Jack12477

Great job on the Brodie stove, Bill.  Your model is beautiful.  Keep up the good work!
 
Dave

I worked on the Brodie Stove and Charlie Noble today. I made it out of maple and brass. It was a fun project. I know the details of this will not be seen once it is installed in the ship, but I know they will be there. I will install the Charlie Noble once the main deck is in.

Not sure about your ship Robb, but others I've seen are just notches cut into the channel with a strip molding over the edge to enclose them. Before cutting those notches though, you might want to get the masts stepped and raked first, so you can gauge where the shrouds need to be located for those dead-eyes. If that makes any sense.

Those holes in the pin rails seem pretty equidistant and straight to my eye. For doing them free-hand, they turned out great.

Creating the pinrails. I found that the angle for the cut is NOT 45 degrees. I measured and it's 50 degrees, so I had to re-cut. Getting the pin holes drilled was tricky, I don't have a drill press and when doing by hand the holes are a little crooked. Hard to see by naked eye, so I kept as-is. Otherwise I'd have to order more wood as I;m out of the 6mm walnut strips.
 
Also the kit parts list said that the belay pins are boxwood, but they're actually a cheap metal! So I ordered some boxwood (and pear) pins from modelexpo and I like them, but I ordered 10mm and only saw the part after the fact that they are 8mm. so I need to get more....

Beautiful peace of work Bob!
 
Cheers,

George, Ben, Omega1234, druxey, Mark, Mike, Popeye, Eamonn, thanks for the good words and complements, and thanks to all those who clicked the “LIKE” button. Your support these last few weeks was very helpful.  That’s what makes MSW so great.
 
Popeye the cam cleats were easy once I saw pictures on the web.  The hardest part was finding the black plastic to make them from.  Oh, by the way, they don’t work.  They’re a block of plastic with a slot half way through.
 
As for the next build I haven’t decided yet but when I start the next build I will put a link at the end of this log.
 
Bob

In order to position the top head rail correctly I needed to install the catheads.  These I made as described in the instruction using the 1/8” square basswood.  
 
Assembling the cathead and cattail.  Pieces held in position with double sided tape (my new best friend). I also pre-drilled all the holes for the eye bolts.  For the cathead stopper pulley I cut a small section of a toothpick, glued it to the cathead first and slowly sanded it down to the required height.  Then I glued the other two pieces as shown in the instructions.

 
Catheads in temporary position.  I added a pin to to the bottom of the cattail for additional support.  I also notched the waterway and cap rail so it would sit closer to the bulwarks.  I have to apologize for the inboard hawse holes, not one of my better efforts.  The difficulty with drilling the holes I found was trying to keep the holes parallel to the keel.

 
 
Painted prior to installing in place.

 
 
Installed catheads and hawse holes cleaned up a bit..      Front view with figurehead (she looks a little scary)

 
 
The shipyard will be closing down for a few weeks as we are going on vacation down to the Sunshine State.  We're doing something a little different this year in that we are flying down and then driving one of Mr. Hertz's cars back to Connecticut.  Planning to stop and spend some time along the way in Savanna, GA and Charleston, SC, so far.

Debbie and Charles,
 
And here I thought I was the first...    :D   I think, if you don't mind, we'll converse in the clear.. in public.  This site is indexed by Google and it might help someone on the fence buying this product.   Or...  it might push MM to step up and sort this mess out.
 
Thanks for your feedback.  It's been a bit of rough ride to say the least for me and it sounds like it's been hell for you.  And some might wonder why I don't recommend this product.    By nature, I'm a fiddler and tweaker so I don't usually give things a second thought that aren't perfect. 
 
I didn't have as many of the problems as you did but have had and am still having some.   I'm still testing but I think I'm almost dead on with the levels of the bed and arms.  The bed on mine needed a bit of shimming.  I haven't found nearly the misalignments you had.  If I had, it would have been back in the box in a New York second.    You probably should cut your losses and send it back. 
 
On the beam/mirror alignment.. I checked the bed and arm with a bubble level to get everything set up. That's what told met bed was off.  The link on the mirror alignment... the mirrors should be checked at upper left and at lower right at a minimum.  
 
Yes, this is a modified K40W laser.  They upgraded the Power Supply for 220 VAC which why the transformer is needed here in the states and also the mainboard so it would work with Corel.  The originals use 110 VAC in an unstable power supply and the mainboard is for MoshiDraw.   There are some upgrade parts out there, but the rest of the machine (alignments) have to be spot on and one of the things I'm looking for now is.. do they change?. 
 
In spite of the recommendation not to use an extender, I'm using one with no issues at this point other than it takes a bit longer for a large data file to move over to the cutter. 
 
Thanks for the tip on the water temp... I'll go freeze a jug of distilled water and put it in the bucket.   Crickey... 68 degrees max????  We keep ambient here in the house at 71 degrees.    Did tech tell you this or did you find it out on your own?
 
It's nice to know that I'm not the only one with an upside down lens.   I'm still looking for a better lens as I'm pretty much convinced that this is a cheaply made one.
 
I'm wondering if your laser tube is damaged or dying?  1/32" basswood should be a snap.  But if it's a big kerf with lots of charring, something is spreading the beam.  If it's not penetrating and kerf is thin and power setting is high, then tube is shot.  I'll test on some basswood in the couple of days.
 
I can currently manage up to 3/32" without a major headache and 1/8" with trial and error.  I'm using cherry and boxwood currently since boxwood is the tough nut to cut. The biggest problem is working out the power settings and speed and then number of passes. Once I sort out 1/8" to where I'm happy, I'll shoot for 3/16".  That may not be doable without an upgrade to the laser tube.  There is a 45 watt tube available but I'm still looking for specs on the power supply to see if it will run it.  It might work with the power supply and no increase of power out of the laser but give a longer life at a higher power than recommended for the 40W.
 
The work is passible for what I intend to do with it.  Knowing that I have to allow for kerf and not be in a rush is the key and then sand off the char.
 
If this goes back, I won't even deal with tech... I'm still on the fence...
 
Here's a picture of latest efforts.   The dime is there for scale.   The wood on top is 1/16" boxwood, the middle is 3/32" boxwood and the bottom is 1/8" boxwood.  Still a bit too much charring but I'm fiddling.  For me, this is a hobby and there's no pressure.
 

 
I really need to win the lottery... bigger workshop and 50W or 60W cutter would be great. 
 

Hi Mark, I was so glad to see that we weren't the ONLY ones on the planet that bought the Micro-Mark Laserknife 2525!
 
Sadly, our problems have been quite similar to yours, only we've been fighting the battle with it longer and still no real results.
 
You mentioned something about cooling- yes, it's important that the laser tube cooling water be between 62 degrees F and 68 degrees F to prolong the laser tube lifespan.  Since we live in Phoenix, AZ we have been using the gel ice packs in the bucket of distilled water to get the temp down. We installed an aquarium thermometer with an alarm and the probe goes in the bucket.
 
Anyway...We bought ours in April and it took awhile to get here because the main box sat lost on a dock in NM for a week or so until we made a lot of phone calls and they tracked it down.  We got the other 2 boxes with the extras right away.
 
While it is true that their return policy is 30 days, I asked specifically what the warranty was and Tech Support said 90 days. Since ours has never functioned properly since day 1, (and we have documented it with emails and photos) I feel we might have a little bit of recourse. That remains to be seen.
 
I called the credit card company that I used to buy it with today and explained it's a couple days past the credit card company's protest period (60 days) but since we've been working with Micro-Mark to try to fix the problem (s) they extended the time for us to protest the charge a bit in case Micro-Mark decides not to play fair.
 
The very first thing we discovered on day 1 was that the laser tube pointed so high on mirror 1 that it missed mirror 2 (going from 1 to 2) completely by 1/2"! Not even ON the mirror at all.  Micro-Mark's tech said we shouldn't even have to touch mirror 1.  Really? They did send us a MS-Word document on how to align mirrors but we found the same one you did on the internet.
 
We have adjusted mirrors, cleaned them, tried the lens both ways (ours was installed flat side up also), etc.  The gantry arm was not level front to back. On the left side it actually sloped down by 1mm & level on the right.  Micro-Mark told us how to fix that. The bed was badly out of level, too.  We had to shim it by 1/16" in the back on the right side and 3/32" on the front right to get it level.
 
The M-M tech said it should cut through 1/16" chipboard in 1 pass using 5mA power and speed of 20.  What a joke!  It barely engraved and trailed off to nothing (not even engraving) as it got to the lower right of the bed. We had tried it on 75% power and cutting speed of 25 and it took 12 passes and we got exactly 1 part out of 12 in the file cut through before it died off to nothing in the lower right. Of course they were well toasted with char and unuseable.
 
We have tried and tried and tried. It doesn't even cut 130# cardstock consistently.  We've tried bassword from 1/32" to 1/16", and the very thin chipboard they supplied and really have not had good results- ever. 
 
We seem to have a "sweet spot" of about 3"-4" square in the upper left of the bed where it cuts ok and the kerf is decent (although I'd like it thinner) and the further right and down you go, it starts trailing off to nothing or starts ghosting as if the laser beam is hitting the nozzle or something. We have aligned and re-aligned the mirrors for hours and hours and hours.  Yesterday we got them very closely aligned and it still did the same thing.
 
He took pictures every step of the way to prove the test firings in the alignments and that the mirrors were clean, and photos of levels everywhere.  He did notice today that the bracket that holds the nozzle assembly is itself NOT level left to right but, at this point we are so disgusted with it all we are not going to bother fixing that.  We will contact M-M's tech support one more time, armed with even more photos and info and tell them the ball is in their court.  If they don't play nice we will protest the charge with the credit card company.
 
We have Goggled for weeks trying to find a posting somewhere that someone else had actually bought one of these machines, but all we saw were people talking about it and finally my husband saw your posting a couple days ago.
 
If you want to compare notes with us, feel free to send me a Private Msg and I'll give you an email address. 
 
We have had years of experience creating the Corel files but always outsourced the cutting to others. We wanted the convenience of being able to pop in and test out a design and to control the process a bit better ourselves, so that's why we bought the Micro-Mark laser. We knew it wasn't going to be robust enough for big production runs, but probably fine for our needs for now.  The people we outsourced our cutting to had 25 watt lasers so we thought a 40 watt would be better- HA!   BTW, the laser cutter appears to be based off of a K40 Chinese machine, with a few things Micro-Mark added.
 
OK, I've ranted long enough.  We just were so excited to see another person that actually bought one. I swear we thought we were the only ones, with no reviews anywhere until yours.  THANK YOU for posting it!
 
Regards,
Debbie & Charles Jones
 
 

Well done, Ken. A great idea to make those rings look consistent.

Just a quick update and tip on locating gun port holes on the inner hull walls. I made a fixture using a small piece of brass sheet with the hole locations in place relative to the bottom and sides of the gun ports. This sheet was glued to a piece of 1/8" thick wood stock sized to the width of the narrowest gun port. Keep in mind the side of the fixture is positioned against the side wall of the larger width gun ports. If I was perfect they would all be the same. I then glued holding handles to the inner and outer wood surfaces.

 
When using the fixture the outer handle is used to hold the fixture flush to the bottom and then to each side to locate the hole locations with a sharp pointed scribe.

 
Will be drilling and adding eye bolts with rings into holes per test location and then build a fixture to rig the cannons before adding them to the deck per Kurt's suggestion.
 

Very nice jig you made there Ken! I was thinking something similar could be tooled up for any holes that need to be equidistant to each other---like pin-rails as well.

I use an old X ray view box as my light table.  With everyone switching to digital, they are relics taking up room in a lot of doctor's offices.  In my hospital, they are being thrown out  whenever an area gets repainted.

Cristiano, I just discovered your build log - haven't read thru it in its entirety yet - I plan to go back and read it.  But I must join the others in saying what a magnificent model you have created.
 
I will look for your next build also

You can see it now Carl!
 
:cheers: :cheers:
 
Done! Finished! I finished the model finally!
 
:cheers: :cheers:
 
The flags were the final touch.
I re-painted them with acrylic paint in order to let be "less shiny".
Now it will take some time to pack all the tools and accessories used during this year...
I made a bit more photo than usual, just to show better the final appearance of the model.
The last photo shows its final positioning in the wall niche.
 
 

Nenad,
 
Izzy said it best... I can't add any more without making a fool of myself.   I will add that the picture is a beautiful tribute.

I only "like your words because it marks, however brief, your return.  
Your presence has been missed in many ways. But always with understanding. I'm glad to hear you are all able to shoulder this incredible burden. But don't dismiss sadness as a weakness as it is as needed as copeing.
 
However long you need to regain some sort of order back is never too long. As you will always be welcomed back with glad heart and open arms.
 
Don't over do the self therapy. And loose yourself in the process. As with all thing my friend, moderation. And don't dismiss those places and things you shared. As that is how she will remain with you all. In your hearts. As someone not forgotten is never truly gone. Just not quite so close.
 
The days and weeks ahead will be rough for all. But you will come through the other side.
 
And while it's wonderful to hear from you. I'm sure in time you'll return as a regular steadying comrade in arms as it were. And you have a beautiful song to treasure along with all the good times. Least of which were the coming of your two children, who will be able to pick you up if you stumble upon this hardest of roads.
 
The flags will raise tonight in honour of your return and in memory of your loss.
 
Return soon my friend. But in your own time. And in your own way.

Erik, A warm ,
I would recommend you to download and print the friezes that is pinned to this topic by Chuck.
As it has turned out not all boats are coming out the same size.
Looking forward seeing your build log.
Some of us got the upgrade wood kit from Jeff @Hobbymill while he had his business.
I did get the wood, and also bought dead eyes and lines from Chuck @SyrenModelShipCompany

Finished planking the bulwarks on the port side after installing the false deck.   The false deck was 1/16" thick.   Then I added some filler strips at the bow and stern where I thought I needed it.  At the bow to beef up where the hawse holes will be.  You can see these strips below which I used 1/16" thick scrap strips for these filler pieces.
 

 
The first plank (3/16" wide and 3/64" thick) was placed right below the gun ports.  The planking below the ports inboard is thick and stands proud of the planking between the ports.  This will be accomplished in two layers much like the wales.   Placing the plank directly below the ports first allows me to get the run of the planking correct as it must follow the bottom of the ports.  Then the remaining planks were added below that and above.  Once completed the second layer of thicker planking was added.  This is the spirketing.  It runs from the deck to the port sills and is thicker....but not by very much.  The original planking draft has the spirketing just 1/2" thicker.  I used 1/32" thick planks for the second layer and actually thinned them down a bit more.  Then I softened the edge where it stands proud along the sills.  I try to soften all of the hard edges like this.  The thickness of the hull where the caprail will be is 5/32" thick after planking.  The cap rail will be 3/16' wide hanging over a bit outboard. 
 
Once I get the planking done on the other side I will install the cap rail.
 

 
 

I was about to unload a light table my Admiral has, laying around the basement. Once upon a time she was a graphic artist in NYC. Having seen it's usefulness here, it won't be going out in the trash. Thanks for the tip.

Today I made a light Box... or more correctly a light stand?
 
I read in TFFM that Greg uses a light box to inspect, mark and fine tune his joinery.
If it works for him I'm hoping it will help me.
 
This little project cost me next to nothing as I used scraps.
 
I taped, measured and laid out my cut lines and hole locations on the sheet of Plexiglas and onto the tape with a pencil.

 
Then I clamped the plexiglas down to my table and using my scroll saw and a plexiglas cutting blade I made my cuts.  You have to keep the saw moving or the plexiglas overheats and gums up. I cut about 1/8 inch outside the line.

 
I then clamped the plexiglas in my vise and using a very rough file I filed the cut edges down to the pencil line.

 
To diffuse the light shining from below I sanded the underside. Passed it quickly over my belt sanded.  Quickly so it doesn't overheat and make a mess.  Then I hand sanded in one direction with extremely rough sand paper. Finally I used 80 grit and sanded in four directions, one at a time.  First up and down, then across at 90 degrees, and finally diagonally (corner to corner). 

 
I drilled and counter drilled the plexiglas for the wood screws, cut two pieces of wood for the stands, marked off the screw holes using the plexiglas as the template and drilled pilot holes.  Screwed it all together.

 
I slide a LED puck light underneath and that was it... she was ready to use.

 
You can see it seems to do a great job of highlighting the imperfections.

 
Hope someone else finds this idea useful!

Hi Nenad
 
Work, gardening and remembering the love and special memories, will help you heal. I wish you, Hothead and Princess well.
 
Take care
 
Patrick

Dear friends
 
 

CaptainSteve, Glakie, mtaylor, Piet, juleslucas, popeye the sailor, Omega1234, SawdustDave, Izzy Madd, Sven, usedtosail, Jack12477, dgbot, UpstateNY, tasmanian, rfolsom, keelhauled, Jan B., ScottRC, capnharv2, Mirabell61, Peter Jenssen
and all others who sent me PM 
Thank you very much for nice words and support in last very very hard week.
 
Very important to me is to have you as friends from all over the world to be with me in this moment
 
But ... this is life
 
Life must go on, so do I
 
It is fact, and make me drown that every little place and every bit in our house has Her touch, connected with our plans, thoughts during 28 years of really happy and successful marriage, but I am strong, kids also, maybe little more stronger than we have to be, and we will move forward to our destiny
 

 
If you wish, you can listen Her favorite song "Caruso" performed by Pavarotti, which we escorted her two days ago
 

 
 
Considering I never used any anxiety medication, and never intend to, It is much easier to go through, applying to me some self-therapy with work, work, work, in office, in garden, everywhere and anytime, so I’ll be soon come back to Her Majesty
 
Thank you again!!!!

Steve,
 
It's all in the camera angle!