michael mott

It was nice to revisit this wonderful model Nils. so many neat and interesting details and neat little tricks. Michael

Thanks for all the comments and likes. There is something intrinsically satisfying about being able to prepare ones own materials from the raw tree. The maple that I am using in this model is from a log of maple that was 24 inches in diameter and 6 feet long that was cut in Nova Scotia in 1973 and was given to me by a students grandfather. It was about 7 years later that I cut a 3 inch slab from the center of the log with a hand held chainsaw and then hand planed that into a top for a coffee table. Because the log had sat upright on a concrete floor for a couple of years before laying out the back of my model shop the log had started to get some spalting, which can produce some pretty figure. The rest was cut into various slabs of 1/4 sawn pieces and set up in the rafters of the model shop when I was running my model building business. Over the years since I have resawn various bits into 1/4 inch thick book matched panels and stacked then for later use. Today I used a couple of 1/4 by 3 1/2 sheets that were 14 inches long that were still in the raw bandsawn state and decided that they would represent some figured plywood for the bottoms of the seat cushions. Hand planing the air dried maple was a joy soft paper thin shavings curing out of my benck plane. The planks are resting on some rebated cleats. I will add some cross pieces that when finished will hook into the rebates. Michael

A bit of a struggle this morning fitting the aft panel section I had trouble getting it to fit in the correct position so kept removing material from the top edge so that it would rotate onto place. Then did a check only to fin out that the floor was not seated properly. The it all fell into place. From under the cockpit looking forward. then with the skylights replaced Now the real fun begins getting the side panels to hook into position and lock the whole works together. lunchtime Michael

Very nice work on the davits Keith. Michael

Tom... Sextant that's complicated! Gary, Thanks I appreciate it. The aft panels for the main cabin are now ready to be glued up, but lunch and a nap are in order first. In order to get the paneling as clean as possible without sanding I love using my little block plane and the thickness planing jig. I needed to creat slight taper from one end of the horizontal pieces so that the surfaces mated smoothly so after getting to the main thickness , I added a couple of slivers of paper to create the difference from end to end. All the parts are now interlocked with mortices and tenons and the panels are fitting with some ability to move. Michael

Following up with the paper strip comments, I needed to do just that today but I also needed a slight taper so I added a small bit of paper to the end that needed to be thinner. So there are many useful tricks with this little jig Michael

Hello Jack the jig looks good , a neat trick is to use multiple layers of card or paper under the work being planed once it reaches the amount of material that can be removed because of the side supports, if you need to remove a "smidgen" more place a piece of paper under the wood, and take another pass with the plane. I find this very useful. and also you can have special plates that you can pop in when working with different know thicknesses. Hope this is helpful. Regards Michael

Hi Ryland just finished going through your build very nice work on the planking by the way. I like the ropework as well. Looks like you are close to finishing, I enjoyed visiting with you on the Zoom meeting. it is nice to be able to put name and voices and faces together. Michael

Tom the paneling is definitely a bit of a jigsaw puzzle, It will all work out and look interesting when done. I am looking forward to the gimbal stove and the chart table with some maritime instruments like these ones parallel rule and compasses . Michael

Ken, look more closely, I'm not sure what baccy he is using though😉 Michael

Hi Keith, well again sorry for the long delay as you might have guessed I have been down a few more of my rabbit holes. The deck sounds like a great project. The ability to set up the track on a nice flat surface is a plus with live steam, and given the climate in our parts of the world the ability to take it up over the winter is not such a bad thing really. We are going back down temperature wise it is currently -20C and overnight are set to get down to -36C in the next couple of days. The RH Billy looks great, was the kit difficult or an easy job? I think they sell their cylinder sets as a separate item. I have considered buying a set to bypass all that side of the work. And regarding the other rabit holes I have been working on a 12 foot long by 2 foot wide layout in 7/8th scale of a section of a locomotive building building works with the Crewe works as inspiration. Then there is the Hospital tramway model layout that is also 7/8th scale and just 4 square feet of model surface . this first picture is in the public domain and shows the intersection of two corridors and one of the electric locomotives. This is my proposed floor plan. and the 3rd or fourth iteration of the loco. The wooden flooring is laid over some old salvaged rail from some HO gauge set track that was soldered to brass spacers the gauge is 1.25 inches The flooring is Yellow cedar. Then there are these two locos, One of Montagues new fangled electric experimental locos. this parts salvaged from an old battery drill. it is 1:10 scale and 45mm gauge My own design for a forward and reverse switch using a rotary set of wipers. testing the efficacy of the switch It worked well enough Using the old third hand to do a bit of soldering. And finally this odd loco using some salvaged printer motor and gears with some Servo link plastic chains for the drive, it has gone through many iterations as well it is based on the only known photograph of a 2 foot gauge loco built by the Saunderson Gifkins Tractor Company and is dated around 1912 The gas tank is some .005 thou styrene wrapped around a block of Poplar the gas cap is a watch winder from the stock of watchmaking bits that I acquired from an old friend. The battery will be located in the water tank that was also used as added weight for traction. it is 7/8th scale and set up for 45mm track gauge, the loco will be using a LocoRemote control system that uses my phone to control it. That pretty much sums up the last year and some of my rabbit holes. Michael

You know Tom I find that I drop Candles all the time! What an interesting project, I am sure that you Uncle will be very happy with the model Cutter when you have finished. I like the yellow Cedar it has a nice mellow look and I love the smell of it. Nice work on the floor grate. Michael

Greg Thanks for the kind words, yes the maple is really pretty. Tom.... Oh dear you have asked about a couple of my rabbit holes... The structure behind the Plaid Box is the backdrop of a model railroad layout that is built to 7/8th to the foot scale, It is a section that ostensibly is inside a locomotive factory. That will have a gantry crane and a loco being built. Sort of 1896 time frame. Based on the Crewe works and the narrow gauge tramway serving the works. I will post some pics in the non ship area. The "Y" is a small narrow gauge hospital layout based on a hospital in Quebec that had electric trains in the corridors. I will add those as well. Michael

First a bit of sorting here are a couple of shots this morning, time to put away some of the rabbit holes. then rearrange the cabinets and work surfaces. Easy passage now around the benches with better access to the cutter also set the bowsprit back out. Picking up where I left off with the cabin interior will take a day or two to get back into the swing of things (doors, cupboards etc.) I need to sort out how to lock the parts together inside the hull, a bit like putting ships in bottles really. Big pieces that have to go through a narrow opening in the right sequence. Now for some fish and rice for supper. Michael

True I echo these sentiments. Michael

I just deleted the reference to the ship model, after I called the contact at the Edmonton public library. They were told that the model is only worth $800. I think it is worth more this one is the same as the one I restored. https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/19192/lot/2101/ Michael

Hi Keith, catching up again, Stunning work on the anchors! Always a pleasure to see the clever ways that you break down complex parts into smaller pieces for fabrication. I noticed the lighting under the rails Are you going to incorporate any.....I couldn't resist. Again it is a joy to follow along with your work. Michael

Tim Thank you for your kind words. I have been down a few rabbit holes the past year, I can see the sky is appearing again. I moved the cutter back out into the middle of the workshop that other day, in order to get to the drawing board which was folded up against the wall. There are still quite a few days left before I can get out to the garden, and I am feeling the urge to get back to work on the cutter. Regarding Underhill's quote...Yes I have never had a problem with starting over on an aspect of the work, after learning that it might be better to do it again to to improve it. I have a feeling that I am going to be rearranging things out in the shop again today. Happy New and Healthy year to everyone. One last thing I have been visiting the Model Ship Society of New Jersey on their Zoom meetings and have enjoyed the visits and seeing their work and presentations. So thanks to Bill Brown for the invites. Michael

Hi Rob just catching up. Looks like you have your work cut out for you now. What a great experience to have the time to meet and discuss your project with the author of books about your subject model. Michael

Apologies submitted I missed the email situation. Thanks for the reminder, It won't happen again. Michael

Backyard has been like this for a couple of weeks now. Most likely stay this way till the end of march with a steady increase until after the equinox when it will begin to recede again. Michael

Tim, the new model shop looks fantastic, love the old wooden drafting table in the corner as well. Michael

Catching up Keith, lovely work on the life rafts and cradles. as others have said lots of lessons in this build log. I'm guessing you could easily put a book together. I think there would be a fair number of folk who would purchase one......just sayin' Michael

Further to this discussion, I too cut my own planks and can because I have a large tablesaw and a large bandsaw. Cutting wood from the large sizes that Bill in Idaho mentions uses up as much of the wood cutting the sheets as the sheets themselves. Using thin blades on large saws gets a bit tricky and is limited by the diameters of the blade on tablesaws not so with bandsaws but with bandsaws you have to have one surface smooth so a jointer planer is needed to accomplish that, then after the wood has been sliced off on the bandsaw it needs to be finished on the cut side by running through a thickness sander. The wood would be too thin to run through any sort of thickness planer. With wood that is in rough plank form say nominally 2" (it is less than that even if rough) in order to get accurate planks the rough plank needs at least the face (wide side) and one edge planed flat and square before it can be processed on the larger saws. The 10 inch delta unisaw table saw that I use has 0 clearance inserts and the hollow ground thin kerf blades are only 8 inch diameter I cannot use these blades on the 2 inch planks I have to use a regular tin carbide blade which is thicker than the planks by double, but is gives a fairly fine finish right off the saw. So now I have a small sheet that is say 16th thick by 1 5/8" now in order to convert that to 1/16th x 1/32 planks I either need a micro saw with the fine slitting saw blades .010 to .025" type thicknesses for the blades, or I can use the table saw I have with my 8 inch hollow ground thin kerf blade and slice off the the 1/32 planks from it indexing the blade over as each plank comes off.and for each 1/32 plank I have used up at least 3/32nds worth of wood. All that said one can see why it is not profitable at even the bare minimum of wages to mass produce wood planks on a small scale for a limited market. without having some very sophisticated and expensive processing machinery. On top of all that exotic woods are becoming harder to get anyway, as it gets used up by ever more users for various industries. I hope that this rather long winded comment gives those who cannot process their own model supplies some of the challenges facing those who do supply these materials for us. Michael

What a kind offer bill. That is what I really enjoy about this community, the help and sharing that happens. Michael