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Jaager

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  1. Like
    Jaager got a reaction from mtaylor in The versatility of advanced laser cutting techniques...making rigging blocks, an experiment   
    I have been up and around  RioGrande   https://www.riogrande.com  exploring the use of GRS gravers as carving tools and found that they sell a variety of bitts with unique profiles.  Their products seem to be excellent quality and the sizes are in our range. If you have not checked them out, it may be worth a visit. 
  2. Like
    Jaager got a reaction from mtaylor in The versatility of advanced laser cutting techniques...making rigging blocks, an experiment   
    Chuck,
     
    Thinking about your char problem, I have vague recollection from Chemistry that there is one liquid compound that will dissolve elemental carbon.  I did a search to see if I could find out what it was and if it was practical.   No joy on the solvent, but I did read that in some situation acetone would displace a carbon deposit and suspend it.   I wonder if shaking the charred blocks in acetone would make them a shade or two lighter.  Then perhaps expose to Walnut husk dye would give you another color option.
  3. Like
    Jaager got a reaction from Justin P. in The versatility of advanced laser cutting techniques...making rigging blocks, an experiment   
    Chuck,
     
    Thinking about your char problem, I have vague recollection from Chemistry that there is one liquid compound that will dissolve elemental carbon.  I did a search to see if I could find out what it was and if it was practical.   No joy on the solvent, but I did read that in some situation acetone would displace a carbon deposit and suspend it.   I wonder if shaking the charred blocks in acetone would make them a shade or two lighter.  Then perhaps expose to Walnut husk dye would give you another color option.
  4. Like
    Jaager got a reaction from Canute in Rotary tool recommendations, preferences   
    I completely agree and use it for the same jobs that you do.  I noticed that it had been dropped by MM, but found it on the Dremel web site after digging.  I was checking to make sure that it would be useful to recommend it here when the subject came up.  It is a bummer to learn that it has become extinct.
  5. Like
    Jaager got a reaction from EricWilliamMarshall in Rotary tool recommendations, preferences   
    One thing about files:   a lot of deals and advertising for diamond coated.  These are for working metal.  The cutting edges do not fit with wood.
    You want HSS.  You want one of the small number of high quality company products.  If you are doing heavy wood removal, keep any downward force on top of the area being filed.
    Working a file with the file force vectors making it bow will not end well for your pocketbook.
  6. Like
    Jaager got a reaction from Canute in Rotary tool recommendations, preferences   
    One thing about files:   a lot of deals and advertising for diamond coated.  These are for working metal.  The cutting edges do not fit with wood.
    You want HSS.  You want one of the small number of high quality company products.  If you are doing heavy wood removal, keep any downward force on top of the area being filed.
    Working a file with the file force vectors making it bow will not end well for your pocketbook.
  7. Like
    Jaager got a reaction from grsjax in Another Never Ever   
    This is two generations after I started all this and I have no hands on experience  with kits in this series,   ( I did start with the old Model Shipways  kits - yellow box  - carved Basswood hulls.)
    but if you have little or no experience with hardwood woodworking - especially at scale level - (plastic kits as a lead-in probably only helps with painting at scale - and given the kits that you express an interest in - there will be little to no painting with the wood)  -  you might consider a careful and sure footed entry into all this.
     
    https://modelexpo-online.com/Model-Shipways-Lowell-Grand-Banks-Dory-with-Tools-124-Scale-Skill-Level-I-of-the-Shipwright-Learning-Series_p_3959.html
     
    A boat is certainly not as sexy as a first rate  or a cutter even  -  but even cutters had boats -  understanding boats is a valuable skill/knowledge base  and the actual work will give you enough of a taste to know if this is something that you really want to plunge into without investing a house payment.
     
    Reading:   For Beginners -- A Cautionary Tale    would be time well spent.
     
  8. Like
    Jaager got a reaction from Snug Harbor Johnny in Making sheaves for blocks and bitt pins   
    Johnny,
    There is a reason that 95% ethanol (EtOH) is the strongest that can be easily had.
    Ethanol forms a non-covalent but very strong bond with water that saturates at 5% water.  It takes serious energy to remove the last 5% - one method was boiling in benzene.  The ethanol then has to be in a sealed container - like a glass ampule.  With any exposure to air - the water vapor in air is "pulled" into the ethanol until it becomes a 95% solution again.  It essence, it is impractical to try for anything above 95%.
    Denatured means that a chemical is added that makes you vomit if you drink it.   The federal tax on alcohol is close to $30.00 per gal of 95%.  This what "Thunder Road" was all about.  Denature it and there is no tax.
    I have a gallon tin of 99% isopropanol (IsoOH)  -  My idea there was 1- no water  and 2- longer open times.  I am not sure that the difference is enough to matter though.  I wonder if something else was going on with the Everclear? 
     
    Methanol -  if exposed to the same metabolic pathway as ethanol in the body produces formaldehyde and formic acid.  A small amount probably only damages the liver - where it is formed - a larger amount that allows some to get back into the blood stream - brain and optic nerve react poorly to exposure.
  9. Thanks!
    Jaager got a reaction from thibaultron in Stripwood   
    I just remembered = About the veneer.   Saw sliced is as good as any other stock.   But because sawing also involves significant loss to kerf,  the budget version of veneer is blade sliced.  There is no loss the kerf, but the wood comes off like pulling on a roll of Bounty.  This is unnatural for the wood grain and it always "wants" to return to the curled shape.  It will fight with the glue holding it down forever.
  10. Like
    Jaager got a reaction from thibaultron in Stripwood   
    If there is a WoodCraft close to you, they have packages of Hard Maple veneer and Black Cherry veneer.  They are sheets, but a knife and straight edge can turn it into strip wood.
    Maple is close to the color of the species of Pine used urr decking and roofs. 
     
    AYC is soft - but it holds an edge well and the fibers do not roll.  There is no observable grain.
    Pear and Castelo are very hard and also have no observable grain. 
    Any of the five species will work as frame timbers, deck beams, keels  and everything else making up a hull.  Three that you ask about are also excellent for decorative carving.
     
    Working any of them -   the danger is:  it will spoil you and you will not be satisfied with any of the cheap crap supplied with most mass market kits.   It could also seriously infect you with the scratch build bug. 
  11. Like
    Jaager got a reaction from Rik Thistle in Another Never Ever   
    It is your unrealistic expectation about what instructions can help you with and lead you thru that can leave you as one of the majority who attempt this model ship building-  an ash shadow on the field.
    A plastic kit is the assembly of a model - instructions can lead you thru it.
    A wooden ship model is something entirely different.  It is the assembly of many models.  But you must also fabricate each of those models before you.can assemble them.
    It would require that instructions be complete for fabrication as well as assembly.  Tools are needed for the fabrication.  Each tool has its own level of required knowledge and practice for you to get it to do the job that you wish. 
    A ship in any culture at any time involves everything that that culture can produce at its most sophisticated level.  Thru the 17th and much of the 18th it also involved its level in the visual arts.
    Every part of a ship is unique in shape.  Essentially everything is curved.  Each curve is different.  The primary material is wood.  It too involves a much deeper level of experience with it than any synthetic product.
    Good plans and instructions should show you WHAT you have to fabricate.  It is almost impossible to tell or show you HOW.   It just involves too much.  It means that if you have to ask,  then you do not already have the skills - developed from prior experience - to just jump in the deep end. 
     
    It is certainly possible to start with a monster like Victory and see it thru to finish.  But the learning part makes it go slowly and the rewards and positive feedback is so slow in coming that few have the patience to do it.
  12. Like
    Jaager got a reaction from Rik Thistle in Another Never Ever   
    This is two generations after I started all this and I have no hands on experience  with kits in this series,   ( I did start with the old Model Shipways  kits - yellow box  - carved Basswood hulls.)
    but if you have little or no experience with hardwood woodworking - especially at scale level - (plastic kits as a lead-in probably only helps with painting at scale - and given the kits that you express an interest in - there will be little to no painting with the wood)  -  you might consider a careful and sure footed entry into all this.
     
    https://modelexpo-online.com/Model-Shipways-Lowell-Grand-Banks-Dory-with-Tools-124-Scale-Skill-Level-I-of-the-Shipwright-Learning-Series_p_3959.html
     
    A boat is certainly not as sexy as a first rate  or a cutter even  -  but even cutters had boats -  understanding boats is a valuable skill/knowledge base  and the actual work will give you enough of a taste to know if this is something that you really want to plunge into without investing a house payment.
     
    Reading:   For Beginners -- A Cautionary Tale    would be time well spent.
     
  13. Like
    Jaager got a reaction from mtaylor in Making sheaves for blocks and bitt pins   
    Johnny,
    There is a reason that 95% ethanol (EtOH) is the strongest that can be easily had.
    Ethanol forms a non-covalent but very strong bond with water that saturates at 5% water.  It takes serious energy to remove the last 5% - one method was boiling in benzene.  The ethanol then has to be in a sealed container - like a glass ampule.  With any exposure to air - the water vapor in air is "pulled" into the ethanol until it becomes a 95% solution again.  It essence, it is impractical to try for anything above 95%.
    Denatured means that a chemical is added that makes you vomit if you drink it.   The federal tax on alcohol is close to $30.00 per gal of 95%.  This what "Thunder Road" was all about.  Denature it and there is no tax.
    I have a gallon tin of 99% isopropanol (IsoOH)  -  My idea there was 1- no water  and 2- longer open times.  I am not sure that the difference is enough to matter though.  I wonder if something else was going on with the Everclear? 
     
    Methanol -  if exposed to the same metabolic pathway as ethanol in the body produces formaldehyde and formic acid.  A small amount probably only damages the liver - where it is formed - a larger amount that allows some to get back into the blood stream - brain and optic nerve react poorly to exposure.
  14. Like
    Jaager got a reaction from mtaylor in Stripwood   
    I just remembered = About the veneer.   Saw sliced is as good as any other stock.   But because sawing also involves significant loss to kerf,  the budget version of veneer is blade sliced.  There is no loss the kerf, but the wood comes off like pulling on a roll of Bounty.  This is unnatural for the wood grain and it always "wants" to return to the curled shape.  It will fight with the glue holding it down forever.
  15. Like
    Jaager got a reaction from Ryland Craze in Another Never Ever   
    It is your unrealistic expectation about what instructions can help you with and lead you thru that can leave you as one of the majority who attempt this model ship building-  an ash shadow on the field.
    A plastic kit is the assembly of a model - instructions can lead you thru it.
    A wooden ship model is something entirely different.  It is the assembly of many models.  But you must also fabricate each of those models before you.can assemble them.
    It would require that instructions be complete for fabrication as well as assembly.  Tools are needed for the fabrication.  Each tool has its own level of required knowledge and practice for you to get it to do the job that you wish. 
    A ship in any culture at any time involves everything that that culture can produce at its most sophisticated level.  Thru the 17th and much of the 18th it also involved its level in the visual arts.
    Every part of a ship is unique in shape.  Essentially everything is curved.  Each curve is different.  The primary material is wood.  It too involves a much deeper level of experience with it than any synthetic product.
    Good plans and instructions should show you WHAT you have to fabricate.  It is almost impossible to tell or show you HOW.   It just involves too much.  It means that if you have to ask,  then you do not already have the skills - developed from prior experience - to just jump in the deep end. 
     
    It is certainly possible to start with a monster like Victory and see it thru to finish.  But the learning part makes it go slowly and the rewards and positive feedback is so slow in coming that few have the patience to do it.
  16. Like
    Jaager got a reaction from Ryland Craze in Another Never Ever   
    This is two generations after I started all this and I have no hands on experience  with kits in this series,   ( I did start with the old Model Shipways  kits - yellow box  - carved Basswood hulls.)
    but if you have little or no experience with hardwood woodworking - especially at scale level - (plastic kits as a lead-in probably only helps with painting at scale - and given the kits that you express an interest in - there will be little to no painting with the wood)  -  you might consider a careful and sure footed entry into all this.
     
    https://modelexpo-online.com/Model-Shipways-Lowell-Grand-Banks-Dory-with-Tools-124-Scale-Skill-Level-I-of-the-Shipwright-Learning-Series_p_3959.html
     
    A boat is certainly not as sexy as a first rate  or a cutter even  -  but even cutters had boats -  understanding boats is a valuable skill/knowledge base  and the actual work will give you enough of a taste to know if this is something that you really want to plunge into without investing a house payment.
     
    Reading:   For Beginners -- A Cautionary Tale    would be time well spent.
     
  17. Like
    Jaager got a reaction from mtaylor in Stripwood   
    If there is a WoodCraft close to you, they have packages of Hard Maple veneer and Black Cherry veneer.  They are sheets, but a knife and straight edge can turn it into strip wood.
    Maple is close to the color of the species of Pine used urr decking and roofs. 
     
    AYC is soft - but it holds an edge well and the fibers do not roll.  There is no observable grain.
    Pear and Castelo are very hard and also have no observable grain. 
    Any of the five species will work as frame timbers, deck beams, keels  and everything else making up a hull.  Three that you ask about are also excellent for decorative carving.
     
    Working any of them -   the danger is:  it will spoil you and you will not be satisfied with any of the cheap crap supplied with most mass market kits.   It could also seriously infect you with the scratch build bug. 
  18. Like
    Jaager got a reaction from Bob Cleek in Making sheaves for blocks and bitt pins   
    Lee Valley has dry shellac flakes.   It is packaged in two weights   1/4 lb  for  $8.50  and 1 lb for $27.00      Three colors  light amber - which super blonde or clear ( or about as clear as shellac gets
    Amber  which is regular (I think)   and dark amber which I thick is ruby.
    I have light and dark.    The solubility of shellac in EtOH is inversely proportional to the wax content.  That is, the darker it is the more soluble it is.
    I make up a 10% solution =  10 grams in 100 ml of EtOH.   that is close to 1 lb cut and for light is close to saturation.
    Dry flakes do not store for 10 years.  The new went into solution quickly,   Some old Tiger Super Blonde flakes that I have had for about 10 years only partially dissolved.  Take home lesson:  if the flakes do not quickly dissolve, buy a new batch.  Buying the larger and lower cost per weight quantities is false economy.
    For our uses the 1/4 lb is enough for the small surface area that we produce.
     
    All of the negative factors for shellac as a final finish relate to full size furniture.  We are not going to set a wet glass with condensation on a model.  We are not going to abrade it in daily use.
     
    My HMS Centurion is framed using Hard  Maple.  The Maple is a bit lighter than I wish. -  It is my intent to prime it with 5% super blonde  and then use as many coats of Dark as it need to get it looking like the NMM models done using Boxwood.
    A rag with EtOH is a quick reverse gear if I go too far.
  19. Like
    Jaager got a reaction from Canute in Another Never Ever   
    It is your unrealistic expectation about what instructions can help you with and lead you thru that can leave you as one of the majority who attempt this model ship building-  an ash shadow on the field.
    A plastic kit is the assembly of a model - instructions can lead you thru it.
    A wooden ship model is something entirely different.  It is the assembly of many models.  But you must also fabricate each of those models before you.can assemble them.
    It would require that instructions be complete for fabrication as well as assembly.  Tools are needed for the fabrication.  Each tool has its own level of required knowledge and practice for you to get it to do the job that you wish. 
    A ship in any culture at any time involves everything that that culture can produce at its most sophisticated level.  Thru the 17th and much of the 18th it also involved its level in the visual arts.
    Every part of a ship is unique in shape.  Essentially everything is curved.  Each curve is different.  The primary material is wood.  It too involves a much deeper level of experience with it than any synthetic product.
    Good plans and instructions should show you WHAT you have to fabricate.  It is almost impossible to tell or show you HOW.   It just involves too much.  It means that if you have to ask,  then you do not already have the skills - developed from prior experience - to just jump in the deep end. 
     
    It is certainly possible to start with a monster like Victory and see it thru to finish.  But the learning part makes it go slowly and the rewards and positive feedback is so slow in coming that few have the patience to do it.
  20. Like
    Jaager got a reaction from Canute in Another Never Ever   
    This is two generations after I started all this and I have no hands on experience  with kits in this series,   ( I did start with the old Model Shipways  kits - yellow box  - carved Basswood hulls.)
    but if you have little or no experience with hardwood woodworking - especially at scale level - (plastic kits as a lead-in probably only helps with painting at scale - and given the kits that you express an interest in - there will be little to no painting with the wood)  -  you might consider a careful and sure footed entry into all this.
     
    https://modelexpo-online.com/Model-Shipways-Lowell-Grand-Banks-Dory-with-Tools-124-Scale-Skill-Level-I-of-the-Shipwright-Learning-Series_p_3959.html
     
    A boat is certainly not as sexy as a first rate  or a cutter even  -  but even cutters had boats -  understanding boats is a valuable skill/knowledge base  and the actual work will give you enough of a taste to know if this is something that you really want to plunge into without investing a house payment.
     
    Reading:   For Beginners -- A Cautionary Tale    would be time well spent.
     
  21. Like
    Jaager got a reaction from mtaylor in Making sheaves for blocks and bitt pins   
    Lee Valley has dry shellac flakes.   It is packaged in two weights   1/4 lb  for  $8.50  and 1 lb for $27.00      Three colors  light amber - which super blonde or clear ( or about as clear as shellac gets
    Amber  which is regular (I think)   and dark amber which I thick is ruby.
    I have light and dark.    The solubility of shellac in EtOH is inversely proportional to the wax content.  That is, the darker it is the more soluble it is.
    I make up a 10% solution =  10 grams in 100 ml of EtOH.   that is close to 1 lb cut and for light is close to saturation.
    Dry flakes do not store for 10 years.  The new went into solution quickly,   Some old Tiger Super Blonde flakes that I have had for about 10 years only partially dissolved.  Take home lesson:  if the flakes do not quickly dissolve, buy a new batch.  Buying the larger and lower cost per weight quantities is false economy.
    For our uses the 1/4 lb is enough for the small surface area that we produce.
     
    All of the negative factors for shellac as a final finish relate to full size furniture.  We are not going to set a wet glass with condensation on a model.  We are not going to abrade it in daily use.
     
    My HMS Centurion is framed using Hard  Maple.  The Maple is a bit lighter than I wish. -  It is my intent to prime it with 5% super blonde  and then use as many coats of Dark as it need to get it looking like the NMM models done using Boxwood.
    A rag with EtOH is a quick reverse gear if I go too far.
  22. Like
    Jaager reacted to Bob Cleek in Making sheaves for blocks and bitt pins   
    The amber colored shellac is called "orange" shellac. It's the same thing, just unbleached. (You can get orange dewaxed shellac, also. For ship modeling purposes, in fact, for most purposes, it doesn't matter if shellac is "waxed" or "dewaxed." Clear shellac has much less wax in it than darker colored shellac. The only issue with the natural wax in shellac is that it can sometimes cause problems with oil-based over-coatings such as gloss varathanes.) The "orange" shellac builds up to a very deep dark brown and is useful for classic furniture finishing. The "white" (clear) shellac is colorless. I buy Zinsser pre-mixed in the can. You can buy dry shellac flakes and mix them in your own denatured alcohol, but that's an extra step. If you want thicker shellac, just pour a little into an open container and let the alcohol evaporate until it's the consistency you want. Thick ("gooey") shellac is a good adhesive for some purposes. 
     
    Shellac replaces a lot of adhesives in ship modeling. It's particularly useful in "gluing" rigging knots. (Nothing's more frustrating that tying off a line and cutting the tail, only to have the line come loose from a belaying pin, or whatever.) A drop of shellac on the knot will set it forever, but if you need to untie it sometime later, just a drop of alcohol will melt the shellac and easy untying or repositioning. Let the shellac dry before cutting off the end. It's similarly useful for preventing thread ends from fraying and, by applying shellac to a length of line, it can be formed to a catenary while drying and will stay that way when fully dried. Shellac is perfect for fixing hanks of line and gun tackle coils so they appear to hang naturally and don't move. It's also good for "hardening" soft woods like basswood. Lay on a generous coat of thinned shellac and let it soak into the wood. When dry, you can sand the surface easily without raising "fuzz." I'd put shellac right up there with sliced bread as one of the world's great inventions.
  23. Like
    Jaager reacted to Bob Cleek in Joggle sticks, determining curves on model ships.   
    An alternative to joggle sticks ("pick up sticks") which is often helpful in tight spaces is to bend a strip of lead or annealed copper or brass against the shape to be picked up. The "dead soft" metal strip will hold the shape when bent and, when turned on its side, will serve a template against which the shape can be drawn with a pencil. 
  24. Like
    Jaager got a reaction from Canute in Workshop Vacuum cleaners   
    For years, I used a Sears 16 gal wet/dry shopvac that was so loud that hearing protection was needed to avoid hours of ringing ears.
    Going for the quiet, I bought a Festool Midi - a now discontinued model.  One that for some reason did not want a cyclone trap in-line.
    It was less noisy and pulled enough air volume, but it has one characteristic that makes it useless to me and a wasted $600.  It stops after a few minutes.  I need an hour or more, not 10 minutes and me having to cycles the on-off.  
    I bought a 14gal Rigid at Home Depot  for $100 that is just as quiet, and stays on.  It is for my garage.  In my model room, I use an Atrix Canister Revo Red Vacuum . It has a clear trap chamber.  No silent, but not painful either, 
     
  25. Like
    Jaager got a reaction from mtaylor in Making sheaves for blocks and bitt pins   
    I often use a cotton pad -  lots of spent Tee shirts and worn out sheets are around.  That is how French Polish was done
    My aversion to spray anything is that aerosolized anything can be inhaled.  Bad luck if it is something that is potentially deadly - even 30 years on.
    The best protection is to nit get it airborne to begin with.   Molecules that are naturally a gas at RT  can be a problem, but easy in can be easy out.
    Something that would never be a gas at RT would condense and require external action to remove it.
    An example of the damage being disproportionate to the insult  was a JAMA or NEJM Q&A:  You are on a crowded bus with someone with an active TB infection.
    How many TB bacilli do you have to inhale to become infected?  The answer is = one.
     
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