CPDDET

As always Pat, your setting the bar for the rest of us.

First or last, your doing an excellent job! I'm already rethinking my next build, so I can see where you're coming from.

Looking really good. Don't know if I'll ever copper plate a hull. But if I do I'll follow your excellent work. Keep up the great work, you've got a stunning model going.

I should add that I used 20 gauge solid copper wire for the strops. I found copper much easier to work with than brass wire; softer, easily shaped and less "springy" that brass. From what I can find out, there should be no reaction between the 2 metals (brass & copper) being in contact with each other.

Im pretty sure the coats of wipe on poly made a smooth, non porous surface for the tape. Great job!

Things slowed over the past 3 weeks. Was down with a sinus infection for a 10 days, then came holiday decorating and finally the family Christmas celebrations. But eventually I got back to the build. After measuring the proper length of the strop needed to get around the deadeye, I grooved a scrap piece of wood on the Byrnes saw to hold the individual strops. To keep things as accurate as possible I cross grooved the scrap piece wood and glued in a piece of wire to butt the individual strops against. I rough cut the strops laid them in the jig and glued them in place with CA. Then added a thin piece of wood on top so the strops were sandwiched between the two pieces if wood. Then trimmed the exposed end of the strops. After soaking the jig with acetone, I removed the strops and cleaned them up in an acetone bath and a soft sponge sanding block. Using a pin driver, I flattened the ends of each strop and drilled holes to accommodate the bolts I will be using. Threw together a jig using a dowel rod of the same diameter as the deadeyes. The horizontal piece of wood butted up against the dowel was used to simulate the width of the chainplates. Using a very thinly pointed pair of tweezers inserted in the end holes, I was able to shape the strops around the dowel. Then got them cleaned and blackened. Still must blacken the bolts and nuts and then begin the assembly process.

Really beautiful work, Pat. Slow and steady wins the race, you're proving that.

Nice work Pat, thanks for sharing your process.

Looks darn good to me!

Very nice 👍

Beautiful as always.

Thanks Bob, I'll check it out!

I didn’t care for the deadeyes that came with my kit so I ordered some from Syren. These are laser cut boxwood and come in 3 layers that must be glued together. The inner layer is slightly smaller than the outer two, forming a groove for the strop rings. The instructions said to use CA to glue them together. But since this was my first time assembling deadeyes, I decided to use wood glue which would give me a bit more time to be sure of proper alignment. Fairly straight forward process, I used straight pins to help keep the layers aligned properly. Then some simple clamps to hold the layers together until the glue dried. I reamed the holes out to remove any glue blocking them Then gave them a turn in the tumbler. Now I must figure out how to build the strop rings that fit around the deadeyes and attach them to the chainplates.

Thank YOU, for sharing your techniques. You're a huge help / mentor to us newbies.

Beautiful work, Pat! I would be very greatfull for a photo or link to the "round head drill bit" you refered to. Keeping wire size bits from straying has been an issue for me. Sounds like you have a good solution.

My "I need this yesterday" attitude hasn't helped either. But who can argue with almost instant gratification.

Sad but true

Thanks to all for the tips and clues. Dave

Great idea, thanks!

An "idiot proof" way to choose the proper blade would be a huge benefit to those of us who are still new to our hobby. While I do own a Byrnes saw, I'm at a complete loss when choosing the right blade for a specific type of wood or process.

In order to make the chainplates I needed to form a tight loop on the top end, drill two 1/32 holes in each one and cut them to the proper length. Since I had to make 16 of the larger chainplates and 4 of the smaller ones, I decided to make a simple jig that would make the job of forming a small, tight loop easier. I decided to bend each chainplate around a piece of 1/32 inch, round brass stock. So I cut a 1/32 slot into a 1/8th piece of basswood and then cut that piece in half and set those 2 pieces apart, the same distance as the width of the chainplate material which came with the kit. These 2 pieces were glued to a scrap piece of cherrywood. I then glued a thin piece of wood over the top of the 1/32 round stock. This allowed me to slide a piece of the flat brass stock under the 1/32 round stock and bend it up and over the round stock. Keeping the bend to a bit less than 180 degrees, I could then slide the brass piece out the top. Using a scrap piece of 1/32 round brass stock and smooth jaw duck bill pliers, I completed the bend. In order to get uniformity in the location of the mounting holes in the chainplates and the proper length of them all, I took a page from Suburban Ship Modeler and built another jig. After some careful measuring of where the holes should be and the proper length, I drew vertical lines to make sure the chainplates would be mounted straight. Then drew 4 horizontal lines, 1 for the top of the loop, 2 for the hole locations and one for the length. Then glued a thin piece of basswood along the top line. I added 2 strips of double stick tape to hold the chainplates in place. Then mounted the chainplates to the jig After squaring the jig in the mill, I used the X-Y table to make adjustments as I drilled all the 1/32nd inch holes. I then used a cutoff wheel in a rotary tool to trim each chainplate to the proper length. After a cleanup, I blackened the chainplates While the double stick tape worked in this process, it didn’t really hold the chainplates rock solid, still allowing very slight movement. This wasn’t going to work for the 4 thinner / shorter chainplates which required smaller, 1/64th holes. So, after sanding off the guide lines used for the larger chainplates and drawing new ones for the smaller chainplates, I tacked them in place with gel CA before drilling them. Then used acetone to loosen and clean them before blackening. The CA held them rock solid. Now its on to building the deadeyes.

Sometimes we learn as we go. Thanks for sharing your methods, I've learned a lot.

Looking for a source for quality small drill bits. I haven't been very happy with the products from MicroMark. Any help would be appreciated. Dave

Looking great, Pat. As always. Glad to hear the arm is continuing to improve.