Chuck

There is a topic on the big one....I will take more pics of the others later...I have quite a few old models that need some TLC. I figure at this rate I will be about 70 years old before I find time to do it. http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/6263-dutch-east-indiaman-vlissingen-1747need-help-from-our-dutch-members/ I have to try and accomplish something today. I am feeling very lazy and yet I have so much to do...I have do something other than watch old reruns of the "rockford files" marathon on TV.

And just to round out the images of where I spend 10 - 12 hours per day... This is the other side of the shop which is in my basement...yes I know it is an absolute bloody mess. In total its about 25 feet long and 18 feet wide with that little hallway which leads to my kids man cave. This is my block making station where yesterday I finished up milling 2000 2mm blocks. Theres a lot of sawdust on the floor....and my shop mascot snuck in the picture. You can see a drill press behind my hi-tech dust control system...the fan. , Byrnes saw and Sherline mill. This is one half of my rope making station...You can see one half of that cheapo ME ropewalk on the table as well as all of the scraps from making a few thousand feet of rope over the last few days....I WANT TO BELIEVE. I will be bringing all of that rope making stuff to St Louis to do a demo for the NRg Conference. I will be showuing how I make 20 - 23 foot lengths of rope on that little Model Shipways rope walk....thats how I make all of it. And then looking down the length of my basement and down the 30 foot long hallway to the other end of the rope making station. This is where I make my rope. Nothing too terribly exciting. Alond the wall is my library and a bunch of old models...including the 18th century model that I should really find a better place for. There is another old Dutch model there too that is crying out for some love and restoration. I have no idea what it is but looks about 60 - 70 years old. Maybe. By God I have to tidy up this place...there is crap all over. I am embarrassed.

Well I dont have any pics of the machine working...today is a rope making day. But here are some images of the shop with the laser cutter. Its very very messy as I am in high gear making stuff for the NRg conference in a few weeks. The laser cutter....is a BOSS Laser cutter 80 watt. But its custom and I had the larger laser tube placed in a smaller machine body for space reasons. I dont need a huge laser bed because most of the parts we make are small. I am very happy with its performance. Buying a laser cutter is like buying a car...so many opinions and stuff to weed through on the web about which is the best one. This particular unit cost about $5500 after everything was all set up. The cheaper desktop models you see just wont do the job and cut very poorly. Many promise to cut through 1/4' plywood but just wont. So far I was able to cut through teh plywood using only 65% of the power that this tube is capable of generating. It sits on a stand with wheels and can be rolled around teh shop but I like it right next to the workbench. Its just like sending a document to the printer....instead you just hit "file Cut" rather than "file print". Its very easy to get up and running. Baiscally the Laser is hooked up directly to an old laptop of mine. I use Corel Draw to draft my cutting files. They are saved as DFX files and opened up in the laser cutters software...lasercut 5.3. Note the dryer exhaust behind the laser cutter. The laser cutter doesnt leave behind anything after it cuts. It actually obliterates the wood in its path leaving only residue....thats the brown stuff you see on the cut edges. It is also on the laser bed. It must be cleaned from time to time. The material will smoke a bit as it cuts and there is a powerful exhaust fan that blows it outside through that vent. My shop always smells like a fireplace now...very pleasant actually. But I wont cut plastics and other materials because its noxious and the fumes are usually very hazardous...it could literally kill you. Its a bit noisy because of the blower to work the exhaust and the pump to cool the laser tube. Water is constantly pumped through the center of the laser tube as it cuts. You can see its size in relation to my work table... This is the bed of the laser which allows me to cut a 14" x 14' piece of wood comfortable. Its big enough for what we do. This is the actual 80 watt laser tube in the back of the machine....the heart of the machine. Th e laser beam is invisible and bounces off a series of mirrors to the laser head. The laser head moves with a pulley and track system to follow the path of your lines. The three things used to become an effective laser cutter is mastering the POWER setting for any given thickness of material, the SPEED of the laser as it travels...and the maintenance of the machine to focus the laser as sharply as possible to give you the thinnest kerf. Oh and of course the drafting and files you create must be done to the best advantage for your laser settings. Basically its trial and error...place a thickness of wood on the bed and try various setting of power and speed until you find the optimum settings. Every type of wood and thickness has different settings and they are recorded once I find them. Now back to the rope burning station where I need to finish up these 24 packs of black .012 rigging rope. From high tech to incredibly low tech in just a few steps. When you think about how much money you could spend on a Sherline lathe and mill and all of the accessories...$5500 is not that crazy. I make a lot of parts for a living and that isnt the case with most ship modelers but I view this as just another tool to make parts. You can excel at using it just like you could with a mill and lathe...which by the way, a lathe is something I dont own.

Really fine job on the planking.

Nope...Sorry. But these Carronades have trunnions and are a different style. They wont work with a sled. Chuck

A big thank you goes out to Russ for drafting and designing this fun project. Its looking very good. Enjoy it. Anyone else thinking of tackling this project can find the plans and excellent instructions right here. http://modelshipworldforum.com/ship-model-build-and-practicums.php Chuck

Its basically still POB by design...I dont see anything new here...just my opinion. Beautiful models but its no different than any kit that uses POB construction with several layers of planking....built upside down on a building board. Unless I am missing something. If someone can explain what I am missing I would appreciate it. I would be more than happy to post this as a pdf but I feel more explanation and description is needed. If I am looking at correctly. You just take many bulkheads and plank with with one, two or three layers of under planking, then apply the finish planking. Remove the interior bulkheads or part of the bulkhead extensions afterwards so you have a stiff shell. This could effectively be done with any POB kit should the bulkhead dimensions be reduced to compensate for the thickness of under planking. It could be done updside down or right side up...no difference. Is this what it describes? Seems like a lot of work to plank a hull so many times. But again I may be missing something here. What I would love to see Igor is some of these folks maybe starting a build log here so everyone could follow the process more closely. Its hard from just a few photos and text. Is there anyway to get that to happen? Chuck

I have already received the gunnades (carronades on carriages) for this model. Thought I would share some photos. These are turned brass just like the cannon I carry. These are actually all ready to go...along with the carriages which are also already laser cut. I am getting there...havent built one yet though. Chuck

I was thinking about it. But just the bulkheads and false keel. What you see in that photo. I want this to be a scratch project and scratch experience for the builder. As much as possible anyway. The bulkheads are easy and anyone could cut them out with the scroll saw. It doesnt take much skill. So if I offered them it would be only in an effort to save folks time so they can get to the fun stuff quicker. They would still need a scroll saw to complete the project. I basically cut these out over two-plus hours. My laser cutter is very small but very powerful. So I can only cut a few pieces at a time. But it would have taken me far longer to cut them out by hand. Its basically just a time-saver. I am a little worried it might be too expensive though. Good 1/4" thick plywood is expensive. These few pieces fit on three sheets of ply that cost me $30 and then another two-plus hours to cut. There is a lot of waste because of the funky shapes. Its midwest plywood. I would have to look around for something as good but cheaper. But thats a tall order. Everything else I looked at was warped or a weird composition of woods. This is some nice heavy stuff. The stuff at my local Lowes and Home depot was just horrible. I am not sure what the price would be and if it would be too high for folks. This 1/4" stuff is also heavy and would cost a pretty penny to ship... Its the reason why you get half the bulkheads needed for most commercial kits. But I would be willing to do it if enough folks are interested. But I am definately not going into teh complete kit business. I will do al-a-carte stuff like blocks and cannon and carronades....My recommendation would be to just cut them out yourself...then it would just cost you the price of the plywood. I will be giving Jeff a wood supply list as well. So that will be easy enough.

Today I laser cut the bulkheads and false keel from 1/4' thick ply. It was comforting that the laser cutter will have no problem cutting through this thickness of ply. That is really good. Normally you will see 3/16" thick bulkheads. I have started to use the thicker stuff in my latest designs. I think it really helps with the stability and strength of the hull. Its just a better thickness to go with in my opinion if you choose POB. When you no longer have to worry about mass production and kit MFG profit vs. loss, you are free to do these things. Its a great feeling and in the end make the modeling experience so much better. The parts fit really well. You can see how large in comparison to the Winnie in the background. I made the bulkhead former in two pieces as you can see. I think its important to make these in shorter lengths. If they are too long they have a tendency to warp and bend. The slots cut for the bulkheads makes this even more of a problem. It helps the warping become even worse. You will also notice the many, many bulkheads. I have added a picture of the Sherbourne cutter by Caldercraft for comparison of design. With bulkheads that far apart the planking is going to be tough. Chuck

Thanks guys. I may use it because Jeff has a stash of it at Hobbymill. I have samples and it looks like real nice stuff. Its a bit cheaper than boxwood but only marginally so. But if you didnt know which was which side by side it would be hard to tell the difference. Because they are so similar why not give it a try. Boxwood is slightly more tightly grained and the the color is more even. But if you get choice pieces of Pau Marfin it looks just as nice. It isnt as hard as Boxwood but its really close. More along the lines of pear in my opinion. But I figured why not give it a try. It also helps Jeff get rid of some. Maybe if more folks see a model made from it they might give it a try like I may do. It all depends on how long I have to wait for it. I think Jeff is going on vacation soon if he hasnt already. But I can still make the bulkheads and stuff while I wait... Chuck

Thanks guys for the interest..I am just waiting on some wood to be delivered then I will start making some sawdust. I am looking forward to it like you cant believe. I couldnt find any decent quality 1/4" thick ply anywhere within driving distance so I had to order online. I may just use solid wood instead for the bulkheads but I will see what I get. Chuck

Not yet...I am sourcing a bunch of places for printing as we speak. Chuck

This will mark the beginning of my project to build the prototype for the Cutter Cheerful. The plans are completed and I am getting ready to release the plans in a few months. I will be building her out of Boxwood or possibly even Pau marfin. I havent decided. This project is a POB build as you can see from the details in the plans posted below. Its not a very cumbersome project with just a cutter rig to deal with. She is carvel planked and not Clinker planked. This is one of the reasons why I chose it as a subject. Once I have the skeleton built and the hull planked, the plans will be released. The remainder of the project is pretty straight forward and doesnt need much of an explanation. I just need to prove out the design concepts for the hull skeleton. It shouldnt take too long. I will be writing a monograph as I build her and posting it on my website for free download as well as here on MSW should folks want to read it. But as I stated, I wont need to finish the entire project to release the plans as they are really straight forward. At a 1/4" scale...the hull will be 28 inches long and 26" tall. A nice size yet built at a larger scale to show some great details. I am finally at a point with the Syren store where my inventory is quite full and I will be able to enjoy working on both the Winnie and the Cheerful for several hours each day. I just cant wait to get started. Having a laser cutter doesnt hurt either. It will save me much time. Chuck

That would not be the best thing to do. In fact there are other words to describe wanting to even consider it. Wait a few days and get a new one. PLEASE A few dollars and a few days vs. .......a few fingers or your eyesight or worse.

The tutorial is in the database and explains it in much detail and with pictures http://modelshipworldforum.com/resources/Framing_and_Planking/Lining%20Off%20your%20hull%20for%20planking.pdf

Once you get into a groove with this you will never go back to planking any other way!!! Enjoy the process.

Yes you should....double it up...

Remember....you dont have to assemble the deadeyes one at a time. They were made and aligned as a group. No pins needed. Although your method keeps the holes from clogging wwith glue. Very nice touch. You can glue the three layers of each sprue together and just use the surrounding bounding box as a guide to line them up. You actually made it ten times harder than it needed to be even though they look great. Or at least it looks like it took a long time doing it one at a time. It is also a good idea to file down those tabs on the deadeyes before you throw them into the tumbler. It makes them keep their shape better and it wont take as long in the tumbler is is a very violent process. It only takes a few seconds with a file before you throw them into the tumbler. Gluing up a whole row at one time with all three layers. Three layers all glued together Use a snippers to cut them free. Tumble them up....remember to modify the tumbler and NOT use the stiff wood flaps. Just add three sheets of sandpaper...220 grit to each side of the spindle to make a flap wheel. The three sheets of sandpaper are not glued together...they are left lose which make the flap wheel more stiff without obliterating your deadeyes and blocks. It works better like this in my opinion. Dont forget the read through the full set of instructions. I have also stopped making them with 13 deadeyes in a row as there were too many to glue up easily within a reasonable time frame...so instead I have cut them down to seven in each sprue...as its more manageable. I include four in a pack which actually gives you more deadeyes. Let me know if you have any questions at all. Download it here. I am glad you are having fun with it. They do look good. And remember...DON'T TUMBLE THE FIDDLE BLOCKS...they are not round but soon will be if you use the tumbler. Those must be shaped by hand. AND those are meant to be assembled one at a time and not in a strip of six as stated in the instructions. Chuck

Just checking in as we get get closer to the conference.....There is still plenty of time time to sign up. There will be plenty of vendors there (I will be one of them), great speakers and a riverboat cruise. Its always a great time. So if you are considering going please sign up to meet us all there. I am sure there will be quite a few folks from MSW there. Its a fantastic opportunity to meet them in person. I am also bringing my wife and son to the conference to help me work the vendor table while I do my workshop on ropemaking. I am looking forward to it and hope to see you all there. Chuck

You did a fantastic job on her. Almost done!!!

Remember that the MS line is actually Nylon so watch what you use. Dont use anything that will actually melt it. Chuck

I just wanted to let folks know that the hotel rooms are starting to fill up now. So dont wait to long to take advantage of the special room rate for the NRG. AND...remember folks, you are all associate members now and can take advantage of the NRG member conference discount when you register. I would love to see you guys in person and it will be a great time for sure. Chuck

Yes indeed......use some sewing thread to seize the line around the mast.

No....you should use smaller rope to seize the .021 rope around the mast. Use smaller .008 or .012 black for that. The rope is .021 because Expo doesnt have anything else other than really large rope above that size. My .025 brown line is perfect size for the shrouds. But for the kit they have to supply only what they have available. Chuck