Julie Mo

I told myself I wouldn't post a picture of the progress until I finished the hull planking. I guess I was wrong. It took much longer than I expected to even get to where I am now and now I am thinking, "Okay, it's not so bad." But to tell the truth, I am embarrassed it has taken me so long to do this.

One can't appreciate the detail and expert craftsmanship in builds such as this unless they take a walk through the process, or have walked that path themselves. Every time I see your work, Michael, I think I am in a boat yard watching the master shipwright ply his craft. Beautiful work, Michael!

Keith, as always, simply gorgeous work! Do you have any videos of the process of making these parts? That would be something to see. I'm glad I popped in because I am reminded of the importance of taking your time and being patient if you want something you can be proud of forever.

Thanks, HOF! Soon the microwaves from Planet Solar will be frying everything that exposes itself to its radiation and I think that little model will be looking pretty inviting again.

My body told me the other day I need to do something less physical. Then the light bulb popped in my head and I knew just what that was. After I dusted off the hull of the model and heated up some hide glue, I began laying planks again. I did about 6 rows when I realized the rest of the planks I had made were scrap. Ripping them on a full size table saw with a thin crosscut blade created a lot of bad cuts. But I needed to rip more pieces in order to finish the hull. I tried the table saw again but after three pieces I was reminded how difficult it was to cut clean widths. Time to come up with something else... All I did was make some spacers to allow the veneer to fit under the straight edge and put short pieces of the correct width planks to space out the rule from the maple board. With a sharp blade it took two passes to rip a plank, one to score the veneer and the second to finish the cut. I found I had to lightly score the veneer in order to keep the blade from drifting off along with the grain. It took me about two hours, on and off, to rip 130 planks, more than enough to finish the hull. The planks aren't all a consistent width. The blade did stray on some cuts and I'd have to joint the edge with a hand plane to bring it back. But overall I'm fairly pleased. No excuses now! (I think I said that before )

I agree with you, Roger. I haven't checked in on this thread for a while because I resigned myself to displaying the sails furled. I arrived at this after seeing many renditions of the same model with sails either hoisted or furled and I just liked the look of the furled sails better. On another note, I have learned much from the more recent posts and I want to thank those who have contributed and opened my eyes to what can actually be done to make model sails more realistic.

Hmmmm....... That's a tough one, Bob. Let's see... How about that empty dock behind my house?

I wish Stew Mac was here to answer the comments. It's kind of crazy to have to spend a lot of time or create quicker methods (like putting it in a vice) to make depth adjustments in a tool that is sold for being adjustable. The Stew Mac base was designed for instrument work where depth adjustment is critical. If you're doing inlay and you are even .01" too deep, it could ruin the piece. For anyone wanting a simpler and more accurate way to adjust the depth, the Micro Plunge base by Micro Fence will give you pin-point accuracy but for a price. It's beautifully engineered though. You get what you pay for. Lee Valley's new Dremel plunge base looks like a good alternative but I have yet to hear any reviews on it. At about 1/4 the price of the Micro Plunge base, it would have been my choice if it was on the market when I needed better depth adjustment accuracy.

That was my experience, Mike, and with the Stew Mac base. The height adjustment is fiddly. The springs are applying pressure and as you try to make adjustments, racking occurs. So you have to go back and forth, from one side to the other and then lock it in place tightly, then run a test cut. If it's not right, you have to repeat the process. I found it frustrating.

I agree with Michael, Bob. Seeing your superb works makes one think of full size versions and enjoying a beautiful afternoon cruise.

Ron, when I was working on a 3D AutoCAD build on the electrical installation for a data center, we had 32 bit computers that continually crashed. I leaned very hard on my boss to get me and my assistant more powerful computers, so the company bought two computers the IT guy said cost $5K each. The crashes were dramatically reduced but they still happened. I coordinated with the mechanical contractor at least once a day on that job and told him we had some success reducing crashes. He and his assistant were experiencing the same thing. They ended up buying 64 bit machines and crashes became a thing of the past for them. FWIW, we were both using AutoCAD MEP 2008 but they had to buy the 64 bit version with the new machines. I recently bought a 3D home design program but wasn't happy with how it hung up once I had created most of the interior of our house. I contacted the company that created the program and they said it was designed to run on a 64 bit machine. I never upgraded to 64 bit because my AutoCAD program is 32 bit only.

Your work is, as always Keith, amazingly well detailed! I like how you come up with solutions like the eyeglass screws and ganging for the blocks. I noticed you filed out the blocks to allow for turning of the lines. Nice! Just curious - how long did it take to shape the assembly on the concave sanding block?

Pete, I should have added that for what I was doing at the time, the Micro Fence base was far better than the Stew Mac base, for me. But I know many luthiers are completely happy with the Stew Mac base. It was simply a personal choice rather than a hands down overall better choice. I wanted the plunge feature to the point I convinced myself I needed the plunge feature. That kind of convincing oneself can be costly. FWIW, before I got the Micro Fence base, I removed the Stew Mac base plate and made a larger plate out of lexan so I could see what I was doing better and to span the side rails I made for the inlay routing. That helped a lot but I had already sold myself on the plunge base as a "necessity".

Mike, before reading vossiewulf's reply, the first plane that came to mind for me is the smoothing plane. I agree with is comments 100%. I have used mine for jointing the sides of planks I ripped on the table saw. And for finish work, it is the best choice. The #62 low angle jack plane however, can be a great all around plane if you equip it with extra plane irons. I especially love the adjustable throat on mine. It really helps control the cut. FWW did an article some time ago about the #62 calling it the only hand plane you need. In the article, the author recommended having one iron sharpened at 280 and one at 350. Add the 120 already in the plane bed and you can tackle more jobs. He also recommended a toothed iron to take the place of a scrub plane and a scraper blade to round out the collection. You can see how versatile the #62 can be if you do this. It was the first "real" plane I bought and with it bought the additional irons. Over time, I added to my plane collection and while I don't use the #62 for everything any more, it is the plane I still use most often for general woodworking. But it's not one I would think of going to for model making. The first one I pulled out when I wanted to joint the edges of planks was the smoothing plane, FWIW.

Michael, tell that young man I am very impressed. Now did he get mad at the gnarly wood, throw it through a window then the light bulb turned on and behold! The glass scraper!

I have the Stew Mac Dremel base. I bought it for routing out inlays in guitar necks. I used it for a while but in the end it found its way to the dust shelf. I didn't like the depth adjustment feature. And the dust blower didn't work too well either. I ended up buying the Micro Fence plunge base. Expensive but a world of difference from the Stew Mac base. With the LED lights and dust extraction, I was able to clearly see where I was routing to some very fine points. A few months ago I got a flyer from Lee Valley. They now have a plunge base that looks very similar to Micro Fence and a lot cheaper. The base alone is $85. Had their base and attachments been available a couple of years ago, I would have gladly gone that route.

Michael, I feel your pain with the birdseye maple. I have sharpened plane irons to the point that if they even come close to a hair, the hair runs in fear. I have skewed the plane, to little avail. I have wetted the surface before planing, and that helps somewhat. I have read to freeze the board, but haven't gone that far yet. In the end I typically resort to either a scraper plane or drum sander. But if you really want to experience frustration, try Hawaiian koa. The tearout is unbelievable. Vossiewulf, Your experience with the PM-V11 iron has been strongly supported by Fine Woodworking in a review they did several months ago. They gave Veritas a huge thumbs up on their new iron saying almost the exact same things you said here.

I found the most success when I started putting a tertiary bevel on edge tools. I have the MKII but usually do the sharpening freehand. Once the honing guide has you dialed in, you can get a new edge freehand pretty easily. I saw this Rob Cosman video and gave it a try. It's pretty quick and does the job.

I don't have any ceramic stones but I do have some of these diamonds

Bill, Sharpening the convex plane iron is tricky. I have Norton water stones in 220, 1000, 4000 and 8000 grit. Anything coming from L-N is ready to be used out of the box but it always helps to put a secondary bevel on them. With the convex iron, I slide it, side-to-side, across the stone by hand and rotate my wrist in the process, trying to follow the curvature accurately. It works but accuracy is limited. I have the DMT Wave Sharpener but you have to take such short strokes (the radius changes as you run the length) that I find it frustrating to use. But here's a video if you're interested:

I have the L-N convex sole block plane It acts in the same way as the Veritas palm planes but is a bit larger. I haven't yet found a use for it in model making but I have used it for carving out the hip relief on solid body guitars.

Roger is correct when he says real mahogany is Honduras mahogany. It's often called genuine mahogany. More common these days is African mahogany. It's darker and a bit inconsistent in how it finishes. While Honduras mahogany finishes to a deep lustre, African mahogany can look almost dead and getting the right wood can be hit or miss. Another substitute for mahogany is sapele. It's in the mahogany family and can finish beautifully. When freshly cut, it is fairly light in color but once you apply a finish it darkens considerably. Honduras mahogany and sapele both impart a chatoyance when finished. It tricks the eye into seeing depth and is fascinating to look at from different angles. I think the problem with mahogany in model building is it is an open pore wood and, when magnified, the pores look abnormally large. This can be partially resolved with a filler and a good finish but close inspection may still show the large pores. I did an experiment with French polishing on Honduras mahogany and it turned out gorgeous, though I don't remember how the pores looked up close. But the nice thing about French polishing is the pores are filled with a slurry of mahogany dust and shellac which is what helps make the finish so beautiful. Keith, your model is coming along beautifully! It's compelling me to get serious about Endeavour but I have so much else that has to be done. Your mention of outdoor temperature made me realize that further north of here, winters create a great time to do indoor work. But here in Florida, winter is the best time to do outdoor work. As always, thank you for sharing your build photos. Keep 'em coming!

Thanks for the supportive words, guys. It's nice to know I'm not alone. Yesterday morning I walked into the workshop to look at the model and then it occurred to me the workshop is a pig pen! It's become a dumping ground for all the stuff we had to get out of the way for the kitchen remodel. I've become so used to it I didn't realize how much stuff was blocking my path to the workbench. I know once I get it straightened out again I'll be drawn back to the model, time permitting of course. I laid five rows of planks the other night. So far I haven't run into any serious side bending of the planks. On the starboard side I went from bow to stern. On the port side I'm running from stern to bow and it seems to be going better. I had planned on laying some more planks yesterday but I was called to action due to a leak that developed at the kitchen sink. Someone who had no sense of straight and level plumbed the drain so poorly that it put stress on the pipe and fittings until it finally failed. I had to run to the store to buy materials, tear the whole thing out and plumb it back in properly. I hadn't planned on fixing that until we were ready to replace the sink and cabinet, but that would have been a month away or more. Today is a day of rest. My muscles ache from the last few days. I guess I should be grateful. My union from which I am retired called twice in the last couple of days to inform me two members (both right around my age) have passed. Enjoy every minute of life you have been given for one day there will be no more.

I think it's been a month since I last worked on the model. Time flies when you're busy. I gave myself a break today from the kitchen project... well... kind of. I made a couple of material trips to pick up much needed items. I also bought some landscape lighting that I temped in. The void Christmas lights created had to be filled. Anyway, by the end of the day I got the bug to lay some planks. I have to admit for as much as I enjoy working with hot hide glue, I have let the fact it has to be heated deter me from the occasional quick trip to the work table to lay a plank or two. For some reason that mental block wasn't there tonight. But what was unusual was that feeling I previously had of pure enjoyment working on the model has diminished. I found myself asking why I was even doing this, with all I have on my plate now. My neighbor across the street recently bought a Hinkley 36 and he asked me today if I would be willing to make some mahogany built-ins for his fenders. I was excited about the prospect of getting back to woodworking! But I am just at that point with the kitchen where I can see light at the end of the tunnel. We have lived in a construction site for over a year now and I'd love to live a more normal life, at least for a while. There's always a new project on the horizon. So here I am laying some planks on the model and wondering why I am even doing this. Has anyone else felt this way? I really want to see the finished results but I am worried all the other things going on will cause dust to build on what was once a passion.

Looking awesome, Keith! Just one question, are those charts I saw up to date?