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

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

Thanks again, gentlemen, for the kind words.
 
***
 
Time has come to release the botter into its natural habitat ...
 

 
The model was fixed to the baseboard by a screw with countersunk head. Where necessary, the loosened ice around the boat was touched up with the same sugar-acrylic gel mixture with which the rest of the ice-scape was modelled.
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
The next step will be to complete vitrine. Then, work on population of the scenery will continue and a some ‚loose’ equipment for the botter will also have to be made.
 
wefalck

Got some about a year ago, but haven't realy used them (yet).
 
What you are calling the 'depth of field' presumably is the 'working distance', i.e. the distance between the lense and the object you are looking at. The dentist ones seem to be designed for working standing up and hovering over the patient. I found the distance of 400 mm uncomfortable, it means that I have to sit rather upright and with arms nearly stretched out at my work table to keep the objects in focus.
 
I also found that the actual depth of field, i.e. the range over which objects appear in focus, is rather small at the large magnification.
 
In addition, I had problems adjusting the two microscopes for stereo-vision. Somehow the optical axes never seem to aligne with those of my eyes.
 
Not sure, whether all these problems are related to the fact that it is 'cheapish' (still 120 Euro) one. You can get branded ones for 400+ Euro ...
 
wefalck

Got some about a year ago, but haven't realy used them (yet).
 
What you are calling the 'depth of field' presumably is the 'working distance', i.e. the distance between the lense and the object you are looking at. The dentist ones seem to be designed for working standing up and hovering over the patient. I found the distance of 400 mm uncomfortable, it means that I have to sit rather upright and with arms nearly stretched out at my work table to keep the objects in focus.
 
I also found that the actual depth of field, i.e. the range over which objects appear in focus, is rather small at the large magnification.
 
In addition, I had problems adjusting the two microscopes for stereo-vision. Somehow the optical axes never seem to aligne with those of my eyes.
 
Not sure, whether all these problems are related to the fact that it is 'cheapish' (still 120 Euro) one. You can get branded ones for 400+ Euro ...
 
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

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

What's wrong with slack standing rigging ? In real life it would not be as tight as a tight-rope - it is a bit of a misconception we are used to in modelling. Rigging always sags a bit under its own weight, because you would pull out all fastenings or push the mast throught the keel, if you would try to tighten it, as we do it as modellers by aesthetic habit.
 
The difficulty though is to get the slack into the right direction - downwards.
 
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

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

Hi, She's finished. Last bits to do were the anchors which were silver and soft soldered together from bits of copper.

 

 

 

 
here she is.

 
Thanks for looking!

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

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

Sherline et al. call their mills because they are mills. As I said, it has nothing to do with spindle speeds, only with the geometric arrangement of the machine tool - and the design of the spindle: a drilling machine is designed for axial forces, a milling machine for radial forces and axial forces on the spindle. The table of (co-odinate) drilling machines may also not be designed for being moved under load, i.e. for milling, though using it for light milling might be ok.
 
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

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

Thanks again, gentlemen, for the kind words.
 
***
 
Time has come to release the botter into its natural habitat ...
 

 
The model was fixed to the baseboard by a screw with countersunk head. Where necessary, the loosened ice around the boat was touched up with the same sugar-acrylic gel mixture with which the rest of the ice-scape was modelled.
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
The next step will be to complete vitrine. Then, work on population of the scenery will continue and a some ‚loose’ equipment for the botter will also have to be made.
 
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

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

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

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

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

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

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