Bill Tuttle

I believe Robere's post sums it up perfectly. And furthermore I have seen some real good buys recently on these machines. 

Check the resources page of the Nautical Research Guild.  There is a wonderful article on building one written by Phil Krol.  I built this years ago and it turns out beautiful rope.  The motor I used was an old Enesco Dental Drill motor which you can always find on Ebay.  This is particularly good because most will reverse direction and you can control the speed with a rheostat.  Good luck.

Jim,

You have received some excellent advice from all of the replies.  I purchased a Cameron Drill press about 40 years ago from a professional modelmaker.  I have had excellent performance from it and their service is beyond compare as well as advice over the phone.  As, I believe Kurt mentioned it is overkill but I find it very useful when I am making blocks or something that requires a lot of repeat work, using one of the X/Y vices I believe was made by Charlie Files, the manufacturer of the Preac Table saw.  You will never be sorry you bought it and service as well as parts, have been available for years.  If you are still interested I would recommend a look at their website and a call to their service folks.  They have always been very helpful to me but I have never had a need for any replacement parts on my old machine.  

Benjamin,

Dremel made a small inexpensive lathe years ago.  It would serve you well for the small wooden things like, cannons etc.  I have never been much for turning spars finding that these are better made on a long cutting surface with a small plane and sand paper. 

The little Dremel would give you some experience that you would find useful when you move up to a metal working lathe.  I would offer the suggestion to watch ebay for one of these and follow Bob's advice to save your money for the future purchase.  I had one of these years ago before I purchased a Unimat III and it worked well for me.  I may even have that laying around somewhere and will look and see if I can find it.  

Bill

I am not familiar with that particular pin vise but it does look like a nice one.  In recent years the China versions have been very cheaply made.  Check out Ebay for a couple of Starretts and you will never be disappointed.

I would agree with all of the folks who recommended Starrett.  When I started building models most of the pin vices were at least acceptable and some very good but they seem to have all gotten cheaper as production of these has moved to China.  You can always count on Starrett and they can be bought used at a very reasonable price on E-Bay.  Likewise on the drill gauges.  The old General used to be fairly decent but now it is hard to tell the difference in many of the holes side by side.  I also use only Starrett from E-bay for drill gauges.

I am getting into this way too late but what about PegBoards.  I never seem to have enough pegboard space or wall to house them.

This reply is directed at the warranty comments made by Gregory in the previous post.  I carried a socket wrench into the local large Sears store for replacement. The clerk dug around in a box under the counter and came up with an old socket wrench to replace my like new inoperable one. I queried him regarding the guarantee and he said that was no longer effective. I haven’t nor will I ever buy a Craftsman tool since then. Furthermore I wrote a letter to the President of Sears relating this experience and I never received a reply.  Sad situation as these were very good tools at one time. I see Lowe’s has taken over the line and I am not sure what their guaranty is but I am through with the line and their products. 

Ron,

I can only further confirm what you have already heard.  I have been building models for over 45 years and have purchased every table saw made trying to get perfection.  The only thing close to any of this was the Preac Saw and you were severely limited to size.  I certainly can't acknowledge any problems with the Proxxon Saw because I have seen so many people praising this, but I can say you will not find a better model saw than the Jim Saw and he will stand behind this to the end.  His customer service is beyond compare and his product is wonderful.  Congratulations on you purchase!!!

I agree with you.  I was a Commercial Banker for 40 years and in the early years of my career when I did consumer lending you could tell a customer to go ahead and write a check and come in and sign the note later.  Couldn't do that now.  

Mihail's service as well as Jim's is beyond compare.  I just hope someone else jumps on these carving tools.  They are really great tools. 

There is a learning curve on sharpening and I am still a novice on these.  I use shapton ceramic stones on my chisels and planes and can put an edge on those that scares me but these tiny little gouges are not easy.  I am even sharpening them under a low powered microscope.  I am getting better just have to use a light touch.

I just finished using some of these carving tools that I bought from Mihail three years or so ago.  I had misplaced my instructions for sharpening that he supplied and found a need to contact him again for help.  He provided me with a detailed e-mail regarding the sharpening process.  I can only applaud again these tools as they are the best small carving tools I have found.  In this correspondence, he mentioned to me that he still had three sets left for sale at $420.00.  Just wanted to post this as he travels somewhere in the summer and these will not be available again until around October.  If anyone is interested let me know and I will provide his e-mail as we have done in the past.

Great advice on the Stanley vise.  I will have to buy one of these too.  There are some excellent videos on these on the internet showing all the different functions and capabilities.  The GRS in one of the previous posts is also a great vise.  Their stuff is pretty pricey but always excellent well made tooling.

Wow!!!  Beautiful work, just wondered if you have trouble with the Veritas sharpening jig slipping on the Mortise Chisels.  Even with the attachment for them I have to support the bottom of the chisel to stop it from slipping.  Even contacted Lee Valley about this and they agreed with me.  Suggested double face tape as I remember.  

Bill

I would have to second Jim's comment on the starrett pin vises.  In addition to that I have found so many discrepancies in the drill gauges that I only use Starrett for these also.  The Generals used to be pretty good but it seems like China has taken over a lot of this stuff and the quality has deteriorated.

Bill

Jeff,

I have used Klingspor for years and had good results with the adhesive holding over a long period of time. I would agree with Bob on the 220 grit, probably about as coarse as you need unless you are cutting some brass with it.
 

I just listened to an article on the Fine Woodworking podcast that recommended changing sandpaper whenever you think it might be time and not waiting until you really think you need to.  Probably good advice and I would be less likely to change it when needed if I had to stop and cut a piece although you could cut a few pieces prior to waiting until you need it. 

Mark,

I am pulling up a chair on this build really late in the game after you have worked through your problems so far. I built a plank on bulkhead from a kit about twenty years ago so I understand some of the problems you have suffered through on a much smaller basis. I am getting up there in age but it seems like I remember Dave Roach who owned Pier Books years ago telling me there was a forum on this build which made me particularly interested in your efforts but I see I must be mistaken since there does not appear to be anything other than the French forum. Nevertheless, I look forward to following this build and admire the work and your treatment of the problems so far. 

This is a very simple rope walk to build with parts easily obtainable. I built this some years ago and with a little bit of experience turns out beautiful rope. I used the motor off an old Emesco dentist drill which gives me the capability to throw a switch and reverse the direction of the motor. I also purchased the “Jim” rope walk but was in the middle of rigging a model and did not have time to devote to learning the nuances of the machine at the time to produce really nice rope. That is on my list of things to do in the near future. Just really wanted to praise the simplicity and value of the “Phil Kroll” model for anyone considering building one. 

Another process I have been using if you use dye stain for coloring is to dissolve some small chips of bees wax in turpentine along with the dye stain then run this through a cotton rag until the desired color is achieved then hang the rope to dry. I have been using this on some running rigging colored with a mix of golden oak and a darker walnut dye to achieve the appropriate color. I am not sure where I found this process but may have been a suggestion by Erik Ronnberg. 

I agree with everything said about the quality and working abilities of Apple.  Fortunately, I live in the middle of Apple orchard country and find it easy to obtain when the are pruning their trees.  Then some wax and a few years of drying and you will have some nice apple at no charge.  A little off subject, but also have had some good luck with dogwood which is fairly prevalent in my area.  

John,

This may not be correct, but I always leave my deadeye lanyards not secured so I can tighten up later after some of the other rigging has messed it up.  I always just leave it tight enough to not pull the other rigging askew and then use the shrouds to balance everything.  The tension , of course , should be equal on all shrouds.  I have had too many times when something has pulled one shroud off and I had to go back in and tighten the lanyard when I had already secured it and trimmed it.

The ratlines really should not cause any sagging in the shrouds if tied properly.

Good luck!  

I would never tackle rounding a mast or any other spar anyway other than by hand with a small plane, taking successively tapered sections by hand although I know many use the lathe practice successfully. 

As an owner of a number of different lathes, if I had it to do all over again, I would choose the Sherline, as you can add to this as your skills develop and they are a great company making a great product.  Good luck with your search.  Taig also makes a nice tool, a little less expensive and there are Unimat 3's available sometimes on E-Bay but usually over priced.  I wouldn't consider any Unimat other than the 3 or the earlier SL.

I realize I am late in mentioning this but have not been on the website for a couple of weeks due to a hospital visit.  I like many others that have mentioned this above, have been a sucker for every saw produced looking for one with some degree of accuracy.  Like everyone else has reiterated this have finally been solved with the Bryrnes Saw.  I did however fail to see you mentioning the Preac which I used for many years prior to the production of the "Jim" Saw.  This is a great little saw with a lot of capabilities.  I have no idea how available they are now or how they are priced but sooner or later everything shows up on E-Bay and this is one great little saw.  I still use mine to supplement the Brynes Saw.  Just thought I should mention this.

I would watch E-Bay for a used  Starrett. I own a few of these and they very accurate. Probably run around the same price as the Tamiya Richmond has mentioned. Good luck I just hate the cheap ones being made now, as it seems none of them are centered 

Jack,

This is a great product and appears to take up very little space.  I do a lot of painting in my driveway and the west wind whips through there constantly.  I will be shopping for one of these today.

Thanks for bringing this to my attention.

KURT,

This is a very nice router base but as Bob says it is on the pricey side.  I have watched these things for years and Micro Fence appears to have the ultimate product but you need to take out a home equity line to pay for it.  I like the looks of it but just can't justify the price.  I am not sure how much use I would get from it for model work.  Very nice for inlay.

Another one that the luthiers use and seem to be very happy with is the Stew Mac version.  If you feel like you are really interested check out this one.

https://www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Tools/Types_of_Tools/Routers_and_Bits/Routers/Precision_Router_Base.html

Pricing on this one runs between the Dremel and Veritas.  

Good Luck!