Snowmans

Made some of the knees agan today. A lot better than the first few made. I have left the templates on them for now until they are finished as they are marked with each location so I know where they are supposed to go. Might be easier to start cutting the mortices with the template in place too. They still need sanding on the inside radius which I will do once the paint is dry on my sander. I built a table for the sanding drum that fits on my dremel (read cheap copy) for the really small curved parts, and they paint was sprayed on today to tidy it up. I will put pictures of this up in a few days.

I removed the handle and the piece from the top of the blade. The handle was washed with a degreaser to remove the grime then sanded lightly. Finished with an oil and wax. The top piece wax sanded and a rust converter used to kill the rust then a black etch primer sprayed. Blade I went over with a scraper to reove rust and dirt. Then rust converter to kill rust and followed with sanding with a fine sanding sponge (about 1000 grit) to polish. Lastly a coat of metal polish to keep the rust off. I inherited a box of tools from my grandfather and there is a few that need a bit of work to get them into a usable state.

Looking good with the first few beams in place. Looks like nice tidy notches.

Thanks guys, Slow building this week, and no web access for a few days. I managed to cut a couple of knees to shape but looking at them today I might make them again, they are a little rough around the edges.

Have spent some time restoring an old hand saw which came up well once finished, nice and sharp. Was my grandfathers and I have a couple of them with different teeth sizes to tidy up. Photo below shows the finished saw and one that was the same condition to start.

Back to sanding, used two different drum sizes on the drill press to get the shape right. The smaller drum is home made by a friend - piece of pipe welded to a shaft with sandpaper attached. All the deck beams are finished to the right sizes so next I will break out the chisels and start fitting these.

Daniel - I put on 3 coats with about 8 hours between. Rubbed in a generous amount of oil then wiped all the excess off and let dry before the next coat. No brush used, I had a piece of soft cotton cloth rolled into a wad. Similar to cheesecloth or muttoncloth. Used a second piece to wipe excess off. 

Thanks for the feedback. Much appreciated.

Yeah, I realised after the oil was on that I needed to mask a bit lower. I was hoping no one would notice, but not much is missed around here. i should be able to lightly sand/scrape where the knees fix. Working on the rest of the deack framing now.

Looking good with all the treenail in place. I used side cutters to trim close then sandpaper wrapped around a 5mm stick. Sanded one board at a time.

The photos dont show the true color as they weretaken at night under flourescent light. I will try to get a couple of better ones up over the next few days.

Have a couple of coats of Danish oil on now. I am pleased with how the colors turned out.

Here is the last photos before I put the oil on. I have masked off the top so when I fix the beams this will be clear of oil and the glue will stick. I am thinking the treenails may come out darker than I first thought.

Great looking build. I knowwhat yoy mean about standing them up for the photo. Feels like you are making progress when the frames are in place.

I will be using danish oil. It will get 3-4 coats which will darken the rimu a lot and leave the kauri a golden colour.

Couple more pictures. Toothpicks being sharpened, showing how blunt they were on the right.

Here are the treenails before they were sanded flush.

I have and use a lot of power tools as I cut all my own timber for scratchbuilding. Table saw for ripping larger pieces down, then bandsaw for the smaller stuff, and thickness sander to finish.  I have picked up most of the power tools on special or second hand over the last few years, mostly before I started with ships.

The tools I use most for ship building are the thickness sander and disc sander that I built myself out of parts I had in the shed.

All the treenails are glued in place. One side has been sanded smooth and is ready to finish. The other is ready to cut off the excess and sand. The tooth picks were cut in half as they are double ended. Then sanded to a sharper point on the sander before staining as the point was fairly blunt which would have forced the holes into a larger size. All in all I think they look good, very hard to see at the moment but will see how they are after a coat of oil. I would rather something subtle than an extreme color difference. I am hoping that over the long weekend I will have at least one coat of oil on the lower timbers.

Thanks guy, I am going to use an oil on by Triton cross section. It will change the color of the timber I have used, but was planning on that from the start. Will use a couple of coats which should leave a satin finish.

I have used a satin clear on other projects both brushed and airbrushed. Airbrushing leaves a more even finish.

On these two the sandpaper is held on with double sided film tape. This very thin so no raised areas where it is attached. The next one will be different - still in planning stages.

I am interseted in what other people are using as a clear finish on their finished ship. I have seen several types of oil and a few poly or varnish clears. What are you using and why?

First attempt at making one. Or rather had a friend weld the shaft on for me. It is a lot smaller than the bought version so will me better for getting into tigher corners. This doesn't have a layer between the sandpaper and drum yet as I was checking it was straight and had no wobble. Now planning a few more with wooden drums and a vew other few ideas for improvement.

Have the treenails stained and ready to install. They came out a lovely golden color which should go well with the rest of the timber once finished.The toothpicks on the left have been stained the right are natural.

Deck posts cut and ready to fit. Deck beams are bent to shape. Have toothpicks in a jar of stain overnight as Rummy suggested. The stain was watered down slightly to help it soak into the toothpicks and

i will dry them tomorrow for a day or two before glueing into place. Once sanded the clear finish can go onto the lower timbers.

I hadn't thought of the color changing. That ship was getting stained anyway so woundnt have mattered. Will keep in mind for next time. thanks for the info.

Tom - Snowmans happened by acident on another forum. S Newman was taken changed to Snowman then snowmans. How you came up with your user name might be new thread. 

Shanon.

Thanks Garwood, I didnt think that a piece of wood wedged would stay in place. I will be making a few of different sizes for myself.

Is it possable to soak planks too long? I put a few at a time in to soak, come back the next day and bend to shape. Then once dry glue into place. This way I have some soaking, some drying. This helps when I only have limited time to work in the shed. I guess it only takes longer to dry but someone can correct me here if this is not right.

And in use.