Bill Tuttle

This is one of the best Micro Mart tools that i have in my shop. I have burned out two of them not because they are poorly made but because i use them so much in my general carpentry work.
 
 

I have a ropewalk on order and was looking for yarn for experimenting.  I have a supply of fine linen and cotton yarns from our home weaving studio.  The finest is labelled 28/2 which yields 7200 meters/kilo. I checked our sources for weaving yarns and discovered 90/2 (27,200 m/kg) , 60/2 (18,000 m/kg) and 35/2 (10,600 m/kg) lace linen in black and in natural.
 
These are sold in small spools of about 250 m for around $8.  One source is Vavastuga located in Massachusetts.
 
Once I receive the ropewalk and the lace yarn I will do a few experiments and post some results.
 

I will reaffirm comments made by John Allen and Mark.  I have been building model ships for over 40 years and used CA glue exclusively on rigging for the first 25 years or so.  The I began to see articles written by some of the professional model makers warning about the long term affects of using CA.  Brittleness, shiny look and breaking.  Over the years, I have many of these knots on previously built models that need repair.  
 
The only time I use CA on rigging is to straighten the ends when having problems getting the line through holes and when mounting difficult to reach eyebolts in various locations.  I use diluted Hide Glue or diluted white glue as mentioned above on all rigging. 

I will reaffirm comments made by John Allen and Mark.  I have been building model ships for over 40 years and used CA glue exclusively on rigging for the first 25 years or so.  The I began to see articles written by some of the professional model makers warning about the long term affects of using CA.  Brittleness, shiny look and breaking.  Over the years, I have many of these knots on previously built models that need repair.  
 
The only time I use CA on rigging is to straighten the ends when having problems getting the line through holes and when mounting difficult to reach eyebolts in various locations.  I use diluted Hide Glue or diluted white glue as mentioned above on all rigging. 

I will reaffirm comments made by John Allen and Mark.  I have been building model ships for over 40 years and used CA glue exclusively on rigging for the first 25 years or so.  The I began to see articles written by some of the professional model makers warning about the long term affects of using CA.  Brittleness, shiny look and breaking.  Over the years, I have many of these knots on previously built models that need repair.  
 
The only time I use CA on rigging is to straighten the ends when having problems getting the line through holes and when mounting difficult to reach eyebolts in various locations.  I use diluted Hide Glue or diluted white glue as mentioned above on all rigging. 

Mark, The internet has it’s down side. Just yesterday I drove to this Electronics store near me, a real one that was like an old time hardware store. You could poke around forever, finding this and that. The building was empty, they gave up.  About a year ago, the only real hobby shop in my area closed. That hurt. I use the internet, the UPS guy has become like family now. I’m am Amazon super duper Prime guy. I don’t like EBay that much. I miss going to the store, seeing and feeling what things are like. BS-ing with the people at the stores. That’s life. 
 
Gaetan, Like I had said to you, I have a number of lights and most likely will be getting a new brighter one. Still like the one on the Optivisor, its always pointing at where I’m glancing. I like tinkering.
 
 
I can never figure why some threads will go on for a bit and others die at the get go. Maybe the answer is on the internet.
 
Kurt

I'm of the "no CA on rigging" camp as there's been too much about it destroying the rigging.  I use white (not the yellow stuff) glue thinned about 50-50 with water.  I coat the knot and let the glue soak in. If I even suspect the knot isn't secure, I add a second coating.  So far, so good.

I have to agree with Cliff Ward.  The Cameron Drill Press is wonderful.  I, too, have had mine for over 40 years and it is a great accurate machine.  Coupled with the little x-y table you can do just about anything.  I like mine so much that I picked up another on E-Bay last year for my second home and workshop.  Once again as Cliff said it is not cheap but it will last a lifetime.
 
The manual 164 is the one that I have.  Didn't check the current price but watch E-Bay as they show up every now and then.
 
http://cameronmicrodrillpress.com/product/cameron-series-164/
 
 

As others have said there may need to be some clarification of the desired small hole size in order to establish a "correct" answer....including what is the definition of "small".
For creating holes with #60 or smaller drill bits, particularly as one approaches bits smaller than #70, there is no better drill press than the Cameron Micro Drill Press.  Cameron is a California based company and their drill presses seem frightfully expensive when first considered, but the spindles run very true and I can regularly drill #80 sized holes without any worry of breaking a bit.
 
Yes, there are a number of small drill press manufacturers but the Cameron (formerly Treat) Drill Press is the gold standard...
 
I bought mine about 35 years ago and after I got over the "pain" of the initial cost, I've enjoyed worry free drilling ever since.
 
One of those "buy it and forget it" type of purchases to advance one's skill set...
 

Make the hole just big enough to put eyebolt in.  Some just bend the eyebolt "tail" 90 degrees, others drill the hole at an angle, and others just insert it into the hole.  A little (very little) epoxy or CA will secure it in position. 

Check these vids:
 
One
 
Two

I got my sliding table last week. The little plastic-topped screws for the depth stop really annoyed me - too hard to grab and start in the holes. So I went to the hardware store and got some brass 6-32 machine screws and knurled brass nuts. I glued the nuts to the screws with a bit of medium CA. I find these way easier to use.
 
Cheers -
John

I read someplace that Bacon fat could be used as a lubricant for working on non-ferrous metals.  As I had just cooked a pound of Bacon I had a jar of fat cooling off.  Took a very small bottle lid of it to the shop and it worked quite well when I was drilling with a #74 bit pretty deep.  I was concerned about the depth w/o lubricant and the Bacon fat worked quite well - didn't break a drill bit and got 6 holes done.  A toothpick dipped into the fat transferred the fat to the drill bit.
Kurt

Thanks Keith. I picked up the copper today and hope to start this weekend. All my cutters for the lathe are HSS.   I do have some cutting oil.  I wonder what "lard oil" is?  Lard?
 
I may give it shot without oil based on what Greg said.   
 
 

Mark - copper can be quite tricky - it work hardens quite quickly and pick up on the tips of tools can give a poor finish. Because it is very soft it can also be prone to snatching at the tool. My advice would be to use HSS tools which are sharpened to good edge. My preference is to use cutting oil as i think it lessens the tendency for pick up and snatching - as a result gives a better  finish.
 
But here is what the experts say:-

Just discovered Swann Morton produce chisel blades in their range....SM61, SM62, SM61SB, SM62SB.  The SB is a single bevel. approx. 3mm and 5mm respectively....tried these and they are superb for intricate work. You will need a few as with every scalpel blade but they are well worth it. 

Thanks for the heads up on this harlequin, I am very familiar with Swan Morton scalpel blades, order them in boxes of 100, but these little beauties escaped my attention. Ordered  SM61 and 62 SB  blades yesterday together with the SF2 handle, they arrived today. 
In use already, they are fine narrow chisels perfect for those awkward places. 
 
B.E.

They also do a round handle SF1 to SF4  depending on the length you want, which makes them a little easier to use than the standard handle if it helps.

Biltut 
 
i think sherline stopped selling the red handwheels a couple of years ago for some reason, don’t know why. I got my lathe and mill with factory installed DRO and the red handwheels and the DRO in my opinion is definitely worth the price for the ease of repeatability.
 
ben

Sherline makes conversion kits for the mills and lathes to change them between inches and millimeters - a lot cheaper than buying a new machine.
Kurt

I agree with all of Doug's comments. I have the 8-axis Mill and have never found the need to set it up as such, the Tilt Table and Rotary Table as well as a few other bits and pieces have removed the need to use the extra axes.
 
I also have the long-bed lathe, and I rarely use the extra length (I shape all my masts and yards by hand - it's actually a lot easier once you know the technique ). The long-bed lathe is useful in so far as the extra length allows you to move the tailstock well out of the way when setting up longer pieces that won't go through the centre hole.
 
I have both machines fitted with DRO (an absolute MUST HAVE in my opinion), and both share the one Readout box. Changing from one machine to another can be done in about 30 seconds.
 
In regard to your "Inch" Mill - about all you would need to change are the leadscrews and handwheels. I'd say this would be considerably cheaper than buying a new mill even if you got a really good price for the old one.
 
Cheers, Danny

Ken beat me to mentioning UMM-USA.  John was a vendor at the NRG's St. Louis Conference and his tables were always crowded and doing a brisk business.  I have a whole bunch of his tweezers - g\very good quality at a good price.  His tools are all of good quality and he has a bunch related to photo etch bending and handling.
Kurt

Back to the thimbles...I took the several suggestions to heart and tried again.  This time I started with a piece of 1/8" brass and drilled a 5/64" hole (close to the 2mm o.d. of the tube) and then another hole counter-bored to provide a seat for the flaring.  All done on the mill.

The annealed tube is inserted into the first hole (see above) and cut off with a razor saw.  That way, all pieces are 1/8" long.  Touch with a fine file while still in the hole assures both ends are square.  The piece is then inserted into the counter-bored hole and tapped with a center-punch.

 
The piece is then removed and the center-punch used on the opposing end...back and forth a couple of times.
I looked at Chuck's thimbles and they are not flared as much as I initially tried so I tapped less than earlier.

These thimbles (2mm tube (= to 3-3/4" at scale) are a good size for the .054" diameter rope* I'm using for the shrouds but I'm not sure there would be thimbles on the shrouds.
I'm getting some 1.5mm tubes for smaller lines. 
 
*By the way, be sure to check out Chuck's rope size table in yesterday's post on the Syren Ship Model Company post:
https://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/12476-syren-ship-model-company-news-and-forthcoming-new-projects-products/&page=11&tab=comments#comment-525811
 
This brings up the issue regarding termination of the shrouds at the waterways.   Informed opinion is that with this many shrouds (6 on a side), "there was no need for deadeyes and lanyards, but well-stretched shrouds siezed to bullseyes;  the aggregate resistance would be enough to counteract the tension from a large anchor."  So eyebolts (with bullseyes attached) through the waterways.  The aft-most shrouds may have been loosened when not under load to provide more range of swing of the boom.  Block and tackles definitely out of the question because all the stress would be on the sheave of a block.
Any other opinions / suggestions out there?
Maury