in the rain more pleasant. My shop has just enough roof overhang to drip water down my neck while I'm doing this.

I would put the thickness sander in the corner, and the band saw in the middle to give you more elbow room when sawing.. Buy a rolling toolchest and mount the lathe on it. This gives to storage for a lathe tools, chucks, measurement tools etc.

Might I suggest cualking at siding to floor beam joint? Can the lattice easily be removed at this point to do this?

Many Chesapeake Bay workboats are and were painted white, including the decks. Plain wood slabs were then set over the most abused areas, to protect the decking.

Thanks for the warning about the newer versions!

I've used DesignCAd for a couple decades, not nearly as long as the others. It is a reasonable price and offers discount on future upgrades. I generally upgrade about every 4 years. It does have a steep learning curve, but so do the others. I started by just leafing through the manual and seeing what each command could do, then start simple.

You may have to clean after several coats, as the pint may start to dry in the brush, and definately when you change colors. Here is a good clinic