Jaager

Since the source is in Europe, my guess is that the wood is English Walnut - Juglans regia rather than Black Walnut - Juglans nigra For full size use Black Walnut is and has been highly prized. English Walnut is slightly less dark and rich in color, but still excellent. The grain is not real high contrast, it is hard, has tight grain, and holds a sharp edge. It has one negative factor for model use = open pores. To get a smooth finish, they will need to be filled. For really sweet wood, you should seek out Pear, Plum, or Apple. But back to your question: Seasoning ( air drying ) 1 year per inch of thickness. I would remove the bark - a wide straight chisel or draw knife does this job quickly. Seal the cut ends and any side branch ends. The open pores will loose water more quickly and there will be dimensional stress. This can produce checking and splitting. You have a lot of options for a sealant. Hot paraffin, varnish, shellac, left over house paint, latex or spirit will work. Add additional coats over time if any checking starts. Sticker the pieces so that there is good air flow at all surfaces. What with your power tools' capacity, try to get the wood into 1 inch billets. At 1:64 you should only need pieces wider than 1 inch for floors at the ends of a large frigate or larger warship or a large merchant vessel if you avoid cant framing and stay perpendicular until you get to hawse timbers and stern framing.

Wefalck, The tool making was the reason for precluding metal work from my comment. Way back when, because I could not find the Universal Midget machine from Longridge, I bought the closest substitute - a Unimat SL 1000. I have found that I have substituted the wood working attachments with dedicated single purpose machines - table saw, drill press, drum sander, jig/scroll saw, disk sander. Each has repaid its cost in function and convenience - except the scroll saw - I prefer my 9" bandsaw with a Carter scroll attachment and 1/8" blade. I have used the milling and lathe functions for metal working to make my own tool attachments. For metal work, a quality lathe, and vertical mill can not be replaced. For me, the Unimat is quality enough. If wood work was my only focus and money was a factor, I could not convince myself that a vertical mill would return its investment. Neither would a lathe - unless I was producing cannon - a lot of cannon. The limits on bed length are impediments to full use of a lathe for masts and yards.

My apology if this comes across as impertinent - leaving aside any metal working function and focusing on just wood working, apart from using it as a drill press, and milling lands for carlings and knees in deck beams, what other jobs would a vertical mill be used for?

The basic factor here is matching the blade to the job. A thin fine tooth blade SEEMS like it would save wood - by having less kerf and a smoother surface. The problem is that the gullet of the teeth fill with saw dust early in the cut and the wood is being removed more by friction than mechanical slicing. Even more heat is produced by forcing the blade. Being thin, it gets hotter and flexes. The rule/goal for a band saw blade is, I think, 3 teeth in contact thru the stock thickness. Our choice of blade is a balance. More set = rougher cut surface, faster and less heat. Fewer larger teeth, thicker blade - more kerf, rougher surface, less heat, faster. Really thin stock is affected by the chopping force, so large teeth can move or split the wood. Blade #128 / 0.1 is a metal slitting blade. Try it on really thin veneer ( but a #11 blade and a straight edge may be more efficient ) or cutting slots for hatch gratings.

My theory: country sawmills sell for less - given retail markup - maybe half. The rough - pre planed lumber is thicker and if you band saw resaw, the yield can be greater. The downside is that if it is an active concern, the stock is green. If it is a relaxed operation, there may be old air dried stock in ricks. Edensaw does have Madrone and Yellow Cedar but > $10/BF It does look like you can get Hard Maple for about what I can and it is a reasonable substitute for Boxwood - for everything but carving. - i.e. timbers, planking, beams, knees

Jim, given where you are, I wonder if you can access a local country sawmill and find a supply of two species from your region that have a more suitable grain, are both closed pore, low contrast, tight grained and between the two have a color contrast: Madrone Yellow Cedar Though seriously expensive for we easterners, it could be $5 /BF or less for you.

The Byrnes will work 6 inch stock. The medium mounts as sheets. The clamps come shown as two 3 inch pieces. This allows one to be replaced - leaving the other alone - if two 3 inch sheets are used. Standard sandpaper sheets look like they would fit - but their duration of use may not be practical. There are cloth backed media - as continuous rolls - cut to fit for length and they come as 3", 4", 6" widths - variety of grits - Norton and Klingspor are two. I get Klingspor from my local WoodCraft, but i do not see this on the chain website It holds up well and is essentially the same as what makes up the sleeves. In my view, the Micromark is more of a toy when compared to the Byrnes. 220 grit may be as fine as should be finished for working stock - wood pore blockage and reduced PVA bonding may be a side effect of a finer finish.

For me: the first fix is to remove the set scars from the bandsaw blade on both surfaces. Mine is an under powered 3 wheel bandsaw and my skill in resawing could be better. Two inch hardwood - especiaaly Hard Maple - strains the 3/4 HP motor and dulls the blade more quickly than I like. My sander is home made using plans from NRG from years ago - the drum is 11 inches and the circumference is 8.5 inches - for standard sanding sheets - now I would make it 12 inches - so that I could fit 3 grits of 4 inch cloth backed sanding medium Klingspor 80/150/220 For the thickness sander = The goal is to start with a stock thickness that allows a clean 220 finish on both sides - without having to waste much wood to get the target thickness. I flip and rotate end to end. This is using 80 grit. When I have a clean surface, i sand one side down to 220 and use it as the table contact. The other side gets 80 grit passes - with end to end rotation until close to target then finish to final with 220.

Two of the variables width of the piece grit of the sanding medium

You could use it for that, if it is Yellow Poplar that is the subject here. It is closed pore and has a tight grain. It is not brittle or fuzzy. It is an excellent choice for solid and lift style hulls. The mark against it for POF framing is that it is light weight and for smaller vessels below 1:48 in scale, I would be worried about the strength of the frame. You offer no location information. If you are eastern US, check the cost for Hard Maple. It should be about $5 /bf. It approaches what passes for Boxwood these days in hardness and is much stronger than Yellow Poplar. It will produce much more wear on saw blades however, but the feel of working it in these small scales, is I find, more satisfying.

For POB, you might use it for the first layer of planking with a two layer method. or for the fill/backing material between molds ("bulkheads") if you opt for one layer of planking on a solid support method.

It is a relatively soft hardwood ; less than Black Cherry, but about 50% harder than Yellow Poplar. It should work fairly easily. The negatives are a course grain and open pores. It does not scale well. If you use it for hidden components, it should do OK. If it is of a surface that is painted, an additional step to fill the pores (Plaster 0f Paris) would probably be needed. Clear finished - the grain could be a distraction. For frames on a fully planked hull, it should work and if you get a deal, save you money - framing is probably the most timber intensive part and has the most waste. Being softer, it will be easier to remove too much, too fast, so a light touch when shaping.

An advantage with scratch building is that a reasonable set of plans is all you need to start. The one tool you do not mention is a saw capable of resawing 1" and 2" lumber into stock for use with a thickness sander and the Byrnes saw. A 14" bandsaw is ideal, a tablesaw can do it, but is more unforgiving and the loss to kerf is about twice or more. For detailed plans ANCRE offers a sizable inventory of monographs of individual vessels and several are of a vessel complexity that would make a prudent choice as an initial project: cutter, brig, schooner. These are French in origin and there are also other smaller indigenous types. The French products are generally elegant in design and appearance. On cursory thought, the similar monographs for English or American vessels are 3 mast - larger vessels that can be a bit over whelming for a beginner.

I have the Unimat SL1000 and it sets up as a mill. I ordered a spare Al bed and intend to cut and mount it at the rear center of the ways to get full excursion up and down the ways. I have not done it yet. I also got the lathe duplication jig from Penn Valley. My focus has been on lofting and framing so I have not needed either function for a while.

Dan, I was commenting on the book. I had not seen this topic until you revived it Anyway, I checked and my reprint is of the 1805 edition and Plate 38 is the last in the Plates supplement volume.

Allan Yedlinsky - SCANTLINGS OF THE ROYAL NAVY 1719-1805 Seawatch Books is much easier to use and has much more data. I have a reprint of Steel by Sim Comfort but the Yedlinsky volume is easier to use -

If you wish to try the concept and are in US : Harbor freight has a generic version of this tool - $ 33 with the 20% discount $27. I have not bitten, so I can't rate the quality or durability. I did get their 4 x 36 belt sander - during a periodic sale - plus 20% coupon - it was ~ $ 50 I have not used it much yet, but it is sturdy - did not mount the disc sander attachment.

Should you wish to use traditional fibers - rather than repeat - do a Forum search: topic linen yarn This material is becoming exponentially more difficult to source but it scales well and has proven its stability over time. Given the option, I go for one color: natural - 2nd choice half bleached - third white. A good quality Walnut wood dye can be dark enough to cover fully tarred standing rigging and partially tarred running rigging for vessels prior to the late 1800's - depending on dye concentration used. I am thinking that in the late 1800's petro tars that are actually black seem to have become the material used. But steel cable was also being used during this time.

I was stationed at St. E's and lived at exit 2 - Telegraph Hill for 2 years. Traffic was fun in '70-'72 so it must be even for fun now. Interesting when they opened the Wilson bridge at rush hour or waiting for it next to Blue Plains in August with no AC. Bart was just a hole near the Mall, so no mass transit then. What with all the water features, traffic in Hampton Roads is pretty interesting itself.

Another armchair experiment ( denken experimenten ) : The area to be covered by a plywood sub-deck is not accurately represented by a 2D Waterline plan. There is a depth dimension that increases the area to be covered. Thought: using thick paper, the precise area could be had by using it to cover the area. Then, why not thin hard poster board. It is flexible, yet stiff. THEN: Why not try using the poster board as the actual sub-deck? Once in place, give it a coat of thinned PVA and let it dry. This will compensate for the too far apart mold supports and the PVA should stiffen up the poster board. Then a veneer of Hard Maple in planks can be laid. The veneer can be cut using a steel edge and sharp edged tool. No saw would be needed.

Welcome aboard. Where in Virginia are you?

If you use hitch chucks with the pins - more force on the hold down is possible and that makes for a stronger bond. A hitch chuck is a small piece of scrap wood that you drill a hole thru and have between the head of the pin and the wood that you are clamping. The pin can be tapped and bend getting more force. The chock can be split off if necessary to grip the pin to remove it. I mostly use a a curved Kelly clamp ( hemostat ) to remove the pins. Resting on a piece of planking, the curved clamp makes a good prise

This comes from instructions for wood dyes: Dissolved in alcohol - the dye does not penetrate as deeply- but it has no effect on the wood surface. Dissolved in water - the dye penetrates deeply - but raises the grain. Pre-treatment with 10% PVA in water, dry then sand the surface - the next water exposure with the dye will not further raise the grain. Based on this, wet your surface with 10% PVA in water and let it dry. If it raises the grain too much, try a light sanding with 320 or 400 grit.

I will repeat: get as close to 2 HP as you can, for resawing. It really works the system - For high efficiency and fewer thickness sander passes, a Wood Slicer blade from Highland - getting a unit that uses one of their ready made sizes will save you about $10 a blade, and about 2-3 weeks waiting over custom length. The 10" would be OK for scroll cutting - poor choice for resawing. A generic 9" will scroll just as well for less. Just make sure any unit you consider takes a Carter Stabilizer if you want to cut tight curves. It costs near about want a 9" bandsaw costs, but it is worth it.

Vossie, For ready tool storage I use brick size blocks of 2 inches of Styrofoam insulation. PVA glue it to a bit larger wood base. Here I had to glue two 1 inch pieces - Home Depot sells 2 x 2 project sheets. It does not take well to hot glue and I think contact cement melts it too.