wefalck

Not all 'shellac' formulations contain pure shellac and alcohol. Some unrefined shellacs may also contain waxes that could account for the tackiness. Still it is quite strange.

Is there a piece of software that allows to take planks off a body plan and spread them out flat, i.e. to construct a planking diagram ? I am thinking of developing a planking diagram for a clinker-built boat so that the planks then can be laser-cut.

Have a look at archjofo's log on his CREOLE: https://modelshipworld.com/topic/1029-la-créole-1827-by-archjofo-scale-148-french-corvette/page/55/. I am too lazy to look for the right page, but when you start backwards, you should get to it pretty soon. He shows how it is properly done with an eye-splice and all the serving. In any case, the whole log is well-worth going through. One can get taps and dies from watchmaking supply houses down to 0.3 mm diameter, but they come at a price. Watchmakers also used screw-plates, i.e. a steel plate with various cutting or forming dies for threads. They are largely obsolete, but still can be found.

To my knowledge, shellac has unlimited shelf-life, it lasts forever. I remember finishing off on my projects a bottle my father had bought at least a decade earlier. The problem may be, however, that the solvent, alcohol, evaporates from not perfectly closing vessels, but this is easy to replenish.

The man-powered training gear was actually quite sophisticated with the gun-captain being able to turn the gun left or right with a lever without the men needing to change the direction of cranking. I don't know how many were needed, but one can estimate the number from the length of the cranks. I will have to measure it.

Thanks, gentlemen ! The work continues: ****************************************** The lower carriage of the 30.5 cm gun The lower carriage of the gun was a rather complex construction from rolled L-profiles and thick steel sheet. Unfortunately only the drawings in GALSTER (1885) and the coloured synoptic drawing from the Admiralty have come to us. Many construction details are superimposed onto each other with dashed lines, so that the interpretation of the drawings is rather difficult in places. As aids to interpretation with have one close-up photograph, the large demonstration model in the navy museum in Copenhagen, and the preserved guns of Suomenlinna Fortress off Helsinki. The carriage for the Danish iron-clad HELGOLAND, however, differs from that of SMS WESPE in some details, being actually a turret-carriage. The carriages in Suomenlinna are Russian copies of Krupp fortress carriages, but they allow to verify certain construction details that are not clear from the drawings. Synoptic drawing of the 30.5 cm gun (from http://www.dreadnoughtproject.org/) Originally I had planned to construct the lower carriage, like the upper carriage, from surface-etched brass parts. To this end I produced some time ago already the needed detail drawings. Surface etching is a very good process to simulate rivetting. In the meantime, however, I had purchased the laser-cutter, so that laser-cut parts would be an alternative. I had hoped to cut the parts from bakelite paper. Various trials with different cutting parameters unfortunately were not very successfull for the intricate parts. The 5 mW laser ist too weak to burn the material fast enough. Burrs of molten and partially carbonised resin form. Therefore, I fell back onto Canson-paper, which is a bit over scale with its thickness of 0.15 mm. Base-plate and races laser-cut from Canson-paper The drawings for the etching masks had to be reworked for laser cutting. It turned out during assembly that I had made several mistakes or misinterpretations. If I had send them off for etching this would have been costly, as both masks and etching would have to be redone. When cutting paper with a laser such corrections can be made quickly and easily – and the material costs practically nothing. The basic frame of the lower carriage from the rear The laser-cut parts were soaked in nitrocellulose wood-filler and once dry rubbed with very fine steel wool. To double up parts and for assembly zapon lacquer was used. This dries so fast that no special arrangements for fixing the parts are needed. The basic frame of the lower carriage from the front I did not take pictures of the different steps of assembly, as this would have rather impeded the process. First all parts to be doubled up were cemented together using zapon lacquer and weighed down to keep them flat during drying. The longitudinal parts of the carriage had slots cut into them, so that the transveral parts could be positioned exactly. The frame assembly then was cemented to the base plate (which in reality was not a plate, but rather the frame was put together from L-profiles and steel sheets). The racers, again in one piece, where glued on top of this assembly. Underneath the base plate the housing for the training gears (which will be very much simplified as they will be barely visible upon completion of the model). The basic frame of the lower carriage from underneath with the housing for the training gears One can see on the laser-cut parts marks for the rivets. These will be added as tiny spots of white glue. More details will be added in the next steps, but have not all been drawn yet. The basis frame of the lower carriage with the upper carriage and the gun put temporarily in place To be continued ...

How did you do the handwheel on the valve, an etched part or from wire ?

👍 "I think what I am looking at is odd bits of strapping/sailcloth wedged in place to prevent damage to the bowsprit." - Could these be velcro-strips to hold the fore-sail(s) on top of the bowsprit when furled ? Given the diametre of the bowsprit, it might be difficult to pass a rope around it for that purpose. Concerning the stay, I have the feeling that it still runs around the roller, but they just have added some leathering to prevent shaving - but of what ? There isn't much beyond that point. Otherwise, clean work as always

Many of the historic works are also now available in digital format on the Internet. Some of the PDFs are searchable, which comes handy at times. Don't always trust Google, when they tell you that no digital version is available, keep searching. I noticed that Google often does not link digital versions, when someone offers reprints. A very useful dictionary is Paasch's 'From Keel to Truck'. It was written at the end of the 19th century, but many of the basic terms and designs have not changed a lot over the past two hundred years: https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_pT4IAAAAQAAJ/page/n6/mode/2up

This looks a bit like a high-tech operating theatre The swing-through cradle with integrated gantry drilling-jig is an excellent idea !

The discussion is veering off the original subject into the merit of shellac on wood ... Anyway, the question is what the merit would be of completely 'sealing' a wooden artefact against the atmosphere ? It cannot be achieved perfectly and was never attempted in history, if you look at antique pieces of furniture and models. It is well-known that shellac (french polished) surface are not resistant against water stains. The reason for french-polishing is probably purely aesthetic and not for 'protection'. I learned about shellac probably in the late 1960s as a teenager, when my father treated the surface of a work-table with it, that still is around. It was my first choice, when I did my woodworking projects. As Ab noted, applying several layers of shellac with a brush is difficult too impossible. The solvent (alcohol) immediately begins to soften the already applied layer(s), resulting in a sort of leathery surface. Traditional 'french polish' is applied in a different way: first the wood is sanded or scraped smooth, then it is rubbed down with a pumice stone, but the dust is not removed. A rather dilute solution of shellac is then applied with a lint-free cotton 'pad'. I used for this an old, hundred times washed piece of cotton underwear, stuffed with cotton wool. The shellac is applied in the direction of the wood grain with fast strokes of the pad. If you are too slow, the pad will stick to the surface, if you are too fast not enough shellac is transferred. The pad also may not be too soaked, other wise you leave streakes. One has to learn the right parameters by experience - in the old days 'french polisher' was a trade of its own for a good reason. Once the layer is thoroughly dried, it is rubbed down again with a pumice stone and the whole procedure repeated until a flat, mirror-like surface is achieved. The subsequent strokes with the pad have to be very fast and light, so that the shellac dries almost immediately and the solvent does not have a chance to soften to previous layers. For this reason one also works with more concentrated solutions than at the beginning. The last, very very light application may still leave light streakes. These are remove with a very light pumice rubbing. The surface than is dry-polished to a gloss. A modern, abreviated variant I am using is to apply nitrocellulose-based wood-filler over the sanded, wetted and sanded again surface. The filler is sanded down to the wood and another layer of filler applied. Depending on the wood grain, one may need to repeat this again. The last coat is not sanded, but rubbed down with steel-wool or scraped with a razor-blade. On this surface one or more coats of shellac is applied and rubbed down with steel wool after each application. If you are good, you may achieve the final glossy finish without dry polishing. On models I more or less use the same procedure. Depending on the size and shape of the parts I use pumice powder, rather than steel wool to rub down the surface. The pumice can be rubbed on with a slightly wetted finger or a cotton stick. The pumice then is carefully brushed off. The last coat is rubbed down again with pumice, which leaves behind a more or less matt surface. You can create a nice satin sheen by polishing this surface with a felt-wheel in your hand-held drill. This polishing allows you to control the sheen from satin to gloss. Overall, this shellac treatment does not actually build up an appreciable thickness, but almost sits in the wood. Here a model I build in the early 1980s:

My recent exploits of this technique: steering wheels laser-cut from 'Canson' paper (about 0.15 mm thick) and assembled into 3D-wheels using zapon lacquer ... The major grid-spacing is 10 mm. Cutting friezes and the likes would be no problem. I would soak them in lacquer, paint them in acrylics and then apply them.

Sennelier is one of the old paint dealers in Paris. They have been around for more than 130 years. However they don't actually say whats in their 'fixatif'. just resin and alcohols, which in fact sounds like shellac: https://www.sennelier.fr/Fixatif-latour_fiche_4358.html A few weeks ago I happened to visit their shop, which is a nice, traditional shop down by the Seine with a counter and behind lots of little drawers with goodies. As someone noted above: don't blast the whole model (as some plastic modellers do) with something like this. I only use the lacquer to immobilise knots or splices and to coerce my springy model rope into real rope-like shapes, e.g. when hanging from belaying points:

BobG, I don't know what's in your wife's fixative, so I cannot comment on it. The point is to not 'soak' a pastel or it will loose its character. With too much fixative, it will look like a gouache painting. The book I have was written in the 1970s originally, with some revisions in the 1990s. The author has been aware of more recent developments in binders, such as acrylics, but at his time they hadn't been fully developed yet. What shellac to use depends on the purpose and effect you try to achieve. So one cannot recommend either or the other in principle. I have never used Klucel G myself, but was aware that it is used as an adhesive e.g. in paper restoration, I think. It comes as a powder that you have to dissolve in the alcohol. The ratio presumably depends on the viscosity you need. Also too much of the binder may make for a weak bond. You always want the minimum of adhesive that keys into your materials on both sides of the bond, that gives you the strongest bond. As we converse, I am working on a project where I make extensive use of paper re-enforced by lacquer (actually nitrocellulose as it were). Not that I am particularly fond of it, because it is difficult to get a really smooth surface (as on styrene or on bakelite paper), but I recently bought a small laser-cutter and make the tiny parts that I had planned to etch originally. But this is another conversation. This laser-cutter only cuts paper reasonably well. The strategy is to soak the paper as much as possible, let it dry, smooth it with very fine steelwool and then assemble/laminate with more lacquer. Just check out my SMS WESPE building log. Apropos threaders - we had this discussion recently somewhere else, but I would like to re-iterate my main observation: if you can use a needle threader on blocks, the holes in the blocks are too big. The width of the sheaves is only a fraction wider than the rope for which it is meant, otherwise the rope would jam. So threaders are not really useful at least for blocks.

Sorry for the bad joke, but it looks like a goose in the oven ...

I am always somewhat suspicious of single-purpose tools. The question would be what do you use it for: to drive headless pins without flattening them on the top, to avoid the impact of a hammer, to avoid hitting something else, if you are not sure with the hammer, to get it straight down, etc. I think the only really valid reason would be the first one from the above list. There are also tweezers with V-grooves across to hold small nails and pins, e.g. when nailing.

I was talking about nitrocellulose varnish/lacquer with pumice mixed in. Some people call it sealer, but its function is actually a filler - kind of 'french polish' in one go. On wood I use the ordinary, slightly orange variety, because it is this what you get in DIY stores. It imparts also a warm 'depth' to the wood. However, I would not use this type on rigging, as it changes the colour of the material. For rigging purposes I prefer 'zapon' lacquer, as it is less brittle than shellac. The brittleness on rigging also depends on how concentrated you apply it. I rather dilute shellac solution would be sufficient, that just soaks into the thread without covering it visibly. Then the brittleness might be less of a problem. Shellac was traditionally used to stiffen fabrics, for instance the felt used in bowler hats.

Well I have used shellac as the only wood varnish on my models for over 40 years now. In order to avoid the laboursome procedure of 'french polishing' I use it over nitrocellulose wood-filler (which I sometimes use as the only treatment). Due its fast drying properties, shellac is a very versatile product and one may not be aware of its many everyday uses. Have a look at the bottom of the Wikipedia-page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shellac I am just reading a book on art materials, art techniques and conservation techniques. In this context long-term stability is of utmost importance and shellac is preferred varnish to protect oil paintings and pastels. On oil paintings this varnishing is reversible due to it alcohol solubility. Mixed with fillers, shellac also make a good thermo-setting 'bio-plastic' - remember those 'shellacs' before vinyl records were introduced in the 1960s ? You can also create your own compound materials by soaking e.g. paper in shellac. Most shellacs are slightly yellow in tint, at least those sold for DIY purposes. Artist supply stores also sell a more expensive bleached variety. If you need a colourless and very fast (faster than shellac) drying lacquer you can use zapon lacquer. This is nitrocellulose dissolved in a mixture of ethyl acetate, ethanol, and amyl acetate. The ethyl acetate has a higher vapour pressure than ethanol, which is the reason why it evaporates faster. You can get it in many DIY and also good art supply stores. Tradtional nail varnish is essentially the same, but typically more viscous due to higher nitrocellulose content and has a lower vapour pressure, i.e. it dries fast, but slower than shellac. In addition, the ladies seem to be prepared to pay a much higher price for their beauty

Kind of reveals my age, but here is a PDF of an article I published in 1980 in German ship modelling magazine. Note sketches 13 and 14 on the second page: https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/tips/FALCK-SM-5-80.pdf

Once modelling has been done, it should be possible to print them in all sorts of scales ... it's more a problem of managing the Web-shop than a technical one, I would think.

I discovered this kind of splice in a textbook on knots and splices that I got around 1970. There it is named something like 'yarn splice'. I have used it since on my models to simulate splices. I prefer solvent-based fast-drying 'zapon' lacquer for securing splices and knots, as it can be loosened with aceton, if needed.

Carpenteria molto pulita e fresca 👍

I had completely missed out on this one and thought there hadn't been a new 'Baron' for while ... very atmospheric as usual !

Quality work and quality tools !

Un lavoro fantastico !