grsjax

Part 009

Yesterday the new Miter Gauge I bought from the same person I purchased the backplate and rip fence from arrived. It is a well made all aluminum assembly with nice large angle markings on it. It fit well in the table slot, with only a little slop, much less than the factory one. It also has a larger miter assembly, with one side angled at 45 degrees. The gauge has a nice thick blade screwed onto the protractor, giving a good surface to hold your work piece to. The only down side I see to it is that the position marker on the slide is a dot, rather than a line, making it harder to set the correct angle. The locking screw is well made and provides a strong grip when tightened.

 

 

 

 
I tried cutting some old ¾” X ¾” hard pine strips on it for a project. It did stall a couple times, when I tried to feed it through too quickly, but I was using a 100 tooth blade rather than a more suitable one. The finish on the cut ends was smooth. This size wood is at what I would consider the upper limit, in thickness, so I was happy with the performance.

Part 008

I also bought three Zero Clearance plates for the saw, from Radical RC.
 



The center ridge you see on the bottom of the uninstalled one acts as a stiffener and the rear clamp.


 
When I installed the one shown, I had to press along the edges, after tightening the screw, to snap it flush over the whole surface.


 
I have not run the blade up through any of them yet. I’ll wait until I’m ready to use one. I don’t want to keep putting them on and off, in case doing so shifts them a little, after the slot is cut.


 
They are ~$10 US each, so not a bad deal!


 
I also bought a better miter gauge, off Ebay, from the same seller as the backplate, and rip fence. I’ll review that when it comes in.

Part 007

I bought two new parts for the saw, a backplate and a new rip fence. I got both off of Ebay, from a gentleman who says he has been making them for years. He plans to continue offering them through Ebay.

A. The Backplate

The back of the saw is open, from the factory, and this plate fits in the empty space. It thus closes the back from any things that might otherwise, accidentally intrude back there. It provides a port to attach a shop vac, which with the back plate on will actually do some good. It also braces the sides of the base to stiffen it. The other important item it provides is an additional lock for the back of the saw blade housing!


 
This picture shows the outside of the plate (once installed). The knob in the curved slot is the rear blade housing lock. The aluminum angle bracket is the brace. Of course, the tube is the vacuum hose attachment port. The castellated top fits into the groves of the underside of the saw table.
 

 
This is the inside of the plate. The nut on the shaft of the knob, is just to hold it during shipping, and will be discarded. The wing nuts are used when attaching the brace.

 

 
Here is a picture of the instruction sheet.
 

 
When installing the backplate, you must either discard the little rear blade guard, or figure out an alternate mounting for it. The backplate fits in tight against the blade housing, so the guard would have to be moved to the inside of the housing. If you look closely at the first picture, you will see scribed lines marking the area you would have to remove to allow for new mounting screws. I chose to simply remove the guard, as the plate seals this area anyway.
 

 

 
 
The upper screw hole in the housing is where the new knob will screw in.


 
The plate is slid in inside the opening and sits down onto the bottom of the table, between the housing and the adjacent ridge.
 

 

 
 
I found that the plate did not fit solidly to the bottom of the table, which has apparently bowed just slightly over the years. This allowed the plate to rock a bit, so I cut a little off of the longer parapet area in the center. Now the plate sits firmly against the table. One effect of this was that the plate sat a little further down causing the knob shaft to rub on the plate. I filed the slot a little wider to fix this.
 

 

 
 
Here are shots of the plate in place.
 

 

 

 
Next the rear brace is installed. Check the fit, as the attachment screw holes are not symmetrical with the center of the base, so the brace only fits with the horizontal lip toward the table. I replaced the wingnuts with 10-24 nylon locknuts. Tighten the nuts down until the nuts on the brace touch the plate. This holds the plate firmly in place. In addition I’m going to drill a hole through the  two lips on the base to insure that the plate can’t shift during sawing.
 

 
B. The Rip Fence


 
The Rip Fence is a big improvement over the factory one. It clamps more securely and has an adjustable fence blade. The fence clamps front to rear, like a full size saw fence, not just with a clamp under the front lip, like the factory one. The back of the factory fence is free floating, being held square just by the stub on the clamp casting on the front of the fence. The new fence is also taller than the original, allowing for more controlled cuts. The new fence can be fine tuned to your saw table, using the two adjustment screws on the main body.


 
The manufacturer also included a nice push stick with it!
 

 

 
 
For my saw I had to fine tune the front lip. As there were a few burs and dings on it. I used a large flat mill file on the front and under the front lip to smooth things out. This is why there are gray areas in the last picture, that is the bare plastic showing through.


 
The adjustment also comes in handy, as I found the front lip to not be perfectly straight on mine. So I can now adjust the blade, if needed, for each fence position. The error is not very large, so most times I will not have to worry about it.

If the terminology follows tradition, you have a species of Maple there.  It is close enough to Hard Maple for the differences to be academic.  It is also a local commercial hardwood for you.
Harvesting, seasoning, and milling your own wood is tricky to do and a lot of work if it is not a part of your usual work.  The rewards generally match the necessary investment in time, equipment, and skills if the species harvested are those which are not to be had by any other means.  This would most often be a fruitwood, box, if lucky, hawthorn, Cornus and the like.
 
That editorial caveat out of the way, It needs air circulation to dry before a fungus gets it.  It needs protection from rain and snow. It needs protection from borrowing insects.  The rate of water loss from various surfaces needs attention.  The wet finger rule is seasoning requires 1 year per inch of thickness.
 
The water will leave much more quickly from areas of open end grain: cut ends and where branches are cut off.  Left uncontrolled, the difference in rate of water loss will produce internal stresses. 
The wood will split and check.  In the worst cases, the result is toothpicks.  The open ends must be sealed. This needs to be done concurrent with harvest or soon after.   There are many materials that do this, but quick and dirty is a THICK coating of leftover latex house paint.  Recoat as any splitting there shows there is not enough of a barrier.
 
Bark slows the rate of water loss from the side grain and there also may be eggs or larvae of wood eating insects in it back from when it was standing.  Leaving the bark on invites insect damage, a slower rate of drying, and not discovering any existing rot, which would result in a wasted effort.
Air circulation around each piece is important.  Pieces of wood are generally used for this.  Over here, these are called stickers.  The process of stacking the drying wood using the stickers is termed "stickering".
 
It speeds drying time, making handling easier, and may save on loss to splitting if the logs are immediately reduced to billets.  One inch thick is OK if you do not need stock for larger scale POF frame stock.  Two inch is better if you do need this.  Getting logs into billets is most efficiently done using a band saw.  It is a royal PITA otherwise and generally involves serious loss to kerf.
 
Length,  from the lumber yard, the boards generally come in 8 foot lengths.  My first outing involved the yard bisecting to 4 foot.  This is still impractical. For a while, I cut them into 16" lengths for my bench.  It is a bit fiddly and short, and now I find 2 foot lengths to be my sweet spot.
 
Does your garage have rafters/ trusses?   Is there room there for drying wood?  Is there an attic in your home?  Otherwise, your outside stack will need a blue tarp and probably a new one every 6-12 months.

Found this Googling..
 
Bell Forest
 

 
P.S. 
It's hard to Google " Holly Wood "..  Guess why? 😁
 
Try " Holly lumber " 

Depends on the scale.  For small scales I go down to 320.  Larger scales I use 240.

Taking a short break to do my taxes.  Uncle Sam gets testy if I am late with my tribute.

Depends on the scale.  For small scales I go down to 320.  Larger scales I use 240.

Pentart Liquid Patina is great, unfortunately it is sold out on Ebay. So far don't see any reliable source in the US.
As mentioned before Bitumen liquids are not finishing products as oils and dyes (use it as a stain on bare wood and you get an ugly, patchy black rotten wood look). Can't just be applied evenly and let dry. Use it as a wash to weather the finished surface (not just wood) to highlight the details, applying small quantities and letting the liquid flow into crevices. Or apply liberally but wipe off the excess on raised surfaces to give it a look of centuries ald object which accumulated dirt over the years. All together it takes the model into a certain style category of fake antiques and is absolutely not necessary as one can build a model in style of Syren Ship model prototypes. Those grimey museum models where just as clean as Chuck's models when they were initially built. On the picture is my 4 oared Yal in progress. Pear with homemade stain before and after applying  Liquid Patina
 

 

This is my thoughts, I’m not sure what you are trying to make;
When wood gets to be thinner than 1/16 it moves to mils, you are talking about 10 mils or so,
when woods especially hardwoods get very thin they tend to warp, dry out and crack,
so I looked at “domestic veneer sample packs” from Rockler, now Amazon will have these as well, however if a specific wood is desired there are also options, these packs begin around $11 and go up to really expensive, ie 24 inch by 96/inch mahogany with paper backing is $69, and without the backer is $62.
I would caution you on such small pieces 3mm x 5mm because the wood will be so difficult to cut, it may be easier to sand those small pieces, and drilling, as veneer is very stable could possibly break due to the pressure from the drill and any clamping methods.
Thinking about this, if you are on Amazon, or really any one that sells hobby wood look into buying CA50 with the activator, this will laminate your wood and make it much easier to drill. As far as staining the CA50 would only work after staining, and as far as painting it would be the same as painting plastic.
Good luck with your project.

It is probably important to make distinction between a true 'lateen' rig and using a triangular sail on an inclined yard resembling a 'lateen' sail.
 
In a true lateen rig, there are no shrouds and no stays. The halliard serves to raise the sail and as kind of backstay. The yard is held to the mast by a sling that is operated from deck-level. In fact most of the sail operation is done from deck level - the absence of shrouds and ratlines makes getting up the mast at sea quite an adventure. On Arab ships (which did not use lateen, but 'settee' sails that had four corners) seamen went up the yard like monkeys for reefing (there is a variety of photographic and literary evidence for this). Whether the sail was swung around the mast when tacking seems to have been a question of fashion and size or type of vessel. On some smaller and shallower craft this may have been a dangerous operation.
 
Probably still the best source on handling lateen rigs is
 
VENCE, J. (1897): Construction & manœuvre des bateaux & embarcations à voilure latine.- 139 p., Paris (Augustin Challamel Editeur, reprint Editios Omega, Nice).
 
Not sure whether there is a digital copy on the Internet (I own a hardcopy).
 
On the pictures below you can see the traditional arrangement of halliard and sling, albeit with modern materials, on small boats from the Albufera lagoon south of Valencia in Spain:
 

 

 

Own images from https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/albufera/Boats-of-the-Albufera.html
 
 
 

On ebay https://www.ebay.com/itm/Historic-American-Merchant-Marine-Survey-Volume-1-ship-boat-blueprints-plans/363317650834
Not mine, just thought others here might want to take a look at this.

On ebay https://www.ebay.com/itm/Historic-American-Merchant-Marine-Survey-Volume-1-ship-boat-blueprints-plans/363317650834
Not mine, just thought others here might want to take a look at this.

I have never had a problem with the Dremel locking pin.  I have a couple of older model tools and perhaps they were built better than the newer ones.  I also have a Dremel cordless 7.2 volt tool that works very well.  I like the adjustable speed of the Dremel.  Mine goes from 5000 to 35000rpm giving a good working range for different uses.

Finished putting the frame together
The process of building the frame was pretty straight forward.  Clamping was a challenge for some of the stringers as there is very little room to get a clamp in.  Ended up using mini bulldog clamps and pieces of scrap to get everything set.
Only ran into one issue and that was with the sponson rail (part 12)  it is a two piece part that meets in the middle at the bow.  It wanted to flex slightly into a shallow peak instead of making a smooth curve.  This is a problem that can be solved by placing a short piece of stringer on top of the battens at the bow and gluing the top batten to it.  The below picture shows the fix.

Next up is sanding all of the mating surfaces smooth and some initial paint work on the side rails and cockpit.

I have never had a problem with the Dremel locking pin.  I have a couple of older model tools and perhaps they were built better than the newer ones.  I also have a Dremel cordless 7.2 volt tool that works very well.  I like the adjustable speed of the Dremel.  Mine goes from 5000 to 35000rpm giving a good working range for different uses.

Finished putting the frame together
The process of building the frame was pretty straight forward.  Clamping was a challenge for some of the stringers as there is very little room to get a clamp in.  Ended up using mini bulldog clamps and pieces of scrap to get everything set.
Only ran into one issue and that was with the sponson rail (part 12)  it is a two piece part that meets in the middle at the bow.  It wanted to flex slightly into a shallow peak instead of making a smooth curve.  This is a problem that can be solved by placing a short piece of stringer on top of the battens at the bow and gluing the top batten to it.  The below picture shows the fix.

Next up is sanding all of the mating surfaces smooth and some initial paint work on the side rails and cockpit.

Great start. That’s awesome subject matter.
There was just an outboard motor on eBay, it came with a boat, but it was still cheap. I can’t remember the scale, I do remember it was relisted.

that's a good fix at the bow    nicely shaped frame.....off to a good start!

Finished putting the frame together
The process of building the frame was pretty straight forward.  Clamping was a challenge for some of the stringers as there is very little room to get a clamp in.  Ended up using mini bulldog clamps and pieces of scrap to get everything set.
Only ran into one issue and that was with the sponson rail (part 12)  it is a two piece part that meets in the middle at the bow.  It wanted to flex slightly into a shallow peak instead of making a smooth curve.  This is a problem that can be solved by placing a short piece of stringer on top of the battens at the bow and gluing the top batten to it.  The below picture shows the fix.

Next up is sanding all of the mating surfaces smooth and some initial paint work on the side rails and cockpit.

Finished putting the frame together
The process of building the frame was pretty straight forward.  Clamping was a challenge for some of the stringers as there is very little room to get a clamp in.  Ended up using mini bulldog clamps and pieces of scrap to get everything set.
Only ran into one issue and that was with the sponson rail (part 12)  it is a two piece part that meets in the middle at the bow.  It wanted to flex slightly into a shallow peak instead of making a smooth curve.  This is a problem that can be solved by placing a short piece of stringer on top of the battens at the bow and gluing the top batten to it.  The below picture shows the fix.

Next up is sanding all of the mating surfaces smooth and some initial paint work on the side rails and cockpit.

Finished putting the frame together
The process of building the frame was pretty straight forward.  Clamping was a challenge for some of the stringers as there is very little room to get a clamp in.  Ended up using mini bulldog clamps and pieces of scrap to get everything set.
Only ran into one issue and that was with the sponson rail (part 12)  it is a two piece part that meets in the middle at the bow.  It wanted to flex slightly into a shallow peak instead of making a smooth curve.  This is a problem that can be solved by placing a short piece of stringer on top of the battens at the bow and gluing the top batten to it.  The below picture shows the fix.

Next up is sanding all of the mating surfaces smooth and some initial paint work on the side rails and cockpit.

Time to get down to building this model.  First step is to build up the basic ladder frame that is the foundation for everything else.

These are the parts of the frame.  The transom and frames attach to the side rails.  The assembly is almost self aligning but care has to be taken that everything is straight before gluing things up.

First step is to glue the transom (6) to the transom frame (5) and frames 2 and 3 together.  Next the frames are attached to the rails.  The notches in the frames are cut so that a minimum of sanding is needed to get things to go together smoothly.

The addition of the 3 bottom battens and a couple of stringers and the basic frame is complete.  I did make a mistake here.  Although the notches all fit perfectly it is necessary to make sure that each frame is fully seated in the rails when you glue them.  I failed to check this so had to go back and unglue a couple of frames and reset them.  This is one reason I prefer PVA glue to CA.  Much easier to correct these mistakes.
 
One thing I think would have been a small improvement is beveling the aft end of the rails.  They fit fine as is but they actually join the transom frame at a slight angle and a bit of beveling would have made a better joint.

The kit consists of 5 sheets of laser cut wood, 2 of mahogany veneer, 2 of 1.5mm plywood and 1 of 3mm basswood (I think it is basswood).  There is a 19 page booklet of instructions with numerous photographs.  This is one area where I think there could be an improvement by adding some detail drawings.  Not a big problem but it would make a few things a bit clearer.  There is also a display stand of laser cut 3mm ply and a small bag of additional small parts and decals.

The seaflea is a 10 foot class A hydroplane.  Osborn Models, mostly known for model trains, used to produce a line of static and RC model boat kitss of which this is one.  I also have their 1:24 scale Miss Canada III and Mirror Dingy models which I hope to do build logs on in the future.  Derek at Osborn Models has been a real help and tells me they have a few of their kits still in stock so if you are interested contact him at dosborn1210@rogers.com.  I think he should start up production again but that is just my selfish desire to build more of these interesting boats.
 
The kit is overall is excellent.  There are few things that could be improved but in general I think this is one the best small kits I have seen.  The laser cutting is very good and the innovative use of laser cut parts including some profile carving using a laser cutter to produce the outboard motor is excellent.