CPDDET

I'm just starting my deck housings, begining with the wheelhouse. Will be stealing some ideas from you, although I'm attempting to do all my work with hand tools. So getting results even close to yours may prove to be difficult.

You're being too hard on yourself, as most of us are. But it's what drives us to improve our work. Very impressive workmanship! Dave

I've used the Pin Insertion Pliers with success when inserting small brass nails. These nails had a 1/64 inch head and we're quite short. Not a tool I use often but did a very nice job when needed. Dave

I've seen some very nice finishes using Watco Danish Oil. But the color choices are limited compared to traditional oil stains.

I'll be watching closely as my hope is to eventually move to scratch building with better wood. Thanks for sharing your work!

As for getting a crisper / smoother look on basswood. I'm having some luck using a sanding sealer before painting. And using an airbrush, rather than a brush, on this sealed surface provides a decent look. As the deck housings will require staining, I'm going to experiment with wood conditioner before staining.

Your well defined edges and smooth wood finishes make me think your using something other than basswood.

Haven’t posted for a while but the work continues. The Monkey Board, Monkey Rail and Buffalo Rail are done. Installed 6 ringbolts on each side as well as the anchor pads. I will leave these as brass (not painted) like I did the pintles and gudgeons. I will start building the deck housings next. Have some research to do on these first. Dave

Coming along nicely!

Yep, 4 is a fine cut. I use them for finishing work or critical fittings. I have some other files for rough work. I also use a lot of 600 & 800 grit paper. Takes a bit longer but I find I use less wood filler to correct my over aggressive filing / sanding 😋.

https://www.ottofrei.com/Glardon-Vallorbe-Swiss-Escapement-Files-Set-Of-12-Cut-4-Fine

Escapement files on sale: https://www.ottofrei.com/Glardon-Vallorbe-Swiss-Escapement-Files-Set-Of-12-Cut-4-Fine

I believe I bought my set of Glardon Vallorbe escapement files at Rio Grande, a jeweler supply house. But it may pay to shop around. Dave

It's about what I paid for my set of Swiss escapement files. Good tools don't come cheap.

I'm seriously considering purchasing a Byrne's saw. But the array of attachments is dizzying, at least to me. Perhaps those who have experience with this tool could expound on which attachments would be the most useful to start with. Dave

First let me say your workmanship and attention to detail is astounding, congrats on doing such fine work. One question. When creating your razorblade scraper is the molding shape done by eye, using some sort of template or perhaps drawn first with a stylus? Dave

To aid in fairing my bulkheads I cut 3, 8 inch long pieces of 2x2 and 3, 8 inch long pieces of 1x2. Using spray adhesive I attached 3 different grades of 3M Ultra Flexible sandpaper: 100, 150 and 320 to the blocks. The 8 inch length allows faring of several bulkheads at once.

Sheet 2 of my plans, Model Shipways model, shows all except bulkhead "A" are trimmed on the aft side. "A" is not trimmed on the plans but your practicum may show it is. If your following Bob Hunts practicum you will eventually be removing the extensions completely. But you need them untill the bulwarks are installed. I cut mine completely off too soon and it caused a big problem. Read a few chapters ahead in the practicum and it will be clear. Dave

This process has seemed to take forever because of the holidays, gathering new tools, much trial and error and some pure laziness. But it’s finally done. I found working with metal vs wood is a whole different world. I did acquire a Dremel 4300, a Dremel workstation which forms a decent drill press and an inexpensive X Y table which fits the bolt hole pattern on the workstation. Also needed a soldering iron and extra drill bits. All a bit expensive, but needed. I have been following Bob Hunt’s practicum, somewhat loosely, but didn’t care for his idea to use black automotive pinstriping to simulate the pintles and gudgeons. I also looked at Dave’s (suburban shipbuilder) blog but didn’t feel I wanted to go as far as building a working hinge. I started by attaching the rudder to the ship with tape and marking the angle and length of the pintails and gudgeons. I decide to use 1/64 by 3/16 brass strips for the pintles / gudgeons, 1/16 round brass rod for the hinge and insert small nails to represent bolt heads. I then cut and shaped the brass pieces that would form the gudgeons And attached them to the rudder (I would later regret doing this) Placing the rudder in a vice and placing it on my Dremel workstation, I drilled 1/64 holes in the gudgeons. Using small nails with 1/32 heads, I placed one in each of the drilled holes. The shaft of these nails was a perfect fit into the drilled holes and, since I drilled just deep enough to get through the brass, sank nicely into the wood. The white stuff on the rudder is wood fill, fixing one of my many mistakes. I then painted the rudder and set it aside. I measured and cut 3 pieces of brass for the pintles. Being too small to hold by hand and drill, I took a block of basswood, applied sanding sealer and sanded it smooth. Then used rubber cement to hold the pintles to the block. This went under the drill and worked nicely to get the holes drilled without moving. The rubber cement came off easily. In order to get as close to a perfect 90 degree angle of the pintles to the 1/16 round brass rod, I built a gig to hold them in place while soldering. The white substance on the brass strip is water based white-out which acts like an anti-flux. Got that idea from a jewelers forum and it worked great. Now is where I ran into the problem mentioned earlier. Having already installed the gudgeons on the rudder, I couldn’t solder the pintles & rod to them without having the solder job I previously did come apart. So out came the CA gel glue. What I should have done was solder the pintles and gudgeons to the rod before installing. But what the hey, live and learn. I let this dry overnight, touched up the paint and then did the final install. I know the pintles and gudgeons are supposed to be black, but I really like the brass detail. And since this is my model they will stay that way.

Good to hear your back. Get those bulkheads right and you'll be off to a good start. Dave

This is on Sheet 4 of my plans.

I'll check my plans tomorrow and get back to you. Dave

Yes, you are challenging me to do better builds. And that's a good thing! Dave

Thanks for sharing your processes and techniques, beautiful work!

I believe wood veneer as thin as .6 mm is available.