Richard Griffith

A very good question, and all very good responses.  To 'sumarize' and to add my comments:
 
You are the artist, you decide the level of detail, the paint, the overall effect.
 
You decide if you are having fun.  When you make the ship for yourself - family - friends, then the process of making the ship is very important.  As Henry said, enjoy the ride,
 
You decide if you will enter the ship in a judeged contest.  Now the ride is still important but the level of artistry,attention to detail, scale fidelity, fit and finish, and overall effect went much higher.  It is still your decision.
 
Above all, have fun - enjoy the ride~!                                                Duff

A very good question, and all very good responses.  To 'sumarize' and to add my comments:
 
You are the artist, you decide the level of detail, the paint, the overall effect.
 
You decide if you are having fun.  When you make the ship for yourself - family - friends, then the process of making the ship is very important.  As Henry said, enjoy the ride,
 
You decide if you will enter the ship in a judeged contest.  Now the ride is still important but the level of artistry,attention to detail, scale fidelity, fit and finish, and overall effect went much higher.  It is still your decision.
 
Above all, have fun - enjoy the ride~!                                                Duff

A very good question, and all very good responses.  To 'sumarize' and to add my comments:
 
You are the artist, you decide the level of detail, the paint, the overall effect.
 
You decide if you are having fun.  When you make the ship for yourself - family - friends, then the process of making the ship is very important.  As Henry said, enjoy the ride,
 
You decide if you will enter the ship in a judeged contest.  Now the ride is still important but the level of artistry,attention to detail, scale fidelity, fit and finish, and overall effect went much higher.  It is still your decision.
 
Above all, have fun - enjoy the ride~!                                                Duff

A very good question, and all very good responses.  To 'sumarize' and to add my comments:
 
You are the artist, you decide the level of detail, the paint, the overall effect.
 
You decide if you are having fun.  When you make the ship for yourself - family - friends, then the process of making the ship is very important.  As Henry said, enjoy the ride,
 
You decide if you will enter the ship in a judeged contest.  Now the ride is still important but the level of artistry,attention to detail, scale fidelity, fit and finish, and overall effect went much higher.  It is still your decision.
 
Above all, have fun - enjoy the ride~!                                                Duff

A very good question, and all very good responses.  To 'sumarize' and to add my comments:
 
You are the artist, you decide the level of detail, the paint, the overall effect.
 
You decide if you are having fun.  When you make the ship for yourself - family - friends, then the process of making the ship is very important.  As Henry said, enjoy the ride,
 
You decide if you will enter the ship in a judeged contest.  Now the ride is still important but the level of artistry,attention to detail, scale fidelity, fit and finish, and overall effect went much higher.  It is still your decision.
 
Above all, have fun - enjoy the ride~!                                                Duff

A very good question, and all very good responses.  To 'sumarize' and to add my comments:
 
You are the artist, you decide the level of detail, the paint, the overall effect.
 
You decide if you are having fun.  When you make the ship for yourself - family - friends, then the process of making the ship is very important.  As Henry said, enjoy the ride,
 
You decide if you will enter the ship in a judeged contest.  Now the ride is still important but the level of artistry,attention to detail, scale fidelity, fit and finish, and overall effect went much higher.  It is still your decision.
 
Above all, have fun - enjoy the ride~!                                                Duff

A very good question, and all very good responses.  To 'sumarize' and to add my comments:
 
You are the artist, you decide the level of detail, the paint, the overall effect.
 
You decide if you are having fun.  When you make the ship for yourself - family - friends, then the process of making the ship is very important.  As Henry said, enjoy the ride,
 
You decide if you will enter the ship in a judeged contest.  Now the ride is still important but the level of artistry,attention to detail, scale fidelity, fit and finish, and overall effect went much higher.  It is still your decision.
 
Above all, have fun - enjoy the ride~!                                                Duff

Another method I use is to attach the brass to a thin piece of plywood with double sided carpet tape.  I then run this through my small table saw that has a fine toothed blade.  
 
I am suprized that you can not cut it with a knife.  I clamp the brass between a piece of acrylic and a steel straight edge and score the brass.  Go about half way through and it will then break off.  
 
Duff 

I had the same problem with the nylon headed plank screws.  Glue doen't work but heat does.  Use a small torch and when the screw gets wobbly, remove the torch and then be sure the metal screw is alighned with the nylon and let it cool off.  Done,
Duff

Nearly all of the foregoing are great/
 
For me. back in the 1960's, when I was a teenager and had already built the Revel Cutty Sark, Thermopoly and USF Constitution, I stumbled across a book in our local library - 'Ship Model Building' by E. Armitage McCann.  I keep a copy in my library (of 120 maritime books) because he grabbed my attention and moved me into scratch building.
 
Although his work is crude by today's standards, he captured my inspiration and kept me involved in model ship building.
 
So my point is to read widely, and fine what moves you.
 
Duff

When Iam building I have a few tools I would not want to be without. There is the hobbyknife, the steel ruler, a sandingstick and... my handdrill. 

I use is a lot but the problem is you have to change the drillbits every time you need another size. Last month I wrote down the drillsizes I use most and I came up with 5 populair sizes. 

So I ordered 4 more handdrills and I made a good looking socket for them and now I never grab wrong when I need a drill.

Nearly all of the foregoing are great/
 
For me. back in the 1960's, when I was a teenager and had already built the Revel Cutty Sark, Thermopoly and USF Constitution, I stumbled across a book in our local library - 'Ship Model Building' by E. Armitage McCann.  I keep a copy in my library (of 120 maritime books) because he grabbed my attention and moved me into scratch building.
 
Although his work is crude by today's standards, he captured my inspiration and kept me involved in model ship building.
 
So my point is to read widely, and fine what moves you.
 
Duff

Nearly all of the foregoing are great/
 
For me. back in the 1960's, when I was a teenager and had already built the Revel Cutty Sark, Thermopoly and USF Constitution, I stumbled across a book in our local library - 'Ship Model Building' by E. Armitage McCann.  I keep a copy in my library (of 120 maritime books) because he grabbed my attention and moved me into scratch building.
 
Although his work is crude by today's standards, he captured my inspiration and kept me involved in model ship building.
 
So my point is to read widely, and fine what moves you.
 
Duff

Nearly all of the foregoing are great/
 
For me. back in the 1960's, when I was a teenager and had already built the Revel Cutty Sark, Thermopoly and USF Constitution, I stumbled across a book in our local library - 'Ship Model Building' by E. Armitage McCann.  I keep a copy in my library (of 120 maritime books) because he grabbed my attention and moved me into scratch building.
 
Although his work is crude by today's standards, he captured my inspiration and kept me involved in model ship building.
 
So my point is to read widely, and fine what moves you.
 
Duff

I agree with Brian C - The Model Machines Drawplate  is brilliant - one of my favourite non powered toys!! I have used bamboo BBQ skewers to treenail/Trennel/trunnel on my last two builds. I think tree nailing and another dimension to the hobby and, if done well, looks great. I found that the bamboo skewers went through the drawplate well, but had to be sliced longitudinally several times in order to fit into the larger holes. This meant slicing with a hobby knife. I found this to be a pain for two reasons. Firstly getting the hobby knife to slice evenly along the length of the skewer was sometimes difficult. Secondly I tended to cut, stab and splinter myself  with the knife &  bamboo slivers - klutz!!
 
I ended up making a simple jig to halve, quarter and then further divide the skewer if necessary - without blood and swearing!!!(see pics below)
 

 
The Byrnes Drawplate - an engineering masterpiece!!!
 

 
- take 2 identical pieces of pine which are slightly bigger than a razor blade and drill 2 holes through them (clamp together for drilling so holes line up perfectly in both)
 
- insert  bolts which will be fitted with wing nuts for quick adjustment
 
- Fit both pieces of wood together and tighten wing nuts
 
- Drill a hole (about the same size as a bbq skewer) down the centre of the 2 pieces of wood - make sure that half the hole you drill is in each piece of wood. - a bench mounted drill will achieve much more accurate results than a hand held one.
 
- Do the same with a smaller drill bit - for use once you have quartered your skewer.
 

 
- fit your razorblade over the bolts
 

 
- slide the top half of the jig over the bolts and tighten with the wing nuts
 

 
- the jig can be adjusted by tightening or loosening the wing nuts - this will accommodate any slight variation in skewer diameter.
 
- Push then pull the skewer over the razor to produce an even slice.
 
                                 Happy tree nailing!!

Thanks once again Carl, George, Mark, Grant, Janos, Crackers, Christian, Nils, Greg and Mhegazi and also for all the "likes" .
 
Truss Pendant Tackles
 
The Truss Pendants prevent the yards from pulling away from the masts in a forward direction. There is one on each side of the mast.
 
Work begins by stropping a thimble in each one. The line turns around the yard and is seized back to itself :
 

 
Then each line is passed around the mast and through the thimble in it's opposite number. I've only temporarily tied the yard through the jeer blocks to prevent it from dropping - I'm awaiting some more suitable size rigging thread from Chuck :
 

 
The falls for each tackle have a double block at their ends. The tackle passes through this block and through a single block with a hook stropped to it. The strop is long enough to clear the bitts. This hooks into an eyebolt at the foot of the mast. This is the fore tackle :
 

 

 
And the main tackle :
 

 
 Danny

simple
effective
Great~!
thanks
Duff

simple
effective
Great~!
thanks
Duff

I have finally finished and installed the pintles and spectacle plate.  Everything was blackened with Birchwood Casey.  The bolts are 24g brass wire.  There are two straps above and below the mortise for the tiller as well as two straps going over the top of the rudder.  I played around with brass for the vertical straps and decided to use black paper instead.  I could never get the horizontal straps to lie snugly against the vertical brass straps.  In full scale practice, I assume these would be applied hot and would then shrink to shape with cooling.
 

 

Here is what I have found out about this matter.  The change from the sail hanging from the base of the yard to hanging in front of the yard corresponded with the advent of reefing.
 
Prior to the practice of reefing sails (late 1600s) sails were bent to the yards with long robands that passed entirely around the yard. The sail hung from under the yard.  A perforated bending strip was nailed under the center portion of the yard in order to pass robands so that they were clear of all the slings and halyards.   Also linked to this time period was the fact that there were no foot ropes on the yards and the studdingsail booms were lashed abaft the top center of the yard.  Sailors straddled or laid down on the yards to furl the sails.  Sails were also furled under the yard.  An interesting note: topsails were furled around the mast because, the geometry of the sail being much broader at the base, caused a lot of material to be gather up at the center of the yard.
 
Once reefing started to come into vogue foot ropes were added to the yards.  The topsails were the first sails to take reefs.  Also at this time the studdingsail booms move towards the front of the yards to accommodate the sailors using the footropes.
 
Jackstays, initially of rope then metal, started to be used around 1800.  At this point the sail was bent to the jackstays and hung before the yard.  Shorter robands were employed, sometimes they were fixed to the head rope and sometimes they were stapled to the yard.  Also at this time sails were furled on top of the yards making a much neater and more water resistant bundle.
 
By the way, the English adopted reefing prior to the French, so Hermione may in fact be correct.

wq3296 makes an excellent point and I agree with him/her.
 
Wasa was mentioned in a prior post, which got me thinking about her, so I pulled out my copy of "Wasa I: The Archaeology of a Swedish Warship of 1628" to look at the plans for the decks.  BTW, Wasa is 98% complete (except for the rigging).  Her decks are asymetrical, planks are seldom straight, they differ in width and length, the hook scarfs in the waterways differ port to starboard, and there are some 'planks' that are almost square, eg small.  There are steelers, jogs and all manner of sizes.  This tells me that the builders would use what ever wood they could get their hands on and then shape it to the spacing. 
 
One item that does not appear is a plank with a sharp end.  Many are spiled but the ends are never cut to a point.
 
 
Marine archaeology can dispel myths and provide answers, when we can get such artifacts.    Duff  

Here is another idea.  I used a 1/3 hp electric motor, a steel plate for the platten, hinged to 2 pillow blocks which I made for a steam engine-never completed, and added a vacuum support.  The pictures should be self explanatory but should have any questions, fire away.
 
The advantages include:
1. I can sand very small pieces by pushing them through with plywood pushers (see the plywood with square cutouts),
2. by removing the vacuum support, I can sand large frames one side at a time,
3, it uses 1.5" commercial sanding sleeves exactly like Tad shows above, and 
4. it cost me about $10 in materials and a few hours work, mostly turning the steel holder that is clamped to the motor arbor.
 
Duff
 
 

Here is another idea.  I used a 1/3 hp electric motor, a steel plate for the platten, hinged to 2 pillow blocks which I made for a steam engine-never completed, and added a vacuum support.  The pictures should be self explanatory but should have any questions, fire away.
 
The advantages include:
1. I can sand very small pieces by pushing them through with plywood pushers (see the plywood with square cutouts),
2. by removing the vacuum support, I can sand large frames one side at a time,
3, it uses 1.5" commercial sanding sleeves exactly like Tad shows above, and 
4. it cost me about $10 in materials and a few hours work, mostly turning the steel holder that is clamped to the motor arbor.
 
Duff
 
 

Here is another idea.  I used a 1/3 hp electric motor, a steel plate for the platten, hinged to 2 pillow blocks which I made for a steam engine-never completed, and added a vacuum support.  The pictures should be self explanatory but should have any questions, fire away.
 
The advantages include:
1. I can sand very small pieces by pushing them through with plywood pushers (see the plywood with square cutouts),
2. by removing the vacuum support, I can sand large frames one side at a time,
3, it uses 1.5" commercial sanding sleeves exactly like Tad shows above, and 
4. it cost me about $10 in materials and a few hours work, mostly turning the steel holder that is clamped to the motor arbor.
 
Duff
 
 

Here is another idea.  I used a 1/3 hp electric motor, a steel plate for the platten, hinged to 2 pillow blocks which I made for a steam engine-never completed, and added a vacuum support.  The pictures should be self explanatory but should have any questions, fire away.
 
The advantages include:
1. I can sand very small pieces by pushing them through with plywood pushers (see the plywood with square cutouts),
2. by removing the vacuum support, I can sand large frames one side at a time,
3, it uses 1.5" commercial sanding sleeves exactly like Tad shows above, and 
4. it cost me about $10 in materials and a few hours work, mostly turning the steel holder that is clamped to the motor arbor.
 
Duff