Bill Tuttle

Derek,
 
Take a look at the Articles Database section of this forum, under Materials and Tools.  Phil Krol's Ropewalk is listed here.  Very well written with a great deal of details.  I built one of these years ago and it works beautifully.  I used an old belt driven dental motor for power.  These can be found on E-Bay at a reasonable price and most of them have the option to reverse the motor.  If this interests you and I can be of any further help let me know.  

Derek,
 
Take a look at the Articles Database section of this forum, under Materials and Tools.  Phil Krol's Ropewalk is listed here.  Very well written with a great deal of details.  I built one of these years ago and it works beautifully.  I used an old belt driven dental motor for power.  These can be found on E-Bay at a reasonable price and most of them have the option to reverse the motor.  If this interests you and I can be of any further help let me know.  

Derek,
 
Take a look at the Articles Database section of this forum, under Materials and Tools.  Phil Krol's Ropewalk is listed here.  Very well written with a great deal of details.  I built one of these years ago and it works beautifully.  I used an old belt driven dental motor for power.  These can be found on E-Bay at a reasonable price and most of them have the option to reverse the motor.  If this interests you and I can be of any further help let me know.  

Finally ready. Technical specs (from the manufacturer's website):
Technical data:
- Base size: 100cm x 25cm

- Maximal length of keel: 100cm

- Maximal thickness of keel: 7mm

- Possibility of turning the kit in 360 degrees. Which allows of other work to be done like for example planking.

- Ruler with 1mm scale allows for ideal setting of elements.
 

I used to have a desk at my parents basement, than desk at college dorm, than there was lots of desks until I got my own studio apartment.
There a closet was converted into workshop. Upgraded to a house onceI got a family so workshop area is shared with family storage in a small garage.
Have two countertops for working with saws, lathes and sanders, storage for large tools, etc. for working on the house as well as models. In the boiler room next to the garage I have my working station were I spent most of the time working on the model (AKA hiding from the family). Used to be a concrete box which I remodeled in style of Victorian officer cabin. If any one interested I have some step by step pictures of the process.

I believe all the references to soldering are for silver soldering, not soft soldering.  Be sure the ends are clean. Steel wool or a quick swipe or two with a jewelers file or even   Silver solder paste most often has flux and does not need to have a separate step to put flux on the part.     
Allan
 

Continuation.
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
The beginning of the relation is available at this address:
 
 
http://5500.forumact...ndre-1-24#66516
 
 
 
Regards, Pawel
 
 

I teach a materials permanence course to graduate art students at University and often lecture on the longevity of "aging" techniques.   I can point to (if interested) numerous academic articles dealing specifically with the acidity of using tea, tannins or other plant based materials for this purpose.   While truly holding their "age" through numerous artificial aging tests, they ultimately do lead to the fastest molecular breakdown of cellulosic materials (i.e cotton and linen thread/rope).     
 
In conservation of artifacts we often use Golden and/or Liquitext acrylic paints as they are scientifically formulated for archival use and light-fastness.  As JerseyCity Frank also pointed out they do a marvelous job particularly with aging threads and fabrics.  They do not have degradation products and have been proven in artificial aging tests to hold their color.    Throw a bit of beeswax dressing over the newly toned thread and you have a great modeling material.   
 
I cant speak to Chucks thread source, but can say that it can sometimes be better to avoid aging all together go with something that already has the right look and tone.  OEM products often do this well...     
 
A final comment Ill make is that I see so many ship models ruined by "over-aging" so my personal opinion is dont do it you dont have to...
 
 

Eddie,
 
This is an age old problem with me too.  When I started building models, I used the rigging supplied with kits, black and a manila color.  As my skills or maybe obsessions progressed i began to make my own rigging and found it necessary to color it.  At first, I followed the advice of many and stained the standing rigging with Minwax Jacobean and the running rigging with a mix of Golden Oak and Special Walnut adding and wiping until I got the desired color.
 
I later ran into an article written by Erik Ronnberg who recommended Liquid Shoe Polish instead of the oil based stains, I believe stating that the oil based stains would eventually deteriorate.  So I then switched over to a mix of brown shoe polish and black until I achieved the desired effect.  This seemed to work nicely.
 
Then along comes a new article my Erik, who I respect greatly, that is stating problems with fading on the shoe polish and recommends an oil based paint or dye mixed with turpentine and further dissolving bees wax in this mixture saving the independent processes.  I tried this but was having trouble with the colors so I began using a water based dye stain and independently dissolved bees wax in turpentine and carefully pull the rigging through a piece of cotton dipped in the mixture.  This seems to work nicely for me.  
 
Sorry I hope this helps some, I still use the shoe polish on the standing rigging because I need to match what was already completed on this model some time ago when I was struggling through on these trials.  I guess I am so fearful of problems occurring with some of these processes because of my early use of CA glue on rigging and the horrid deterioration that it caused over a period of about 20 years or so.  Good Luck!  I hope I have not rambled too much and further confused the matter.

Bill,
 
Always heard to stay away from tea, even diluted, will deteriorate over time.  Mark mentioned this earlier in this thread.

Bob,
 
I have read reviews on this saw in the past and it is certainly a great saw for the modelmaker.  Would jump all over this if it was in my  area.  Good price too.  I approached many of the local printers looking for one lurking in their basement and was unsuccessful in my search.  Hope a modelmaker can catch up with this one.
 
 

Jim,
 
I was also interested in a set of these and sent Mikhail an e-mail last week.  He responded that he would not be at home until October but would get back with me then.  Sounds like you and I are a little late with our requests.  I will either let you know then or send you his e-mail if you have not already received it.  Just let me know.

Short update, work and other issues have kept me awake and busy for almost all of the last three days.
 
Picking up where we left off, I de-clamped the two knives and then spent the next 30 minutes on the Byrnes disc sander leveling and squaring the blade-side vertical face with the two sides.

Using my big straightedge to check that the faces are flat and straight. Not really required, it's just a handle, but if I go to this effort I like to make sure it's exactly what I intended.

And then we redraw the outlines of the final handle shapes and it's ready to dance on the scroll saw with an 8tpi/6R blade. I've forgotten what the 6 means but the R means the blade teeth pattern reverse below the cut. 

Finally looking sorta like a knife!

When it comes to shaping handle, I grabbed several choices, never quite sure which will work the best.

I ended up using the carbide single-cut bur. This is my sophisticated rotary-tool carving setup where I take my Festool dust extractor intake and tape it to my bench. Place it between you and what you're rotary carving and almost all the dust will go down the vacuum. If I'm working on something small I'll put a mesh over the end of the vac tube.

However after doing the initial bevels I wasn't happy as even the nice sharp carbide bit was causing some minor tearing of the grain, which I didn't anticipate since the burl planed so well but there it is. So I had to switch to straight abrasives.

And I decided I wanted to do a slightly different grip from my normal "pregnant snake" handle pattern, so I quickly made one out of balsa to test before committing to the real handles.

And here a little test-driving. Whenever I catch up on sleep and I get a chance to work on them again I hope to get to the initial finish stage, which will be soaking the handles in thin CA.

 
 

This is a short video on safety 
 

Hi All,  I am now 565 hours into the journey of Naiad over the last 16-months.  Feeling good about where I am thus far.  Since my last post, I have completed the gun ports on the p/s and have completed the sills on the s/b side.
 
In this first photo, is my small cutting board clamped to the build board.  Note the half cup in the far corner.  This is screwed to the board and I insert the larger cup of water in it.  I use the water to wash off excess glue.  I was tired of spilling it all the time.  Also, I mounted a pencil holder and caliper holder to each side of the build board.  I am trying to train myself to put these items back after each use.  I figure this will save me thousands of hours of having to looking for pencils and calipers. (I don't know why this text got underlined, oh well...)
 
 
I built these measuring calipers at the start of the build as recommended by Ed. They are lap jointed and pinned and have proved to be invaluable.  I used scrap babinga wood.  Recently, I added a brass strip for the screw to clamp down on.  This has limited the movement of the caliper once tightened.
As I placed each sill, I would use strips of bass wood as a "winding stick" to check for level from sill to sill.  I am very happy with the results and have recreated the slope of the sills as outlined in the plans.  There is a gentle rise at the ends of the ship with a low-level valley at midship.   There is probably a nautical term for this sweep. I still need to fair the inside of the top timbers.
 

While this picture is upside down, it shows the squareness of the gun ports.  I cannot emphasize enough that each piece you place is of great importance to the overall symmetry in a build like this.  Mistakes, no matter how random or remote will likely be magnified somewhere else in the build.
 
This is just an exterior portside view of the gun ports and illustrates the gentle sweep of the ports. Yes, that's a dead rat hanging from the light... fake of course...
I used pinstripe tape to establish the fair sweep of the sills.  The sills remain horizontal throughout the ship,  the sweep is very subtle.
 

You will note the use of a spacer block for the ports.  I found this essential I getting the correct length and height of each port.  I colored the block so I could easily find it among all my scraps.  Yes, I uploaded these photos backwards...
 

Next on the to do list is to finish the upper sills on the s/b side, rework all the spacers within the hull so they have a uniform sweep, cut the top timbers on the s/b to length.  I then plan to sit down with the hull during our family vacation this summer in the mountains and go over it frame by frame.  I will spend my early mornings for those 10 days with scrapers, files, and steel wool.   I am looking forward to those quiet moments on the deck, sipping coffee and filing away - long before the kids get up!
 
Thanks for following along. 
 
Gary

lambsbk! I used taps and chaser ... less than 1 мм  I have unfortunately

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 175 – Shackles
 
Since I will be away for the next couple weeks, I thought I would cram in one more post before leaving – especially since it relates closely to the last post. 
 
There will be many shackles like those described below in Young America's rigging – 3 dozen or more on the deck and hull, plus many more aloft on yard bands, connecting chains and wire to rope, etc.
 
Shackles consist of  U-shaped iron yokes with screwed bolts threaded into the ends.  They replaced ring bolts, seized lashings and other connectors.  Easy removal of the screwed bolt allowed connections and disconnections to be made easily.  Several shackled eyebolts are shown below.
 

 
These will eventually be installed in the deck, rails, or hull by the method described in the last part – but not until later after the lines have been spliced on at the workbench.  The next picture shows the two parts of a shackle about to be silver-soldered.
 

 
The two pieces are 24 gauge copper wire – same gauge as the eyebolt.  Copper-phosphorus paste has been applied at the joints.  The configuration of the pieces is intended to simulate the horseshoe shape with a straight bolt at the bottom.  The picture also shows an eyebolt embedded in the soldering block ready for attachment of its shackle – not the one shown.  The next picture shows the soldered shackle before trimming the bolt ends.
 

 
There will be relatively few of these standalone shackles, so this was for demo only.  The next picture (apologies for bad focus) shows the soldering setup for an eyebolt-attached shackle.
 

 
The embedded eyebolt must be kept clear of the solder paste so the parts will swing freely.  After soldering, the shackle must be rotated so its bolt passes through the eyebolt allowing the rope or other line to connect to the horseshoe loop. This rotation has been done on the pieces in the last picture.
 

 
The loops on these shackles at 1:72 are about 6" (.08" actual) diameter.
 
Next topic: Whisker booms.
 
 
Ed
 

Hi all,
 
I just came across THIS TIP for holding small parts while Silver Soldering as I was looking through another website. I haven't tried it myself yet, but it looks like it should work. Pretty simple . (Click on the pics to see a larger image)
 
There are a couple of tips in the posts below it that also make a lot of sense. Hope someone finds this useful.
 
  Danny

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.

Greg:
I have purchased these at both Menard's and Home Depot.  I can't believe anybody only has 2 clamps of any one type. 
I routinely use many at a time and have about 24 of this type alone.  Like Norm Abrams says, 'You can never have too many clamps!"
Kurt

In the past I have constructed many ad hoc fixtures to enable the accurate machining of masts, spars, yards, booms etc. I decided to have a go at making something more versatile that would work for items of different shapes and sizes. Having made it it seems to work well so I thought it would be worth sharing.
 
I started out with a set of design aspirations. For ease I will refer to "masts" rather than go through the full range of parts each time. 
 
1 Provide solid clamping along the length of the mast.
2 Locate / relocate on the milling table without the need for alignment / set up.
3 Positively locate and relocate the mast so that I can easily remove and replace it on the mill.
4 Clamping devices not to mark / damage the mast.
5 Clamp parallel and taper masts.
6 Clamps to be easy and quick to operate.
 
I started with a clamping concept based upon eccentric circular cams and the build started by cutting a piece of 3/4" MDF to sit on the milling table. I used the mill to accurately drill a series of holes along the length of the MDF to take the cams.
 

The cams themselves were turned (circular) from hardwood. An eccentric hole was drilled along the axis of the cams before they were separated.


The cams are mounted on the MDF using a pin. The pin protrudes below the bottom surface of the MDF and the protruding part is cut to a diameter .001" smaller than the slot in the milling table.

Once the pins are pushed into the MDF they give positive and repeatable location on the milling bed.

The top of the pin locates the cam which is locked by a wing nut. The additional holes allow the cam positions to be varied to suit the mast being worked on.

Holes at either end of the MDF take the "T" nut bolts which attach the MDF to the milling table.

The MDF was then placed on the milling table (located by the pins) and a row of 4 holes were drilled parallel to the pin holes. Into these holes were placed accurately made dowels. These dowels provide the "fixed" support against which the cams clamp. I think this will become clearer in later photos.

A simple piece of wood is then placed up against the dowels. This forms the face against which the mast is clamped. In the following picture a mast is clamped in place. Because the cams act as a finely tapered wedge hand rotation is enough to very rigidly hold the mast.

The cams give a lot of flexibility on the diameter of mast that can be held - .200" to .700". But larger is possible by using a narrower wooden strip.
 
At this stage I checked the alignment of the mast to the axis of the mill. The run out was .0015" over a 12" length. Much better than I expected.
 
I did however need an end stop to control the position of the end of the mast. This was relatively easily achieved and for good measure I included an option for 3 positions. See Photos:-



The solution to dealing with taper masts is straightforward but does require a bit of trigonometry. The taper is achieved by changing the diameter of one of the fixed dowels. This is done by making a collar to fit over it. This gives a triangle the base of which is the distance between the first and last dowels and the "opposite side" is the thickness of the collar wall = (outside diameter - inside diameter)/2.

In the last picture I replaced the wood strip by a steel bar - but this proved to be un-necessary. I still have a few bits to develop but I think thats enough for now - except for the mystery of the missing wing nut!!!!!!
 

 
 
 
 
 

That seems like a good solution.  One thing you might try is making the cams with a 'nautilus' spiral shape - they may be easier to set, and without cinching down the wingnuts.
 
Here's a place to find some templates:  
 

My review of surgical blades - so far.
 
I ordered two different styles of scalpel handles and four different styles of scalpel blades to test as compared to Exacto blades. The scalpel blades I ordered were #10, 11, 22, and 25. The #10 & 11 scalpel blades are similar in style to the #10 and 11 Exacto blades and they fit the #3 scalpel handle. The #22 scalpel blade is similar to the #22 Exacto blade and fits a #4 scalpel handle. The #25 scalpel blade is the closest thing I could find to a #2 Exacto blade. It too fits the #4 scalpel handle.
 
So, in all cases the scalpel blades are slightly more flexible than their Exacto counterparts. Sometimes I find that I like that and other times I prefer the stiffer blade. For me personally, I have small hands and I find that the scalpel handles feel better in my hand than the Exacto handles (regardless of which Exacto handle it is. The scalpel blades are very sharp and inexpensive. And finally, the blades don't slip - period.
 
Often, if I find myself needing anything more rigid than the scalpel blade, I end up using a gouge or a chisel. However, having said that, I'll also say that I don't think I'll be abandoning my Exacto knives completely in favor of scalpels. I think I'll be using the scalpels at every opportunity simply because the blades are cheap and I can change them frequently without breaking the bank. But, I also know that there will be times that a very sharp, very rigid blade is called for and the scalpel blades just won't cut it (pun intended).
 
So there you have it. My own impartial review of Exactos versus scalpels.

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 208 – Sheer Poles
 
Ok, lets get off the tar-baby.
 
Sheer poles were 1" diameter rods that were lashed across the shrouds just above the deadeyes and just below the futtock shrouds.  The purpose was to spread the shrouds evenly, to help keep them in a flat plane and to prevent twisting.  They apparently came into use around the end of the 18th century.  They were assisted by wood staves lashed at intervals between the sheer poles and groups of ratlines.  The staves will be installed much later, with the ratlines, but the sheer poles are needed now.
 
The first picture shows a small diameter brass rod being served for use as a sheer pole.
 

 
The next picture shows this served rod spread across and lashed to the fore lower starboard shrouds just above the deadeyes. 
 

 
The rod will later be cut to length after touching the ends with a drop of CA to seal the serving to the rod.  Except for the first shroud, the lanyards are kept down, out of the way.  After final tension adjustment, the lanyards were brought up through the space above the deadeye and wrapped four turns around the shrouds, as seen in the next picture.
 

 
The four turns is arbitrary.  The lanyards were normally wrapped around until used up and were generally much less tidy than I tried to make these.  In the next picture the lanyards are finished off.
 

 
One additional turn was taken and a clove hitch on knotted the back sides.  A length of remaining lanyard was then secured to the inside of the shrouds with a small rope lashing.
 
The small sheer pole under the futtock shrouds is shown in the last picture.
 

 
Only three of the six lashings have been tied in the picture.  Note that there is no connection between the shrouds and futtock shrouds that pass between them.  This is different from earlier man-of-war practice.  The forestay may be seen in the top upper right corner of the photo.  It is the next item to be installed once the sheer poles are finished on each side.
 
Ed
 

Thanks for your comments, Jerry, and thanks for posting the diagram.  I am familiar with it.  I do have remaining questions about the use of tar.  Perhaps you could comment further on that.  My understanding is as follows:
 
Pine tar (aka Stockholm Tar, aka tar) is a viscous liquid obtained by decomposing pine wood under heat and pressure.  The term Stockholm Tar derives from the virtual monopoly held on this product by Sweden during the 17th, 18th, 19th(?) centuries.  I suspect American ships sourced this from our own lush pine forests.  The material is a fairly viscous, sticky dark brown, fluid, slightly soluble in water.
 
All rope used in ship rigging was tarred as part of the rope making process, by dragging the hemp yarns through a trough of tar at or near its boiling point.  It would be a lot less viscous at this temperature and would penetrate the hemp strands.  The description of the process appears in Luce, Seamanship, 1868 p49.  He states that the absorption was 25%, which I take to mean the amount of increase in the rope's weight.  At any rate, all rope had a fairly high content of tar, whether standing or running.
 
Later, Luce discusses protection of standing rigging (p. 58) as follows: "Standing rigging is protected from the weather by covering it with a coating of blacking made of tar, whiskey, lampblack, litharge, and salt water."  I found this interesting for a couple reasons.  First, because a small amount of carbon black goes a long way, so the addition of it in the form of lamp black would certainly make standing rigging black – as opposed to the deep brown of tar alone.  Second is the use of litharge (lead oxide) in the recipe.  He doesn't say how much, but the purpose of this would be a thickener, like the lead in lead-based paints.  After "painting" this on standing rigging, and after evaporation of the water and "whiskey" I would expect this to harden into a tough rubbery layer.
 
So, my conclusion, based on Luce, perhaps incorrect, is that there are differences in what we think of as "tarring" of rigging.  We are then left to decide on how to represent this on models.
 
So, am I off base in thinking that lanyards might receive a different treatment than say, shrouds or stays?  I'd be genuinely interested in any further light you, or others, could shed on this.
Thanks,
 
Ed