rtropp

could you just cut the 1/4" tape in 1/8" pieces and turn them sideways. Richard

Just a quick note. I have not given up on restarting the build. My ship building club has decided on a group build and between that and the Syren I will be pretty busy. I will begin again when the group build is finished. I want to see how well my skills can handle that before starting a major work such as the Naiad. Richard

those are approximately the temperatures of the solder I was trying. I guess the blazer just doesn't reach the temperature it advertises. One of the members of my ship club loaned by a torch that used oxygen and fuel. I am going to give it a try. Then, I may just try the Bernzomatic which should be easily available from one of the hardware stores in town. Bob, does yours still have a model number on it to help with the search? Thanks all, Richard

What would be a "reasonable" depth of cut for the proxxon? The maximum dpet for the Byrnes is .005" per pass. Thanks, Richard

Bob, what is the melting temperature of the solder you use? Thanks, Richard

All, Thanks for the information, it has given me a lot of options to look at. Richard

Mike, I would need a fence for resawing. Thanks for the insight Richard

What!! (he says with surprise.) Are shops supposed to be clean? Next you'll be saying it should also be kept orderly. Heck, If I am supposed to keep it clean I might as well stay in the sunroom and not bother building a shop. Richard

hornet, does an airbrush for varnish require more pressure than acrylic? I have an inexpensive compressor, one use by nail shops, but so far it seems to do what I need. it is rated up to 40psi. Richard

Ed, Watching you, and reading the first volume of your Naiad book, I realize that I might be too dependent on sanding and need to start using my chisels more. Richard

Thanks all for your tips. I was starting to reconsider the 9" saws but it sounds like they do not have the power to effectively rip 3-4" thick stock so would need a more powerful (larger) saw anyway. The suggestion to find a local club or woodworker sounds good. I have not found any clubs and the local schools do not have woodworking shop (insurance issues.) I put out feelers to some friends but have not had luck. I am considering putting an ad in the local paper... that might produce someone willing to this occasional ripping for a few bucks. If all else fails, I will either bite the bullet and get an inexpensive band saw knowing that it will not last for more than a year or two being left outside, or buy any wood thicker than two inches pre cut. Richard

Hi all, After the problems discussed above, I sent the Blazer butane torch back to the manufacturer for them to test. They report melting 700 F degree solder but that is the highest temperature solder they had for testing. I had enclosed a sample of the f silver solder which has a melting point of 1300F. They reported that the torch could not melt that solder. They also do not have the tools to measure the actual output. Given that the torch is rated to 2500F I was left puzzled. They could not refund since I bought it through amazon, and its over a month so I cannot return it. Actually, the torch is probably less than the cost of materials I went through trying to make it work. So, it does not matter what I do, the torch does not seem to be able to get even close to its rated temperature. I am wondering if anyone has had a similar or different experience with the Blazer and whether anyone knows of a butane torch that will melt high temperature solder and has the fine flame used for small parts? I do not do enough soldering to justify the more expensive torches that use tanks so would appreciate any suggestions. Thanks all for your help, Richard

I want to rip thin sheets from 2"x3" or smaller soft and hardwood wood planks. Room is limited so I need something small. I will only be using it occasionally. Will the Proxxon handle this or is it too small? Richard

I heard back from Jim Byrnes. It looks like I was taking too small a bite with each pass. I was taking between .001 and .0025 with each cut. A cut of just .001 depth would take about 62 passes with the amount I was trying to remove. Jim recommends roughing it down with about .005 a pass flipping the stock every pass. Then 2 finish passes. That would take about 12 passes. A lot less. Greg, I think your comment is to the point. Each tool has its purpose and while I could work with just the Byrnes, the Proxxon would be a nice addition. When I looked at the Youtube video suggested by Tony, the Proxxon seemed to spit out a lot of shavings and without any way to contain them. Greg, is that your experience. I would like to use it in the house if possible. Thanks Richard.

I use a shop vac with a car cleaning set of attachments. The brush attachment is especially useful. The car cleaning attachments are fairly inexpensive. Richard

Some additional notes: I used the Byrnes sander again to continue thinning a piece of cherry that was 3" by 1/4" by 24". A couple of things that I noticed that, as with most things, with repeated use I get more skillful. Also, I may not have been aggressive enough with my cuts which could be why the task is going slowly. I have contacted Jim Byrnes to ask his advice on how aggressive I should be able to set the cut. I'll post that when I hear back. One benefit is the size of pieces you can cut. As I try my hand at bashing or scratch building, I find I am using wood sheet that is 4"-5" inches wide. This is especially useful for the larger bulkheads. It also reduces the number of planks that have to be milled. The Byrnes can handle 6" while the Proxxon is limited to 3 7/32". Not a deal breaker but nice to have my options open. Ok, one of the big, really big, benefits of the Byrnes sander. My "workshop" is our sunroom. That makes dust control a priority. Being cautious I had been using the sander outside on the patio but that is pretty much a pain, especially in bad weather. Yesterday was one of those bad weather days, so I bit the bullet and used it inside with my shop vac attached to the dust port. I worked the piece I described above. I used six inch wide 80 grit for the more aggressive thinning then changed the belt to six inch wide 220 grit. (cut from sanding belts from Home Depot.) No dust escaped. None at all. When done there was a very small amount of dust around the sanding built but the vac took this up with ease. As I watch the videos of the Proxxon, I am pretty sure I would only be able to use it outside. Not sure what it cost to replace the blades on the Proxxon, or how often that is required. The sanding belts are only a few dollars each for the 6", which I prefer. Changing sand paper could not be easier. About 3 minutes my first time. Still, that auto feed is a compelling feature. Richard

I received my scalpel and blades. At first I was unsure about using them. They are very thin, almost delicate, and I didn't feel comfortable with using them in normal model cutting. Then I needed to cut out a couple of 1/8"x1/4" pieces from a 1/32" sheet. While my excel blades had a tendency to create splits, even with great care, the scalpel performed the task with ease. So for very thin, very fine cuts, the scalpel is becoming my go to tool. I will continue to test it with other uses but the excel blades worked well for me so I have no sense of urgency about other, larger cutting tasks. Richard

Tony, very helpful, I appreciate the effort in creating the index. Helped me find the proxxon video quickly. I will be using your index a good deal more in the future. They are saying that the thinnest the plane can go is 2.4 mm, or 3/32 of an inch. The jig they demonstrated that allows thinner planing is very simple. I suspect it might require some finish sanding. The attraction is that auto feed. On the Byrnes thickness sander, it takes a number of manually fed passes to go from 1/4 to 3/16" and their is some skill and steadiness required to make an even, smooth cut without chatter marks. Could be my hands are too weak or I just need more practice. Its just that the auto feed really looks helpful for speeding up and easing the process I would not get the Proxxon instead of the thickness sander, but could be they would work well together. In fact, if I had the room, I would consider a compact planner that has greater capacity and is half the price and use the Byrnes to bring it down to final dimension and finish. But... I do not have the room. Richard

Nigel, I cannot find Dr. Mike video on YouTube, could you help with a link? I checked with the Proxxon dealer and his belief is that you would get auto feed all the way down to the metal. I suspect that the user experience by Dr Mike would be some real world advice. Thanks, Richard

One of our members is a Proxxon dealer and I have asked him the minimum thickness that can be fed through the auto feed. Richard

I would like to get some feedback on the Proxxon Planer. One of the features that make it attractive for me is the autofeed. But, I have read at least one review that gives the autofeed very low marks saying it does not operate consistently. Thanks, Richard

I have been looking more closely at pintles and gudgeons made by others. There seems to be a mix of approaches, some putting the "pin" or "tube" inside the strap, some putting it on the outside. It seemed to look a little easier and better with them on the outside but I am not sure how historically accurate that would be. I was curious to see what thoughts you all had about the placement of pin and/or tube. I have decided to leave the rudder as is and move on. If I keep reworking to that degree I will not get very far. The rudder took me close to four weeks of learning how to solder, how to work metal, etc. I had fun but it is time to push ahead. The stern carvings, quarter badges and ship's name are next. The quarter badges are usable with some work, but the stern carvings are barely legible. I have sent to M.E. for another set. I tried to gently sharpen some of the detail with my dremel and a pointed, diamond bit but that did not work out. We'll see if the ones that come are any better. I am not sure I can replicate by carving in wood at my skills level. I saw the carvings done by Thomas Gahm. Incredible. thanks to all for looking in, Richard Richard

Chuck, Thanks for all the information. I now understand how to bend the planks to fit the curves rather than trying to puzzle them into place. Now I just need to remember this when I do my next build. Richard.

Henry, I made my own because I wanted to use copper, not brass, so it would better match the copper gudgeons and pintles I made. Actually, after the first few, I did not find it so difficult and it went pretty quickly. I just did not get hung up on length until I was ready to use them. Richard

Finally the rudder in place and close up Honestly, I am not sure how I feel about it. The rudder will actually move, so all of that worked out alright. But, there is a little too much space between the rudder and the boat. I can see where I left some space between them during the gluing. I was thinking about taking it apart and redoing it yet again but it has taken a long time to get this far and I am eager to move on to the next challenge. Also, the copper looks a little beat up but the build is not meant to look new and fresh out of the yards. That's part of the reason for aging the copper. I guess I'll sleep on it and then decide. Thanks all for looking in Richard