CPDDET

Looking great, Pat! Additional sanding is in all our futures, just comes with the territory I guess.

Another option. If you already have a lathe. https://www.sherline.com/product/30503053-vertical-milling-column/

I currently have a dremel tool mounted on a dremel work station (drill press). My plan is to upgrade to a mill to replace the drill press. Seems to me you can drill with a mill but can't mill with a drill press.

It is. Sherline 4400, 3.5 inch, 17 inches between centers.

Couldn’t get the boom buffer placed under the aft rail so I decided to tear it out and start over. As others on this site I really didn’t like the white metal buffer that came with the kit so I decided to make my own. A big hats off to Richard (Retiredguy) for all his help. We exchanged many emails and he was kind enough to send me some parts he had left over when he built his boom buffer. While I didn’t use them, I was able to gain some insight and ideas from his expertise. I also borrowed a trick from Pat, (Overworked724) to drill holes in brass tubing. Thanks Pat! I have a Dremel tool mounted to a Dremel workstation drill press. Not the most accurate tool but it will suffice until I get a new mill. Using a block of wood, I drilled a hole to fit the brass tube. Inserting the tube in this hole, I then drilled down through one side of the tube so could attach the “legs”. I cut the tube pieces to proper length after drilling. I used a small piece of tubing for the center and the 2 drilled pieces for the end pieces. Soldered the “legs” on the end pieces and soldered small diameter wire for form loops then added the ring. Before finishing the main cabin I noticed the sailing version of this model required 1/32 solid wood hand rails on both sides of the cabin. I took “solid wood” to mean no stand offs so I cut the hand rails on the Byrnes saw and glued them in place. Since the roof of the cabin was finished with tinted poly, CA glue worked just fine. After staining the handrails and installing the side port lights I mounted the rest of the fixtures on the cabin, then mounted the remaining fixtures to the aft end of the deck. Next up was the aft hatch. First I need to create a “shelf” that would hold the hatch cover flush with the sides of the hatch housing. I did this using the saw. After cutting the four sides to the proper size I mitered the ends and glued them together to form the housing. To create the small cove I made a shallow cut with a razor saw. Using this cut as a guide I used a 1/32 inch ball tip stylus to impress the cove into the wood. The cut with the razor saw keeps the stylus from wanting to follow the grain and wander. To plank the hatch cover I first measured the inside of the housing and transferred that measurement to the saw. I did this for each plank individually. After placing (not gluing) the hatch cover on the housing I sanded it down to match the edge of the housing and removed it for finishing. I could have hand painted the housing but using the airbrush gives a much nicer finish. But have to admit it longer to set up and clean the airbrush than it did to do the actual painting. Used the same tinted poly to finish the hatch cover and once dry I assembled the two pieces and added the eyebolts. Will be taking a few days off from the build to study up on my new power tool, a Sherline lathe.

My vote goes for the Byrne's sander. Have had mine for a couple months now and find it very useful. If your scratch building, the Byrne's thickness sander is also a great choice.

Very nice catch there, Pat. Looks like you're all set for a most enjoyable winter.

I decided on this vice as I continue to build on upgrading my power tools. https://www.sherline.com/product/3575-milling-vise-w-rotating-base/

Thanks to all for the help and advice! Dave

I have a dremel work station to which I added a XY table. Now I need to purchase a drill press vice or machinist vice. Not sure how to mount this on the XY table or which vice to purchase. There are several options in the Micro Mark catalog but I'm just getting more and more confused. Any specific advice would be greatly appreciated.

Super stuff, as always Richard. I'll be waiting for your book to come out.😜

Did the lettering come with the kit, Pat?

Is anyone using their Byrne's saw for cutting thin brass stock? If so, which blade are you using and what is the maximum thickness you're cutting? Dave

I'll take that compliment, but learning a lot from your techniques. Carry on!

Thanks for the compliment, Pat. Means a lot coming from someone with your skill and uncanny ability to work out processes. Metal working presents new skill set for me to learn. Not to mention the investment of some new tools.

I’ve been working on the smoke stack / vent that mounts on top of the main cabin house. I really wanted this to be copper so again, there was a bit of a learning curve. I started by placing 2 pieces of Blu Tack on a carbon block. Cut a piece of 3/32 brass tube at a 45 degree angle and aligned them for soldering. After soldering I cleaned it up a bit, cut it to proper dimensions and glued a brass washer on the short end where it will meet the cabin top. For the resting block I used a small piece of 1/16 square brass stock and filed a notch for the pipe to rest in. Still have some cleanup to do on this piece. But now that the skylight, vent and compass housing are finished I can finally get everything mounted on the cabin roof.

Thanks Pat, was wondering what the scale was. And thanks for passing along the process. One to keep in mind for sure.

Pat, did you drill the 20 gauge needle in or just press it in? If drilled, any special speed? What is the finished diameter of the nails?

Seems like the "blocky" look is something I'm constantly fighting when working at such a small scale. But you're doing a great job. Carry on Pat.

I've often wondered about poplar. Easy to obtain, a bit harder than white pine but softer than cherry. Question is how does it take to bending. when the times comes I'll have to pick the brains of the scratch builders on this forum. Right now I have my hands full with my Bluenose.

That's the plan. I will experiment with other wood as well besides cedar. Boxwood seems the most desirable, but the scarcity of it troubles me. Lots of research to do before I attempt my first scratch build.

Thanks Patrick, just looking ahead to my next build which will be from scratch. Planning on something small like a dory to perfect my skills before taking on a ship like yours. I appreciate your input. Dave

Great information on these posts. Patrick, could you comment further on how cedar is working in other aspects? I see yellow cedar is readily available.

Looking good Patrick. I like the idea of using the brass bar as a stop. I'm sure that tip will come in handy for me.

Finished building the compass housing, just have some sanding cleanup and painting to do. Really tried to keep things in scale and decided on 1/16 wide by 1/32 thick boards for the top cover. This is equal to 2 inches thick by 4 inches wide. I started by putting two pieces of 1/16 stock together with double stick tape. Copied the shape of the front panel from the plans, cut it out on a scroll saw and sanded the edges of both pieces smooth. After separating the two pieces I drilled the needed hole in the front panel. Using another scrap of 1/16 stock I made a base to join the front and back panels. Then ripped a piece of 1/32 thick stock to make a 1/16 wide plank several inches long. After cutting the plank into 10-12 pieces, which were slightly longer than needed, I glued them in individually to form the cover of the housing. Cutting the planks / boards a bit longer than needed allowed them to slightly overhang both the front and rear panels. Then it was a simple job of sanding them flush. Came out fairly well. When this is done I’ll move on to the vent / smoke stack which I plan to build from brass tubing. Time to gather the needed tools and material for that.