tmj

Quite true. 'Kick-backs' can be a dangerous and scary thing, especially with thicker woods and more powerful saws. One must be familiar with their equipment, techniques and be experienced in safe practices. I hate to say it, however. 'It's hard to teach folks such things as common sense and safety!" That's usually an acquired 'foresight' that eventually comes to folks only after years of 'hands-on' working experience... and a few 'band-aids' along the way! All you experienced folks know exactly what I mean. You, yourselves were once 'newbies' too.

Nope, this thing does 'NOT' come with a fence. You must make your own. I use a 1/4" x 1" stainless steel flat-bar, that I clamp to the table, as my fence. It works great!

Yeah, most folks probably associate a 'Hot-Shot' with someone of character who's famous last words begin with the statement; "Hold My Beer and Watch 'THIS'!" 😲

That's what I've read, also... one shot every 90 seconds.

I'm reading that that cannon shot was 'cast' back in the 1700's. Okay, I'll buy that, but I need more info. Were the castings made of pure cast iron, or were those balls actually cast via an 'alloy' of mixed metals? Also, were those cast cannonballs treated, after casting, much like typical ornamental cast iron, for purposes of rust prevention? Last, but not least. "How were those cannonballs efficiently transferred from a shot locker, down in the hold, up to the proper decks, cannons and firing locations during the heat of battle?" Were man powered elevators used to keep cannonballs constantly moving up to the appropriate gun decks to insure that a ready supply of shot was always available? Surely folks didn't manually 'hand tote' 12, 24 and 32 pound cannon-balls from shot lockers, in the hold, up to misc. gun decks and individual battle stations... "Or did they?"

Take care in insuring that your whale has actually been properly 'saddle-broke' prior to blindly trusting it to give that beautiful 'whaleboat' a gentle ride! 😲 "Great Job!"

3/8" Satinwood, no problem! 3/8" Clear Poplar... "like butter!" 1/4" Ebony, zipped right through it! 3/16" Kryptonite, wait a minute... "Sorry folks, my bad." "That's a different review, posted on a different forum... in a galaxy 'Far, far away'!" 🙃 (Yes, Amazon delivers there, too... just can't get it 'PRIME' next day delivery!)

$37.99 on Amazon. This is the one that I bought. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GKRON1E/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I'm glad that you got something out of that video, however. I'm not the one to thank. "I'm just the delivery person." 'Chuck' is the person behind the informative videos and the one whom you should thank! 🙂

Something similar to this might be really helpful https://www.micromark.com/Electric-Plank-Bender . You might also want to take a look at the video below, as well as the companion videos that go with it.

Dulcie, my feline supervisor, built a fire under me and insisted that I get back to the riders, so I did. I'm hoping to find the time to complete two more sets of these riders before I go back to work this coming Thursday. I've been putting them off because I've actually done things 'backwards'. The riders are an 'after-thought' that didn't come to me until after I purchased Longridge's book "The Anatomy of Nelson's Ships." (Tossing the ignorant 'newbie' card here)! I first thought that the kitted model pictures looked GREAT. After a bit of research I discovered how lacking the kitted model actually was!!! Seeing how part of the interior planking was already completed, I had no choice but to make the riders fit around the internal features and also sit 'atop' the internal planking that I had already laid. Not an easy chore, to say the least! Properly done, I should have fabricated the riders 'prior' to planking, and fitted the planks to the riders, but it's now too late to dwell on that mistake. Gotta simply work with what I've got/done. Creating nice, tight fits of all the components, after the fact, is extremely difficult/impossible to pull off in a precise, exacting manner. I'll enter this SNAFU into my beginners notebook as entry #937 of current newbie mistakes to never be repeated! There are some horrible gaps that need filling, already filled bad joints that need further camouflage, etc.. All in all, it's all good. "It's a far better thing that I do, today, and learn what 'not' to do', while bashing a kit... than to later do such things and effectively 'trash' an otherwise good build!" If I'm not mistaken, Charles Dickens once put that famous quote to pen and paper while he was hopelessly lost between two cities... maybe not! 🤥

"Howdy and welcome aboard, pardner!"

Mark, I really like the idea of using a tapered stick for sizing the openings. Great idea! I'm gonna use that idea when I go for the final sizing of the ports! "Thanks for the tip!" As for now, I just completed the exterior planking and have visually filed the undersized ports to a somewhat square appearance, with no reference at all except for my eyes. There was no need to take the time to try and file these ports as square as possible, as I'll just have to do it all over again when I go for the final sizing. I just did it to test my abilities, my eyes, my hands... and to get a good feel for the 'technique'. I was actually surprised at my 'free-handed' results. Came out better than I was expecting! My 'Quality Control Inspector'/ 'superviser' saw no issues with the ports, either. She gave the gun ports a quick look-see, then quickly shifted her attention to the internal 'riders' and wanted to know when I'm going to get back to completing 'those'?

On this build, I used a 'cut-off' Dremel wheel to rough out the gun ports in the solid stock frame supplied via this kit. I made the cut-outs a bit smaller than 'depicted', via the instructions, so I could file and fine tune these gun port openings once all was finally said and done. The ports are now being "said", but still far from being done! Only 'one' gun port, shown in the photo, has actually been completely roughed out. That would be the lowest gun port situated down towards the water line. What I have been doing is planking the hull's exterior, as far as I can, without totally planking over the gun port(s). I've been leaving just enough open space, between my planks and the port opening, to squirrel a jewelers saw into what is left of the opening... then rough cutting the planking away to give me an opening. Once I've cut away an opening, I continue planking until I've 'almost' obscured another port with planks... then put the jewelers saw back to work, again cutting the remainder of previously cut/planked ports, as well as newly planked ports. I'm almost done, as you can see. I'll cut out the bottom portions of the uppermost port, complete the planking, then rough out the last portion of that uppermost port. I'll then be ready to fine tune these ports prior to lining them with headers, sills, jams, etc.. I'd like to know how you folks go about creating small, perfectly square 'looking' openings... just like the windows in your house? There 'must' be a trick used to accomplish this, "at least I hope there is!" My eyes, hand to eye coordination, and fine manual, hand tool control isn't exactly what it once used to be. Without cheating, I stand a 50/50 shot of manually crafting nice looking ports, by hand alone.

Amazon now has one 'less' copy available for sale. I went ahead and bought a copy. I've been meaning to compare the lines on the plate that Hank sent me with those on Humphreys drawing, but haven't done so, yet. I've read that basically every drawing of the connie's hull is a little different, depending on who and when the drawings were made. Because of that, I've been trying to stick with the original. Guess it's time for me to be less exacting and get to work! Thanks for the heads up on the book!

Has anyone reading this actually seen Humphreys original draft, in person? I'm wondering if 'time' and mishandling of the original drawing is the culprit behind the blurred and lackluster details... or is the problem simply due to simple photographs being turned into .PDF files? I've always hated working with .PDF's when true accuracy is needed. This bugs me. I could do the full build, however. I'd have to make quite a few 'generic' mid-ship frames, over-sized, and later fair them out, by eyeball, in accordance with the lines created via the known frame shapes. Would it look good? Sure it would, albeit. It would also be an artists conception. I doubt that anyone would know the difference, should I do such a thing, but 'I' would know!

I thought that I was "good to go" and ready to start lofting frames, however. That turned out to be a premature statement. I've been having way too much trouble trying to pull out accurate/usable details from the .PDF photocopy of Humphreys drawing. Forward section "G" through aft section "15" are basically nothing but one big blur. I can't accurately loft any frame lines within this region. It would be a guessing game. Luckily, frames "16" through "39" are clear and doable. This is also a great location for an interesting sectional build. That being said... This is officially going to become a 9" long, 1/67 'sectional' build of the Connie. I'm tired of chasing my tail to no avail. I want to finally make some good progress!😒 The lines, in blue, with the 9" dimension is my targeted section.

I'm glad that you liked this. I'm not an expert on 'any' particular subject, by any means! I'm just one of those types who likes to tinker with things in hopes of 'building the better mousetrap'. If something works, "It simply works"... if it doesn't work... I'll find something 'else' to tinker with in hopes of realizing better results.

Push sticks were certainly used, however. That was not the problem. The problem was that I didn't use wide enough, nor 'long' enough 'resawn' pieces of wood to cut my planks from. Didn't feel like driving to my place of employment and using the bandsaw to resaw longer/wider blanks. I used this little bugger to 'resaw' my very short 1/2" thick wood stock into .085" thick X .500" wide wafers. I then reset my fence to cut .125" wide planks from those .085" wafers that were only .500" wide. Two push-sticks didn't work. The material just kept trying to scew off of the fence and also rise up, off of the blade. I couldn't effectively control the small pieces with push-sticks. I had to reluctantly hold the material down, with one hand, while using a small push stick to 'push' the actual plank, that was being cut, through the blade and effectively out the rear of the blade. I had to use my fingers to keep those 1/2" wide planks held tight against the fence, while also holding that narrow wafer down to the table. Not very comfortable having my fingers that close to the blade. I also tried pinning the narrow material down, with a piece of wood, to keep my fingers away, however. That didn't work very well either. Couldn't get any sure footing/traction on the narrow piece being cut. Long story short... Had to use my fingers!😮 That being said. I 'DID' go to the shop and resaw some yellow-heart wood into 3" wide X .125" thick X 12" long slabs. I brought those slabs back home and 'EASILY' ran them through this little saw to produce some nice .085" thick X .125" wide planks. No white knuckles were developed, this time. Apparently, size 'does' matter, sometimes!😕 This should be enough yellow-heart planks to complete the black/yellow color scheme for this small sectional model. The black 'ebony' was previously cut, at work, via the bandsaw. That's why you don't see any cut ebony planks in the photo. This is about a tiny, cheap Chinese saw. I didn't cut the ebony on this tiny saw! ... Anyway. I think that this thing might be a good option for someone on a budget and/or those who are just looking to get started within reasonable means. You can even tilt the bed, for beveled cuts, by simply slipping thin shims between the bed support and the table height adjustment nut. I did that to create a slight bevel in the yellow-heart planks shown in the photo. I used a piece of standard thickness printer paper for 'my' shim material. That was all it took to get nice tight joints between the planks. Would I recommend this? Yes, I actually think I would! I believe it is a good value for the money, albeit. You'll need to keep the thickness of your wood to around a maximum of half inch, subject to density/species of wood. That's about all it can handle. I wouldn't try 1/2" of thickness in any really hard/dense woods. Doubt it could handle it. You'll also need to be a bit creative in how you setup/use this saw. It's basically nothing but a motor that spins a saw blade. No fancy bells/whistles included. Accuracy and effective use is going to be up to 'you' and the limits of your own personal imagination! I'll actually give it two thumbs up, for the cheap, simple piece of equipment that it is!

Well... the silly little thing actually works pretty good, for what it is! I cut some 1/2" poplar to the thickness of my desired planks, then cut the width of the planks. I just clamped a steel flat bar down to the table for a fence, and to handle the really short pieces while they were being cut, well. Not so sure that I should share 'that' info. It was rather dangerous and I don't want to encourage any potential accidents. I'd have used a longer piece of lumber, but didn't have any as long as I'd like to have used. These short planks are for a sectional model and they are plenty long for 'that' project. I have no doubts that this cheap little saw will work fairly well on cutting longer, wider, thin strips for planking purposes. Don't know how long the motor will hold up, but seeing how's it doesn't seem to bog down while cutting, I'm hoping it will hold up for a while. "We'll see." 😶

Sorry. No Blade height adjustment. The motor and blade are fixed. You must raise/lower the table, itself, to adjust the cutting depth. The table is held in position via a single knob/screw. Far from ideal, but good enough to serve its purpose, for now. It was fairly easy and quite safe to walk the table down. I simply snugged the knob just tight enough to hold the table steady when I let go, but also loose enough to move the table when needed. The worst part of the operation was wondering when that darned blade was 'FINALLY' going to poke through the top!😐

Found enough time to get the table 'ready for action' this afternoon. After drilling, tapping, countersinking and screwing the 1/4" walnut top down to the aluminum table... I remounted the table to the saw and cut the slot into the walnut top by simply 'walking' the top down, onto the spinning blade, rocking it back and forth until the blade slot was complete. It took about five minutes to accomplish this task. I couldn't get too 'greedy' in my cutting without bogging the blade down, but hey. That blade was cutting through quite a bit of material before it finally emerged through the top of the 1/4" thick walnut. I'd say that this operation gave the motor a rather good workout. Once all was said and done, the motor still felt quite cool to the touch and I didn't smell any lacquer burning on the winding's. "So far so good!" I'll next set up a simple, make-shift fence... and actually try to cut some 1/2" lumber into planks.

Just ran into a 'SNAG' with Malco Saw. Their minimum 'online' order is $25.00. The blade that I want is $24.88. Online checkout requires me to order 'TWO' blades in order to meet the minimum, plus $17.25 for UPS ground shipping... for a total of $67.01. That kinda defeats the 'cheap' thing that I was seeking. I'll give them a call, tomorrow, and see if I can just order one blade and have it sent via regular USPS mail.

Yep, but I was struggling to find a source that sold them. I've never before used a 4" table saw. New territory for 'me'. Thanks to Mr. Taylor... "Problem solved!"

Believe it or not... this thing actually came with some really decent 'wafer' like stabilizers sandwiched to both sides of the blade. I was really surprised to see that! Not going to go crazy with a sled, fence, etc. here. That would be like putting $2K of wheels and a $4k stereo system in an old 'Yugo'! I'm just having some fun with this thing to see what it can easily and 'cheaply' do. Might be a worthy endeavor that will help some folks out who's budgets are rather limited. I remember living such days, myself!