ChrisLBren

Thanks everyone for your comments. This week was negative progress... I was up to 20 frames and decided to test fit all of the notches with scrap wood - 4.5mm for the inner slot and 7mm for the outer. I should have done this during construction. Some of the first frames were off by almost .5mm which is a big gap in this sort of construction. So 10 frames ended up in the trash can and 10 remain. Moving forward not only am I using an optivisor while milling, I am doing my best to cut halfway into the lines. The good news is I have plenty of Pear wood and I am in no hurry to complete this one. I really want to take my time to get this right rather than use any flawed part and pay for it later in construction. Huge tip I figured out - always use a backing piece of plywood while milling parts. Im getting perfect cuts with no tear out.

Thanks Pavel ! The modelers on the French site swear by 1/36th scale Greg as Im sure you're aware ! This frigate in 1/48 will still be over 36 inches in length unrigged so by no means "small"

Greetings Group, Back in 2017 shortly after finishing Confederacy, I attempted my first Ancre scratch build, La Renommee. I have always been in love with this Frigate and her unique lines. I, however did not possess the skills yet to do her justice, nor a mastery of my recently purchased tools (chisels, Byrnes Machines, Sanders, and my first mill). Raising small children and establishing a new business also provided problematic to achieving my goal of building this ship. I worked on a few other projects including Le Gros Ventre in 1/36 scale which did increase my skills with the scroll saw, sharpening and working with chisels and scrapers, the Proxxon MF70, reading plans, building a build site and milling wood. However after a 2 year break and revisiting my progress I noticed, being new to creating frames, they were too large and would require a heck of a lot of sanding to get to spec. Also the Proxxon MF70 while not a bad tool, is not nearly as accurate as my recently acquired TAIG mill. I really wanted to give all the keel parts another go with this tool. The question became do I re do Le Gros Ventre, or work on one of the other Mongraphs I own in both 1/36 and 1/48 scale (Egyptienne, Renommee Amarante, Requin to name a few) A friend has shared the frame drawings of La Renommee 1/48 fully laid out (in the Monograph Boudriot only drafts half frames) and easy to print on my home computer. These are a god send vs running to the local UPS store to make copies over and over again (my experience with Le Gros Ventres frames). After running some tests I found I do like the smaller scale of 1/48 (at least so far) as it gives me the option to rig later. So Ive sharpened all the tools, cleaned up the workshop and La Renommee was started again two weeks ago. So far I have completed 14 frames that are very accurate with only about .5mm of fat. As you can see the notches on the frames are a bit complicated. I can not image this build without having a good mill. I have some black hornbeam on the way from Hobbymill in Europe to use instead of ebony for the black parts and plenty of Pear I've collected over the years. I will need to learn metal work in the not too distant future and carving in the really distant future, however I am confident with some good coaching I'll get there.

Looks great ! I love the shellac finish - did you mix it yourself with flakes ? If so what ratio did you use - I may be applying the finish on my build. Chris

Wow - congrats !!!!

Great tutorial - Im still stuck on these on my LGV build - which has spacers between the extensions as you know makes it more complex. Nice work !!!!

Nice work - personally I would go with a shellac - my favorite finish - either a blonde or garnet if you want darker. Its so easy to apply and you can make you own mixture using flakes and alcohol.

Still struggling with this decision. I personally believe the Taig Mill is better than the Sherline - our late friend Jim B steered me that direction. Im not sure about the lathe though. The Taig Lathe is half of the price of the Sherline however the Sherline gets better reviews online and has DRO. Hard call - I did sell my Proxxon MF70, Preac Saw, and Unimat to help pay for this purchase. The other route I could go is buy a wood lathe and the Taig for metal work which could be less than the price of the Sherline.

I will probably buy the Taig with the Power feed and long bed to compliment the Taig Mill. I While Sherline has more accessories, Taigs tools are just more robust and solid in my opinion and can be customized with after market parts.

I may end up keeping this one - I love my Taig but for smaller parts it may make sense to hold on to it.

This one looks to be sold as well !

Looks like its sold to another member on the forum ! If anything changes I will let you know

Hi Group, As I use my Taig Mill exclusively, this is another tool that needs a home. Works great, however for larger scales - 1/36 and above its a bit small for my needs. Any offers are appreciated via PM

Hi Group, Selling my first table top modeling saw - the Preac. It works great, especially for those wanting to get into scratch building/kit bashing. In fact I built my entire scratch build Chucks Confederacy using it. Please PM me if interested. I use my Byrnes saw exclusively, and this one is collecting dust. It could use a good home.

Hi Group, Great tool I purchased off another modeler on this site and never set up. I am buying a Taig Lathe to compliment my Taig Mill and thought I would offer this one up to a collector. It works great - just needs some clean up. I am not sure if the second motor works. These tools do fetch a decent price on ebay so only serious offers please via private chat. Thanks !

Hey Group Any ideas/tips ? I love my Taig Mill and want to equip it with a DRO. There are several Chinese kits out there. Just curious if anyone here has experience with these or installing one on a Taig. Thanks.

Thanks guys - I can get a nice Taig lathe for my purposes around 700 with the power feed function and same collets the Mill uses. I also really want to find a good DRO for my Taig Mill. Thats the one advantage Sherline has over the Taig by offering that option as an install in my opinion.

Hi Group, I purchased an Emco Unimat 3 with an extra motor and milling attachment a few years ago from a fellow member and never set it up. Last year I purchased a Taig Mill and love it - its sturdy and powerful with a long bed. It was ready right out of the box without any modifications and has been used extensively on my Le Gros Ventre build. I am considering selling the Unimat on ebay and buying a new metal lathe - not only for ship building but also to turn wooden pens for clients. I am leaning towards another Taig However I am curious about the Sherline as I have heard its a terrific lathe. I am new at wood and metal turning so want one thats a good intro model I can grow with. Thanks for any opinions here.

Nice work Chris - I know what you mean Ancre plans. They are so accurate - I made the same mistake leaving too much fat on the stern part assemblies on my Le Gros Ventre build and after a half dozen failed attempts I learned - the more accurate your parts are to the plans including the bevels/bias - the better the results. And less sanding !!! Chris

No dovetails for me on the wing transom. They're not necessary and posed way too much of a risk when creating that part - and now even riskier now the assembly is complete ! Thanks for the advice on the extensions Mark.

Thanks everyone - I will attempt the hawse extensions next. Im just trying to wrap my head around the approach and understanding the plans here. I believe one must plane the blanks to the proper angle first, then cut out the pattern. The biases are then added once the pieces are in a jig that depicts the tops of the extensions and their positions on the curve.

Good morning Group, After some spending some time in the doldrums, I have restarted Le Gros Ventre and spent the past month working on this assembly. I probably built each part a half dozen times... Decisions, do I begin the installation of the frames or tackle the other really tough part of the build, the hawse extensions?

Love it Chuck - so simple but effective !!!!

Great advice and gorgeous model !!!!

Hey Group, I am wondering if there is a full proof way to avoid this. I am notching pearwood using a mill and sometimes experience chipping on the cut. Right now my mill is set at a high speed at 10000 RPM and I am using new mill bits. Do I need to reduce speed here or just making many small passes at a time for each notch ? Thanks !