Chuck Seiler

Have look here at this discussoin.   
 

Allan,
 
    In the past I have used a 5 plank shift on hull and deck as indicated below, but looking at some logs I am now questioning that strategy.

I can't find it either.   BUTT, there is a lot of information various butt shifts in many ship modeling books.    Are you looking to do a three butt shift or four?  
Allan

Use the approbate size (to model scale) wire. If you purchase annealed wire it's soft enough to peen the end. 

Radioactive contamination?  What did I miss?

Radioactive contamination?  What did I miss?

Two rules of modeling, if you think you have enough clamps, buy more clamps.  Not relevant here but the same applies to drill bits. As everyone has suggested find a good source and get smaller bits. They inevitably will break or dull at this size so buy several. 
 
After drilling the right size hole I just pool a little CA on a piece of paper, dip the end of the eyelet in the CA, generally with a small needle nose pliers that has a smooth face so as not to mar the eyelet, and insert it in the hole. It doesn’t need much to hold, I’ve yet to have one pull out even years later. As someone also noted, rigging only needs to be taunt not tight, which also helps. 
 
Jewelry hobby stores are a good source of the tools we use. I have nice flush cutters and other tools from this store and have been working my way through this set of bits for a while now. Rio Grande drill bit set
 
Have fun and welcome to modeling and this great forum.

Many components in modern labs and instruments use recovered steel and other metals from pre-nuclear testing wrecks, notably WW1 German ships which were scuttled in Scapa Flow.
NASA has an entire room made from 12inch armor plate, used to shield sensitive experiments from atmospheric background radiation. Few today appreciate that isotopes from the atmospheric testing remain, floating in today's environment. A sobering reminder.
These components have to be machined from the metal as recovered; if it is re smelted, then it becomes contaminated from the air all around us.

Low background steel is to do with contamination with radiative nucleoids,  however it has to do with when the steel was produced  (pre-nuclear bomb testing) not where the steel has been or what conditions the steel has been under.
 
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-background_steel

Radioactive contamination?  What did I miss?

Thanks Mark Interesting, I wonder if the opportunity will be taken to remove them?  The costs would be very high though I would assume - I wonder if being submerged they have been protected from radioactive contamination, thus making their steel much more valuable.
 
cheers
 
Pat

Two things I see here. 
First, you are reeving your blocks upside down. The throat of the blocks, or hole that the line goes through should be at the furthest extremes from each other. You have them upside down in their strops. Fixing this should help your blocks stay straighter.
Second, for the forward most shroud, simply reeve the tackle so that the working end comes out of the sheave on the same side as the belaying pin. That will eliminate the crossing effect.
 
Hope that helps.
Regards,

The next items were the pumps.  The band on the top of the pump is self-adhesive copper foil, typically used in making stain glass windows.  Looks like I need to clean out the inside of the pump!


The original model of Swallow shows a carved swallow on the stern.  The carving looks better in person than it appears in these pictures.  Making the masts is next.

One possibility.  They knew they might end up fighting as they did-anchored with one side facing the enemy.  That way they could bring more of the heavier guns to bear.  They would have to shift ballast to do so, but it may be worth the effort.

I guess that's what happens when you slap a fleet together with what is available.  I have similar issues with PHILADELPHIA that I will explain on my blog when I finally get my ducks in one sock.   Long story short, there are alot of design flaws that make it look awkward.  Somethng apparently as simple as not having enough ringbolts/eyebolts forces them to double up the use of several bolts causing non symetrical rigging and (in my mind) a less than crisp looking appearance. 
 
They didn't build the shils/fleet to make life easier for modelers...but it sure does make an interesting build.
 
Great work so far Mike.  I'll see you at Valcour.

I strongly suspect not.  WASHINGTON was captured and the Brits took the lines of of her.  Smithsonian has a couple pages of plans.  PHILLY was raised and surveyed.  Smith has a buttload of pages of plans for this....16 I believe.  I am looking at an old copy of the "Smithsonian Collection of Warship Plans" and find nothing for Royal Savage.  Since it burned, the British may  not hav gotten any info from it. 
 
C'mon....can't you build a model based just on the picture?

A good, varied assortment. It should look interesting.

Mike,
 
   What guns will you be using?  John Bratten* lists WASHINGTON as having 1x 18 pounder, 1 x 12 pounder, 2 x 9 pounders and 6 x 6 pounders.
 
*The Gondola PHILADELPHIA & the Battle of Lake Champlain, by John R. Bratten

Have you used bloodwood before? I like the look when freshly cut, but it darkens over time. I guess you need to put a finish on it rather quickly.

First, throw away the Gorilla Glue, or at least save it for other non-hobby uses. I don't know of anyway to soften that type of glue. You may have to carefully cut the two sides of the bulkhead free separately, and either remake it, or glue each side back on separately.

Did you use a PVA glue like Elmers yellow wood glue?  If so use a qtip soaked in isopropyl alcohol to swab the glue joint. If you used CA glue, then use acetone instead of isopropyl, give it time and repeated swabs till the glue softens. Don't try to rush it. A sharp blade run along the joint helps.

Are those donuts?  We don't get donuts on PHILADELPHIA.

Mike,
 
    Very impressive.  It also has the benefit of not being 'one of the usual suspects'.  I am enjoying your progress.

Mike,
 
How does this compare to the row galleys used on Lake Champlain at the same time?

REVIEW OF NRG THIN STRIP SAW JIG
 
 
 

 
 
I recently received from the Nautical Research Guild one of their new Thin Strip Saw Jigs. This item is available on the NRG website in the store. The jig was designed by Kurt Van Dahm. Kurt has written many articles and given many talks on the use and safety of tabletop table saws and this jig is a byproduct of that knowledge. The jig is designed to be used on the Byrnes or Preac tabletop table saws or any saw with a miter gauge groove of 1/2 inch by at least 1/8 inch deep. The purpose of the jig is to allow the user to make wood strips of identical dimension.
 
The write up in the store claims that the jig can be used to “Easily cut thin wood strips with identical widths without any additional measuring after the first strip.”, I found it to do more than that. Depending on whether your base stock thickness represents the width or thickness of your finished strip, you can cut repetitive strips to a finished width or thickness. As an example if my base stock is 1/4 inch thick, I can cut strips that are 1/4 x 1/16 or 1/4 x 3/8.
 
I tested the jig on my Byrnes saw with several saw blades. I made cuts using the standard carbide tipped 4 inch 24 tooth .054 kerf blade and slitting blades of 4 inch 296 tooth .040 kerf and 3 inch 291 tooth .020 kerf. I also used several types of scrap wood I had around the shop to make test cuts. Castello boxwood, holly and bass wood all cut as they would normally with all of the blades. To achieve the best results match your blade to the thickness of your base stock and type of wood. I found setting up the jig to be very simple. Place the aluminum base in the miter gauge slot and with the hand knob loose, set the tip of the plexiglass guide to the distance from the edge of the blade to get the desired thickness of cut. On slitting saw blades this is easy since there is no tooth offset. When using a carbide tipped blade or any blade with offset teeth, you must measure to the tooth that is offset toward the jig. Snug up the knob. Slide the jig so the plexiglass
tip is on the material feed side of the blade and tighten the knob further which will expand the aluminum base locking the jig in place. Place your material against the tip of the jig and slide the fence against the material. Make your cut. For the next strip simply move the fence to hold the wood against the tip of the jig and make your cut. As with any precision cut a test sample should be made to proof your set up. Also please observe all safety rules especially the use of a push stick. Another must is that your material right and left edges must be parallel.
 
I found that the jig was capable of making cuts from 1 3/16 inch down to next to nothing. I made cuts of .007 inch using all 3 blades and the 3 materials with thicknesses of .150 to 1/4 inch. At .007 inch the resulting strip tended to curl, probably caused by heat as it was being cut. With the two thinner blades the bass wood tended to be a little fuzzy on the edges but cleaned up nicely with a little sanding. All strips were extremely consistent in dimension.
 
All in all this is a very useful tool at an affordable price that anyone who likes to cut there own wood to size should have.
 
 
Mike Lonnecker
San Diego, CA