Julie Mo
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I found another newbie boo-boo. I was sighting down the rails and noticed on the starboard side a dip about midships. I was using a small rasp when trying to fair the deck and must have faired a bit too much. So I am gluing on some cedar wedges to fill in the depression. Note to self: When you don't have the right tools, leave it alone. -
Very nice work, Jörgen. I have just started the same model. I will be keeping a watch for more of your pictures. Thank you for sharing! Julie
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Pete, I am glad I ran across this thread. I'm a wee bit of a sailing nut and I love the speedsters. You've done a great job on this build! Can't wait to see the finished product. Julie
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Some interesting keel clamps here! Maturin suggested the Amati clamp to me and a search led me to this thread. I am at that point where I will need to make a cradle for my build. I don't think the Amati keel clamps shown here will work for my model (J-Class Endeavour). The problem arises when the clamp is pressing on the balsa backing I installed. I've taken a lot of time fairing the backing and don't want to deform or compress the balsa. But I do enjoy seeing the ingenuity displayed here.
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I managed to get the nose back into alignment. Then I applied CA glue in the joints and hit it with an accelerator. I come back this morning and check it against a straight edge and this is what I see: The tip of the bow bent a bit too far the other way. Maybe I missed it or maybe the wood swelled after gluing. If you look at the mid-section beam on top of the straight edge, you can see a slight dip down as it runs toward the bow. When I was assembling the skeleton I noticed the plywood wasn't perfectly straight but I hoped once it was all together they would straighten. Before I began installing the backing, it looked pretty straight, but not perfect. I couldn't do anything to make it perfect. This is to show how I made the nose adjustments.
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I began the bow straightening process by making cuts on both sides of the bow. That way when I insert the wedges on one side, there will be room to move on the other side. But I didn't make the cuts all the way to the plywood beam. The cuts I made on the compressed side weren't butting up when the wedges were inserted on the other side. I probably need to cut all the way to the beam and eliminate any resistance to bending. The lack of anything that could hold the hull firmly in place made cutting difficult. I dented the balsa at the deck rail while holding down the hull for cutting. I need something with give so I don't do any more damage. It's a different game w/o the clamps.
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I began putting her nose back where it belonged... Being parallel to the straight edge is the goal. The two wedges on the left are cedar, the other four are balsa. The tip moved a bit closer but it's still off. I am surprised how much resistance there is to making it straight. Another realization came about when I tried to work on the deck. Now that the backing is in, there is no place for those Bessey clamps to hold the hull without denting the backing. I'll probably wait until I get my shop set up before building a proper cradle.
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Richard, I used to live not so far from you, Willowbrook. This is my first winter living out of Chicagoland in 64 years. I promised myself last winter was the last winter I would endure. I've found as you age and time goes by faster, you need longer summers.
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Thanks for the reply, Keith, but now I'm curious how your planks got the clinker effect. I see how you pinned them down and it looks like that method would have completely glued the planks down, eliminating the clinker effect. Am I missing something?
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Keith, again, thanks for your input. The pictures are very timely and helping a lot. With the backing you did, I was surprised to see sanding the first planking revealed the places where the frames are were high. Did you apply glue to the entire length of all the 1st planks? I'm wondering if you did, did the glue shrink the balsa. I've been thinking of glue sizing to seal the wood before doing the final sanding. If my memory serves me correctly, when gluing very porous woods or end grain, you apply some glue sizing, let it dry then do the glue up. Some of the balsa lifts instead of sanding smooth. Adding sizing would cure this. I am a believer in throw the most time in prop work and everything is easier after that. Per, thanks for the compliment! It's interesting to see another modeler is having issues with following the Amati directions exactly. I see other models that have frames much closer than this model. At first, it looked like overkill. But now I really understand why additional frames are necessary. I'm learning! Now, I have another question... When I took the model out of the Bessey clamps and flipped it over, I noticed the tip of the bow went askew. I had been eyeing a straight edge as I did the backing but I obviously missed the dog in the bow. I am guessing I need to fix that, right?
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I give a thumbs up to the Woodslicer blades. I have several of them and, when sharp, they leave almost no saw marks and cut very true. The do dull easily but, for the woods used in model building, they would probably last a while before they need resharpening.
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Ah, necessity! The mother of invention. Very nicely done!
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Thank you for the support guys. Maybe I give too much credit to the tools, but they are better than the ones they replaced. Moving day is only ten days away but there isn't much we have to move from this rental so I'm choosing to procrastinate on the packing and see if I can get the model done to at least plank-ready. I did finish the balsa backing (finally!) and took to the fairing. Maybe it was my impatience but it sees getting down to that last few fractions takes forever. My goal is to leave a thin bead of laser burn on the frame edges. That way I know the hull is properly faired. When I got to the keel, I found the mahogany sides of the centerboard assembly protruded beyond the adjoining frames. So I took a small rasp and worked the balsa down to meet the frames. The fairing didn't go as I had hoped. Certain areas sanded down to the frames quickly while other areas proved stubborn. You can see which is which by looking at the laser burn that remains. I'll work those until I get that thin burn line I'm going for. I am using my hands a lot to check for waves and high and low spots. Before I start the planking, I'll shoot a light across the surface and finish up that way. When I went to fit the rudder, I found I needed to do some filing on the frame before it would fit. I'm still toying with the idea of making it pivot. To accomplish that. there will have to be some careful profiling of the plywood rudder and I will have to beef up the bottom pivot point a bit. I really don't see how I could have relied solely on the frames to begin planking. There's too much room for buckling and bowing. And then you'd have to fair that. I can see why some modelers have talked about the fear of sanding through the first planking. I'm glad I did the backing. And next time I'll know how to make the work flow better.
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Bill, while I am happy to end this crazy chapter, I feel overwhelmed by what is awaiting us. 30 or 40 years ago, I would have relished the opportunity, but I have found a very nice peace in model building. I'm not sure I want to tackle another house. But I will... My therapist, the Endeavour, called me into session again. The farther I get into the build, the more I enjoy it. My therapist, Endeavour, told me I had to take a picture of the real heroes, the ones that make this so much fun. The tools in the photo are the heroes. They are the tools I used most often to get where I am with this build, It's coming together nicely. What this venture has reminded me of is when I first started woodworking. I bought crappy tools and had a crappy experience. In time, I walked away. For years. Working with the wrong tools was frustrating and time consuming. But I knew there was something I was missing. Others did it. Why can't I? In the end I realized the problem was crappy tools. I'm still working with only hand tools now, but at least they aren't made by Hasbro.
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We just got the call. We're closing, finally! We'll probably be moving in 10-12 days. Lots to do to make that happen. The house only has a one car garage. So I will be taking one of the bedrooms and making that the hand tool workshop. Then in the garage, I'll have to figure out how I'm going to set things up there. Pretty much all my stationary tools are on wheels. That's a good start. But it will take time to set everything up. Power distribution and dust collection first. No worries about idle time for quite some time.
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We just got the word, closing on the new house is back on. Time to shift focus to all that has to be done, again... The model will be the last thing I pack. I'll need it to counter the insanity.
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Once again, Keith, thank you! I will be going back and reading that again. The balsa backing is still going slowly, in part because I'm playing with different methods but equally to blame is the lack of power tools and proper tools, like using a crosscut saw to do rip cuts. But there is a possibility the build will soon have to be put aside. We may be moving. If so, I'll probably set up the shop before continuing the build. I caved, once again, and purchased some Auriou rasps. They really make the work enjoyable and long ago erased my apprehension about shaping wood. They came in handy shaping the plywood point on the bow. It's easy to tell I have an aversion to tackling the more difficult parts. But I will get it done...
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The last of the balsa I need arrived yesterday. Thank you, Rick, for your kind offer. I should be good now. Things here have been crazy lately. I feel like Dorothy in the tornado. But I did get a chance to spend a little time on the build. It's such a peaceful escape from what life throws your way. Instead of fill and file, I've been trying to hone my skills and get the balsa boards to fit as if building a boat I will actually sail in. So I am making the joints like they would be if watertight was important. The red outline is a piece I just fitted and glued. It took me about 15 minutes to get it fitted so that it seats fully on all four sides. There are no 900 angles in that piece. The piece sitting on the hull is what I started out with to fit into a similar void, like what the arrow is pointing to. I'm fooling myself into believing I'm building a real boat. It's therapeutic.
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Greg, if you already have a drill press, check this out. It's also sold at Stew-Mac, the same place that sells the 6" thin kerf circular saw blade. It's designed as a thickness sander and works pretty well. I'm finding a number of luthier tools cross over well into model making.
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Harbor Freight Mini Wood Planes
Julie Mo replied to grsjax's topic in Modeling tools and Workshop Equipment
Toolaholic's confession: I bought a honing guide because I knew I needed it. But it didn't work out like I had hoped. Then I bought a better and, rather sophisticated, honing system. It worked great for plane irons and chisels that needed a lot of work. But using it was somewhat time consuming and I waited until my tools showed dulling before I took them to the "honing table". Somewhere along the way, I learned it is better, and easier, to keep your tools well honed. All sharp tools dull with use. Take a few minutes to hone the edge before and after use. I rarely use guides anymore. Rob Cosman does a great job explaining the free hand sharpening process. I don't use his angle tool. What I do is rock the primary bevel until it sits flush on the stone, then lift a bit for the secondary bevel. -
The biggest obstacle thus far has been a balsa shortage. I have been spending more time thinking than doing. The piece that arrived Saturday was quickly used up. It doesn't look like any progress at all.
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I have a saw blade that fits on a standard table saw and makes cuts that could work well for certain aspects of model making. It's a 6" diameter blade with 100 teeth and a .023" kerf. It cuts to about 1/2" deep. I made a sled for my 10" table saw to cut fret slots. In order to create a zero clearance on the top of the sled, I had to first cut a wider slot to accommodate the wider thickness of the blade about 1/2" in from the perimeter. Remove the fretboard holder (blue extrusion assembly) and insert whatever you need to make your fine cuts. I have thought about using this blade to make rip cuts in thin sheets of wood. If I did that, the first thing I would do is make a zero clearance table saw insert specifically for this blade. Even though the blade is designed to be a crosscut blade, I can see it working in woods that are the thickness of model ship planking.
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I have used spokeshaves for shaping guitar necks. I love working with them. Years ago I bought a couple of Record spokeshaves and hated them. When I got into making guitar necks, I bit the bullet and bought a set of L-N Boggs spokeshaves and never looked back. Flat & curved soles I can achieve a pretty straight cut with the spokeshave but for the final shaping I have several sanding blocks I made out of MDF to which I attach PSA sandpaper. These sanding blocks from 3" to 18" long. It takes time to get the final shape right and I use templates to check at different locations on the back of the neck as I do the shaping. When it comes to using spokeshaves on a mast for a model boat, I do not see it as the best tool. As Michael mentioned, a small block plane would work better. The problem with using a spokeshave on something as small as a model mast comes in the flexibility of the wood. You would need a rigid backer to keep it straight and ensure even shavings. When I make guitar necks, flex is not a problem. I plan on creating a mast with an oval shape. I will start with a small block plane and finish with long sanding blocks. I will make templates to check the shape as I work. There may be an easier way, short of CNC, but I don't know what that would be.
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