Kevin53

Sorry, I used the wrong picture type. It should be better now.

When building my first wooden ship kit, I realized a needed a way to organize the scale lumber by size. I decided on a lumber tray to store the stock horizontally to prevent warpage, to allow easy access to less than full length pieces, and to minimize the space required. As I was unable to find anything commercially that met my requirements, I designed this lumber tray out of inexpensive chipboard (a type of dense thick cardboard). This can be made to any size, but I chose 10"x25"x1" so it would fit inside the box that the ship kit came in to make it easy to store. The attached pdf file is a measured drawing of the tray. Lumber Tray.pdf I used 30 ply All-Purpose Chipboard (0.10 inches thick) for rigidity. The source I used was Blick Art Materials (dickblick.com). The chipboard was cut with a straight edge and a hobby knife. The pieces were glued with PVA. Be sure to glue the divider strips to the base as well as to the ends of the tray. A label strip is added to one side to identify the lumber sizes.

Nirvana - Thank you for your kind words. Yes, by all means you may use my drawing rack plans. I am sure it can be improved upon. I would be interested in seeing what you do with it. - Kevin

I struggled with what to do with the 42” x 30” drawings while building ship models. The sheets were too big to have laying around and I didn’t have the wall space in my work room to hang them up. My solution, which may be of interest to other modelers, was to design this drawing rack out of ¾” PVC pipe. The upper frame is at work bench height for the active drawing sheet. The lower frame is storage for drawing sheets not in use. It is a simple matter to move the sheets out of the storage frame and hang them in the upper frame. The whole assembly is light weight and can be moved out of the way when not in use. When in use, I like to position the rack behind my work table. Hanging the sheets vertically takes up minimal space, keeps them clean, and keeps them from getting wrinkled. There is about $20 of PVC pipe and fittings invested in this. The attached pdf file is a measured drawing with a parts list. I just pushed the parts together without glue and it is very ridged. The drawing sheets are attached with ¾” binder clips to L shaped PVC corner molding which just lays in the rack. The L shape provides rigidity, a vertical surface to clip to, and a horizontal surface to sit in the rack. Not shown in the plans are two optional wood slats with casters that I attached to the bottom with ¾” metal pipe clips so it would roll around. I also pressed plastic pegs (screw anchors) into holes drilled into either end of the corner moldings to keep them from sliding off the rack. Drawing Holder.pdfDrawing Holder.pdf

Hello from Naperville Illinois. As a recent retiree, I have finally gotten the time to try out some hobbies. I am currently in the middle of building the US Brig Syren from a MSW kit. This is my first wooden ship model, so I have had to develop many new skills as I go. I have greatly benefitted from reading many of the build blogs on this site. My philosophy is to take my time and enjoy the process. I am nearing the completion of the exterior of the hull and I am looking forward to staring on the carronades. Almost as much fun as doing the actual build has been setting up my work space, building jigs, and acquiring new tools! (Perhaps my background in engineering is showing.) I struggled with what to do with the 42” x 30” drawings while building ship models. The sheets were too big to have laying around and I didn’t have the wall space in my work room to hang them up. My solution was to design this rolling drawing rack out of ¾” PVC pipe. Regards - Kevin