Jaager

To you guys in the UK : There is a hardwood that should be readily available - Sycamore maple Acer pseudoplatanus It is very similar to our Hard maple (sugar / rock ). It was a species favored by Underhill. Because of the difference in local vernacular, I got a supply of Sycamore from a sawmill in Eastern Kentucky. Alas, Sycamore here is a different species in another genus Platanus occidentalis. For our purposes, pseudo platanus is better than actual platanus. Our version is less dense, is a lot more brittle - more readily splits - gets fuzzy. It is also sold as lacewood because of it's ray flecks - which at scale - presents something that looks like nothing in nature. Looking at lumber prices in the UK - from what I can see - the prices are outrageous - they really see you guys coming. If you have local furniture makers, I would visit and see where they get their lumber - they may even have cutoffs or surplus you could get a deal on.

From Longridge extolling the virtue of the Midget Universal, I went looking for a similar machine and found the Unimat SL. I in no way regret it. It is a well built machine. It is a joy to work with. I used the lathe function to produce shaft adapters using cold rolled steel stock. It was a total PITA to tear down the ways and slide table to remove the steel shavings. Everything comes apart and back together just like the precise machine that it is. I coated the ways with Renaissance Wax, which seems to be a good thing - protection from rust, waxing the threaded rod - not so wise. The tolerances are so close that it took a lot of cranking to remove enough to make the feed wheel turn easily again. It is nice to be able to use it to make other machines. I got the lathe duplicator (the generic one) from Penn State for turning cannon but have not tried it yet.

You are your own shipwright, if you wish to mount a plasma pulse cannon on the deck, you are free to do it. Anachronisms and additions without reasonable documentation tends to drive those with a historian tendency berserk. No matter as long as you are honest about what your model really represents. It would not pass muster in a competition, most likely.

Since POB does not mimic original methods, you have some room to play. I would do it like this. Before the real outer planking is applied, locate all of the gunports. Get some hardwood stock that is about 4 inches thick in scale. 1:75, right? So about 0.05 inches thick. Use this to make a "picture frame" structure for each port. So widen the port by 0.05" top/ bottom/ each side. As you look at the side, the frame will be 0.05" each side. The depth will be determined by what is there. Fit the lower and upper sills first, then slide in the side pieces (frames - or timbers scabbed to frames). Make the framing flush with the first planking layer. For the outside planking, look at the plans and see if the port lid had a lip on the side ( a recess in the planking ). Some vessels had this and some had the edge of the planking flush with the side port framing. You can always plank flush and chisel in the lip later. Inside - is it that there is only 1 layer of planking? If so, only cut the actual port opening there and butt the port framing against that layer.

I have had mine since about 1972. Had to replace the motor. Burned it out using it as a table saw. I have replaced that function with single purpose machines. I got an additional aluminum bed on line with the intention of isolating the post holder portion and positioning it about 1/2 way down the bed to have a mill with more work movement options, but I have not gotten up the courage to wreck a part that is no longer being made. Where do you get your belts?

It looks like it could be a pond yacht. One that actually sails. The keel / rudder does not match any of the competition models in my copy of 1985 Model Boats Plans Handbook. It may not be all that incomplete. It has more deck detail than the competitor types seem to have, but less than a static model. It may be a fun sailing boat with just enough detail to make it interesting when seen from a distance. The sails and rigging may have been lost, as they were probably stored separately.

I would think a hand fret/coping/jewelers saw would do the trick. Blades are easy to find in the 3-8 range. There are variety packs. I think for basswood, you need very sharp edges to avoid tearing out the wood fibers. It is like a scroll saw, except that you are the motor. You should find something functional for less than $20 US.

It is on my wish list. When looking at Cog models ( which I thick of as an immediate ancestor of Mary Rose ) the construction of the castles brought a concept to mind: the hull up to the main or upper deck (depending on ship size) was built by shipwrights. the castles were added on by the craftsmen who built land based castles and other buildings. The general lack of curves and the general components do not look like a shipwright's work. Practically, I don't think they needed the particular skills of a shipwright. Another thought, if a merchant ship was drafted as a warship when needed, the castles could be a temporary addition.

A vegetable/rice/food steamer cooker should do the trick. Black & Decker and Oster both have long oval models for < $40. They are also useful for cooking rice and veggies, so be more cost effective than most tools we buy.

BOATS OF MEN OF WAR MAY,W E NIP/Chatham 1999 describes an interesting addition: two tubular trunks, one on either side of the keel at the windlass, thru the bottom of the Launch. Ropes up thru the trunks to the windlass could lift and hold for transport - anchors and cannon. A solution to a potential tipping or stern dipping problem. Investigation of this was begun in1818.

Ulises, 100/3 , 80/3 , 18/3 are the size of the linen in an old standard termed LEA. 18 is much larger than 100. It is the yarn size. Fibers twist into Yarn twist into Thread (or model rope) twist into (for our purposes) Rope. 62/1 is a linen yarn. It is a single unit of twisted plant fibers. 100/3 is a linen thread. It is three 100 yarns twisted into a three strand thread. Linen is much more coarse than cotton. Most linen yarns are much larger than cotton thread. The 62/1 linen is not much different from a #100 cotton thread. The whole subject of rope size can be confusing. Rope is subject to compression, so "micrometering" it does not give reproducible results. The most common way for us to measure size is to wrap a section of the rope around a dowel (closely packed, but not extreme) and count the number of revolutions in an inch. This gives the rope diameter. The reference books like Steele have tables of sizes - as rope circumference. Take our diameter measurement and multiply by pi (3.1416..........) to get the circumference. I suspect that there are models out there with rigging that is 3 times out of scale.

I have been around this for a while now. But even when I started linen yarn was difficult to obtain. The Cutty Hunk company had gone out of business and the survivors of the owner had thrown the stock of linen fishing line into a dumpster. Frederick J. Fawcett seems to be gone. I collected a good supply in yarn over the years, so I am set, but my recent supplier WEBS - no longer stocks any. The finest I have is 62/1 LEA. I see that there is a 100/1 LEA but I can't source it. But then, the 62/1 tends to break in my Byrnes ropewalk before I can lay up a good length. The 100/1 would probably be a nightmare. Looking on line, all I see now is a Chinese company that seems to buy everything that Europe produces and wants to sell shipping container quantities. How would someone beginning now obtain a supply?

I have read that small compressors have a problem with the air pulsing. Would this be mitigated by having an air storage container in-line between the compressor and air brush? Would an air tank used in automobiles to re-inflate tires serve as an in-line container? Would an empty propane grill tank work for this. Until the residual propane is gone, it would be an outdoor only use I am guessing. One possible problem: It is possible for gasoline vapors to make a mixture with air at a concentration where the temp required to start oxidation ( explosion) is near ambient requiring no spark or flame (spontaneous combustion). This also happens with grain dust and cotton lint. Is propane subject to this in pressure + air + available temp range? I would guess an explosion in a 20 gal propane tank could produce an interesting result.

I have a suggestion: First, why: Rigging is totally exposed to the atmosphere. This planet is enveloped in a layer of a highly reactive ( and looked at objectively - a very poisonous ) gas = Oxygen. You can readily see it effects on iron - almost as you watch. An acidic pH only enhances its reactivity. CA probably oxidizes - it likely continues the chemical reaction that produces its function ( it needs water - which is certainly present in the atmosphere ). The polymerization can continue until near complete - producing a material that is brittle. Titebond II - yellow PVA - has is pH 3. This is 10,000 x's more acidic than freshly distilled water. Weldbond - white PVA - has is pH 5.5. This is about the same as normal water - which is actually a dilute solution of carbonic acid ( atmospheric CO2 disolved in water). I suggest using something like Lineco White Neutral pH Adhesive. It is a PVA used by bookbinders and preservationists. Dries clear and can be diluted in water to soak into natural cellulose fiber rigging. It does not do do well with plastic, so if you rig with nylon or other synthetic products, use another material. One property of plastic rigging material: they are formed thru a chemical reaction = polymerization. long chain molecules are bonded to short ones - producing a web or mesh. If there is enough linking, a strong flexible material is produced. If there is too much cross linking, a rigid, brittle and weak material. In the presence of UV light, oxygen and heat - plastics continue to cross link on their own. The material will ultimately shatter. Linen, on the other hand - I believe they are finding 3-5 thousand year old mummies still wrapped in functional linen fabric.

You do not provide much information about your purpose or goal. One place to start - and this is about designing a 17th century English warship - using methods of the time. From a copy of DEANE'S DOCTRINE OF NAVAL ARCHITECTURE 1670 LAVERY,BRIAN CONWAY MARITIME PRESS LONDON 1981 (Among other places, Amazon has links to used copies.) Follow the exercises that Anthony Dean presents and it will give you the grounding that the 18th century designers and copy draftsmen greatly expanded and refined - and the 19th century further polished. It would also help to get several plans from The Smithsonian - $10 / sheet usually - if late 18th to mid 19th century is your interest. In France L'AAMM has plans for sale at not unreasonable prices - covering 17th to 20th century. The most extensive collection is in England - NMM - but the cost - well you better be in love with the vessel. And a lot of the lines - well, they did not have much of the Science, so they were flailing around - trying to find the formula to predict the sailing characteristics of the various hull shapes.

For a deck, I skip the Tung oil and use only shellac. It is easy enough to buff the surface if it is too glossy. Shellac is the classic base for most any other non water based finish - paint or clear. I haven't gotten there, since I found out about it, but I think the last layer will be a rubbed on coat of Renaissance wax. I doubt the process would be very interesting as a pictorial. One promising thing - I finally got a picture that I can look at from my digital camera. It was the first I took from a distance and not macro. Who knew? It is the midship section framing of USS Porpoise 1836 - designed as a schooner - rigged as a brigantine and later a brig - The last few years, I have been developing a (new?) way of framing a hull that I call The Frame Sandwich Method. I am just not sure how to present it.

Flying my true colors, I have a bias against plastic or anything synthetic on my wooden ship models. This does not extend as any prejudice against the work of others who do use these products raw wood - sanded 220 -> 320 -> 400 -> 600 and then scraped with single edged razor blade - rubbed with shammy leather cloth 1st coat pure Tung oil cut 1:1 with mineral spirits. 2nd coat straight Tung oil. 3rd coat super blonde shellac flakes made into a 5% solution in 100% 2-propanol (isopropyl alcohol) [ 10% solution diluted 1:1 ] 4th coat 10% shellac. 0000 steel wool between coats. Be sure to remove all of the steel fragments - they will oxidize and stain the wood.

Something to consider for keeping carving tools sharp: Get some pieces of scrap leather from a local shop that works leather. Coat the smooth side with Flexcut Gold Polishing compd. It comes as a stick - use like a crayon to coat the leather. Strop the edge frequently - pull the blade. I must sometimes move the blade slightly in the cutting direction when I place it on the leather - I can tell because it messes up the surface of the leather. Several back up pieces of leather is useful to have. Unless you mar the edge of the tool by hitting steel or something, you should not need to use a sharpening stone ever again. Stropping should be enough.

From: WORKING BOATS OF BRITAIN MCKEE,ERIC CONWAY MARITIME PRESS LONDON 1983 BOATBUILDING 224

Suggestions: Draw your grid on the white side of a piece of thick poster board. Tape a piece of transparent drafting velum or a less expensive substitute: Bienfang Designer Grid Paper, 50 Sheets, 8-1/2-Inch by 11-Inch Pad, 8 by 8 Cross Section ( $7.00 at Amazon ) The lines are straight and the grid perpendicular, but the grid is not precise. The center line, keel line and base line transferred , but you can leave off the waterlines and buttock lines for each frame - just the frame points are needed. Only plot one side of the frame. Scan the half frame into your computer. Have a transparent metric ruler in the scan. Open the scan in a drawing program - Photo Shop - ( has a rental online deal - if you are quick, you only need a 1 month rental) / Paint Shop Pro / I use Painter 12 - older versions like Painter 8 work just as well - I just needed 12 to get PNG in/out. The program needs layers. Open the half frame as a layer, duplicate it, flip copy horizontally and position the baseline/ centerline and combine the two layers. You now have a precise mirror of the half frame. Kate Cory would probably be framed French/American style - paired frames with the space between +/- half the thickness of one of the pair. I round - I am working on USS Vincennes 1825 R/S is 26" Given the range of sided dimensions of the frames I chose to make each frame 10" and the space 6". The point ? You can use the middle frame shape layer for both outlines of the pair. The metric ruler part - scan in - print out - can be altered by the computer- Matching up the print out of the ruler with the ruler- the % change in document size needed to be done in the drawing program to get identity in size is easier to calculate using metric an English scale. Another advantage - colored lines are easier to follow when cutting out and shaping the frames. With a paint program, it is easy to magic wand a line and change its color. I make the dead flat centerline shape = red - next one = green, the next one = blue, the next = red.... The paint program color picker has a slider for each of the three colors, so they are easy to set - 255/0/0 then 0/255/0 then 0/0/255.

For city dwellers, a possible source of stock lumber = your local tree service companies. I think the wood is mostly junk to them, something they have to dispose of. You may be able to get some interesting stock for little or no cost.

Dowels are generally a problem as a source for stock for masts and spars. It is usually an accident for the grain to be straight. When cut free, they will seek an equilibrium point over time and that can be a curved state. A way to avoid this is to start with plank stock of a straight grained / closed pore species of wood and split the spar stock out along the natural grain. The hope is that this will be the equilibrium position as Time and Environment act on the piece of wood. The tool designed to do this is a froe. A full sized froe is used to produce things like Cedar shakes. There is a smaller version that I have been looking at, but do not own yet: http://www.japanwoodworker.com/Product/156564/Bamboo-Froe-%28Take-Wari%29---Ikeuti.aspx In most locations a species of Acer (Maple) should be available locally from hardwood dealers. White Pine (Sugar / Pattern makers) Yellow Poplar Beech or Birch

There is a book Captain Cook's Endeavor (Anatomy of the Ship) Hardcover – April 6, 2010 by Karl Heinz Marquardt (Author) The paste in is from Amazon - Using the book, you should be able to derive just about anything for this vessel.

If you are considering doing serious resawing, you really need a bandsaw with enough power to handle the wood. The Grizzly G0555X - 14" Extreme Series Bandsaw is the sort of saw that you should be looking at - especially if you are using 110 V. This model is 110V and 1 1/2 HP. A less powerful motor takes forever. A 9" or 10" table top bandsaw is not the best tool for resawing. Good for scroll cutting and light duty cuts. Holly is a special case as far as wood goes. It should be cut in Winter, immediately cut into billets and put in a kiln to dry. It is subject to attack by a species of mold (Blue mold) that is very aggressive. You should check the wood before you pay for it. If it is green (fresh cut wet), you may not get much that you can use. Getting into scratch building, you might consider using less expensive domestic species to develop your skills. Since you have not the tools needed to harvest your own wood "on the hoof" you might look at available species that have characteristics that we want. Hard Maple is excellent. Black Cherry if you want darker. American Beech is a lot like Maple Yellow Birch If you do not mind wood that is less dense (softer) - cuts easier and faster Yellow Poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera ) Tupelo (Nyssa aquatica) Basswood (Tilia americana) The open pore distinct grain species do not look good to my eye when they supposed to represent wood at 1:48 - 1:98 scale. Oak Black Walnut

You do not indicate where you are. It is usually less expensive to source local wood. Ayous is better known as Obeche ? It seems to have a grain that is not distinctive - which is good - it looks to be open pore which is not desirable. It is soft - not my preference - too easy to remove too much - but soft woods - Lime/Basswood, Yellow Poplar, Tupelo, Sugar Pine are popular and they have closed pore Sapelly hard, darker brown Pear, Black Cherry Anatolia a search returns strange results - no particular tree - just a flooring style from the region where Turkey is. Mass market kit manufactures seem to base their choice of wood more on price than what is the better choice of species to use. Why not drop back 10 yards and punt on letting Constructo choose your wood and make your own choice?