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Sherry, if you do go with the casting method going with steves idea for a vacuum chamber is well advised. just make sure your mixing pot is at least twice as big as the amount you want to mix. The whole mess will foam up and over as you apply vacuum, like pouring warm soda, especially as you get to the max that your vacuum will create. Its messy when it overflows. Not that I have ever made that mistake, nope not me! Never! Sam

Robbyn, I expect a lot out of a tool when it claims to be the "Most Accurate Hobby Saw on the market" Or something to that effect. If it had been Harbor Freight I would have said, "Ok I know what I am getting here" and been fine with it. I passed on the Byrnes saw cause I couldn't justify the expense at the time, now I feel like I wasted $300.00 and still will end up buying the Byrnes saw at some point in the distant future. Live and learn I guess. I will say that its still better than cutting by hand so its really not a complete waste of money. Once I accurise it maybe I will change my tune. Who knows? Russ, that was my assumption. "Fully Framed" indicated the same thing although that was for English ships, I understand American builders followed British procedures at this time period. I am ok with altering the process here if it makes my carriages consistent and makes the process easier. I have made my "planks" for the axel trees long enough to get two out of each length, that will keep my fingers away from the saw blade. 30+ years working on and around table saws and never felt the bite of the saw blade, wanna keep it that way. Sam

Ron, Just getting caught up. I m starting to sound like a broken record, but she looks awesome. I learn something almost every time I stop by, thanks. Sam

Small update. Sometime back I bought a Proxon table saw. Finally got a chance to see what it could do, and I am............ underwhelmed. Maybe I am being over critical but for $300.00 I expected more. The micro adjustment on the fence is really sloppy and inconsistent, fixable with a nylon or delrin shim. The cross cut/miter gauge is pretty sloppy too, hard to get repeatable cuts unless you push the guide all the way over to one side or the other and then I am afraid it will wear funny. Sigh, I should have sprung for the benchmark and bought the Byrnes saw. I made a crosscut sled for the Proxon and that went a long way towards making repeatable crosscuts and slots. I used .180 polycarbonate for the base and some polypropylene for the guides. Its kind of crude looking so I didnt post pictures of it. I have some ideas on improvements once I do that and make it presentable I will post a picture. Its likely to be several weeks though. Once the sled was operable I started in on the gun carriages. I am using the dimensions for the Armstrong 6 pound gun found in the database here at MSW. My first set I used some 3m number 77 adhesive lightly sprayed on one side and stacked them up and gang milled the steps, the slots for the trucks and roughed in the curve at the base. I made two mistakes here. The worst was not considering the angle of the sides in relation to the trucks. I made my cuts perpendicular to the sides instead of at an angle and that would have showed up in the finished carriage I think. Also the spray adhesive I used wasnt cleaning up like I wanted and may have interfered with the stain. I didnt want to spend what looks like it will be weeks of work only to find I hate the gaps at the trucks and the stain was uneven so I started over. This time I cut each side separately. That required more care in holding the part safely and took quite a bit longer. They need some clean up but these should work out. Rather than roughing in the curve on the table saw and then filing to shape I think I am going to get a carving chisel with the correct sweep and try that. My next step is to make a jig and cut a slot into the trucks. I dont think this is how a real carriage is built, it appears weak but it will help keep a consistent space and angle to the barrel. More to follow Comments and constructive criticisms always appreciated. Sam

Rich, Nice work on the ports. I am not sure about Constructos' method of cutting the ports out after the planking, When I did my Enterprise they directed me to do the same and keeping the port sides parallel in multiple dimensions was interesting. Your method appears to be much better. Overall what are your thoughts on your Constructo kit? I am finding my kit instructions are a bit vague. Sam

Mark, did it say straight as it dried? Sam

Robyn, Leszek, Sorry for the late reply, thank you both for the encouragement and kind words. Leszek, nice work, thanks for the link. Building has slowed to a crawled here. Work and other life "adventures" are taking all my time. Sam

Mark, Following along quietly here, learning. How did the ebony react to soaking in acetone? I have never actually soaked exotic woods lik that before, just liberally wiped them down a couple of times and then immediately glued them up. Sam

Vivian, Great work and in such a short time. looking forward to your future build(s) Sam

Yambo, The incra rules are very nice IMHO. I especially like the "Tiny T Rule" Sam

Rich, Sorry about your loss, I am sure she had a great fifteen years with you and your wife. Happy New Year and welcome back! Sam

Sjors, What brand camera are you using? I love my 5d's but some times they are a bit much for a quick update. Sam

Sjors, looks good. I especially like the "Captains eye view" My SLR is too big to get shots like that on my build. Still dont see any ratlines........ Sam

Or those who want to keep 20/20 vision Sam

Ron, that looks great! I am with Remco, I think I need a new hobby. Sam

Thanks I will look into it. Sam ​Very useful having blobs of it to stick things into for holding also. Cheers Slog

Wow Sjors! She is going to be a big girl! Looking good. How come there are no ratlines yet O-Mighty-King-O-the-Ratlines? Sam

Ron, That looks great. really enjoying watchig it come together. sam

Slog, Looks real good like always. Thanks for the photos of the jig, you just solved a dilemma for me. I had been wondering how I would place my Bow Sprit when the time came. What is blue tac? It looks like some kind of putty. Sam

Sjors, Thank you. The likes and encouragement from everybody is always appreciated. Your correct about the darkening over time, I also had forgot about the coat of shellac I put on the deck years ago as a sealer, that will help too. As soon as it warms up outside a bit more I will go do that. Although I suspect its slightly warmer here in Los Angeles then where most everybody else is. Chugging away on my carriages, if I get far enough today I will get some pictures up. Sam

Russ, Mark, Thank you. Contrast does work, it adds interest. Rich, thanks. I did the tenons on the timberheads with my dremel router table. I set the depth so the resulting tenon was the same size as one of my little chisels. After transferring the measurements to the cap rail I drilled a hole just slightly smaller than the finished dimensions of the mortice. Afterwords it was fairly simple to square up the mortice and then glue the timberheads in. I did use a file on the tenons to fine tune them a bit. Its not terribly different from chopping out for a lockset on an entry door. If you look on post 223 you can see the old timber heads have new tenons routed into them. I see I reposted pictures too..... Sam

Mark, you definitely should use some acetone to clean the oils off, that should solve your problem. Next time you feel you want to play with ebony, check out RLBs Onieda build. He did something with tea and a stain IIRC. I was very impressed with the color myself. Happy New Year. Sam

Wow, Another year gone by. Where does the time go? Life has kept me busy these last few weeks, work has slowed down and yet up till Xmas eve it seemed i was still working more then resting/building. I have been slowly making progress though. I finished modifying the bits timberheads and relocated them to the proper locations. Clamping them in place turned into a bit of a challenge, I ended up using a piece of balsa with some divots cut out for the tip of the bits timberheads to rest in and them carefully clamped with clothes pins and clamps. I tried rubber bands but the pressure was wrong, they kept wanting to lean inboard when I dry fit. After the bits timberheads were in place I stated in on the hatch coamings and grates. I used the kit supplied gratings and leftover boxwood for the planks. The instructions called for Ayous wood but either none was supplied with my kit or I used it for something else, either way I had none so boxwood it was. The color doesnt match the decking but I'm not going to worry about it. That is about it for now, today I am starting in on the gun carriages. At the rate I am going I wont be done with those till February. This kit is gettign cheaper by the year!! Other than the tools I have bought I am down to about $40.00/year! Happy New Year everybody. Thanks for all the advise and encouragement throughout the last few years, I wouldnt have the build I have today if it wasnt for all of your input! Looking forward to an even better 2014 for everybody Sam

You have earned the title Ratline King me-thinks. But I will be happy to call you anything you want as long as you dont ask me to call you daddy.... Sjors, Happy new year to you and Anja. Sam

She is quite the Lady Sjors! You are living up to your King of the Ratline title. Sam