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Chuck Seiler

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Everything posted by Chuck Seiler

  1. Chuck Seiler
    Generally, deck planks are not trunn'led. They were bolted in place in a counter sunk hole with a wooden plug over top. Wooden trunn'l/wooden plug? What's the diff? Plugs are side grain and tree nails are end grain. At smaller scales it matters not. At larger scales it might.
  2. Chuck Seiler
    Mike, The Micro-Jig looks interesting but appears it is not useful for anything under 1/8" wide cut.
  3. Chuck Seiler
    Thanks Kurt. Good luck on a successful conference. I am off to San Antonio, so no building for me for awhile.
  4. Chuck Seiler
    Slow but sure progress. Starboard side ceiling planking complete. Close-up. Planks are in place but alot of sanding yet to be done. Kit deck planking set in place just for look see. Another look.
  5. Chuck Seiler
    For some of us it is not history...we just happened to know somebody that was on it.
  6. Chuck Seiler
    I agree with Kurt. When you look at the drama they went thru to get even carpenters to be on site, it was not a surprise that they didn't have many real ship builders. The over riding plan was to build alot of hulls, get them into the water NOW, don't care what they look like, don't care how long they last as long as they float for a few months, we'll worry about the rest later.
  7. Chuck Seiler
    The critical part is to get the upper curve so it matches the bottom of the plank above it. There are various ways of doing this. I like the tape method. Some use the card stock method. Then using measurements from the lining off process you mark the lower edge. Sand, fit, apply. Sounds easy. Not so easy in practice. Many people transfer their upper curve to card stock (file folder, etc) then measure off the widths at each frame, resulting in a complete plank in card stock. This is then test fitted to the hull. Adjust/trim as necessary. Once you get it the way you want, trace that onto your piece of wood. (You can also determine if this template also works on the other side). Cut wide of the line and gently sand to the line. This should avoid the wavy factor.
  8. Chuck Seiler
    Steve, There are a couple tutorials in the "planking" section which helps explain spiling. I will be taking off on a road trip next week before I get to the exterior, so it will be awhile before i get to the exterior planking. I plan to post a pic or two of what a spiled plank would look like, although not necessarily how you would get to that point, before I leave.
  9. Chuck Seiler
    From what I see, the inner planking looks good. The wood filler/paste up at the bow looks like it will work out well. I had recommended to Bart that he use a cover/fashion piece to hide a bad set of joints. Filler is another way to do it. Staining/varnishing of the interior planking before laying the deck depends on whether or not you want the deck to be the same color as the hull. In real life, both the deck and hull planking were white oak. There is no reason they can't be the same. I am going with a different color scheme by using holly for the decks. In that case I will stain to interior planking before adding the deck planking, which will be stained with 'natural'. If I get some natural on the ceiling planking, you won't notice it. Your outer planking looks like you are not beveling the plank before installing it. The top of the lower plank should be beveled slightly so that it fits snug against the plank above it with no gaps. My recommendation is that you do the ol' alcohol soak, pop those planks,bevel and re-install. I may be wrong...it may just be the photo. I will defer to your judgement.
  10. Chuck Seiler
    Small cover/fashion-piece a few millimeters wide covering the strake ends should solve the problem.
  11. Chuck Seiler
    I have been working the last week on the inner/ceiling planking. I am tempted to speed along here since the planking is straight (no spiling) and relatively simple. I have to remember to take my time and get it right. Each time I make a model I have the goal in the back of my mind that 100years from now, the model will be on somebody's mantle piece. With that in mind, a week or two more to ensure everything is good really makes no difference. On the other hand, if I hurry and turn out a crappy model, 5 years from now it will be in somebody/s trashcan. Progress continues on the ceiling planking. The size of the model has reveal a shortfall in my clamps. The metal ones are good down three strakes while the plastics are good down four. I have a limited number of plastic ones so I improvised by using an extender board for my metal clamps. It is getting close to the point where I will start using my five fingered clamps. Note the use of the bar clamps to ensure the lower plank is snug to the upper one. I am pretty happy with how well my strake ends married up with the stern post. I drew a line down the center where I wanted the ends to...well...end. I attached a support beam (you can see it peeking out from under the planking just left of the stern post) to guide the plank. It worked perfectly. The stem looks good as well, but it took more effort.
  12. Chuck Seiler
    Inner planking, of course. Looking good.
  13. Chuck Seiler
    Use an exacto to rough out the corners, then hand sand to round. I put the axle to be sanded between sand paper between my fingers and twirl. You can do the same by chucking the opposite side axle into a dremel and using a sanding stick, but you have to be careful to avoid taking off too much. I use this method since I have alot of practice making trunnels this way.
  14. Chuck Seiler
    Thanks Bart. Try as I might; Bing or Google, "Wooden Ship Class" or "woodenshipclass" or "woodenshipclass.blogspot", I am unable to find that on my own. I will take a gander tonight.
  15. Chuck Seiler
    Dennis, What model?
  16. Chuck Seiler
    I think alot of it depends on where you are as a modeler and the quality of work you want to achieve. For many years my main tools were a Dremel and Exacto. I did fine. Seven years ago I was agonizing over the same issues that you are. I am REAL big on getting stuff and then having them sit and collect dust. That is alot of $$$ for a dust collector. I finally decided to gt one, bought one at the 2007 NRG Conference here in San Diego and never looked back. I have done things with it I had never done before...it has made me a better modeler, but in the same way a set of magnifiers can make you better. It has extended my range. I use it all the time. Could you do it with something other than a Byrnes? Sure, maybe. If I had an older Preac I may feel the same way about it, but I don't. If I had it to do over again and had the opportunity to buy a saw that is 90% as good at half the price would I buy it instead? No. It is all about what you are comfortable with and what you want to do.
  17. Chuck Seiler
    Some times I am tempted to wipe the glue off when it oozes out of the seam. More and more I resist that temptation, leaving the glob on there until it is semi firm. I tehn remove it with a razor/exacto/scalpel. I am told it is cleaner that way...whereas the wiped off glue residue seeps into more of the wood. The planking so far is pretty straight forward. Down to the wale and all interior does not need spiling. Once you get below the wale, the planks will need to be spiled/shaped. It is not all that severe, so it will be fairly easy, but you still need to know what to do. Many people just want to edge bend th eplank, but that causes buckling. I need to check the instructions to see what it says about it. There are several good tutorials/build logs that explain spiling. Yeah, this planking is much easier than a frigate. Rigging is alot easier as well.
  18. Chuck Seiler
    Yeah, I like those, but yo uneed to make sure you get the kind with enough spring to hold down what you need held down. The metal clamps with red, green or grey tips have different levels of spring. Some I cannot use on soft wood because it leaves a dent. On the other hand those are the ones I need to use if I need ALOT of pressure on a particular point. The plastic ones are good for side planking or planking at the bow stern which have been soacked and pre-bent really well.
  19. Chuck Seiler
    Which clamps. I think I have 3 or 4 different types.
  20. Chuck Seiler
    Steve, I suspect smooth sanding the strakes above the wale before the wale is installed is a good way to do it. I do it a bit differently. My wale strake is initially the same thickness as the rest of the hull planks. Once I get everything smooth finished, I add a second layer to the wale.
  21. Chuck Seiler
    It will probably mar the softer basswood if there is direct contact. It will be fine if you use a thin pad off wood between the model surface and the clamp.
  22. Chuck Seiler
    Don't come cryin' to me when you are looking for clamp #66 and it isn't there. I warned ya. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - I need to back track a little. I think I mentioned this at the beginning. I am a little unhappy with the organization of the hull planking section. While going into detail on the process of lining off, etc, it then charges into the planking itself and seems (to me at least) to jumble it all together. As written, it should be three distinct sections: 1. Outer planking from the sheer strake down to the wale. It strengthens the hull, protects the frames and (as Kurt indicated) provides places to insert support blocks that are used for the interior planking. I think the designer stopped at the wales because those planks do not need to be spiled. It is a natural break point. 2. Interior planking. Again, for the most part, no spiling required. 3. Exterior planking below the wale. Spiling required. Now that I am done with the exterior planking down to the wales, I have a couple decisions to make; (1) Continue on with some or all of the external planking and (2) Since I added a small thickness of planking to the bottom, should I re-line off the hull. I was tempted to go one more strake before proceeding inboard, but I decided to stick with the plans (Gee, why start now!!!). For # 2 I decided not to line off anew. I will do strakes W+1 and W+2 (first and second strakes elow the wale) at that point I may make W+3 a wee bit wider and see where that gets us with W+4. This will give me a feel for how the spiling is working out before I wander off the reservation.
  23. Chuck Seiler
    I think I will post a few pics while the glue dries. Cockpit work is complete and hull planking begins. Here, sheer strake has been installed n the starboard side and I am now installing the wale. (Note: I went with the Smithsonian plans of having 1 strake above the wale.) A slight bevel on the upper edge of the wale and it fits snug with no gaps. You can never have too many clamps. One thing I like to do when I am working with planking is to mark the plank on the inside as to where it goes. Sometimes (well, 95% is some) when working with more than 1 plank I get confused. preparing a plank for one spot and putting it in another is a waste of time. Here, the shipyard has a double shift on duty so I can get the starboard aft wale installed while also getting the port forward sheer strake installed. Team Home Depot versus Team Office Depot. Did I mention you cannot ever have too many clamps? Team Office Depot clamp brings pressure from the bottom and the side, helping scootch the plank into place. Sometimes Team Home Depot needs to pitch in when the thingamabob on top doesn't apply enough pressure for the foreman's wishes. Dang!!! A gob of glue I missed!!! This rig was featured in a build log somewhere else on MSW.
  24. Chuck Seiler
    Bob, Very nice rope. Did that come with the kit or is it Chuck-rope?
  25. Chuck Seiler
    29, 29A, 6A, 5a.....Dang!!! Don't I feel stooopid. I would have figured it out sooner or later.

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