Bender

Don't be tailgating me guns.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

This is what it will look like. It seems I don't have the pictures from when I started working on Reale de France stored on this computer, only the last few after I finished her.  I'll have to transfer  the pictures to the computer I am using now.
 

 

 
And here's to starting fresh and new
 
 
 
 

Don, thank you much for your comments. It is alsways good reading your replies.
 
 
 
This is the same picture I posted in the above post, but this time I'll talk about the railing on the bridge deck that overlooks the main deck.
 

 
The kit doesn't come with any spindles. I bought these spindles from Model Expo many years ago.
 

 
I ran a brass wire all the way through the spindle so that the spindle is attached to the deck and the rail. The belt snapped on my mini drillpress last winter so I had to drill the hole with a handheld drill. My fingers got tired of holding the tiny spindles, so I made this simple holder.
 

 
I needed a bunch of them. Here are the spindles strung on the brass wire.
 

 
The bridge deck has a nice curve. I soaked and bent the rail to shape before drilling holes in it.
 

 
I made this jig to make sure I had the holes centered in the rail and evenly spaced.
 

 
I drilled one hole and then used a pin to hold the rail in position to dry the next hole.
 

 

 
After drilling all the holes in the rail, I used the rail to drill holes in the deck.
 

 
Here the railing in place.
 

I don’t know how to get to the correct post, but look down about half way on this third page.
 
 

Don't be tailgating me guns.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

Don, thank you much for your comments. It is alsways good reading your replies.
 
 
 
This is the same picture I posted in the above post, but this time I'll talk about the railing on the bridge deck that overlooks the main deck.
 

 
The kit doesn't come with any spindles. I bought these spindles from Model Expo many years ago.
 

 
I ran a brass wire all the way through the spindle so that the spindle is attached to the deck and the rail. The belt snapped on my mini drillpress last winter so I had to drill the hole with a handheld drill. My fingers got tired of holding the tiny spindles, so I made this simple holder.
 

 
I needed a bunch of them. Here are the spindles strung on the brass wire.
 

 
The bridge deck has a nice curve. I soaked and bent the rail to shape before drilling holes in it.
 

 
I made this jig to make sure I had the holes centered in the rail and evenly spaced.
 

 
I drilled one hole and then used a pin to hold the rail in position to dry the next hole.
 

 

 
After drilling all the holes in the rail, I used the rail to drill holes in the deck.
 

 
Here the railing in place.
 

I am posting my attempt at carving. The kit came with a laser cut sun, but I butchered it badly. This is my third attempt.
 
I copied the image and glued it onto a piece on boxwood.
 

 
Here a picture to show its size.
 

 
I first drilled holes at the base of the sun rays. It seemed to make it easier to stop at the correct spot when band sawing. I used three sizes of bits.
 

 
I then took out a little wood with a bandsaw.
 

 
Then I shaped the sun rays with a small bench belt sander.
 

 

 
I rounded the face.
 

 
I tried to carve the face by using the paper as a pattern, but it didn't work. I ended up needing to draw the face. I cannot draw.
 

 
The is about three hours in.
 

 
And this is the final result.
 

Don, thank you much for your comments. It is alsways good reading your replies.
 
 
 
This is the same picture I posted in the above post, but this time I'll talk about the railing on the bridge deck that overlooks the main deck.
 

 
The kit doesn't come with any spindles. I bought these spindles from Model Expo many years ago.
 

 
I ran a brass wire all the way through the spindle so that the spindle is attached to the deck and the rail. The belt snapped on my mini drillpress last winter so I had to drill the hole with a handheld drill. My fingers got tired of holding the tiny spindles, so I made this simple holder.
 

 
I needed a bunch of them. Here are the spindles strung on the brass wire.
 

 
The bridge deck has a nice curve. I soaked and bent the rail to shape before drilling holes in it.
 

 
I made this jig to make sure I had the holes centered in the rail and evenly spaced.
 

 
I drilled one hole and then used a pin to hold the rail in position to dry the next hole.
 

 

 
After drilling all the holes in the rail, I used the rail to drill holes in the deck.
 

 
Here the railing in place.
 

It seems like the rail would be high enough, but I guess these guys didn't want a sea monster climbing on board. This rail sits on top of the bridge deck railing. These are the rails at the left and right edge of the next picture.
 

 
and the top edge of this picture.
 

 
Each post leans in toward the center line. See the top picture. And sits vertical on the top rail that runs at a slope. See second picture. The Byrnes saw does not have a tilting blade, so I came up with this way of cutting the needed compound miter.
 
By placing this piece against the t-slide and holding the 4X4 Tilted back against this piece at 45*, and setting the t-slide at 73*, I was able to get compound angle.

 
I Used a spacer between the 4X4 and the saw fence to keep the cut piece from wedging between the blade and the fence and flying away.

 
You can see the gap between the piece and the fence.

 
I needed 14 posts but cut 25 pieces.

 
After cutting the 25 pieces, I needed to cut two slots in each post to except the horizontal rails.
Here the blade is 1.5 mm high.

 
My fingers were very close to the blade when I cut the slots. I couldn't get an actual picture of me cutting these pieces. By using the wood piece against the t-slide, I was able to keep my finger further from the blade than this picture shows.

 
Here is what the slots look like. I also drilled a hole in the bottom of each post and glued in a brass pin.

 

I am posting my attempt at carving. The kit came with a laser cut sun, but I butchered it badly. This is my third attempt.
 
I copied the image and glued it onto a piece on boxwood.
 

 
Here a picture to show its size.
 

 
I first drilled holes at the base of the sun rays. It seemed to make it easier to stop at the correct spot when band sawing. I used three sizes of bits.
 

 
I then took out a little wood with a bandsaw.
 

 
Then I shaped the sun rays with a small bench belt sander.
 

 

 
I rounded the face.
 

 
I tried to carve the face by using the paper as a pattern, but it didn't work. I ended up needing to draw the face. I cannot draw.
 

 
The is about three hours in.
 

 
And this is the final result.
 

Ian, Frank, Don, and Red:
Thanks for your kind words and for looking in on this log.
 
Don,
D-construction has happen a lot on this build. I have mentioned a few cases but not all. If one were to look back at the "in process" decking of the bridge deck and then look at the finished bridge deck, you could see that the hatch is in a different location. I'm still,trying to figure out where my head was when I was planning out this.
 
I've finished all the vertical reinforcement timbers and finished the railing on the forecastle. I used a thicker piece of wood for this top rail with plans in my head for some added details later. Also, the middle balusters on both sides of the forecastle railing are not supposed to connected to the vertical reinforcement timbers. Again, this is part of plans to a few added details later. I'll point out this change below in the pictures.
 
These first two pictures show all the progress as a whole.
 

 

 
The two small horizontal rails below the thicker top railing is supposed to be attached on the outside of the balusters as it is on the backside of the forecastle railing. On The left and right sides you can see I've inset the small horizontal rails on the inside of the balusters. This was needed because of changing the shape of the balusters.
 

 
The picture below better shows the inset small rails. Also notice the five vertical timbers.
 

 
The plans show only the first and fifth vertical timbers and balusters as one piece. As you can see I made all five as one piece.
 

 
 

 
The curved pieces are also different. The plans show these pieces being curved 90 degrees where I cut them with a 180 degree curve.

 

 
This pictures shows the thick upper rail. I used a piece twice as thick as the plans called for.
 

 
There is absolutely nothing wrong with the plans as they are. All of these little changes are just me chasing wild ideas.

Don, thank you much for your comments. It is alsways good reading your replies.
 
 
 
This is the same picture I posted in the above post, but this time I'll talk about the railing on the bridge deck that overlooks the main deck.
 

 
The kit doesn't come with any spindles. I bought these spindles from Model Expo many years ago.
 

 
I ran a brass wire all the way through the spindle so that the spindle is attached to the deck and the rail. The belt snapped on my mini drillpress last winter so I had to drill the hole with a handheld drill. My fingers got tired of holding the tiny spindles, so I made this simple holder.
 

 
I needed a bunch of them. Here are the spindles strung on the brass wire.
 

 
The bridge deck has a nice curve. I soaked and bent the rail to shape before drilling holes in it.
 

 
I made this jig to make sure I had the holes centered in the rail and evenly spaced.
 

 
I drilled one hole and then used a pin to hold the rail in position to dry the next hole.
 

 

 
After drilling all the holes in the rail, I used the rail to drill holes in the deck.
 

 
Here the railing in place.
 

Don, thank you much for your comments. It is alsways good reading your replies.
 
 
 
This is the same picture I posted in the above post, but this time I'll talk about the railing on the bridge deck that overlooks the main deck.
 

 
The kit doesn't come with any spindles. I bought these spindles from Model Expo many years ago.
 

 
I ran a brass wire all the way through the spindle so that the spindle is attached to the deck and the rail. The belt snapped on my mini drillpress last winter so I had to drill the hole with a handheld drill. My fingers got tired of holding the tiny spindles, so I made this simple holder.
 

 
I needed a bunch of them. Here are the spindles strung on the brass wire.
 

 
The bridge deck has a nice curve. I soaked and bent the rail to shape before drilling holes in it.
 

 
I made this jig to make sure I had the holes centered in the rail and evenly spaced.
 

 
I drilled one hole and then used a pin to hold the rail in position to dry the next hole.
 

 

 
After drilling all the holes in the rail, I used the rail to drill holes in the deck.
 

 
Here the railing in place.
 

Don, thank you much for your comments. It is alsways good reading your replies.
 
 
 
This is the same picture I posted in the above post, but this time I'll talk about the railing on the bridge deck that overlooks the main deck.
 

 
The kit doesn't come with any spindles. I bought these spindles from Model Expo many years ago.
 

 
I ran a brass wire all the way through the spindle so that the spindle is attached to the deck and the rail. The belt snapped on my mini drillpress last winter so I had to drill the hole with a handheld drill. My fingers got tired of holding the tiny spindles, so I made this simple holder.
 

 
I needed a bunch of them. Here are the spindles strung on the brass wire.
 

 
The bridge deck has a nice curve. I soaked and bent the rail to shape before drilling holes in it.
 

 
I made this jig to make sure I had the holes centered in the rail and evenly spaced.
 

 
I drilled one hole and then used a pin to hold the rail in position to dry the next hole.
 

 

 
After drilling all the holes in the rail, I used the rail to drill holes in the deck.
 

 
Here the railing in place.
 

I am posting my attempt at carving. The kit came with a laser cut sun, but I butchered it badly. This is my third attempt.
 
I copied the image and glued it onto a piece on boxwood.
 

 
Here a picture to show its size.
 

 
I first drilled holes at the base of the sun rays. It seemed to make it easier to stop at the correct spot when band sawing. I used three sizes of bits.
 

 
I then took out a little wood with a bandsaw.
 

 
Then I shaped the sun rays with a small bench belt sander.
 

 

 
I rounded the face.
 

 
I tried to carve the face by using the paper as a pattern, but it didn't work. I ended up needing to draw the face. I cannot draw.
 

 
The is about three hours in.
 

 
And this is the final result.
 

Ian, Frank, Don, and Red:
Thanks for your kind words and for looking in on this log.
 
Don,
D-construction has happen a lot on this build. I have mentioned a few cases but not all. If one were to look back at the "in process" decking of the bridge deck and then look at the finished bridge deck, you could see that the hatch is in a different location. I'm still,trying to figure out where my head was when I was planning out this.
 
I've finished all the vertical reinforcement timbers and finished the railing on the forecastle. I used a thicker piece of wood for this top rail with plans in my head for some added details later. Also, the middle balusters on both sides of the forecastle railing are not supposed to connected to the vertical reinforcement timbers. Again, this is part of plans to a few added details later. I'll point out this change below in the pictures.
 
These first two pictures show all the progress as a whole.
 

 

 
The two small horizontal rails below the thicker top railing is supposed to be attached on the outside of the balusters as it is on the backside of the forecastle railing. On The left and right sides you can see I've inset the small horizontal rails on the inside of the balusters. This was needed because of changing the shape of the balusters.
 

 
The picture below better shows the inset small rails. Also notice the five vertical timbers.
 

 
The plans show only the first and fifth vertical timbers and balusters as one piece. As you can see I made all five as one piece.
 

 
 

 
The curved pieces are also different. The plans show these pieces being curved 90 degrees where I cut them with a 180 degree curve.

 

 
This pictures shows the thick upper rail. I used a piece twice as thick as the plans called for.
 

 
There is absolutely nothing wrong with the plans as they are. All of these little changes are just me chasing wild ideas.

I need to repost the first picture in the last post. It seems to have been cropped.

The building continues but at a slow pace. I'm still making the vertical reinforcement timbers.
 
These pieces go on the forecastle.
 

 
I needed to remove a vertical piece I had attached earlier. You can see the scuffed planks at the front edge of the forecastle.
 

 
It is alway "fun" trying to figure out a way to clamp each piece.
 

 
I also needed a curved piece. I tried to make it out of walnut, but the walnut kept snapping. I had some boxwood. I'm always amazed at how easy It is working with boxwood. I made one piece wide enough for the two pieces I needed.
 

 
And then cut the two pieces to the size I needed.
 

 
 

 
Here's how it looks now
 

 

Don, thank you much for your comments. It is alsways good reading your replies.
 
 
 
This is the same picture I posted in the above post, but this time I'll talk about the railing on the bridge deck that overlooks the main deck.
 

 
The kit doesn't come with any spindles. I bought these spindles from Model Expo many years ago.
 

 
I ran a brass wire all the way through the spindle so that the spindle is attached to the deck and the rail. The belt snapped on my mini drillpress last winter so I had to drill the hole with a handheld drill. My fingers got tired of holding the tiny spindles, so I made this simple holder.
 

 
I needed a bunch of them. Here are the spindles strung on the brass wire.
 

 
The bridge deck has a nice curve. I soaked and bent the rail to shape before drilling holes in it.
 

 
I made this jig to make sure I had the holes centered in the rail and evenly spaced.
 

 
I drilled one hole and then used a pin to hold the rail in position to dry the next hole.
 

 

 
After drilling all the holes in the rail, I used the rail to drill holes in the deck.
 

 
Here the railing in place.
 

Don, thank you much for your comments. It is alsways good reading your replies.
 
 
 
This is the same picture I posted in the above post, but this time I'll talk about the railing on the bridge deck that overlooks the main deck.
 

 
The kit doesn't come with any spindles. I bought these spindles from Model Expo many years ago.
 

 
I ran a brass wire all the way through the spindle so that the spindle is attached to the deck and the rail. The belt snapped on my mini drillpress last winter so I had to drill the hole with a handheld drill. My fingers got tired of holding the tiny spindles, so I made this simple holder.
 

 
I needed a bunch of them. Here are the spindles strung on the brass wire.
 

 
The bridge deck has a nice curve. I soaked and bent the rail to shape before drilling holes in it.
 

 
I made this jig to make sure I had the holes centered in the rail and evenly spaced.
 

 
I drilled one hole and then used a pin to hold the rail in position to dry the next hole.
 

 

 
After drilling all the holes in the rail, I used the rail to drill holes in the deck.
 

 
Here the railing in place.
 

I am posting my attempt at carving. The kit came with a laser cut sun, but I butchered it badly. This is my third attempt.
 
I copied the image and glued it onto a piece on boxwood.
 

 
Here a picture to show its size.
 

 
I first drilled holes at the base of the sun rays. It seemed to make it easier to stop at the correct spot when band sawing. I used three sizes of bits.
 

 
I then took out a little wood with a bandsaw.
 

 
Then I shaped the sun rays with a small bench belt sander.
 

 

 
I rounded the face.
 

 
I tried to carve the face by using the paper as a pattern, but it didn't work. I ended up needing to draw the face. I cannot draw.
 

 
The is about three hours in.
 

 
And this is the final result.
 

Don, thank you much for your comments. It is alsways good reading your replies.
 
 
 
This is the same picture I posted in the above post, but this time I'll talk about the railing on the bridge deck that overlooks the main deck.
 

 
The kit doesn't come with any spindles. I bought these spindles from Model Expo many years ago.
 

 
I ran a brass wire all the way through the spindle so that the spindle is attached to the deck and the rail. The belt snapped on my mini drillpress last winter so I had to drill the hole with a handheld drill. My fingers got tired of holding the tiny spindles, so I made this simple holder.
 

 
I needed a bunch of them. Here are the spindles strung on the brass wire.
 

 
The bridge deck has a nice curve. I soaked and bent the rail to shape before drilling holes in it.
 

 
I made this jig to make sure I had the holes centered in the rail and evenly spaced.
 

 
I drilled one hole and then used a pin to hold the rail in position to dry the next hole.
 

 

 
After drilling all the holes in the rail, I used the rail to drill holes in the deck.
 

 
Here the railing in place.
 

It seems like the rail would be high enough, but I guess these guys didn't want a sea monster climbing on board. This rail sits on top of the bridge deck railing. These are the rails at the left and right edge of the next picture.
 

 
and the top edge of this picture.
 

 
Each post leans in toward the center line. See the top picture. And sits vertical on the top rail that runs at a slope. See second picture. The Byrnes saw does not have a tilting blade, so I came up with this way of cutting the needed compound miter.
 
By placing this piece against the t-slide and holding the 4X4 Tilted back against this piece at 45*, and setting the t-slide at 73*, I was able to get compound angle.

 
I Used a spacer between the 4X4 and the saw fence to keep the cut piece from wedging between the blade and the fence and flying away.

 
You can see the gap between the piece and the fence.

 
I needed 14 posts but cut 25 pieces.

 
After cutting the 25 pieces, I needed to cut two slots in each post to except the horizontal rails.
Here the blade is 1.5 mm high.

 
My fingers were very close to the blade when I cut the slots. I couldn't get an actual picture of me cutting these pieces. By using the wood piece against the t-slide, I was able to keep my finger further from the blade than this picture shows.

 
Here is what the slots look like. I also drilled a hole in the bottom of each post and glued in a brass pin.