Jaager

I also think it is 1850's vintage. With the purpose of starting a discussion, I make some observations based on little evidence: The masts and yards seem to be over scale. The hull lines look clipper-like, but with only topgallants on all three masts, it is more like a coastal packet. I see no evidence of deck hatches, how would she carry any cargo? The forecastle and catheads look twice as large - like the hull is 1/8" scale and they are 1/4" scale. The bulwark height does not match scale with deckhouse size. Scientific kits had pre-made shrouds with ratlines, but you would be better served mounting the shrouds individually and doing the ratlines in place. This may not be a kit at all and not made from plans of a real vessel.

There are several books that cover this period - Lever, Nares, Meade, Biddlecombe, Brady - This vessel is contemporary with the clippers and the rigging would be rope. I think that the rigging would be the same as the 1850's clippers and packets. The steam is the add-on. They probably did not totally trust the steam, and on a long voyage - given the efficiency of the engines - could carry no cargo but fuel coal if they used the engines for anything but getting into a harbor or a dead calm.

I made my own sanding table. Base and two sides 3/4 ply Table is 12" x 12" 3/4 ply with 3" hole in center. I had this motor so I used it: http://www.grainger.com/product/DAYTON-HVAC-Motor-3M083?searchQuery=3m083&nls=0&suggestConfigId=1 I wanted to be able to choose any grit abrasive so I have the sleeveless sanding drum kit 3", 2", 1", 3/4" http://www.ptreeusa.com/abrasive_drums.htm 3 additional table tops are 1/4 ply with 2" , 1" and 3/4" holes I mounted the motor using A23Z steel brackets like an old Erector Set project using nuts and screws: http://www.homedepot.com/b/Building-Materials-Builders-Hardware-Joist-Hangers/N-5yc1vZaqxb/Ntk-Extended/Ntt-brackets?Ntx=mode+matchpartialmax&NCNI-5 A free sample of Armstrong kitchen flooring provided a mounting pad for motor to cut down on noise and vibration. The motor has a 5/16" shaft a either end ( so CW or CCW rotation, depending ). The drums will mount on either a 1/4" or 3/8" shaft. To adapt them to the 5/16" motor shaft, I made adaptors from 3/8" cold rolled steel rod and bored a 5/16" hole thru the center and drilled and tapped a set screw. I used a lathe to do this. Since it sands with the brain, I use it to sand outside as well as inside curves.

One question: synthetic fibers usually do not have fuzzies and have no affinity for water, so why wax them?

In most POB kits, the spacing of the body moulds are too far apart to support a thin single run of planking. A first layer of what looks to be poor quality wood (open pore, course grain, easy to splinter) is supposed to provide what is essentially a simulation of a solid hull to receive the layer of outer planking. Even with this, it would be useful to glue laminations of veneer to the inside of the first layer (perpendicular to the run of planking)(at a scale width of 6-12 inches)(laminate in place) to receive the treenails of the actual planking. Before the mid 17th century (at least) the futtocks were fit to the inside of the planking instead of the reverse later. If you wish a single layer: the actual planks would probably need to be thicker than what is provided. the space between the moulds should have support material (at the least 50% wood with the open space not wide).

Other tools to try : a small hand plane - needle files.

There is another way: Start with one size of brass or copper wire. Use a draw plate to get whichever smaller diameter that you need. We may use draw plates to make bamboo or wooded treenails, but the original purpose is to make wire.

You need blade tension to be what is recommended and no tighter. Tighter will not stop wander, but it will shorten the life of your blade. Make sure that you take the tension off of your blade when you are done for the day. Here is a resawing guide: http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/library/Slicing%20Wood.pdf

Yes. The species I posted are the ones traditionally used for furniture. Cherry is almost always Black Cherry. Maple - Hard = Sugar = Rock all are names for the same species. Both are a joy to work with. They are hard and will work your cutting tools, but you are also less likely to overdo a cut. What you want is the choice that specialty wood workers are not after- clear straight grained. Unless you are doing a stunt or are making a base - you do not want Tiger, Bird's Eye, Spalted, Burl. These are grain effects (or a fungus infection) - they have no relationship to what timber scaled down 1:50 / 1:100 would look like. Soft Maple is being sold in some places - unless you are familiar with it and know you want it for some purpose, do not get it. Too bad you cannot harvest your own. Of all wood, Apple is my favorite. I harvested the wood from a neighbor's fruit cherry tree that had blown down in return for cutting the rest up for curbside pickup. It is hard and the grain is low contrast, but the color is yellow with a greenish tinge.

From your list, my favorites are also the least expensive: Rock Maple (Acer saccharum) Black Cherry (Prunus serotina) Both hard, tight grain with low contrast, closed pore. See if there are any hardwood saw mills in your area. If you can harvest your own, look for Apple Bradford Pear Other fruit wood - Crab Apple, Pear, Plum Dogwood Washington Hawthorn Holly is good, but very tricky - harvest in Winter and kiln dry quickly - otherwise Blue Mold will ruin it. I do not think Peach is any good

Scroll saws vibrate- the blade moves up/down - the work wants to vibrate with it. As an alternate way to get to your goal - consider a 9 inch bench top band saw. With an 1/8 " blade - pretty tight turns can be cut ( the 1/16th" blades seem to have disapeared from the market ). The cut is a constant down. Which saw? There are many brands avialable. If the saw uses 59 1/2 inch blades, replacements are easy to find. To get the needed tracking a Carter Products "Band Saw Stabilizer Guide System for Scroll Cuts" is almost a requirement, so a brand that can fit a Carter stabilizer is almost a requirement. RYO1 - For use with Ryobi 9" saws. STD2 - Fits many common 9" and 10" band saws with 5/16" shaft. (I have one that was sold by MicroMark with larger shaft, that I was able to retro fit using telescoping K&S brass tubing as bushings.) STD1 - Fits most stock OEM guides with block configuration A 9 inch band saw is a fairly light duty tool. I would not depend on doing very thick resawing with it. The motor is not powerful enough to take a load much over 2 inches (I am guessing here.) Highland's Wood Slicer blade does not come smaller than 70".

You could always use this as an excuse to venture into scratch building and make the masts and yards out of wood. Just start with board stock and not dowels. If you split out the masts and yards along the grain, it is not as likely to warp.

If you are going to detail the interior, you could give some consideration to doing the hull POF.

The traditional boxwood is buxus sempivirens. It is the ornimental shrub often seen in formal gardens. It is slow growing, 30 foot tall and 8 inch dia would be a rare find. The wood is very hard, tight grained, very little contrast, and usually a light yellow. Everything else is an attempt to cash in on the demand for something that is now hard to obtain. Doing a trip back in imagination, the old guys were probably using the best wood they could get that was available. The wood was probably sawed out of round stock using hand saws and hand planes. They were probably a minor market for cabinet makers and instrument makers. (rulers and such). If they had our selection, I wonder if they would be as limited in their choice of wood variety?

Do you have the Model Shipways building manual for the kit by Erik A R Ronnberg Jr.? There are some rigging details in it. I have two thoughts about this: If you are not going to bend the sailing - even furled - most of the running rigging for handling the sails could be left off. The rigging would probably be taken below with the sails. ( A sheet is the line that holds the free corners of a sail taught against the force of the wind - the two bottom corners of a square sail, the distal bottom corner of a gaff sail, and the bottom corner of a staysail.) A rigging diagram for most any schooner near its age would be a good guide. The pattern would probably be uniform. In the dark, in a storm, half lit on rum, seamen from multiple countries - you would not want to have to guess which line proformed which function. It would need to be the same vessel to vessel over a long period of time - generation to generation.

The following book should answer your questions: This is not an endorsement of the vendor, just the book: http://www.amazon.com/American-Built-Clipper-Ship-1850-1856-Characteristics/dp/0071358234/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=149PENCFDSR2QBC446BM Maybe not - I misread your vessel as Wm Webb's Young America, a clipper.

For the Holly, you would need to factor in the kerf if you cut your own from a sheet, but you would be able to match the width to that of each vessel. Being a bit compulsive, I would order twice the amount I calculate as needed. For the Pear, with a sheet, you may be able to get more efficient use of the wood since you should be spilling the plank shapes. You may be able to use the curve from a previous plank as the edge of the current one. Spilling = cut a piece of 3x5 or 4x6 index card to the shape that will fill the plank opening without any lateral bends - so that it lays in naturally. Not often will it be a true rectangle. More likely sort of parallel shallow curves, but the width tends to taper a bit. Use the card board pattern to cut the planks for each side. One hopes that bilateral symmetry is occuring, but adjustments as you go should correct a digression while it is minor. If you calculate (say) six stakes between a pair of ribbands, rather than cutting all six, measure 1/6 th for the first, lay it in, measure 1/5 th for the next, etc.

I was thinking about the canvas screens - would it work to use Egyptian ballooner sail cloth or 1000 ct cotton and dope it with shellac - varnish - or even diluted TiteBond as the actual material?

Pro: Debarking will speed drying. You will discover any boring insects or remove any eggs if they have not hatched yet. Con: It is possible that it may dry too quickly and unevenly and check or split - I suspect this is mostly a problem with thick pieces of wood in log form.

For resawing, it is not the number of teeth that counts. 3 teeth per inch will do. The Wood Slicer is thinner, has stronger steel and the teeth have almost no set. The key is the tooth shape - it is technical. A fine tooth blade will probably have too much set and not be efficient in wood removal thru thick stock. The gullet will fill with sawdust before it get thru the wood and stop cutting. The set will leave a rough surface. Look for a blade designed for resawing.

A table saw is not necessarily your best tool. Your bandsaw is better. But you probably also will want a thickness sander. Your wood is essentially seasoned. You need to get it into flat from the round. 1) If you band saw is large enough, you will not be sorry for using this blade: http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/woodslicer12resawbandsawblades705to137.aspx?utm_source=iContact&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Wood%20News&utm_content=THW+5 - but only use it for resawing - which is what you will be doing. 2) You need to fix the log to a carrier board to keep it from rolling. The board needs to be flat and have one straight edge - to ride against the fence. An easy way to fix the log - use right angle 2x4 braces from a big box building supply place and wood screws - one on each end of the log and at least one on the back side. Having room for this pretty much tells you how large the carrier board has to be. You can use short screws to attach the braces to the board, so 1/2 inch ply might do, but 3/4 inch is probably better. 3) The size you produce - it depends. If you have an immediate need, that is your thickness. Otherwise - decide on a raw stock size to slice your your final planks from. I like 1 to1.5 inch thick - as wide as I can get. The Wood Slicer blade cuts a thinner kerf than most table saw blades and the finish is almost as smooth as what a hollow ground table saw produces. You are also less likely to get unwanted digit amputation with a band saw. A thickness sander is also safer way to get thickness precision. It is probably a toss up between a Byrnes saw and the band saw for cutting the final width of deck planks. For hull planks - if you do them correctly - the final width will come from your table sander - since there is spilling involved. We are not building a house, most everything is curved. Now that you have a band saw, look at this for turning it into a stable jig saw. http://www.carterproducts.com/band-saw-products/band-saw-stabilizer

I think of sanding sealer as being a thick product. Useful on open pore wood like Black Walnut, Oak, and A finish plywood to fill the pores and give a smooth even finish. Intended more for full size furiture. Shellac is an excellent traditional finish. It can be as thick or thin as you wish. It is not good for applications where it can come in contact with water. It hydrates and turns white. It can be easily repaired, but do not use it to finish a coffee table. A shellac finish can be removed with alcohol. The material can be preextracted and purified and comes as Orange (probably straight from the beetle) to Super Blonde - almost water clear. The solvent is alcohol (methyl, ethyl, 2-propanol, probably propanol if you can find it). You can buy it in flakes and make up your own solution as needed. The more purified are the flakes, the lower the maximium concentration you can make. The impurities increase solubilitiy in alcohol. The more volatile is the alcohol (Me>Ethyl>Prop) the less working time if you are using a cloth for application. Dilute shellac is a good first coat for most any other finish. It is very compatible with other finishes. French polish seems to be multiple layers of shellac applied with a cloth that has a bit of Linseed oil in the cloth. I would guess that Tung oil or Walnut oil might work as well.

For me it does scroll cutting better than a scroll saw. No vibration. With 3-4 tpi the finish is rough, so leave it proud and finish to the line with sanding. Now for some out of left field stuff. Sanding: For a fast job of it a disc or belt sander is the more common tool, but neither are good for inside curves and both sand perpendicular to the grain. A sanding drum will sand with the grain, sand at a tangent - better control - and with a small enough drum do most inside curves. There is at least one post here about using a drill press to mount drums overhead. There are spindle sanders, but I don't know if 1) the up/down movement can be turned off. 2) if they will mount different sized drums. I made my own spindle sanding table and can use different diameter drums - 3/4" to 3". I have a 1/4" ply table top with a cutout diameter to match the drum diameter. My drums use normal 8 x 11 sandpaper as stock. I do not see that these drums are still being sold. The motor came from Grainger. The box is 3/4" ply (because I over engineer everything). The motor mounting is an Erector Set sort of rig using steel bracing for 2x4's and such for home construction. Sound dampening using free samples of Armstrong kitchen flooring. The hard part was matching the motor shaft to the drum mounts. My Unimat lathe - using pieces from a cold rolled steel rod - bore for female - turn for male - drill and tap for set screws. If you have access to a full sized wood lathe, a hard wood like Rock Mable can be glued to a central shaft and turned to any desired diameter. The shaft matching your motor shaft so that there is a uniformity in the mount. The turned Maple drum would be true and not be out of round - like some rubber drums that use a squeezing action the hold a sanding sleeve. The sandpaper can be attached using contact cement - cloth backed sanding medium lasts longer. It is a hassle to remove. Naptha will undo Weldbond contact cement, but it still needs scraping off. I have not found an absolute solvent for it.

The common size for benchtop bandsaws seems to be 9 inch. There are many models available. You may not be happy with one smaller than this. Check your big box hardware outlets and on line for this size. With a strong enough motor, you should be able to resaw from 2 inch stock. If you are going to use it to cut out patterns, you can cut tight turns with a 1/8" blade. I was disappointed when the 1/16" blades were discontinued. If scroll cutting is to be your main purpose, you might wish to look at Carter Products -Band Saw Stabilizer® Guide System for Scroll Cutting. If it looks like something you would use, buy a 9 inch bandsaw that will match one of the available stabilizer models. Over here, 59 1/2" is the common blade size for a 9 inch saw. It is probably wise to pick a model that uses a readily availble blade size. Since a bandsaw cuts in a constant downward direction, there is no vibration or chatter of a work piece as with a scroll saw or jigsaw. Some models may be noisy, but most probably are not. The issue is probably moot, since you would not hear it over the noise from the shopvac collecting the wood dust anyway.

If this is one of the versions of a 9 inch bench top bandsaw (59 1/2 inch blade length) there is a very useful addition to help it in cutting tight curves ( 1/8 inch blade ). The Carter products Blade Stablizer is fairly expensive, but is worth the cost. I bought a 9 inch bandsaw from MicroMark when it was on sale - they no longer vend it. The mount did not match any Carter model, but it does use a rod and fortunately, a larger rod, so I could use K&S telescoping brass tubing as bushings for an exact fit. http://www.carterproducts.com/band-saw-products/band-saw-stabilizer/standard-model-2-std2