Kevin Kenny

What a number of the videos and modelers notes seem to indicate is that no one knows what is on the brass and different solvents will affect different contaminants on the pieces. I have acetone and should have mentioned it. Certainly the best results was pickling the pieces. Based on my soldering experience this has never disappointed me. You are right about blackening the photo etched pieces still connected to the frame. I actually used a stiff paint brush with the solvents and could see something coming off in the solution.  My choice would be to prickle the pieces, rinse, then blacken. If they did not take then i would try one of the three solvents i have in the shop until i get success. Thanks for the feedback.

Yes but its a great way to practice and the only way to get it right.

You are right and wrong. I wanted to install the cannon back from the gun port. That turned out to be an error as  the aft train tackle ended up  to close to the eye  on the center of the deck. This was caused by the blocks being too long. I have now been able to reduce the hook down to about 5” while in real life it was probably 3” in length. I just cant make it smaller than this and even this method  is a bit of a cheat as i had to remove the eye at the end of the hook. It will be better on the port side. In any case this will all be sealed up and no one will be able to see it, just you and me. 

First cannon installed 

Blckening brass

Installing the 2 cannons under the foredeck 

I still can’t figure out what my figurehead is  supposed to depict . Thorn?????

Lining the gratings up

I was struggling with the adjustment screw on my Preac as it kept changing caused by the  vibration of the saw and the slackness of the adjustment screw, so i have ordered a jack and hope this will keep the adjustment more  stable . I remember someone making an external adjustment screw for the Preac but cant remember where or how it was done.  These steam gratings are so small that i ended up making them solid instead of removable. Pity. If the jack works ill try again but wont get it for 2 weeks when Susan returns from NY.

I needed some more wood do out to the outside workshop to cut some stock and almost had an issue. So decided to make a rip jig for this saw. Strange as I never cut up small stock on this saw always on the Proxxon.  Here is the jig I made using Green heart and Juniper wood .i should have done this a long time ago.  Its nice to be able to make your own tools.

Hi Tom

David does not like power tools while Greg is like me and loves them. You will see this demonstrated in book 3 of the Swan Practium . Having said that David’s approach is to learn carving  skills using gouges . I found that to work at this scale and the size of the cathead  it was easier to use my Turbo carver to carve the diamond shapes. David would definitely disagree and use a v shape gouge to achieve the same result. I will continue to practice using the gouges but have no issue using power tools to achieve the end result.  Sorry will not see you this year, my next visit is in December as we are planning white Christmas in upstate NY.

Welcome to

my world 

I had a lot of trouble  holding the piece  and made up this one from a Jewlers hand clamp . It worked  great and since I already had it, the price was right.

I could only do 4 stars instead of eight. Just cant see the lines  to do better.

Practice , practice,  practice. 

Remember the course??? I will be working my way down over the next few weekd

Sheaves installed 

Catheads installed. That was brutal. I will have a lot of repairs to do to the moulding and the paint job. Easy fix its just a pain in the ace.

Here we go again.

Hahaha

Haha Alan
it a wonderful learning curve. The sad thing is that much of what we learn gets lost for those who will follow.  I have a written log that records many of my challenges so that when i get asked why i did what i did i and can  find  the answer. It is also why i have no fear of showing my mistakes in my videos. 

The bowsprit angle on the plans is 23degrees and my model is 21. So it is closer to the top of the stem than it should be. I have tried to change it but its not possible now. This will give me some issues with the figure head if i ever figure  out what mine should look like. Right now i do not plan to put one as i have no idea what a THORN figure should look like. I will still carve one when the time comes though.