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Walter Biles

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Everything posted by Walter Biles

  1. Thank you Michael. I had pretty much lost interest just after Linda died, but have finally started regaining my interest. I hope you and your family had a nice holiday season this past few months. Did you ever get that engine made you were working on before I left?
  2. I am back. I have been working hard on my Design CAD to get everything updated in 2D. My frames are much better fitting than before, and I just need to finish up the ones between the Sections. My different drawing plans agree much better than they ever did before. I'll be back soon when I can start building again.
  3. Kevin, I like your models. It looks like a fine job! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
  4. Kevin, I'll look and see if I can find the reference. I should have it somewhere. I was last active around 2015, and check in here sometimes. My America is based on the plans of the Blue Jacket 1/4 scale. I had been working to do a full framed up model. I got on the boat in 1969 to replace a ripped out cleat on one of the booms due to the winds the night before at the Severn River Repair center across from the Annapolis Naval Academy. The Navy had her then, when I was stationed there. I have built the Meridea Yawl which was her slip-mate at the time as a scratch-build 34.2" model.
  5. Kevin, I haven't been around for a long while, but in my research on the America, I ran across an explanation of the Hatch vs the companionway next to the skylight. I seem to recall that the same frame trim for either one was used to either hold the grating, or it could be changed out by dropping the companionway down over the trim to hold the companionway. Presumably that meant some sort of attachments so the companionway would stay in place. I loved your videos.
  6. Jim, I think some of those turrets might be selectively independently ranged and trained in stead of being run by the main directors.
  7. Dan, I am wondering what the T pipe behind the bridge boat storage might be. The only thing I have come up with might be some sort of detection device. Walt
  8. Popeye, yes, Blue Jacket America is the plans I got on the 1/4" scale, and I had hoped to get the frame built and get ahold of the kit one day, and use the kit parts to do all the finishing. When I saw the old kit on there, I figured I might get most of what I wanted from that. The bid closed about 10 minutes before I got back online to follow it out. $375 is a lot of money for the new kit. From what I have seen of those frames, the grain all runs side to side on all of them, I can't see unless they are plywood, how they would hold up to the building. I had intended to make them all in a 7 part frame each such as the real ones would be. I figured if I could get a CAD model plan drawn, that once I build the 1/4" scale one I might do one in nearer to 1/2" scale for RC. I really prefer my models built as much like the real ones as I can. I found out early on, that I did not like staying alone. I invited my younger sister to come here to live. She is on disability, and never could afford a place of her own. We get along pretty well, and seem to tolerate each other quite well. She appreciates the freedom to live here. As a non-cook myself, but a fair house keeper, we each have skills to give.
  9. Hi, Popeye, No, since Linda's passing, I have still been overwhelmed by work to catch up here at the house. Also, I bought a 10" parabolic mirror and have also been preparing to make a telescope with 2" eyepiece adjuster, to study some stars. I still need to finish the modification to my garden tractor bucket, and get the shop cleared out of excess stuff. During the kids screening what they wanted from their mother, my shop got filled back up with stuff. I am slowly digging out. I put an Ebay bid on one of the older America BJ kits to get the frames to check against mine, but I got outbid at the last of the bid time. I had really hoped that with that old kit, I would be able to supply the boat I'm making with the deck furniture and rigging. OH WELL!
  10. Thank you all for your likes and concerns. I will be back when I can. I had the boat frames all ready to start building, and the material. As soon as I can get myself back together with my mental capacities and readiness to build, I will be seeing you all again.
  11. Thank you Mark, I appreciate your thoughts, and thank you, and the later part of your comments are pretty much in line with what I plan to do.
  12. Patrick, Thank you so much. She was in so much pain, and she has it no more, and is, in our belief, in a much better place now. Knowing this I can only be sad for myself, and I must go on for our family's sake. I will recover, and be back when I catch up on putting my home back in order. I am making a lot of adjustments to reduced income, and revising my values on day to day needs. It will take time, but I will make it. Walt
  13. Due to the deterioration of my wife and her eventual death in early September, I have been unable to work on this or any other boat for the last few months. I have been clearing out and cleaning up my home with the help of one of my sisters, and trying to re-adjust to my life as a widower. I have made some progress on the house. I will come back to it when I can.
  14. There is quite a bit of research information at the top of the heading banner under Articles Database. That is a library of sorts of information that is free to use. You would also find links to lots of information, calculators, and various other things there which could be of interest to your search.
  15. Is that a koala bear on the bow? My eyes are not that good since I dropped my glasses on the patio, a bad case of road rash. Excellent work.
  16. I have finally started on my boat. I cut my timbers for the Keel yesterday, and got them glued and clamped. I started back through my frames, and am doing another check and refinement, really close up this time. I am cleaning out the bits and pieces of lines and making sure each side matches the other in all respects, but I am finally almost ready to start framing when I finish this close examination. The framing calls for them being set into notches in the deadwood, and I am going to pin through all the separating blocks to keep them from splitting on the grain. Each pin will go through into the keel parts proper to tie them into the keel, and also be the pins through the keel splice joints. I may be ready for some pix soon. I am just taking my time and working hard to meet each potential problem before it comes one.
  17. I finally now have 31 frames done, I think. I am still checking them over. I am just about ready to cut the keel so I can put the frames into it as I get each one done. The last 5 were the hardest to get right around the aft end of the hull. I am going to allow some spare material to the inside of each frame to make it so I will be able to sand each one to the fore-aft side taper. I am going to use stock that is half the thickness of the frame, and cut them to fit the ends where I will overlap each with the material on the opposite side, then cut them out on the band saw according to the pasted on pattern. I forget exactly where I saw this method done, but I remember how it was done. I will be using wooden tooth picks for pinning the frames. I will post some pix as I get something to show.
  18. I have been remiss in replying to likes recently, Mark, Popeye, Omega 1234 and others. I thank you. I have been chasing down the keel tie in on the frames. I just can't seem to keep my drawings following through all the way with so many frames. I keep finding things on frames I had thought I'd finished, only to find another omission on another one. It has been wearing me down. My last few on the aft end of the hull have been the hardest to imagine and then get down on the computer to where I can produce a glue on frame pattern to start building. I went through my wood supplies and should have enough to go quite a ways through framing, if I don't find too many mistakes, omissions, or other flaws in my drawings. I have really been trying to apply the many things I learned in the lofting book. Since I'm so weak in short term memory, it makes it hard to be consistent on every frame.
  19. I now have a cutoff guide for my bandsaw. I have also made a rip fence to help me keep consistent width on my cuts. I found several knobs at the hardware store in Prescott. They are now tightening my rip fence and another one is clamping the degree setting on my cutoff guide. I still have to make a pointer for setting the angle. I am now close to being able to rip my apple wood into building stock.
  20. It took a bit, but I finally have all my prior frames re-adjusted and corrected. I am now starting the 22nd of 31 frames. I have made a grid that equals normal print pages so It is now easy to print each frame on a page. I am now over 2/3 done with the first stage of planning the frames. When I am ready with these, I will be making a printout for the parts to fit with the grain in 7 pieces. Then I should be able to get some building done, finally. YEAH!!!, YAY!!! I now have a nice new 1/8th inch band-saw blade on my saw. Now that it is carefully adjusted to this blade, It cuts really well. I have made a cut off guide for the slide track and am planning on making a small rip fence for the band saw. I think that with the correct set on the teeth of this new blade it should be much easier to cut straight or curvy cuts. That old blade that came on my used saw only had set on 1 side and it would not cut straight nor in a curve. I had to herd the work in and be constantly stopping and restarting the cut to get it back to going where I wanted it to go. The weather is pretty and nice and not too warm yet. I have been able to get some things done in my shop in the garage to make it easier to work in there. Still much to do, but slowly I am making progress in getting more tools accessible to work with, for the first time since we moved in here in '96. I have new 2' shelves above my finally covered work bench so I can store some of the tool kits in Rubbermaid bins with lids up out of my way. Each step is slowly giving me more room to move and work. Not quite so much of a store room now. I got some bats of used fiberglass insulation, I am hoping to get installed in my ceiling above my shop to help with heating and cooling eventually. Someone even offered to help me get it put in, when he can get time. I got some of the electrical work done on my work bench. I want to add a few more access ports to reduce longer cords having to be strung out. There is never more than one tool running at any one time, but having plug-ins within reach of more places should help a lot.
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