Jaager

If you must use SS pins,  take a look at Dritz quilters pins - 1 3/4"  28g  which is #72 wire gauge.  They run about 2 cents each.   I use them as locators - outside the part's  final border - For the pins that PVA bonds - it takes me 3 hemostats to get enough grip to twist break the bond - I now pull them as soon as I set my clamps.
 
My thoughts on this:
Pins strong enough not to bend when significant force is applied are like as not too large a gauge for a model 1:48 or smaller.
For planking, I  :
drill first.
use brass lills in case the pin will not let go, 
use a hitch chuck on the pin to hold the plank down,
use the holes for bamboo trunnels after,  
A hitch chuck is a small piece of scrap wood to increase the surface area for the downward force. I have them be as thick as the size of my hemostat jaws. PVA can bond the pin to the wood.  Splitting out the wood leaves room grip the lill with a curved Kelly clamp and prize it out.
A nipped and filed brass or copper wire works with bamboo trunnels.  There are French museum models with extensive brass trunneling of hull planking.  #72 g is 1.5" at 1:60 scale.
I am thinking about using copper wire as trunnels after I pull the lills.  Using a draw plate, I can pull a piece of 12g Romex down to a really long #72- #75 wire,  The question = will it be stiff enough to push?  I think that pulling the wire will case harden it. 
 
I use a lot of 4" ratcheting bar clamps.  The only brand that work for me is the Harbor Freight Pittsburgh with the large grey nut.  The small grey nut variety do not hold, every body's orange or red varieties - the hold part is weak plastic and the triggers break.  Irwin clamps can apply only a very weak force.  If on sale, the HF clamps can be had for $1 - regularly $2. 

An Outline of Ship Building , Theodore D. Wilson ,  1873
STEPS OF THE MAST ----  Steps of the mast are for stepping the heels o the masts in. At the present time, the fore and main masts, are stepped in cast iron mast steps,made to fit down over the main keelson, with a broad flange on the sister keelsons, to which they are secured. The Mizzen mast steps in a piece of live oak timber scored down over the berth or orlop-deck beams to which it is secured.
.......The foremast in the above-named, and nearly all vessels built up to that time, stepped in wooden steps, built up on the main ans sister keelsons.
 
A simple piece of timber just on the keelson does not seem adequate.
For the coal cargo.  The top of the knees could have been roofed over with relatively thin planking to keep the coal out.
It would not have required a major overhaul to alter the mast steps over the life of a ship. 

I am pretty sure that it is the topsail schooner Eagle.
MS  solid carved hull.
 
I have the plans I think - PM me  if you can use 8x14 sectional scans
I prefer PNG if you can open them, but Painter will save as JPEG as well.
 
 
 

Dave and I are totally in sync on rubber cement - just be careful of the paper - the 5X, 7X, 10X  type
while they hold up well, they have a gummy backing that is incompatible with the cement.
You want a raw paper back.  That paper works well for my sleeveless drums and sanding blocks with
mechanical hold.

I am surprised that Underhill was as precise in his mast step mortise - going so far as to cut it at the mast slope angle.
Not much room for adjustment there.  I like the old technique of fixing a cut off nail tip into the bottom of the mast
so that minor adjustments can be made and the mast not move.  I would think that the actual mortise f&a would be over size
and wedges used to hold the tenon.  That would allow the captain to alter the mast rake as conditions change.

Stringybark seems to be applied to a bunch of  Eucalyptus species. 
If what you have is Messmate - it is not gonna look good on a model.
Dye it blue or blue-green and It would make a baseboard for a model that
looks like a series of waves in chain.  I would go for that.
 
I don't see any of the other possible species in the database.  I would billet a
sample and plane it just to see if makes the grade.  It would be a shame to
make a bonfire of something useful. 
 
If you have the time and resources, an examination and test could be made of
your domestic hardwood species that are available commercially, and could be used
for ship models.  It might could be a help to make a virtue of your isolation and promote what you have available
there.  My target is tight grain, no visible surface pores,  low contrast between the Spring and Summer wood.
Fairly hard to very hard is good, crisp edges a must.

I am surprised that Underhill was as precise in his mast step mortise - going so far as to cut it at the mast slope angle.
Not much room for adjustment there.  I like the old technique of fixing a cut off nail tip into the bottom of the mast
so that minor adjustments can be made and the mast not move.  I would think that the actual mortise f&a would be over size
and wedges used to hold the tenon.  That would allow the captain to alter the mast rake as conditions change.

It is the size - which I guess is a function of age - I would want at least 3" diameter and 2' long -
6 inches long will do since at 1:48 that is 24 feet.  40 feet is as long as I have seen for planking in published
lit. So, if that is your scale 10 inch stock will work. 
From the picture  Spotted Gum looks very promising.  Ironbark- grey looks worth trying too - can't tell if the surface has pores not not.
From the description, my #1 lesion below goes triple.  More HP is better, both sound hard.
 
Check local farms or a tree service if you have one near by for logs.  You want fresh cut.
If you have room and intend to do carving - try growing Washington Hawthorn  - or any Hawthorn.  You can also grow Boxwood (real Buxus semiverins) and prune it for vertical growth. If there are tree-like varieties, use them .  Your great grandchildren will thank you if any are ship modelers.
If you grow Apple, do not bother with dwarf or semi dwarf stock.  It will take longer to get fruit, but you will get lumber.  The Pear you want does not produce fruit, but is what they graft the fruit varieties too.  I think the Europeans consider this species a weed - Pyrus communis - but it is the lumber source.  The ornamental Pear - like Bradford -  grows fast - has really good wood - try a lot of this.  Around here, after a hurricane, it can be found literally laying in the street. 
Also, grow some Sugar Maple if you can.  I am cutting some now that is close enough to Boxwood not to matter for hull parts.
 
I like being self sufficient as much as possible, so for being my own saw mill - right now - the lesions that I think that I have learned:
 
1- a bandsaw powerful enough to do serious resawing. - low end units will fight you.
2- logs need to be fixed to a carrier board to keep them from moving - particle board screws and metal braces work. 2 perpendicular faces and the table and fence can be used directly.
3- a carbide blade is ultimately the less expensive - even if the initial cost is a shock.
4 - Coat the cut ends of green wood as soon as possible with latex paint, varnish, or hot paraffin wax
5-  2 inch billets will take 2 years to season, but if you do larger scales you will want this thickness
6-  Always sticker the drying billets - they need good air circulation to dry.
7-  fungus will want to eat green fruit wood.  A box of 1-2 inch Styrofoam insulating sheets - with enough incandescent light bulbs to get the inside temp above what a fungus will survive can save the wood and maybe speed the drying.  A computer muffin fan is enough to pull the water vapor from the box.
A kiln is better and faster, but I am not near a real sawmill.
8- a low quality thickness sander is not going to work well.  One that uses sheet or roll sanding media instead of sleeves has lower material cost and has a better choice the sanding grit.
9- chainsaws are faster than bow saws - just more dangerous and expensive.

Looking at the Wood - Database, there are several domestic OZ species that sound useful.
There is also wood from any local fruit trees like Apple, Pear Plum, Crab Apple, Orange, Peach,...
But you need access to a good bandsaw and sanding thickness planer.

Small steps - sub assembles as the focus-  keeps from becoming overwhelmed my the complexity.
 
Stain is a semi transparent paint - it fills pores.  Aniline wood dyes do not fill pores and enhance the grain.

I intend to try using 100% rag bond paper - the dissertation stuff - with the Modern Masters copper products.
It has a primer - acid block and surface smoother (I hope) , a real copper coat  ,  and a patina  producer ,
antique copper , and copper penny.
I was thinking of turning the paper into copper while still a sheet and using a Guillotine Trimmer to cut it into scale pieces.
 
If I can ever get a hull that far along.

Small steps - sub assembles as the focus-  keeps from becoming overwhelmed my the complexity.
 
Stain is a semi transparent paint - it fills pores.  Aniline wood dyes do not fill pores and enhance the grain.

Small steps - sub assembles as the focus-  keeps from becoming overwhelmed my the complexity.
 
Stain is a semi transparent paint - it fills pores.  Aniline wood dyes do not fill pores and enhance the grain.

Small steps - sub assembles as the focus-  keeps from becoming overwhelmed my the complexity.
 
Stain is a semi transparent paint - it fills pores.  Aniline wood dyes do not fill pores and enhance the grain.

I intend to try using 100% rag bond paper - the dissertation stuff - with the Modern Masters copper products.
It has a primer - acid block and surface smoother (I hope) , a real copper coat  ,  and a patina  producer ,
antique copper , and copper penny.
I was thinking of turning the paper into copper while still a sheet and using a Guillotine Trimmer to cut it into scale pieces.
 
If I can ever get a hull that far along.

I intend to try using 100% rag bond paper - the dissertation stuff - with the Modern Masters copper products.
It has a primer - acid block and surface smoother (I hope) , a real copper coat  ,  and a patina  producer ,
antique copper , and copper penny.
I was thinking of turning the paper into copper while still a sheet and using a Guillotine Trimmer to cut it into scale pieces.
 
If I can ever get a hull that far along.

Toni and Chris - I agree  with both.  I have found that a hand plane is a tool looking for a job.  I view it as an advanced wood workers tool that wants skill and finesse.  Start with the kit.  Lay out your first job.  Figure out what tool you need -  see how others did that job - buy that tool.  Go step by step,  job first, then get the tool.  When it comes to drilling your first hole  - a pin vise is not expensive - for a Dremel Moto tool -  when or if you get to a gotta have one mind set - my go to for a while is the model 8050.  Search for a deal,  Big accessory kits are generally a waste of money,  but you will need a collet set.  But for the long delivery time  and what the new tariffs will do  AliExpress has been a low cost source for interesting stuff.
If you turn into another tool junkie - the Fates help your CFO.  But for now, husband your tool budget - that is my suggestion.  Find out naturally if this endeavor becomes an obsession or is not for you and you have bought a lot of stuff that you will never use.  I know that it is hard to keep tight reigns on enthusiasm, but these fields are probably littered with those who did not and wished they had.

As an armchair experiment:
use double sided tape or rubber cement to fix the metal sheet
to a 1/8- 1/4" piece of pine and run that thru the saw.
A blind cut on a thicker piece of wood would be even safer.
Disadvantage = more than one cut would require removal and
reattachment of the metal to the carrier.. 
advantage = the blade would not cut any wood on a second pass.
or the notch could be there from the beginning.

Toni and Chris - I agree  with both.  I have found that a hand plane is a tool looking for a job.  I view it as an advanced wood workers tool that wants skill and finesse.  Start with the kit.  Lay out your first job.  Figure out what tool you need -  see how others did that job - buy that tool.  Go step by step,  job first, then get the tool.  When it comes to drilling your first hole  - a pin vise is not expensive - for a Dremel Moto tool -  when or if you get to a gotta have one mind set - my go to for a while is the model 8050.  Search for a deal,  Big accessory kits are generally a waste of money,  but you will need a collet set.  But for the long delivery time  and what the new tariffs will do  AliExpress has been a low cost source for interesting stuff.
If you turn into another tool junkie - the Fates help your CFO.  But for now, husband your tool budget - that is my suggestion.  Find out naturally if this endeavor becomes an obsession or is not for you and you have bought a lot of stuff that you will never use.  I know that it is hard to keep tight reigns on enthusiasm, but these fields are probably littered with those who did not and wished they had.

Toni and Chris - I agree  with both.  I have found that a hand plane is a tool looking for a job.  I view it as an advanced wood workers tool that wants skill and finesse.  Start with the kit.  Lay out your first job.  Figure out what tool you need -  see how others did that job - buy that tool.  Go step by step,  job first, then get the tool.  When it comes to drilling your first hole  - a pin vise is not expensive - for a Dremel Moto tool -  when or if you get to a gotta have one mind set - my go to for a while is the model 8050.  Search for a deal,  Big accessory kits are generally a waste of money,  but you will need a collet set.  But for the long delivery time  and what the new tariffs will do  AliExpress has been a low cost source for interesting stuff.
If you turn into another tool junkie - the Fates help your CFO.  But for now, husband your tool budget - that is my suggestion.  Find out naturally if this endeavor becomes an obsession or is not for you and you have bought a lot of stuff that you will never use.  I know that it is hard to keep tight reigns on enthusiasm, but these fields are probably littered with those who did not and wished they had.

One more point:  a table saw is - any size -  not an optimal choice of tool for ripping stock when simulating what a mill does to produce lumber.  The tool for this is a bandsaw, but it needs to be big enough and powerful enough to handle the job.  With its limited throat depth,  a bandsaw gets beat by a table saw for most cross cutting.  For turning a log into planks, or planks into model size thickness stock, there is no contest in efficiency, ease or safety between  a bandsaw and a table saw.   With table saws  I started with a 6.5 inch  Sears and have a 10 inch Ryobi  as well as a Jarmac 4" and a Dremel 4" ( both essentially junk ) and also a Byrnes table saw which is a superb quality machine and can't be beat for doing which it is meant to do.  
The Byrnes table saw is excellent for the final cut:  model thickness stock into planks of scale width,  or beam thickness, or keel moulded dimension, etc.
For most scales 1:48 or smaller,  these cuts are often thru thin enough stock that the finer toothed blades can do the job,  Deck beams, maybe not so much with a slitting saw.  Anyway,  getting the stock thickness to begin with,   any table saw will likely fight you. . 
A bench top 9" or 10" bandsaw will mostly frustrate you in a ripping function.  For rough scroll cutting, one of these with a 1/8" blade and a Carter Stabilizer will equal a dedicated scroll saw without the chatter.  But the blade is course with significant set - not good for close to the line cutting.  I prefer using a disk sander and sanding drum to finalize a curve shape.

One wants as thin a kerf as can be had, and a smooth a surface.  This points to using a thin slitting blade whose teeth have no set.
The problem comes from the physics of this process.  The blade is removing wood.  If the gullet of each tooth fills with wood when at the top of the stock being cut it cannot remove any more wood.  What is left is friction and heat.  I do not remember the exact number, but it is something like 4-6 teeth in contact with the stock at any one time.  Too many fine teeth,  gullet fill and motor strain and heat and binding.  Too few teeth and there is chatter or some stability problem.  The blade TPI needs to be matched to the stock thickness.  There is a tech PDF here that covers blade choice.
Fence and miter gauge together puts force on the stock from two competing directions.  Twist and torque produces side pressure on the blade.  I foresee a kickback problem that is worse than normal, as well as a binding problem wanting to stop the blade.
A sliding table is the solution to whatever problem is wanting you to use the two together.
Jim's new AL table is the RR choice,  but a thin synthetic floor with pieces riding in the two channels and a fence at both the front and back edge of the floor that is higher than the blade can rise made from scrap will do the job. An addition at the bottom fence to cover the blade as it comes thru is a very, very good idea.

One more point:  a table saw is - any size -  not an optimal choice of tool for ripping stock when simulating what a mill does to produce lumber.  The tool for this is a bandsaw, but it needs to be big enough and powerful enough to handle the job.  With its limited throat depth,  a bandsaw gets beat by a table saw for most cross cutting.  For turning a log into planks, or planks into model size thickness stock, there is no contest in efficiency, ease or safety between  a bandsaw and a table saw.   With table saws  I started with a 6.5 inch  Sears and have a 10 inch Ryobi  as well as a Jarmac 4" and a Dremel 4" ( both essentially junk ) and also a Byrnes table saw which is a superb quality machine and can't be beat for doing which it is meant to do.  
The Byrnes table saw is excellent for the final cut:  model thickness stock into planks of scale width,  or beam thickness, or keel moulded dimension, etc.
For most scales 1:48 or smaller,  these cuts are often thru thin enough stock that the finer toothed blades can do the job,  Deck beams, maybe not so much with a slitting saw.  Anyway,  getting the stock thickness to begin with,   any table saw will likely fight you. . 
A bench top 9" or 10" bandsaw will mostly frustrate you in a ripping function.  For rough scroll cutting, one of these with a 1/8" blade and a Carter Stabilizer will equal a dedicated scroll saw without the chatter.  But the blade is course with significant set - not good for close to the line cutting.  I prefer using a disk sander and sanding drum to finalize a curve shape.

Trees grow out in concentric rings.  The tubes have to be open and continuous from root to growing tip to be able to transport water and salts up and sugar down.  Only an narrow band just under the bark can produce new tubes.  I am thinking that differences in thickness would be due to either the thickness of the wall of the tube or how much polymer fill is between the tubes.  For the to be differences in sapwood and heartwood there has to be
living cells throughout. They can fill in between the tubes, They just cannot add new tubes.  For a lot of the wood we use, the difference in diameter in the
section we have cut out is not that much.  And where it is significantly tapered, planks cut parallel to the pith,  "with the grain" would be toward the roots, no?

I have not looked this up, to verify, however:
up or down as a factor =  the length of the section that we work is a small percentage the whole and is not likely to matter.
Wood is essentially a bundle of tubes.  we are rarely able to work it with the plane of our surface being exactly parallel to the direction of the tubes and be bisecting an individual tube.
I am thinking that with the grain means that the direction that we are cutting hits the wall of the tube such that it is angled up in the direction of our cut.
The force of the cut wants the push the tube down.
Against the grain means that we would be hitting the open end of a tube before we hit its body an the force of the cut  would tend to peal a tube up and away from its neighbors.