Roman

Bob those are beautiful castings on that table and simply elegant. These saws were ahead of their time. It reminds me of Inca saws, nothing overdone but wonderfully engineered. Roman

Richard, I think your opinion is very much in line with most of us. The Byrnes tilt table is a relatively new thing compared to the saw itself. When I first purchased mine it was not available but I did get the micrometer and the fence extension. The taper attachment and a handful of blades came later. I cannot imagine most owners of the Byrnes saw did any different. It is fair to say; grow the machine as your needs grow! Yet it is a good thing if you have the means to get the whole kit in one shot. Roman

Shawn, get as much saw as you can afford. Considering that Byrnes makes such a fine tool, look at it as an investment. I have all but the tilt table and it is in my short wanted list. What you think you will not use today, who knows you may end up using it or not in the future; however you will have a complete Byrnes machine that is truly unique. I do not think you will ever lose your money on these and to someone else, it will only make it more desirable that you have the complete Byrnes table saw; in case you decide to sell it or will it to your children. As Mark said the blades are made by Thurston but you can get them from Byrnes. Roman

I must say that ship model building is after all a fastidious but enjoyable past time. We all have our own way of approaching and solving similar problems. I am quite sure that model makers of the 18th century were using tools that were state of the art then and along the way came another modeler who preferred to use 16th century tools. I guess that is normal in us humans. I would assume that we could all scratch build with less specialized tools but it sure is nice to be able to look in the tool box and have at your disposal a Stanley #6 or a scroll saw or the Byrnes saw or anything else that can make our life's easier. I am willing to bet that those great model builders of the 18th century would have used electric power tools had they been available at the time; but knowing what I know now from reading the comments, I must accept the reality of it all. After all, Beavers scratch build their Dams with a single tool, teeth. Thank god we are not Beavers. Respectfully Roman

Marc, you used a word that is key to using all tools. Understand! while participating in this blog I realize that there are many modelers out there who do not have full size tools nor are they required to do the job, many are not even interested in them. Understanding the capabilities and the limitations of all tools is essential, be it powered or hand. I do not know any more than the next guy about tools but since I owned a shop with two dozen plus employees I had to be on a constant vigil so no one got hurt, and no one ever did. I am certainly not going to feed 3mm x 1.5mm strips thru a jointer of any kind even the little Proxxon, but I am in the interest of time going to feed 2"x6"x24" thru my Jointer once all the safety precautions have been taken. This is one of the reasons that make Byrnes tools so good. They are scaled for scale down work. Make no mistakes, all tools are dangerous including hand tools. They should be understood and respected but not feared. Have fun with them. After all most of the fun of ship modeling is the journey. Roman

Don't be confused, all of this is food for thought. If all you want to do is cut strips from s4s (surfaced four sides) stock the table saw is the easiest to do that task with. If you are buying rough lumber, then you will need a tool to surface the stock. Please don't let any of this make you think that you need a warehouse full of tools to do ship modeling. As Dave mentioned before a well fettled hand plane and patience will take you there. As an example, in my situation I like working with Loquat (Japanese Plum). This wood is very common in Tampa where I live but not commercially available so I have to keep an eye out for fallen limbs or cut trees to harvest. In other words I am working with trunk or limbs 4" to 12" diameter initially. These will have to be cut into manageable 2"x6"x24" from a log once dry. This task is not suitable for a table saw but easily handled by a bandsaw or a handsaw if you so desire; from this point you still have to plane two surfaces one to lay flat on the table saw and the other to run along the saw fence in order to get somewhat accurate strips. Roman

Obviously I can't speak for the man but I visited Jim at his shop a few months ago and he is very busy producing the four machines he offers along with the many accessories not to mention the myriad of projects he has at hand, so you never know. For those that are not familiar with him he is as you would expect an excellent ship model maker if he does not mind me saying so. In my book he is a renaissance man. Every time I have come out to see him, he has always been very gracious and accommodating. I don't know but when I visit his shop, it is a pilgrimage for me. God knows send him your requests. Roman

George, you are correct and I did not notice the previous reply to this question given by Clark.... I must clarify a misunderstanding about planers. Despite its name the sole purpose of a planer (not a hand plane) to clarify, is to make two surfaces parallel to each other while cleaning up the 2nd face of the stock. If the bottom surface is warped or slightly warped the upper surface although surface planed, will conform to the bottom surface warp after the feed & out feed rollers release their pinch. The tool that has the ability to true up the surface and remove the warp is the Jointer. On the jointer you would normally flatten or true one face and one edge, once that is done you can run the stock thru the Planer and both surfaces or faces will be theoretically flat and parallel. That is the reason I posted earlier the pictures of the Jointer and the Bandsaw. The thickness sander Byrnes or any other behaves the same as the Planer. At least one surface must be true and flat for the lumber to be sanded to the desired dimension. To me, the Byrnes sander picks up where the planer reaches its limitations; that is stock thickness and finish quality. I am sure you have heard the comment from machinists and engineers: "with a Milling Machine you can do anything"! Similar holds true for the Bandsaw and the Jointer combined. Respectfully Roman

The question is still out there!

Marc, there could be several issues that cause the scroll saw and bandsaw blades to wander off track. One of them is force feeding the wood into the blade and not allowing it to cut at its natural pace. This causes the blade to dull up prematurely and it forces you to add more pressure to feed and correct the trajectory of the cut. The second has to do with the blade itself. Scroll saw and Bandsaw blades are fabricated by a stamping process that leaves one side of the blade or the exit side of the stamp sharper; when installed on the saw this sharp edge will want to push the blade to one side. This of course has to do with the quality of the blade. When ever possible try to use double skip tooth blades, this has a positive effect on the cut and will reduce the amount of sanding you will need to do as they cut faster and cleaner. The gap between the double tooth format allows the blade to remove the wood dust more efficiently from the kerf and keeps the blade cutting cooler without burnishing the wood; furthermore if you use a reverse skip tooth or double skip tooth the tear-out at the bottom of the cut will be reduced. Scroll saw blades are hardened along the cutting edge but not at the grip points( top & bottom )where they are malleable, this is to allow you to twist the tips and mount the blade sideways on your scroll saw. This action increases the length of the rip cut beyond the throat capacity of the machine. The Olson sheet provided as a pdf shows how to round off the back of the blade to improve its performance and prevent wander. This does not need be anything complicated you can use an emery board, a file or even sandpaper for metal. Give it a try. Best regards Roman FinishingStone.pdf

Richard if I am permitted to chime in on your question, the answer is yes but. Let me begin by saying that table saws are inefficient and dangerous beasts that occupy much real estate. I speak from experience as I have owned a number of them including a monstrous Altendorf F-45 capable of ripping 6 7/8" thick material (six and seven eight inches). It was not cheap and lets leave it at that. Someone else mentioned a Japanese saw and I agree with him. It will take practice and patience, but a Japanese Kataba saw with rip teeth will do a good job. They are not cheap but if you have the desire to spend the time they cut on the draw and have a finer blade than western saws. They are in my opinion easier to use. A some what decent Kataba will set you back $45 to $60 U.S. There is also another Japanese tool called a "Kebiki Dai", it is a slitting gauge and can be used to make strips of wood. It looks like a western marking gauge. You should consider a Bandsaw and a 6" Jointer and they do not have to be big. In fact if I could only choose one saw for my work the chosen one would be a Bandsaw. There is no tool in a shop that is more versatile and capable it takes very little room, quiet and has good cutting capacity far greater than a table saw even for a small machine. You need the jointer or a hand plane to true up or level the wood blank and the Bandsaw to rip, crosscut, miter, contour cut; put a sanding belt on the thing and sand. These two tools are easy to use and store as they are relatively small. I think Grizzly has a 6" Jointer that is even cheaper than the Porter Cable. I think the Rikon is $289 at Woodcraft less 10% and the Jointer at Lowe's around $269. Don't forget the tax. Regards Roman

As Frank Lloyd Wright used to say... "Take care of the luxuries the necessities will take care of themselves". You may or may not agree with him, buy it while you can.

Anything Byrnes you purchase is a joy. During my last visit to Jim's shop I purchased the Ropewalk and as customary...... Superior. The thickness sander could not be simpler and more elegant in its design. I is designed to work accurately and last for a lifetime. You cannot go wrong with it. Regards Roman

Joss, I do not know if you are aware of the twist and turns of the October 5th, 1804 battle to this day. When this attack took place the British people criticized it because it took place in time of peace. There is a company here in Tampa that some may not be aware of, but well known in Spain and particularly in Gibraltar; some of its people were arrested leaving the latter. The company, Odyssey Marine Exploration Inc. a salvage company was in the news until late 2012 because of its discovery and recovery of the treasure from the silver fleet of 1804. Said wreck is claimed by the Spanish government to be that of the frigate "Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes", the Mercedes of your story. Odyssey Marine has lost its court battle in the US Supreme Court and the treasure recovered that includes thousands of coins and other relics had to be returned to Spain. Due to the many souls lost the ship is considered by many to be hallowed ground. For those that think it is there for the taking, there is an International Treaty that protects warships sunk in battle from treasure seekers. The treasure recovered is said to be worth some $500 million US. This is one more reason to model the Amphion. The history behind these events of 1804 reaches us today.

Here is a bit of detail by Thomas Bryant who was stationed in Cartagena during those years. This one is dated June 13, 1802; title reads: Plan that manifests the external decorations of a Frigate of 34 Guns in the four figures............. etc. Should be nice to contrast this sort of detail with that of Amphion and Medea's transformation to HMS Imperieuse. Roman