Moxis

That's true. First I thought to use M5x0.5 thread which would have given forward movement of 0.5 mm with one revolution. But then I thought it to be an overkill for what I needed. After all they are wooden planks which we are producing. A change of air moisture or temperature would have more effect on plank dimensions.

When working with my present project, I needed very accurate planks with even height. First I tried to set the fence of my Proxxon saw manually, but it is very frustrating to have it set within a few hundreds of a millimeter.
So i decided to make this small gadget to simplify the setting. The only thing what was needed was to mill two pieces of aluminium, and cut threads into them for set screw and locking screw. The thread of set screw is M6x1, so that one revolution extends the screw with one millimeter. The head of the screw has 10 divisions so that one division represents 0,1 mm movement. The set screw only pushes the fence, it is not threaded into it, which makes it easy to remove the gadget after the fence is set. With this equipment i can now easily adjust the width of planks in about 0,05 mm accuracy.  

When working with my present project, I needed very accurate planks with even height. First I tried to set the fence of my Proxxon saw manually, but it is very frustrating to have it set within a few hundreds of a millimeter.
So i decided to make this small gadget to simplify the setting. The only thing what was needed was to mill two pieces of aluminium, and cut threads into them for set screw and locking screw. The thread of set screw is M6x1, so that one revolution extends the screw with one millimeter. The head of the screw has 10 divisions so that one division represents 0,1 mm movement. The set screw only pushes the fence, it is not threaded into it, which makes it easy to remove the gadget after the fence is set. With this equipment i can now easily adjust the width of planks in about 0,05 mm accuracy.  

When working with my present project, I needed very accurate planks with even height. First I tried to set the fence of my Proxxon saw manually, but it is very frustrating to have it set within a few hundreds of a millimeter.
So i decided to make this small gadget to simplify the setting. The only thing what was needed was to mill two pieces of aluminium, and cut threads into them for set screw and locking screw. The thread of set screw is M6x1, so that one revolution extends the screw with one millimeter. The head of the screw has 10 divisions so that one division represents 0,1 mm movement. The set screw only pushes the fence, it is not threaded into it, which makes it easy to remove the gadget after the fence is set. With this equipment i can now easily adjust the width of planks in about 0,05 mm accuracy.  

When working with my present project, I needed very accurate planks with even height. First I tried to set the fence of my Proxxon saw manually, but it is very frustrating to have it set within a few hundreds of a millimeter.
So i decided to make this small gadget to simplify the setting. The only thing what was needed was to mill two pieces of aluminium, and cut threads into them for set screw and locking screw. The thread of set screw is M6x1, so that one revolution extends the screw with one millimeter. The head of the screw has 10 divisions so that one division represents 0,1 mm movement. The set screw only pushes the fence, it is not threaded into it, which makes it easy to remove the gadget after the fence is set. With this equipment i can now easily adjust the width of planks in about 0,05 mm accuracy.  

When working with my present project, I needed very accurate planks with even height. First I tried to set the fence of my Proxxon saw manually, but it is very frustrating to have it set within a few hundreds of a millimeter.
So i decided to make this small gadget to simplify the setting. The only thing what was needed was to mill two pieces of aluminium, and cut threads into them for set screw and locking screw. The thread of set screw is M6x1, so that one revolution extends the screw with one millimeter. The head of the screw has 10 divisions so that one division represents 0,1 mm movement. The set screw only pushes the fence, it is not threaded into it, which makes it easy to remove the gadget after the fence is set. With this equipment i can now easily adjust the width of planks in about 0,05 mm accuracy.  

When working with my present project, I needed very accurate planks with even height. First I tried to set the fence of my Proxxon saw manually, but it is very frustrating to have it set within a few hundreds of a millimeter.
So i decided to make this small gadget to simplify the setting. The only thing what was needed was to mill two pieces of aluminium, and cut threads into them for set screw and locking screw. The thread of set screw is M6x1, so that one revolution extends the screw with one millimeter. The head of the screw has 10 divisions so that one division represents 0,1 mm movement. The set screw only pushes the fence, it is not threaded into it, which makes it easy to remove the gadget after the fence is set. With this equipment i can now easily adjust the width of planks in about 0,05 mm accuracy.  

When working with my present project, I needed very accurate planks with even height. First I tried to set the fence of my Proxxon saw manually, but it is very frustrating to have it set within a few hundreds of a millimeter.
So i decided to make this small gadget to simplify the setting. The only thing what was needed was to mill two pieces of aluminium, and cut threads into them for set screw and locking screw. The thread of set screw is M6x1, so that one revolution extends the screw with one millimeter. The head of the screw has 10 divisions so that one division represents 0,1 mm movement. The set screw only pushes the fence, it is not threaded into it, which makes it easy to remove the gadget after the fence is set. With this equipment i can now easily adjust the width of planks in about 0,05 mm accuracy.  

I made some excentric cam-action pins from aluminium-rod to fit into the holes of these ceramic soldering plates:

 

Earlier here was a folder for finished scratch built projects. This does not exist any more, so this is why I have to introduce my completed project at this folder. I am sorry that I didn`t issue any building blog about my project, but in the beginning I was not sure at all, if I ever will finish this project.
 
So, during about two years I have been building a model of French cutter Le Cerf, and finally a few days ago it could be regarded as finished. When searching a new project to build, from the beginning I somehow liked the one mast cutter Le Cerf, issued by French Ancre. So I purchased the documentation package, which included much information about French Navy in general, and especially about the vessel itself. Included were also 12 sheets of plans, which were drawn in the scale of 1/48, which suited me very well, because my previous build was also made at this scale.
 
After having studied the documents and plans for a couple of days, I started the project by making the bulkheads out of plywood. Hull & deck planking were made using strips sawn of abachi wood, which was a positive surprise for me, because it was very easy to work with and to bend the strips and attach them in place. The hulls of French cutters were made in clinker method, and after first difficulties it seemed to me easier to make than "normal" smooth hulls.
Gun carriages and othe small details were made of cherry wood, and decorations at the stern were carved of boxwood.
Gun barrels are made of brass, together with the blocks and rigging threads they were the only purchased parts. Sails were made of thin Egyptian cotton. It was colored with acrylic paints together with a small amount of white glue diluted in water.
 
I am quite happy with the result. Now again I am in the situation of trying to decide what to build next.
 
 
 

Hello Aviaamator, at least I read your blog. Wonderful work you make there. I was watching with great interest your carving work and that video where a guy started carving. It looks that everything depends of very sharp tools. I have tried to sharpen my tools myself but never actually had them sharp enough. So first to learn how to sharpen and only then start carving.
And you asked whether to paint the new model or not. I would leave it as is, without paint.

Very nice tutorial torpedochief! I have always thought that the etch preventing film must be on both sides of the brass. So this is much easier method. But there remains one question: Where to get and what exactly is the brand of this plastic coated paper?

Very nice tutorial torpedochief! I have always thought that the etch preventing film must be on both sides of the brass. So this is much easier method. But there remains one question: Where to get and what exactly is the brand of this plastic coated paper?

Thanks a lot Rick for an interesting method. I have to try this when starting a new project. Very interesting feature is also to add more bulkheads if there are not enough them at the original plan. For this I should however get some sort of 3D cad and learn to use it, but that is another story.
 
Interesting is also the fact that the bulkheads shown at the drawing represent the outer surface of the ship. And when you make the bulkheads after the drawing, you have to deduct the thickness of planking from them. I wonder how many of us are doing that. It is very difficult to redraw the bulkheads so that the outer form remains unchanged. So far I have made only 2 or 3 models and have made my bulkheads exactly as shown on drawing, so resulting to slightly larger hulls than they should be. But who will notice that? But you are right, when building a museum model, you should take also this fact in consideration.

This is my first attempt with carving. As I said earlier, my new project needs some simple carvings at the stern. After having read all tutorials available, I chose to use rotating tools for this work, because it feels easier for me than to use knives and chisels and the quality of carvings might be better, at least for me with no previous experience.
 
So the first thing was to obtain suitable wood for this work. Having read from different sources that boxwood would be the best choice, I started to look for that. Soon I found out that this kind of wood couldn`t be found anywhere in this country. So I ordered a lump of good looking boxwood fron the supplier in the UK.
 
Next I thought to start from the most difficult thing, the letters for ship`s name. These are very small, about 3,5 mm high, and preferable made with old type font. Laser cutting was first tried with fonts found in Corel Draw. They were scaled and sent to laser cutting company, but results were not at all acceptable. It was not possible to have these small letters not to be burnt by the laser, and removing the unevitable char from them would have been almost impossible. So next I turned into my dear old cnc router, and after some testing and changes the results were improving until acceptable. Letters are cut from 0,6 mm thick boxwood, letter height is 3,6 mm and they were cut with dia. 0,3 mm cutter. The font was found from the CADCAM program`s (Vector) font library.
 
A nice picture of red deer was found in Internet, scaled down with Corel Draw and printed on paper. This was glued on 2 mm boxwood and cut with a jeweler`s saw, and edges rounded with the rotary tool, using old dentist`s cutting bits.
The remaining parts were also cut of 2 mm boxwood and "machined" with rotary tool.
 
Finally all parts were glued into the stern of the model and stained with light walnut color.
 

 

Thanks a lot for your opinions guys, this is what I thought too. A toy which doesn't perform satisfactorily any of the functions promised. So better to save one's hard earned cash and leave it to the shop.

I have sometimes used the Proxxon drill chuck with a Proxxon arbor in a bigger lathe to turn very small parts which are not possible to attach in a big lathe 3 jaw chuck. The first picture is showing this:

The second picture shows the size difference of Proxxon 3 jaw chuck and drill chuck on the bed of DB250 lathe together with lathe spindle thread. From this picture it is easy to see that the drill chuch does not fit on the lathe spindle thread:

 

I have sometimes used the Proxxon drill chuck with a Proxxon arbor in a bigger lathe to turn very small parts which are not possible to attach in a big lathe 3 jaw chuck. The first picture is showing this:

The second picture shows the size difference of Proxxon 3 jaw chuck and drill chuck on the bed of DB250 lathe together with lathe spindle thread. From this picture it is easy to see that the drill chuch does not fit on the lathe spindle thread:

 

I have sometimes used the Proxxon drill chuck with a Proxxon arbor in a bigger lathe to turn very small parts which are not possible to attach in a big lathe 3 jaw chuck. The first picture is showing this:

The second picture shows the size difference of Proxxon 3 jaw chuck and drill chuck on the bed of DB250 lathe together with lathe spindle thread. From this picture it is easy to see that the drill chuch does not fit on the lathe spindle thread:

 

I have sometimes used the Proxxon drill chuck with a Proxxon arbor in a bigger lathe to turn very small parts which are not possible to attach in a big lathe 3 jaw chuck. The first picture is showing this:

The second picture shows the size difference of Proxxon 3 jaw chuck and drill chuck on the bed of DB250 lathe together with lathe spindle thread. From this picture it is easy to see that the drill chuch does not fit on the lathe spindle thread:

 

What kind of CA are you using which cures immediately. I have tried to use this type of glue several times for wood/wood junctions, but have had very bad results. The glue doesn't cure at all, and has to be replaced with epoxy or PVA. I have understood that the CA works only with metal, glass, certain plastics, etc. which are not porous like wood.
If I need instant bonding with wood, I have had good results with so called contact glue, which is applied on both surfaces, let to dry, and then pressed together.

For our next project, a steam powered tug, made at Ahlstrom in 1877, we have made the keel and bulkheads drawing them on the original plan with Autocad and cutting with laser. So far the ptoject has started nicely.
 
https://api.laivadata.fi/v1/attachments/58e2b648255dbc34a3a83ae0/data
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

Thanks a lot Rick for an interesting method. I have to try this when starting a new project. Very interesting feature is also to add more bulkheads if there are not enough them at the original plan. For this I should however get some sort of 3D cad and learn to use it, but that is another story.
 
Interesting is also the fact that the bulkheads shown at the drawing represent the outer surface of the ship. And when you make the bulkheads after the drawing, you have to deduct the thickness of planking from them. I wonder how many of us are doing that. It is very difficult to redraw the bulkheads so that the outer form remains unchanged. So far I have made only 2 or 3 models and have made my bulkheads exactly as shown on drawing, so resulting to slightly larger hulls than they should be. But who will notice that? But you are right, when building a museum model, you should take also this fact in consideration.

Hello Moxis, 
 
I think there is another way to look at this problem, which expands on the post above, that will be much easier for you and more accurate.  From your .pdf scan, you can take PRT SC of the various views you have and simply insert these in your favorite 2D or 3D program.  You can then set the dimensions you want for the part and use the spline features to simply trace out the lines. This will give you much better accuracy than any scanning of the lines themselves. You do not count on the dubious algorithms of the scanning programs; you make your own decisions. 
 
Also, remember the originals are based on the outside lines of a ship and don't compensate for an offset that you will need since you are making the bulkheads and then planking over those. You really need to plan for that or your end product will be bigger than the scale you are considering. 
 
Plus, you will need to design a keel into the structure. The lines you have end in the original keel width. One way or another you need to cut a new keel into the bulkheads while keeping in mind the offset for the planking as well as the thickness of the wood you will use. 
 
Having done close to a hundred of these projects, I can tell you it's easier to forget about scanning technology and just go for it on your own. 
 
FANCY IMPROVEMENT:  If you want to go crazy with these projects, you can start with 3D software and use surfacing techniques to increase the number of bulkheads.  You simply make up the few bulkheads that are included in your lines and then simply loft a surface between the bulkheads. From there you can easily cut the surface and create intermediate bulkheads. For the sake of keeping things square, you can create waterline parts that run all the way along your ship, setting absolutely everything square.  This helps a lot if you are making a really big model. 
 
Have fun!
 
Rick 
 
 
 
 
 

Greetings,
 
With any good 2D or 3D software there are offset features to move a line one way or another. So, with a couple of clicks you can move the spline the exact thickness of your planking. Generally, I decide how many layers of planking will be used and I estimate 30% of each layer will be sanded off when faring a model. This gives me my offset dimension. 
 
Actually, very few of the models I make are for museums. Most are for racing sailboats and the dimensions need to be quite accurate to conform with class rules. Generally, also, the lines for these models are quite spartan and one has to be creative to get a nice shape. With about 45 years of experience racing sailboats I have a good eye for what will be fast. It's all good fun!
 
Regards, 
 
Rick