jud

Richard - I use this Berzomatic torch for silver soldering.  It runs on butane and is hot enough for the silver soldering I have done to date.  I use the silver soldering paste with flux premixed.  The torch has an adjustable flame.  I picked this up at Home Depot a couple or three years ago and it has been fine for me.  If I am not careful, it is capable of melting and evaporating the brass pieces I am working on.
 

 
Bob

Hi all,
After the problems discussed above, I sent the Blazer butane torch back to the manufacturer for them to test.  They report melting 700 F degree solder but that is the highest temperature solder they had for testing. 
 
I had enclosed a sample of the f silver solder which has a melting point of 1300F.  They reported that the torch could not melt that solder.  They also do not have the tools to measure the actual output.    Given that the torch is rated to 2500F I was left puzzled. 
 
They could not refund since I bought it through amazon, and its over a month so I cannot return it.  Actually, the torch is probably less than the cost of materials I went through trying to make it work.
 
So, it does not matter what I do, the torch does not seem to be able to get even close to its rated temperature.
 
I am wondering if anyone has had a similar or different experience with the Blazer and whether anyone knows of a butane torch that will melt high temperature solder and has the fine flame used for small parts? I do not do enough soldering to justify the more expensive torches that use tanks so would appreciate any suggestions.
 
Thanks all for your help,
Richard

My condolences to your father's uncle. It seems that there are a number of strong family connections that some builders on this Forum have with their models, (such as Piet and others). It also comes as no surprise that others such as yourself are also similarly connected by tragedy and history. It just shows how how precious life is, as well as how small a world this really is!

Any thoughts on the attachment of the strong back to the radial davits on the Endurance? This was the ship Shackleton used for the 1914 Antarctic expedition.
Is it only lashed to the davit or is there a mechanical attachment?
I can't make it out.
I have a pic attached showing the area.
Thanks,
Terry
 
PS Posted this in General Kit discussion in an old thread. Thought it may get an answer here.
Thanks

Plenty of discussion on this topic here. If you read my two cents you will see I am saying it's a lashing.  http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/9027-puddened-gripes/

Thanks for that link.
I found a great pic of the Georg Stage that is high enough resolution to see clearly.
Awesome!

Hi,
Here are a few ways to solve this problem.
Foto 2 Gorge Stage
Foto 3 HMS Warrior 1860
Foto 4 Dar Pomorza   ex Polish training ship 1909
 
Tadeusz

Dafi,
 
You're not completely cleared yet.. get those grates to the hold!!!

Greetings jarsjax,
 
I used 9mm primers (from spent cartridges) to fashion running lights for my Charles P. Notman 4 masted schooner.
 
wq3296

I was able to get a little break from driving today and was able to stay home. I had a couple of hours in the shop and worked on the spark plugs a little more.
 
A few more bodies were turned up out of brass. the small diameter stub represents the plug body and will be filed to a hex section the larger diameter of the rest will represent the circular plate that is on top of the head covering the oval plate as in this picture
 

 

 

 

 
Next I cut a strip 1/8th by 1/8th off the side of a scrap of Corian that I used as a cutting board in the kitchen using the tablesaw.
 

 

 
Some time ago I made a special 4 jaw collet from a bolt in order to make square headed bolts out of 1/8th square stock
This came in handy for turning down the Corian to .078" diameter after drilling a .028" hole about 3/8" deep
 

 
I turned short sections 1/16 long down to the finish diameter and progressed toward the chuck, this helped to support the work. once the full length was turned I slipped the steel core rod into the Corian and then pressed the brass over the Corian, using the tailstock chuck to ensure a good alignment.
 

 
and a shot with the finger for scale
 

 
The electrode was tested with a piezoelectric crystal to see how the spark would work and it worked fine I will need to add a steel in for the ground so that the spark jumps from steel to steel and not steel to brass.
 

 
I will do some more experiments on the fabrication next week if I get time.
 
It was a good stress reliever today to focus on the model and take my mind of other things.
 
Michael
 
 
 
 

Michael, those are amazing ! Your machining skills are incredible !
 
P.S Hope your wife is doing better with her health.

GPar,
 
Smaller is not necessarily better in scroll saws because with a small one, you're limited on size (length, width, thicknees) while a bigger one will let you work smaller.    Check out you local DIY store and see what they have.  There's also lots of topics in the Modeling and Workshop Equipment area with good info on saws, blades, etc.

I am familiar with those log entries. It was always my impression that the "weather clothes" were intended to provide addition freeboard not for shade. I think he would have said "awnings" which was a term on common usage back then. I could be wrong

Three teeth in the work at a time is a good rule of thumb. I suspect you are using too fine a blade and/or trying to feed too rapidly.

Thanks everyone, your participation in this build is highly appreciated!  Thanks also for all the likes.
 
Hi Dave, thank you and your dear wive for the compliments, it's very sobering.  I'm also looking forward seeing you, your wife and your builds - - and of course all the other participants.  Hope Jesse Lee can make it and the others from MSW.
Hope you don't mind me making a correction with what you call this model - U-boat.  She is a Dutch submarine and in the Duch language it's called an O-boot.  The O stands for "onderwater," in the German language it's Unterwasser boot," hence the U.  In both languages the word boot is pronounced as boat in English.  
Ah, those crazy languages, no wonder I struggled with them in the Dutch school system, failing grades in all three of the foreign languages, French, German And English   .
 
Hoi Carl,  Yes indeed, that sly John  .  But others have also stirred the pot in egging me on to add some more detail here and there.  Remco is at the top of the list, he has been a great help in making this model what she has become.  Fact is that without Remco it would not have been possible!  Then there is  Amateur Jan and Gino den Ridder and Boris in Saint Petersburg and a few more with their suggestions, you included.  Then all the moral support I received.
I truly hope that all who have followed this build have indeed brought the best out of me.  Although, I think I could have done better yet.
 
This build has been an emotional roller coaster ride for me and am looking forward seeing her on a shelf in my studio / office.
 
Cheers to all,

I am considering lying down to work as I will be close to all the bits and pieces that I drop.
When I have tried this out I will report back.
 
Mike.

Thank you for the kind words.....it is best to use a hard wood.  Any wood that is too soft will get very fragile for blocks that size.  The harder the wood the better.  Hard maple for example would work...yellowheart...boxwood of course or most fruitwoods.   Although some fruitwood is pretty soft.
 
Chuck

I have made gun carriages from scratch and am not familiar with your model and instructions.
Can you add a picture of the problem?
Others who are doing the same as yours may understand, but usually the problem is that laser cut parts are oriented the wrong fiber direction. Can you redo keeping this in mind? Or would it make sense to make the shafts separately out of a piece of thin stock and glue them on to the base?
 
Here is what I understand:

I also think it is 1850's vintage. 
With the purpose of starting a discussion, I make some observations based on little evidence:
The masts and yards seem to be over scale.
The hull lines look clipper-like, but with only topgallants on all three masts, it is more like a coastal packet.
I see no evidence of deck hatches, how would she carry any cargo?
The forecastle and catheads look twice as large - like the hull is 1/8" scale and they are 1/4" scale.
The bulwark height does not match scale with deckhouse size.
Scientific kits had pre-made shrouds with ratlines, but you would be better served mounting the shrouds individually and doing the ratlines in place.
This may not be a kit at all and not made from plans of a real vessel.

This is a follow-up to my query about zinc plating.
 
To simulate zinc plating on my Mount's Bay lugger model, I ended up using aluminum foil tape purchased at a local big-box building supply store. According to the manufacturer, the adhesive on this duct repair tape was good for a wide range of temperatures, from below freezing to well above boiling, so I figured it would sick all right to the smoothed, primed hull of my model. I cut scale rectangles to represent the 14" by 48" plates, and embossed them around the edges using a pounce wheel to represented the nail heads. I realize that this is not quite correct or realistic, since the nail heads would have been flush with the surface of the plates, or even recessed a little, but I felt that the visual effect of slightly raised nails was important to the overall look of the model. The aluminum foil tape was very shiny, but all it took was a spray with Dullcoat to give the plates a pewter-like appearance, close enough to the appearance of zinc plates.
 
Below is a photo of the hull, after finishing the application of the plates and spraying with Dullcoat. As I worked up from the keel and forward from the stern, I let the plates follow the curve of the hull, but the topmost row was applied along the waterline. In the photo, the rudder is in place, sheathed with foil plates below the waterline to match the hull, but has not yet been sprayed with Dullcoat. The effect of the Dulcoat on the shiny aluminum plates is clearly apparent.

Row,
 
Definitely check the runout.  What was suggested to me was to put a coin at the "bottom" of the jaws and tighten the jaws.  The coin should be small enough to allow the jaw "teeth" to be inside the circular opening. Then using the inside cutter, set the lathe spinning and just let the cutter kiss the jaw teeth. Move the cutter a very very small amount and cut a tiny bit off.  The runout should be gone.  You have to do the "kiss" with the cutter, slowly and carefully because if you try to move it too much at a time, you'll destroy the cutter and possible receive and injury from flying shrapnel.

Carl no I already have one now
Sorry Carl  I couldn't resist
 
I prefer a solid connection because of vibrations and the possibility of water spraying all over the inside of the boat, should the connection come undone.
Having spent many years fixing exhibits built by people who didn't think that their exhibits would ever need fixing, I am rather shy of things that cannot be dis-assembled.
 
Bob, glad the link was useful.
 
Thank you to all who have posted likes over the last entry.
 
Michael

You must be holding the parts together somehow, perhaps you have a heat sink effect that prevents the copper from heating enough but will allow the brass to heat to the lower tempurture needed for it.
jud

Jay,
I had noticed your question in your Constitution build-log, and it instantly reminded me that I had read the answer just the previous day. Note that I do not claim to know what half the terms used in the following passage mean ... but I DO know more than I did last week.
 
So, until Kester gets here …
 

You must be holding the parts together somehow, perhaps you have a heat sink effect that prevents the copper from heating enough but will allow the brass to heat to the lower tempurture needed for it.
jud