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JDClark

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    Cedar Crest, NM

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  1. Sometimes it's hard to compliment someone without it sounding over the top, or as if you're in competition with others to create a better compliment than they did. However... Chuck, I think you are this generation's Harold Hahn with your innovations and quality. This stuff is stunning.
  2. The difference in "A's" is interesting. The one on the set of frames in my kit takes maybe a quarter of the time to scribe with the laser as the other block type, so that's probably why they changed it. That is the default basic text style in AutoCAD. Even the kerf in Brian's kit looks too wide, however. As Chuck said, bass wood is soft, and easily cut by a laser, so the cut lines should be thinner than in either of our kits, and without so much charring. I used to cut bass wood parts for model railroad kits that were up to 5/16" thick, and the edges were a caramelized brown, not black. The thinner stuff, like in these kits, was a light brown, with a very thin kerf. The black charring indicates an out of focus laser beam. It's possible they are not refocusing when they change materials on their laser table. Just guessing, however. John
  3. Time to vent. I received the Longboat kit from Model Expo today. The quality of the kit does a major injustice to Chuck's design work, and his modeling skills. I had already planned on using just the laser cut frames from the kit, and replacing everything else. I have already received Chuck's blocks and rope, and was going to order the wood from Crown. If you look at this photo of the laser cut parts, you can see that even they are not usable. Notice how wide the kerf (laser cutting line) is. It should be no wider than the scribed bearding line, or at the very most, the width of the lines making up the letter "A". The width of a laser beam, when properly focused, is 0.005". I measured the kerf lines in the kit, and they are around 0.040", eight times wider than they should be. Whoever set this up for cutting, failed to focus before running the parts. I have had a laser for 18 years, and this is unacceptable work. I could redraw the parts from the plan sheet in the kit, and cut them myself, but it's too bad I have to. If I can trace over the kit plans accurately enough, I'll recut the frames and keel parts, but even the drawings are printed in a low resolution, so the lines aren't crisp. Fussy, right? Just very disappointed in the kit. I'm glad I got this on ME's eBay site as a promotion for $19.99, instead of the $69.99 regular price. Basically it's $20 for the drawings. John
  4. Richard, Non ferrous metals will work harden up to the point where they fracture, so you only need to do this bending a few times. The hardening only happens in the area that is being bent, and it only makes the area marginally stronger. Don't expect this process to create hard rings. You can make rings out of hard brass wire, or even silver wire if you need strength, but then you have to allow quite a bit for spring-back when you make them. John
  5. This is beautiful art. You've managed to make this look like a contemporary model from 1770 or so. What life you brought to this project. Extremely well done.
  6. Tip from a jeweler: after forming the ring, if you bend it back and forth a couple of times so the ends bypass, it will work harden the ring slightly, so it will resist deforming a bit better. First, bend one way. Then bend the other way. Do this at least 2 or 3 times. Finally, close the ring.
  7. J, Both are good to work with. I might choose Pear, just to have something that is different than most.
  8. Probably most of you know this, but the Model Shipways Longboat kit is available on Model Expo's eBay store for $19.99 + s&h ($10 US, $16 Canada, $22 World). It's part of their promotions to get people building wooden kits. Think I'll use the plans and laser cut parts from the kit, and replace the rest with Crown Timberyard wood, and Chuck's rigging items.
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