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Jack12477

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  1. Jack12477
    I have that "whatcah-ma-bob" Chuck and have used it a lot. Works better on the V and U shaped gouges. For my knives I prefer a long stick with a piece of old leather glued to it and some sharping rouge (like chalk dust) dusted into the leather - use the back side (rough) for stropping. The flat surface area on the Flexcut strop is too small for me.
  2. Jack12477
    I have not tried Chuck's #11 knife blade for carving (yet); mainly because the type of carving I do - figures and caricatures - would probably snap the blade on the first cut. Haven't tried the new Flexcut micro gouges either; I recently got a set of the now discontinued DockSide micro chisels. I am looking forward to trying my hand at Chuck's miniature carving project. I am a self taught woodcarver. Picked up a book (see my post here) and started reading and practicing. My first knife was the "bench" knife shown on the extreme left in photo below: I found this knife very frustrating to use and after joining a woodcarving club and consulting with some of their experienced carvers and trying out some of their knives, I switched to a style made by Dave Lyons called the Lyons knife (naturally) shown in the 2nd and 3rd photos. The design of the handle is more ergonomic and fits a lot nicer in the palm of your hand without fatiguing your hand after hours of carving. I might add that Dave's knives came razor sharp right out of the box and required no additional honing on my part - something I spent hours doing with the bench knife. Oh, the 2 knives to the right of the bench knife in photo #1 are chip carving knifes. For finger protection I recommend the finger guards shown in the photos below. They are leather on the bottom and an elastic material on the top and come in small, medium and large sizes to fit all finger sizes. The one on the right in the photo fits over the thumb while the one on the left fits over the forefinger And finally I constructed a bench hook as shown in these photos, the design is shown in Ellenwood's book referenced above. The notch in the back allows the piece to be placed in a diagonal position against the side stop. The gap between the side stop and the back is to allow chips to be removed more easily. I can get into a discussion of chisels and gouges at a later time as interest dictates.
  3. Jack12477
    This book Complete Guide to Woodcarving is the book I used to teach myself woodcarving about 8 years ago now. It is a step by step guide to everything from knife selection, sharpening, layout, even step-by-step carving projects. It is available thru Barnes & Noble. Ellenwood's book is consider by many carvers to be an excellent beginners book. Another excellent book are the many books by Harley Refsal, while not nautical in nature, he teaches the Scandinavian Flat Plane style of carving. This book Art & Technique of Scandinavian Style Woodcarving and Woodcarving in the Scandinavian Style both contain excellent step-by-step instructions for the beginning carver. Both are available thru Barnes and Noble and I have used both books to teach myself carving.
  4. Jack12477
    Looking forward to it, Chuck. I'm also interested and have some carving experience.
  5. Jack12477
    Bill Hime, I believe it's his laser cutter.
  6. Jack12477
    Yes, the smaller/smallest sizes do tend to break easily. But I generally use them in the WeCheer micro drill which accepts all of the Dremel collets and I use a lower RPM with these and very light hand pressure.
  7. Jack12477
    Mike, Dremel offers interchangeable collets for its drill. They will take anything from the micro drills (pin vise type) up to almost a "regular" drill - the supplied Dremel bits (sanding, routing, drilling, etc) are all 1/8 inch shafts, that's their default size. I have the extra collets and changing them over is easy. If I can find the conversion chart to convert the numbered drills, e.g. #68, #74 etc. to metric I will post a link here. The collet set includes 1 Collet and nuts for 1/8, 3/32, 1/16, and 1 32" bits.
  8. Jack12477
    Wish I could carve that well. Dr Hocker is a talented carver.
  9. Jack12477
    Beautiful workmanship, Glenn. Love the Serce model also (and the carved boatman figure).
  10. Jack12477
    Thanks, Gerty
  11. Jack12477
    Well, i finally figured out how to solder brass. Not the best results but pretty good for a first time effort. Haven't decided whether I want to leave them as a dirty worn look brass or paint them black. (Don't have any Blacken-It solution). Right now they are just dry fit in place. This is the port side view. Starboard still needs the vertical roller. Oh and I have to plug the misaligned hole I cut in the channel.
  12. Jack12477
    Thanks Lawrence & Dennis for the advice and encouragement. Yes, I am slowly starting to get the hang of it. Got the two dredge roller support brackets soldered after several failed attempts Now I just have to do some fine tuning before I can install them. Photos will follow in a bit. And thanks to all who hit the Like button. Question: What do you use to clean the brass parts after soldering? Vinegar, soap & water, ???
  13. Jack12477
    Really nice base, Bob
  14. Jack12477
    Looking good, Mark
  15. Jack12477
    Thanks Kurt ! I did manage to "accidentally" get two pieces soldered together - flat bar to round tube - but when I tried to repeat it I failed. I will eventually figure it out.
  16. Jack12477
    Thanks, John, I'll take a look at it. Right now I'm using an iron with a tip temperature of 900 F and StayBrite brand solder with an acid-free petroleum based paste flux. My problem might be not having the two pieces in tight contact. Will have to check again.
  17. Jack12477
    Oh I am getting a lot of practice, Joe. Getting an "E" for Effort but an "F" in completion :( ;)
  18. Jack12477
    Small update: Sometimes progress is measured in millimeters Finally added the rudder assembly and foreward capstan/winch. Still trying to learn to solder - so far getting an "F" in the class.
  19. Jack12477
    Thanks, Kurt. I'll give it a try.
  20. Jack12477
    Thanks, Bill, I'll keep that in mind. And thanks for stopping by.
  21. Jack12477
    Kurt, the soldering iron I'm using is a Weller brand model WPS18MP Pro Series. Specs say it is equivalent to 60 watt iron and will reach 900 degree F in 35 secs, even tho it's an 18 watt. Is this adequate? Also I have Worthington brand water soluble lead-free paste flux, Worthington brand petroleum based paste flux and Harris brand Stay-Clean liquid flux (came with the Stay-Brite solder package). What is the difference among these flux?
  22. Jack12477
    Thanks, Kurt
  23. Jack12477
    Thanks, Kurt. What do you recommend to use to clean the parts? Emery Paper ? Or ??? I have Stay-Brite solder
  24. Jack12477
    Soldering in general gives me problems, Carl. For this I have to construct the oyster dredges, A-frame, side rollers for the dredges and not sure what else of the top of my head. I have the tools for soldering, just have to perfect the technique.
  25. Jack12477
    Well, the summer hiatus is over, cooler weather has moved in (low of 45 F overnight last night) and it's back to the shipyard. I've been debating with myself over how to fabricate the railing(s) around the side and stern section. Didn't like the wire that came with the kit so I got some jewelry wire and experimented with that. I like the braided jewelry wire better than the solid because it more closely resembles wire rope, or cable. I also picked up some jewelry crimp tubes is varies sizes and colors ranging from 1mm, 2mm, 3mm, to 4mm and silver, gold, brass, and bronze. The braided wire is less than 1mm in diameter and folded back on itself it should be around 2 mm + or - in diameter. In practice only the 4mm crimp tube would fit over the folded back rope, so I used that, choosing the darker bronze color for both the rope and crimp tube. Pictures follow: First the wire rope and tubes The end results Now to do more practicing with the soldering iron before tackling the other deck structures. So far the practice sessions haven't been going so well.

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