jud

I like the guide bearings on that saw except for the one below the table. I bought a cheap band saw with soft metal blocks used for the blade guides both above and below the table, never licked it much. Might be a good saw if I rebuild the guides now that I am semi retired and have some time. Good Grief, just started to count the things I want to get done now that I have more time, going to need to set priority's, that saw will be near the bottom of the list. I purchased my drafting table self healing drawing pad from an instrument company that sold sextants, surveying instruments as well as drafting supply's. It was 4 feet X 7 feet when purchased, had to downsize the table to a little under 6 feet wide and 3 1/2 feet deep a few years ago. Have had this cover about 14 years, a smaller one that I had purchased a few years earlier is still being used on a desk. The material was available at any length from differentl width rolls that the company had in stock, just cut what you need, the price if I remember right was about $ 12/foot. My drafting table top is a solid core hospital door that I bought from salvage, Bought a piano hinge and mounted the door to a large steel desk, put the pad on and added a drafting machine and ended up with a 400lb +/- drafting table, a pain to move but a good solid table. I would look for a pad at an office supply house that also sells drafting tools for a pad, bet you could get along without the printed grid without much hardship and the cost probably would be much cheaper than a hobby shop offering. jud

Drop by, I have about 5 gallons of solvent in the shop, or you could use gasoline like we did when I was a kid to wash parts. If you have a buddy in auto or truck repair see if you can use their parts washer, save a lot of time and do a better job. jud

Might be a good time to try using a scraper on the deck instead of sandpaper, because of the pre-painting. Like what you are doing and the thoughtful skill that is revealed by your work. jud

Come on, you've had 12 minutes to post some more, I sit in anticipation, trying to be patent. jud

Only way I can see to do it is to use sheet brass well annealed and just long enough to match the ID wanted and wide enough plus a little of the OD of the channel, form it and leave it on the inside forming tool. Then tightly wrap a wire the diameter matching the ID of the channel and peen the flat ring over that tight wire from both sides. probably need to fabricate a jig and turn the ring in the jig at least once. Only way I know that you can stretch metal into the shape shown in your sketch. Or make it from a rod on a lathe. jud

Were I going to scale up part of a smaller circle, I would drop a vertical line down from the radius point. that would act as a reference line to center the expanded segment, you can always get a circle to intersect two points if the circle is large enough but that alone will not result in symmetrical appearance between two fixed points on your plans, That vertical line may be handy to have available to fine tune the horizontal position of your enlarged curve. jud

Have been looking at various rope walks and how they were traditionally constructed and used. I have the room so my preference is to build one with a swivel on the tail stock and use a topper to control the final twist. A two way motor with a long cable control switch box would be handy to increase or decrease the thread twist as the rope was forming, just a short distance should be enough to fine tune the initial twist. Ropes were formed from the tail stock behind the topper on those types of rope walks, they do require a long narrow space. jud PS: kind of interesting to read about the different ways ropes were made for different uses such as the shroud lay, 4 threads formed over a core. That center core would require provisions on both ends for it to be at center and not be twisted while forming the rope, A small wire core, might eliminate sagging rigging.

Does not change the radius point by breaking the arc up into segments. You might try plotting 9 or more points along the curve and forcing the spline through 3 at a time. May not end up tangent, spine to spine, but at model scale it should be undetectable. jud

Just from appearance with no research, I would put her at 1945 +/- 5 years. jud

Jerry C, from what I have read, beeswax does not directly have a negative impact on your rigging or other parts in a ventilated space. The problem develops over time when the models were kept in a closed viewing case. The study done to determine what was happening indicated that wax was producing a caustic gas that remained in the closed environment of the viewing case. Don't think it was determine as to the whys of the wax breakdown in the first place, the breaking down of the wax may also be caused by the closed environment and the wax reaction to aging wood. Don't believe beeswax, used on the rigging creates much of a risk to your models, If you case them, just provide ventilation and that should be all that is needed. Don't think that the damage to the cased models happened in the modelers lifetime, it took much longer. jud

Was she a cable laying vessel? Comes from somewhere back in the cobwebs in my mind that is she might be the Atlantic.. jud

As an experiment, try double sided tape on a dowel like stick, be a quick way to determine if the idea was worth pursuing. good luck jud

Q A's, I did see those posts, think it was a post, maybe on another site, about the breaking down of rigging of old cased museum models that was blaming the deteriorating beeswax producing a caustic gas in a closed environment, a good argument was made supporting that opinion. Beeswax has been used for years to protect and seal leather stitching with no adverse effects, but saddles and other leather goods are seldom sealed in an airtight viewing case. The post about why museum models were deteriorating, was the reason I have asked about ventilation for cases several times On MSW, few seem to consider it necessary, they may be right. jud

How about a small dowel, one end reshaped so there is a small flat surface then treated with some adhesive that drys to a consistency of the sticky side of tape. Use it to pick up those tiny pieces and to place them where they were intended to be. Could use another similar but untreated dowel, or maybe a dental tool, to release the part once correctly placed. Would need to do some research and testing to find out what adhesive would work best. jud

When sewing leather I just run the thread over a beeswax block and sew, usually with an awl using a two needle lock stitch. When I sew sheep skin to the skirting, I run the thread over the beeswax block as usual, put a loop in one end and place over a sturdy hook. Then the canvas pad comes out that I made from some canvas I keep around and use it to burnish the thread until the thread is hot and slick, by then most of the beeswax will have been drawn into the hot thread, binding the thread fibers together resulting in a thread that will pass through wool with little problem because it will not pick up the wool fibers and create a mess of knotted fibers, old time method used to sew sheepskin, it works. Could the method be adapted to ship modeling, think it would work well with standing rigging. jud Responded to this, forgetting I had already done so a month ago, sorry for the repeat.

Muriatic acid is a good cleaner for brass, have used it to clean up radiator cores and tanks when re-soldering the tubes, both top and bottom, bought the acid by the quart and used a portable grinder with a wire wheel to remove the old solder, washed it with the acid and then re-soldered without further cleaning or touching. Did that several times on old Caterpillar RD 6 radiators when I was farming, had three of the old darlings, always had one that was running when needed. Late 30's Cats and could buy them at scrap iron prices then, no more, they are collectibles today. jud..

The deck beam shown is arched, when loaded the decking would be in compression and strengthen the deck beam, the king planks being thicker would provide greater compression strength where the forces would be greatest across the span. Doubt that the internal divisions were designed to be structural members of the ship. Only my opinion based on the above drawing. jud

Nice castings Kurt. jud

White metal castings do not need a centrifugal casting machine nor does brass or iron. Metal has been cast for century's before that machine came along. Sand Molds or many other types of material can be used as long as the material holds it shape and withstands the heat of the pore. You can even get a casting, if you are tough enough, by using your hand as a mold and pore into it, Like many molds that, hand mold would be for one time use only and the quality of that casting would probably not duplicate faithfully the shape of the mold at the beginning of the pore. . jud

Rolled tight and put away wet will result in mold, then fire. jud

I would expect those hammocks to have been covered by a form fitting wax and oil treated canvas cover, "tarp", to protect them from the weather, sea water and salt. A tightly rolled canvas with a blanket and extra clothing getting wet would immediately start to mold, rot and create heat. Those sailors didn't do well with wet, moldy beds any better than any of us would. jud

The mines used were made by people who knew what they were doing and what was needed to lay them safely. Most had a one hour delay before they were armed, giving the mine laying vessel time to clear the area. Some could be set for delays much longer if needed. Most were designed to disarm themselves if their mooring cable was broken and the mine floated to the surface, don't think anyone trusted that safety device and sunk floaters with rifle fire. jud

Brass and iron both require very high temperatures to be able to pore into a mold. That temperature is so high that you don't want to be creating it in your home, that alone prevents its use in most hobbyist levels, unless the hobby is casting those metals and the proper knowledge, location and tools are on site. If you create the molds and can find a local foundry, you are in luck. Many colleges that have an art department teach casting in bronze, usually they will work with you, might need to take a class, check it out. jud

Most power sources I have seen use a fan for cooling, don't see one in that box which appears is be closed with no visible ventilation provisions. jud

Wayne, had those numbers ready to post and talked myself out of it. What you posted is correct and when dealing with large numbers of feet like State Plane Coordinates the minute difference between exactly and 10 digits does have a effect on where you find yourself in a rectangular grid. Oregon uses the International Foot, our neighbors use the US Survey foot when dealing with the State Plane Coordinate System as do most States. Need to know what definition you are working with across a state wide grid. The differences produce undetectable differences in the model ship world. jud