Thistle17

I'm curious. It would seem you are just a few steps from creating of say a DXF file to have your parts machined via laser or cnc routing. is there a reason you didn't go that route? Joe

I too am in the process of building Cheerful in the original boxwood material as offered early on. I haven't posted a build because I have gotten so far behind it is almost anti-climatic to report on it. I will say that after some false starts with planking and the like I am now at the deck level adding detail. So to give you some encouragement it is finally starting to get exciting to work on her as fleeting as that may be. Don't lose heart and as Chuck all too often emphasizes take your time. Joe

Your build is coming along just fine. It too was my first build from an AJ Fisher kit that was a solid hull. Plenty of on-line pictures to help guide you and if I recall there was a book out on its build that may be of help. Of course most of the recent info is of II. And I notice that much of the deck "furniture" is for safety or comfort conformance. I did use Erik Ronnberg Jr's manual of Benjamin Latham as a guide as I viewed him as an authority. I have a question for you. When you speak of her as a racer what do you mean. It was my understanding that the original Bluenose raced against some American vessels of the same "class" to see which was the fastest. It is my understanding she was never converted to be a racer as such. Joe

This is such a magical trip you are taking us on as your build advances. Absolutely love it! Adding figures and creating the environment adds so much viewing interest. Two years ago we had a member of the Rochester Museum and Science Center in to give a talk on his work on a diorama restoration of early Rochester NY down by the falls (which was the city epicenter for a time). He related they wanted as accurate a depiction of the population represented so they went back to historical records and gleaned enough information to include people of color in the new display. Kudos to you Jond for your similar work! Joe

Thank you for sharing this latest tip Mike. You make the road ahead less difficult! Joe

Check this site out for properties of this wood. https://www.woodworkerssource.com/show_tree_wood.php?wood=Staudtia stipitata Given what I read I only offer that this wood is going to be difficult to edge bend given its density and reference comparison to maple. You may have to resort to soaking in water or alcohol. I would try a sample piece before I go too far. Chuck Passaro also recommends heat to edge bend in the area of the curve. Joe

I forgot to mention that you can get a healthy dose of knowledge from this individual's email and postings. He is quite the CNC enthusiast. Bob Warfield from CNCCookbook <bob@cnccookbook.com> Joe

At the outset let me say I am not trained as a machinist. Having said that I did invest in the Sherline Mill with DRO capability. I love the machine! I also invested in a Sainsmart 3018 Pro to try to teach myself and my grandson who is in college studying Mechanical Engineering to give him some early hands on exposure to this type of tooling. Firstly let me say I do not recommend that CNC system. It is a learning tool. What I would offer is that we had such a disappointing entry into the CNC world via this product. However as painful a startup as it was, we learned quite a bit about the entire environment. Here are my thoughts: invest in a turn key system of both hardware and software (CAD/CAM) if you don't want to spend all your energy and time stitching together a system. From the standpoint of a machine paying for itself one should have other projects other than ship modeling as Ron suggests. Depending on what software front end (CAD software) you choose, and there are plenty, there can be a steep learning curve for the more powerful/useful ones. Even some of the better ones are freeware to the home user. The more powerful systems (CAD/CAM) allow one to even scan in images, import certain types of files, like DXF files and even with conversion JPEG images. But you may have to learn how to debug and edit 'g code' to have it produce what you want. There is a caution on the import of the more common DXF files. Certain DXF files that were meant for a laser system may need significant editing to have them run a router based system. Node discontinuities are the problem for the most part. These are just a few thoughts that I/we had to learn the hard way' We did this over 2 months of summer trail and error. What made it fun I was spending quality time with my grandson! If all this doesn't deter you please keep this thread alive and we all can learn and contribute with you. Joe

How did I ever miss this build log! In reading earlier posts I can only say that I appreciate your sense of the what elements of your work bring satisfaction and those that don't that haunt you. I can relate and at times i find it a curse in this model building pursuit. Nonetheless your work is inspiring and a joy to now follow. Your work is excellent. If you are ever in the Rochester area we have a small model group. Our web site is www.modelshipwrightguildwny.org. Although we have members from Syracuse and Buffalo (and even Lisbon Portugal) it would be a trek to have you attend one of our meetings. You may be interested to know that the Niagara Model's group will be holding an open house in June of this year just over the border. They have some fantastic modelers. We plan to attend. Look under the topical heading dealing with model club news and events to learn more. Joe

This looks like a well made machine with good features however it is a bit more on Amazon. Joe

The larger table is still available but not advertised. I inquired about 6 months ago and he would supply it. The rub as I recall was that I had to ship my present table top to him for the rework. I have yet to do so as it is in use for a project. I still wish to do it but can't free up the top. As Mike says check with Jim. Joe

I agree with Mike on the crosscut sled it is an excellent accessory. As I posted before regarding the tiling table and I must qualify once again I have never used it. However intuitively I am troubled by the "mechanics of the piece being cut tendency to "fall" in the direction of the blade. I would never do so on my full size table saw and as a matter of safety I never cut say a 45 degree cut with the piece trapped between the table and thetilted saw blade. Rather I cut the angle on the opposite side of the blade. I am open to being corrected so please I invite feedback to the contrary. Joe

I don't know why I missed this MSW thread before but in reading through the progression of the build, not with standing the full scale "model", it is such a beauty and like others like Michael you are gifted! I have such a fondness for small craft. Perhaps it is because of their basic beauty or maybe it is just their fundamental essence and grace. Joe

I handed off the form to Bill our resident expert at computer design and who also has access to laser etching and to my utter surprise he produced the gun tub in an amazing short time! And to add to the surprise he elected to use styrene sheet for the tub surround dispensing with a good deal of sanding and filling with the stave approach. In addition he was able to add the bolt holes for further realism. I am sure to many of you that would have been a logical material choice. It certainly was for Bill as his Civil War scratch models employ this material. The challenge now is to outfit the tub with the inner mounts, back rest, ammo cache, spent ammo receiver etc. Unfortunately we only have the Maryland Silver rendering of the tub inner details so there will have to be some "poetic license" determination of dimensions and placement of elements mentioned. We do have the 50 Caliber scale guns so that will be of some help. Joe EPSON044.PDF

What is it about wooden boats? Every time I see these vessels since I was young(er) it stirs my heart. In case you haven't seen the Acorn to Arrabella videos on you tube they are worth every session. To me it is testimony of having a dream and going after it. Sigh!!!! Chuck yes indeed, for we arm chair sailors, dreamers and modelers it would be a wonderful scaled project. Joe

skipper1947 I do not have direct knowledge of this model however here is a kind gentleman Reni Hoelzle - Krick Modelltechnik <r.hoelzle@krick-modell.de>) (that did work for Krick just a few years back. He was quite helpful in my pursuit of parts for the Atlantis by Robbe. They bought the rights for the kit from Robbe. Now the reason I am relating this is that I took a commission to rebuild a static model of Atlantis. You can visit my build log on MSW at I had to rebuild a good deal of the deck furniture and some of the hull components as they were missing. I would ask Krick if the kit comes with laser cut parts and what the materials are. In my build log you will see what was so displeasing to me. Also ask Pat Matthews (on page one of my build log) he is a pretty savvy individual. Hope this helps. Feel free to ask more or PM directly. Joe

We finally got around to fabricating the gun form shown in the picture attached. The form is 7" in diameter and 3 1/8" high. We did experiment with alternate methods of creating the tub surround i.e. a veneer wrap, thicker staves and the like but finally reverted to the original thinking of two layers of 1/32 staves with the outer staves offset from the joint area of the first layer. This is now being fabricated off site. In addition the fabricator has design processing capability and access to laser fabrication to make the tub flanges (rings) and as he says with the bolt patterns included. A test fit of the form indicates we will have no problems with fit into the existing support ring of the model. Joe

Simply amazing in itself but when one works to imitate it in physical form what a reference! The other edge of the sword however is can I ever hope to make such clean crisp joinery as the 3D model? Joe

Great way to introduce yourself Bob. Ah that Viet Nam era! I was actually drafted during that era and only, just only, did my deferment keep me out of the fray. They actually pulled the notice back as I was working on sonobouy radio receivers for General Dynamics out of college. I often think I may not have come back save that twist of fate. Joe

As we say in America Michael..."Your killing me!!!!!". Stop it I can't take it any more! I have no hope of ever attaining your ingenuity and execution. Joe

Try Gilmer Wood Company. They have billets that one can machine. Their supply varies from time to time so you will need to revisit to get your desired billets. Joe

Fairing the inner bulkheads isn't fun no matter how one approaches it. I didn't find anything to like about it on Cheerful save I could say it was done. I am not looking forward to this aspect on this model even though you make the outcome worthy of the pursuit. The cap looks superb. I am assuming there is a outboard detail to be added in the future to the cap??? She is a beauty Rusty!!!! Joe

Shown below is a typical gun tub for the model. It is the best close up image we can find. Now I think this is mounted on a MK II but as best we can tell from the drawings we have it appears identical. Combined with our drawing file and this photo we are going to fabricate the gun tub as follows. We have produced 2 very accurately diameter discs out of 3/4' MDF that will form the top and bottom of a form. The center alignment hole has been accurately placed and will help in alignment when we bolt the 2 forms together. Now the overall height of the gun tub to scale is 3 1/8" inches tall. To fashion the gun tub we will sandwich in between the top and bottom discs separators (of slightly smaller diameter than the two discs of 7" diameter) to achieve the 3 1/8" height. The assembly will be bolted together. The two disc edges will be refined so as to limit the possibility of glue adhesion. One thirty second (1/32") basswood will be machined into staves and mounted to the form. The staves will be edge glued. Clamping bands can be used to achieve conformal shaping of the flat stock onto the form. The overall outside diameter is 7 1/8" Hence a second layer of 1/32" will be repeated. The gun tub rings can be fabricated in a number of ways but the preferred method is to have them laser etched from either suitable thickness plywood or laser board. We think this will work and will be working this over the next week. In looking at the gunner in the photo one cannot help but wonder about his hearing problems as a result of his placement. Did these guys sacrifice themselves or what??? Joe EPSON039.rot (2).pdf

Let me suggest we continue a dialog on this. Firstly there is a note somewhere either in MSW on fence alignment or elsewhere and I just have forgotten. In that note it suggests one tighten the front lock down and then apply slight pressure to the rear lock down to provide "out board" clearance for the stock as it is pushed past the cutting edge of the blade. This implies there is some bias to the fence parallelism to the blade and not the slot???? Secondly, I have to ask in regard to the mitre perpendicularity, when you say you have a 1 degree error how and what are you measuring it. With my best square I have measured the mitre perpendicularity to the blade and with in my capability I do not see any deviation. I have noticed it can be "easy" to have the test piece move while cutting as the finer tooth blades do offer some side thrust to the work piece. I would also check that the blade is mounted correctly/cleanly on the arbor. Joe