Jack12477

I have three River Birch trees that exfoliate bark like crazy - I just peel some of it off as it sheds.

WOW. Nice cradle Mark. Really sets the model off ! Now to remove the "flight deck" and you're back to the 17th (or is it 18th?) century look. :D

If you can find a Midwest brand kit in any of the hobby stores near you (they're no longer in production), they are an excellent beginner kit. Levels go from 1 to 4 with 1 being a Beginner kit.

Also open a build log here for whatever model you choose to build. You will be able to get plenty of helpful advice as you progress along with the model. Good luck.

The Dremel is useful but use it off model as Hipexec suggests. Dremel makes a kit that contains addition collets for smaller and larger drill bits/accessories. It's not too expensive. Pin vise is good as Jaager recommends. I have the variable speed Dremel myself.

Nice present Dave. What size tabletop is it? 6 inch? 9 inch?

I have the entire set of Veritas/Lee Valley miniature planes, chisels, scrapers. The only tool I have not used yet is the scraper. The low angle block plane gets the most use, especially on planking strips and for smoothing the hull and deck after planking. The tiny chisels are good as MikeY pointed out for tight places where only figure pressure is needed. For something that looks like a toy or something to display on a shelf these tools are amazingly functional right out of the box with no additional sharpening/honing needed. I still use the full sized versions but for model work these are fantastic IMO.

Dave, finally caught up with your build. Magnificent work ! Great looking model. I like the results you got with the flags. very nice. Break out the champagne and celebrate. And I am envious of your spacious workshop.

Maybe Santa is telepathic ! After all he does know if you've been naughty or nice ! Right ! ;) ;)

Thanks, Mark, Ken, Carl, and Denis for the compliments and encouragement on my soldering. It is getting a little easier - now I just have to master keeping everything in alignment while I solder

Very nicely done Jay. Came out really well. Regarding grain - it's not just the circular grain you encountered in that branch piece. It can also occur in straight grained blocks. I've seen the grain change just as I carve deeper into a block when I am carving figures. I have to be constantly aware of which way it is going and adjust my carving accordingly. Also there is a big difference between air dried wood and kiln dried wood. Kiln dried tends to be harder to carver in my experience than air dried.

Man, I guess I better grab a barrel and sit down before they are all taken. Glad to see you're at it again, Denis.

Pulling up a barrel to watch, Ken.

Mark, it's 18W but has the power of a 60W due to some patented design. The tip detaches using a phono jack connector from the main handle. According to the user instructions that accompanied it there is a digital heating element in the detachable tip. Here's what I found when I researched it. "The Weller WPS18MP heats from room temperature to 900ºF in just 35 seconds... three times faster than a standard home/hobbyist soldering iron. So there’s less time spent waiting for the iron to get up to temperature. People who do a lot of soldering really like that. In an industry-standard test, the Weller WPS18MP melted six solder joints in 324 seconds, compared to 977 seconds for a typical home/hobbyist iron. Three times faster again. The basic design of the Weller WPS18 MP High Performance Soldering Iron is what makes it better. By utilizing patented power supply electronics combined with specially constructed tips, the 18-watt Weller WPS 18 MP delivers performance equivalent to that of atypical 60-watt iron. But the most dramatic difference is in the time required to go from a cold iron to working temperature." It's working better now. I took some 600 grit emery paper and cleaned the tip till it had a shiny finish; then finally got it tinned. Now it's working much better. Solder melts almost instantly and flows well. I guess it was just beginner's folly that was getting in the way And yes, they will get painted black - I'm using Floquil's original formula Engine Black.

WOW, very impressive milling of those skylight panels, Glenn. Ditto the stove . Question: Are you using a butane micro torch or iron to do your soldering ? I'm trying to learn how to solder brass - been using an iron with a tip rated at 900 F and Stay-Brite brand silver solder, but it's been a frustrating process.

Well, it's been a while since I update this build log. Spent most of my time trying to learn how to solder brass - a somewhat frustrating exercise.Then I got distracted by Chuck's miniature woodcarving project, which in turn further sidetracked me into doing an Adirondack [mountain] Santa for my granddaughter's Christmas present. But I finally got the oyster dredges finished. Trying to file down some of the solder joints ended up breaking the connections, forcing me to re-solder (more frustration). Decided to leave the joints a little proud with the solder. Photos below: The jigs, asbestos board, and Weller brand iron (tip is rated at 900F) The jigs turned out to be great collectors of the melted, now liquid, flux and seemed to act more as a heat sink. Solder took a long time to melt and flow. Those are 2 mm wide grooves in the wood, a bit too wide for the thin brass wire the kit provided; so keeping parts aligned and in contact became a huge issue for me.I did resort to using the white solder board and pins but the pins also acting as heat sinks. I'm still working on a methodology for this. The finished dredges And Santa [with his pipe, snow shoes, and walking stick]

Looking good Jay. Two things you might consider to hold your work, first is the rubber honeycomb shelf liners, they're easy to cut, about 1/8 inch thick available in most kitchen gadget stores and some grocery stores (at least here in the states) and the second (which I prefer) is a bench hook like the one in my post # 12 above - last 3 photos. It's a piece of 1/2 inch cabinet grade birch plywood about 12 inches square. Not the notch cut in the back piece and the short block on the left, these allow you to angle the piece and the opening between the block on left and back panel allows the shavings to be cleared out easily. You can make the bench hook any size you want - I have several in various sizes for woodcarving, general woodworking and model ship building. I use both; I put the shelving liner under the bench hook - protects the "furniture" and keeps the hook from moving around. No clamps needed. Of course the bath mat works also.

I agree with everyone ! Go for it ! I'm 75 now but did build the Morgan a few years back for a friend. It's a challenge but looking at your Constitution model you are definitely up to the challenge. Open a build log so we can all follow along.

I also have their chisels and the full set of miniature planes and they are excellent - also have the Kell chisel guide from Garrett Wade and use it a lot on my smaller chisels.

Don't understand the observation ! I am right-handed and the way the knives are depicted in Ken's photo is the way I lay my knives down with the blade pointing away from my hand. A leftie would presumably point the blades to the right away from his/her left hand. When you reach for the knife you don't want to accidentally grab the sharp blade with your hand or worse stab yourself in the hand reaching for the knife..

Ken, check HIPEXEC's build starting around here He did some really nice cloth hammocks.

Came out really nice, Ryland.

Michael, would this Citrus based (CitrisStrip Stripping Gel) paint & varnish remover work for you? We've been using it to remove paint and varnish from a 104 year old bronze end cap from an ice boat we are restoring.

Pulling up a chair also Mike. This is great !

Dockyard is gone but I understand that Ramelson picked up their micro chisels line - See Woodcraft catalog - the Ramelson chisels look an awful lot like the Dockyard ones. Also The Woodcraft Shop in Iowa still has Dockyard chisels in stock (till they run out)