wefalck

I don't actually see the problem. The prototype 'ratline-hitch' is easy and fast to do with two pairs of tweezers. At the first and last shroud you use two half hitches instead so that the ratlines turns back on itself. In the protoype, the ratline would have an eye spliced into each end and the eye would have been sewn to the shrouds. Do not secure the knots until you have done all the ratlines, as there is almost certainly some adjustment to be done. Once tightened and secured with a drop of lacquer, you can clip-off the ends with a pair of micro-surgical scissors without fear to do damage to other parts of the rigging. wefalck

You may want to look also into threads for tying fly-fishing flies. It comes in may sizes and colours, which perhaps does away with the need to colour the threads. The threads are made up from several strands and could also be plucked apart to provide material for seizings. wefalck

Here I am discussing how to turn polyurethane resin and various metals into wood: http://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/68-zuiderzee-botter-by-wefalck-artitec-resin/page-3 wefalck

Flags point in the direction of the 'apparent wind', see e.g. http://www.google.de/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sailingcourse.com%2Fkeelboat%2Fimages%2Ftrue-apparent-wind-2.gif&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sailingcourse.com%2Fkeelboat%2Ftrue_wind_calculator.htm&h=678&w=682&tbnid=fhlqbg3bXztHlM%3A&zoom=1&docid=tYl5Fc7fuXy6PM&ei=eRt7U9DhFqWK0AWk0oCwBg&tbm=isch&iact=rc&uact=3&dur=2026&page=1&start=0&ndsp=16&ved=0CFgQrQMwAA. wefalck

I got a cheapo (around 120 €) one about a year and a half ago and never use it. I struggled with setting it up properly (you can set the eye-distance, the angle of the optical axes to each other and the inclination) and then found that the working distance is about 400 mm - which forces me to sit rather upright at my worktable. Perhaps it is good for my posture, but I had to have the chin on my breast to see the area, where I am normally working and worked with almost stretched-out arms, which was tiring. I gather they are indeed designed for dentists and chirurgical work that is mostly performed when standing above the patient. I recently bought a pair of safety glasses that have a x2.5 magnification and these seem to work better for me. Plus they protect the eyes when working with machines. wefalck

Don't have any of these fancy things, still using the primitive drill (12V motor in an aluminium tube with a brass collet-holder screwed onto the motor shaft) I bought some 30+ years ago. The collets take the ubiquitous 2.4 mm shaft tools, as well as the 3.2 (1/8") mm shaft ones as used in the Dremels. The same applies to the PROXXON tools, their collets take whatever is on the market (there are also drills and burrs with 1 mm and 1.5 mm shafts). I also have the PROXXON pen-sized grinder, but don't use it too often, because it doesn't have a lot of power and stalls quickly. It also only takes 2.4 mm shafts and nothing else. I improved it by installing a sort of thrust-bearing (a simple round steel plate) at the far end of the motor. This greatly improved its performance. Most of my power-tools are started from non-locking on-off foot-switches. This allows you to keep the speed-controllers set a specific values and to disconnect the power-supply quickly, when needed (in an emergency). wefalck

Files are meant for metal (though I use them on wood myself sometimes). Their cutting angle is too blunt for wood (in theory). Because of this, you can blunt them on wood quite quickly. And yes, I learned that chalk-trick from my father, who presumably learned it from his father, who trained as a mechanic (and later became a torpedo-mechanic) - but rarely actually use it The acid-treatment does two things: if it is an oxidising acid, such as sulfuric or nitric acid, it would dissolve wood; hydrochloric acid would just dissolve any small burrs on the teeth of file, leaving their main shape behind, which is the cutting shape. Of course, if the file is so worked down, that nothing of the original tooth shape is left, this treatment would be futile. I don't know of any US american brands, but here in Europe Vallorbe, Grobet and Dick are the best. The first two particularly cater for watchmakers. wefalck

If I am not mistaken, there is a model in the NMM that has such 'sword-mats' fitted (as pictured in James Lees' book on rigging). Ships on long cross-ocean passages rigged all sorts of (usually unsightly) chafing gear, when they expected to be sailing on the same bow for weeks on end. Protection against small-arms fire and boarding seems to me the most likely explanation of the strange arrangement on the picture shown. The seamen's hammocks were used for this purpose until the end of the last quarter of 19th century. wefalck

Acetone should do the job. Don't soak it too much, or the cement will be touched. Too much rubbing may also affect the patina. wefalck

Apart from www.wires.co.uk, who also sell pre-tinned copper wire and a lot of wires made from other metals, you may want to search for NiCr- or -Konstantan/Constantan wire. These alloys are used for heating devices, thermo-constant resistors (hence the name), and for thermo-cutting saws (for cutting polystyrene foam). The diameter goes down to 0.04 mm. I got a small supply of various diameters through ebay. These wires also come as flat wires, btw. wefalck

While Bristol board in principle is a nice material, I don't think that you would find thin enough sheets. My peference would be copper foil, which also allows you to impress rivets where needed and you can joggle plates. I have done this on a 1:60 scale tug model. wefalck

In addition to artists' fixatives that also often have UV-filter built in, there are 'mounting' spray-glues. Not sure how long these will last though. I also believe that there are self-adhesive films for mounting. Another option are films impregnated with melting-glue - you can iron-on your drawing etc. While I have some 3M mounting spray-glue, I can't point you to any specific products for the latter two options. Finally, if the copy is made with a laser-printer/-copier, it may be possible to mount it with some plain wallpaper glue. It is important to press it while drying and depending what the backboard material is, you may need to laminate its back also in order to avoid warping. wefalck

Somehow missed this log as well. The sails come on nicely. How are they done ? I don't seem to have seen an explanation. wefalck

Depends on the scale and what material is being used. There are many methods for making sails and making them look worn. Real cloth, though usually is not a good starting point for scale appearance ... wefalck

This is what I would have thought they were. Similar devices were used on French ships since the 18th century, as can be seen on many models in the Musée de la Marine. In case of man-overboard, they could be dropped by the man at the helm. I would suspect then, that they also have some release gear that allows them to be dropped from a central location ? wefalck

Could the red stuff be protective grease ? When shipping overseas, many manufacturers give their machines a good coating of this to prevent bright parts from rusting. I would strip these Chinese machines down and give them a good cleanining before re-assembly and oiling. There are reports that often chips from the machining of the parts have not been carefully cleaned out. They could block spindles and scratch ways and beds. The spindles and ways would also need to be carefully adjusted to eliminate end- and sideplay once the machine has been set up. I think the 'Micro Mill/Lathe' Web-site cited above gives a lot of useful tips. wefalck

Never heard of 'fog-buoys' before, learned something. As to the boxy object near the funnel: could it be a searchlight in its tapaulined cage. At least the German Imperial Navy ships had such searchlight protectors that sit quite prominently fore and aft. wefalck

I am quite sure that foot/millimetre conversion factor in Mondfeld's book is a misprint. Actually, the UK, Canada and the USA are metric, but most don't know. I forgot since when exactly, but the foot and the inch are defined by a fixed ratio to the metre. The metre in turn is defined through a physical constant (not the old platinum-iridium bar in Sevres anymore). So, if the metre would change in absolute length, the foot and the inch would too ... BTW until the late 19th century each state and often each town in continental Europe had their own measurement system, there were different feet in Hamburg, Bremen, Frankfurt, Danzig, St. Petersburg to name just a few coastal towns. The same for volume and weight measures. When reading old plans, one has to verify which foot was used. For instance, in 17th century Brandenburg ships were built with Amsterdam foot not Brandenburg foot as measure, because the master shipwright was Dutch. wefalck

Thanks once more for your kind comments ... *** The edges of the vitrine are to be covered by L-shaped brass profiles. These are cut to length a bit longer than needed and then the mitre is ground on. In order not to let the sanding disc work too much, I pre-cut the mitre rough with a cutter. My first investment into machinery in the mid-1980s was the purchase of a PROXXON pillar drill. It served me well ever since, not only as a drilling machine, but also as disc sander and (occasionally) as a wood lathe. At that time a longer pillar, a tool rest, a sanding disc/face-plate and a revolving centre were available as extras. The tool rest has a mitre guide. Together with a grind stone, I also used it to shape and sharpen lathe tools. With a sanding disc one can grind the mitres very precisely. Grinding of the mitres into the brass L-profiles For a good fit, a certain sequence of fitting the brass profiles is advisable. First the parts for the top are roughly cut to length and the mitres ground on at both ends. Then two profiles are mated in one corner and, say, part 1 taped down with Sellotape. Part 2 and 3 are mated at the next corner and part 3 taped down. Next part 2 can be ground to an exact fit between part 1 and 3. One continues with mating part 3 and 4 in the next corner, and so forth. The brass profiles at the bottom, that sit on the wood, are fitted in the same way. Prepared brass profiles The brass is ground finely, polished with steelwool (0000), and then degreased with white spirit. The profiles are now glued on one by one. For this I use a clear general purpose glue (German brand: UHU Alleskleber). Until the glue is set, the profiles are taped down again. Mitred corner at the top of vitrine The four uprights are the last parts to go on. They are roughly cut to length and the mitres are ground on at one side. The exact fitting is done at the square end. Here we only need to fit one edge. When grinding on the mitres, one can also compensate slight unevenness of the other mitres and thus achieve a perfect fit. View from below showing how the parts fit together View onto the wooden plinth and brass edging View onto the vitrine This was the first vitrine I constructed from Plexiglas, rather than silicate glass. As noted before, Plexiglas as a number of advantages and disadvantages compared to mineral glass. An advantage certainly is its shock resistance and that it can be worked easily at home. A big disadvantage is its low scratch resitance and one has to take extra care during construction. Thus a working over of the brass profiles once glued on is rather tricky. Plexiglas can be glued, or rather chemically welded, almost invisibly. However, the recommende glue (Acrifix 90) has a rather short open time, which makes adjusting the parts with the necessary precision quite tricky. Also the dosage of the glue was difficult. Any sequeezed-out glue is impossible to remove without damage to the Plexiglas panels. If I compare the most recent job, with the vitrines I built in the past from mineral glass, I am not as happy with my result. Perhaps I will return to mineral glass in the future. Vitrine and model united provisionally wefalck

It is quite amazing what skilled mechanics can do with a file (and time) … I am only self-taught, learned things by doing (and reading a few books). For the lever-tailstock, no other modifications to the existing tailstock, but drilling a hole somewhere in the lower back of the upright part would be needed. From strips of aluminium as you would get in most DIY stores you can fashion the short link and the longer lever. One would need to somehow connect the existing tailstock runner to the lever. Is the runner solid or has it a bore in the back ? One can drill and tap (on the drill-stand) into the back of the runner (if it is not hardened, which I doubt), file (or bend) a U-shaped bracket from aluminium or plastic and connect the two by long screw. The U-shaped bracket would connect the lever through he screw to the tailstock barrel. wefalck

The simple tailstocks of my watchmaking lathes are designed that way ... Obviously the DB250 was designed to keep manufacturing costs and, hence, retail prices low. Actually, the PROXXON guys are usually quite good in optimising usefulness, manufacturing quality and price. If one upgrades the design-specs, necessarily the prices go up. For the desing-spec of the simple wood-turning lathe, a mis-alignment of the order you described is largely irrelevant. Otherwise the design-guys probably would have come up with a solution as per my sketch right away. Talking about (simple) modifications: it would be quite easy to convert the tailstock into a lever-action tailstock for drilling along the lines of e.g. the Taig/Peatool one. It needs a few strips of aluminium, a drill, a hacksaw, and a file to make such lever. PROXXON uses standard stock materials to keep cost down. So I am sure that the tailstock runner is made from standard ground stock and you can replace it easily with material of the same dimensions. Sorry, I was getting carried away by ideas … wefalck

Yes, if it works for the time being, it may not be worth spending more time on it. If I were to do something about the problems, I perhaps would modify the tailstock a long what is practice in other lathes (see drawing below): I would file a notch under the front of the tailstock barrel, so that I have a completely round section may be about 10 mm long. I then would make a thin saw cut along the centre of the barrel until perhaps half-way down to the notch for the brass nut. Next I would make a clamp (from aluminium, but some tough plastic, such PVC, or even wood would work) that fits tightly around the round section of the barrel. The clamp is slotted and can be tightened with (thumb-)screw just enough to give the tailstock runner a sliding fit in the barrel. The clamp can be used also instead of the thumbscrew on top of the barrel to lock the runner in position. These modifications would likely change the need to shim the tailstock, so should be done first. I may also file the nut a bit thinner and put a spring washer in front of it, but this would depend on how much end-play you have, when the runner is not locked. wefalck

My quick answer would be to work out how for different positions of yards, booms, sails etc. the respective running rigging would come into contact with the standing rigging. This contact should be persistent, not only occasional. These contact zones would protected by serving. Some of the protective measures seem to have been only temporary, such es e.g. padding on the lanyards between the dead-eyes, and was removed e.g. when in harbour. This is why it is rarely seen on models (of the time). wefalck

It might be helpful to know what you are trying to reproduce, rather than what you think it would like in your scenic setting. As it was indicated above, on that basis one get an idea of its construction and try to replicate it accordingly. wefalck

Tony, hand-scraping is an old-time, well, art of precision-fitting of machine surfaces. With a chisel-like tool minute amounts of metal are removed until a perfect fit or match has been achieved. More details e.g. here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand_scraper. The 'fitters' at the same time tried to achieve a pleasing looking surface. Today with CNC-precision grinding this craft is only needed for repair or restoration work. I am only a self-taught evening-mechanic, so I don't really master it and rather use a file I don't have such lathe, so I don't know how the tailstock is actually constructed. Looking at the catalogue picture, I think there is a simple bore going through the tailstock; the barrel presumably is plain in the front part and has a thread cut into the rear part; the brass nut that runs in a slot of the tailstock moves the barrel in and out; the barrel also has a key cut into the top surface; a thumb-screw on top of the tailstock prevents the barrel from turning and also locks it when set. Am I right ? If could post a picture of the disassembled tailstock, perhaps I could give you some ideas how to reduce the side- and end-play of the barrel. Do you have a pillar-drill ? wefalck