Bill Tuttle

Beautiful work as usual, Michael.  You never cease to amaze me.  I agree with Mark, you need to come out of Retirement and start a tool company.

Delta King,

Welcome!  I have been scratch building the Kate Cory for more years now than I would like to admit.  I am presently in the running rigging so keep me in mind, if you have any problems I might be able to help you out.  I assume this is a Model Shipways kit.  The instructions are pretty good and Erik Ronnberg has done a set of plans and booklet that would be very helpful and is extremely detailed but I don't think it is still available unless it shows up used somewhere.  Good Luck and let me know if I can help you.

I also have the Preac Saw as well as the Jim Saw and find it very useful when needing two different width blades for the same project, for instance, sawing wood for block construction and adding the strop slot as well as the sheave slot. Much easier than changing blades frequently.  I have a Saw Stop for the big stuff, wouldn't take anything for any of these saws and I am constantly thankful that I did not part with my Preac.  It seems they very rarely show up on E-Bay.    

I also purchased one of these from Michael and was unsure as to whether I would put it in the shop or just leave this beautiful example of fine machine work on my coffee table in the living room.  Seriously, this is one fine piece of work and very functional.  I also own the GRS soldering station that Pat pictures above as well as the single arm version mentioned.  All of these are very fine tools.  Michael's just has an added touch of class that you don't find in the usual manufactured tools.

I bought mine on E-Bay and like everything on E-Bay sometimes they go at a very reasonable price and other times way out of range.  Once you get them you will not know how you lived without them.  Get a good pair, rack and pinion, I bought a pair from MicroMark years ago but I do not think they are rack and pinion.  In my opinion you would be better off with a good used pair from E-Bay.  

Julie,

Thanks for sharing the video.  I was not aware these are available.  Use Shapton Glass ceramic for most of my sharpening but these really look like they will do the trick.  I also have some old Arkansas stones that I bought years ago that are curved which may do the job.  It appears the configuration of these would handle about any shape.

Julie,

I like these planes but I am a fanatic about sharpening.  Are you real good at sharpening these?  and are there any tricks?

These Knew Concepts saws are pretty expensive but worth every penny. Once your blade is positioned correctly there is very little chance of it getting loose.  Excellent videos on their site for instruction.

The StewMac Router base is a pretty versatile item.  I have a friend of mine that is a guitar maker and does a lot of beautiful inlay work using this.  It is also adaptable to the Foredom, using their handpiece, which is threaded to fit the router guide.  There are a lot of router guides available out there that are superior to these but much more costly.  You just need to determine how much you will use it to justify the cost.

Pawel,

Absolutely beautiful work!!!

Bill

I looked for about an hour in some of my books.  I have a few books on the Chesapeake Bay and their watercraft but could not find anything specific detailing the shrouds.  Robert H. Burgess wrote a really good book entitled Chesapeake Sailing Craft which has a lot of good photos of working Skipjacks.  I used some of these books when I was building mine back in the l970's.  

I did, however, find a reference to the standing rigging on the bugeye another boat tied to the Chespeake Bay and very much like the Skipjack in M. V. Brewington's Chesapeake Bay Log Canoes and Bugeyes.  This states that the bugeyes were originally rigged throughout with hemp but steel wire replaced this very quickly.  I have a feeling the Skipjacks were probably steel wire from the beginning.  Hope this helps.  I have other sources but they are at my other home.  This is the best I can do tonight.

Bill 

Ray,

You will be fine to start out with the Dremel 200.  But to follow up Jaager's comment you will need a speed control to vary the speed.  You will understand this after beginning to use it.  You can pick these up on E-Bay used.  When i bought my first model about 40 years ago I had no real sources for information other than some very elementary books and wondered why I had so much trouble with the Dremel.  Later I learned it was because I could not adjust the speed to match the job. You will find this speed control useful for other tools when you add another variable speed Dremel or Foredom to your tool collection.  You are on the right track, let the need drive the tool purchase at first.  I keep some of the useless junk I purchased in my early years around just to remind me to be careful about my future purchases.  

I built the H A Parks from plans, I think in the Smithsonian collection, and they were looped over the mast in the same fashion.  I photographed many of these still working skipjacks all over the Eastern Shore.  Ben Lankford did a nice job on this instruction booklet.  Let me know if I can provide any further help.

Good point, Mike.  The Dumont tweezers are some of the best of the Swiss made tweezers.  If they do talk a fall to the floor they can usually be repaired with a few strokes on an Arkansas sharpening stone.

The Bonsai source is a great idea, will check that out.  I have always found that it really pays to buy the high end Swiss made tweezers.  Rather have one pair of these than six pair of the poorly made ones.  I find myself always looking for the Name brand Swiss ones.

I own all of these planes and I am amazed at how much I use them, not only for model work but for fine detail on cabinets and furniture construction.  I am spoiled by the use of the Veritas sharpening jig.  Has anyone found a simple way to get the right angle when sharpening these other that a simple block of wedged shaped wood to use as a guide.  I am obsessive about sharp plane blades and use the Shapton Ceramic stones for all of my sharpening needs.

Nice work, I have considered building this model in the past and will continue to follow your progress closely.  I have had these plans for years.  Good luck!

Absolutely beautiful work and documented with excellent photography.  I own these plans and will follow you through this entire build.

Great idea and beautiful execution.

Les,

We have all made these mistakes and now fortunately we have a group to run it past before making these mistakes.  I still have some crap I bought that I leave on my shelf to remind me of these errors. Don't think twice about it, just don't be afraid to ask in the future.    

Julie,

Just read this build all the way through.  Great job with a multitude of distractions in the middle of it, moving. a few guitars etc.  I admire your tenacity and look forward to your progress.  I have been working on the same model since the early 80's and have suffered through multiple distractions, building a new workbench, building furniture, new cabinet building for my shop etc.  I am ashamed of myself for not bearing down on the Kate Cory project and letting it go so long.  I am in the running rigging now and realizing if I don't get to work I will not even get this one finished before I expire let alone the scratch built POF I have always been determined to build.  Good luck on this and I look forward to your progress.

Jay,

Thanks, that is exactly what I was planning to do but was not creative enough to think about using a router bearing.  Thanks for the help and that idea.  That simplifies everything.  

I am in the midst of trying to build some of those flexible clamps that Ed Tosti recommended in his book.  Have you had any experience with those?  I will have to order the LH thread tap and dies and then I am ready to go.

Richard,

Thanks for the quick reply and help.  This is not the exact post I was referring to but is the same concept.  It is very helpful.

Group,

I am ashamed to post this question but I was reviewing some of the MSW posts today and came across a post revealing some beautiful handmade wooden clamps used for holding the frames together.  I failed to save this and have been looking for the post as well as the individual who made these.  They used thumb nuts and 8-32 brass machine screws, I think, as well as boxwood for the body of the clamp. I have some very small versions of these clamps with brass rods tapped to receive the adjustment screw which were sold years ago.  

Can someone help me with this.  I would also like to know if they tapped the boxwood portion or added something within the wood.  It was not clear in the photo to me.

Thanks

Kurt,

Great article, need to review my Shop Notes volumes again.  Thanks for posting.