Mike Y

The colour scheme is very nice!

Brian, trying to keep the model clean is already a big problem. Keep in mind, my "workshop" is in the living room Surprisingly, most of the dust on the model looks like a regular dust, not a wooden dust. I ended up covering the model in plastic film, which is ugly Fine dust gets between frames, and it is not easy to get it out even with compressed air. When I will start the deck framing, it would be nearly impossible to get id of the dust inside the hull. So the display case is a necessity for me. I am just trying to make it less ugly, so it would be a model of its own Hence this decorative joint, inspired by the joints in the model itself.

Finally done with all the gifts! This Christmas season was way to long So back to the display / dust case for the Cromwell. Tested the corner joint design on a piece of pine scrapwood. Here is the joint drawing: Milling scarf joints was easy, using various angle blocks to make sure that they all have the same angle: Side joints were more tricky, not possible to mill easily. Crosscut sled came in handy: Resulting parts. Nevermind some chipout, it is pine: Glue-up was tricky due to a number of angles that must be square: Result: Now the most risky part - making that weird shaped corners. The front part of the joint will be detachable and will hold the front glass, but to make the corner it should be clamped together with the non-removable part: Then caaaarefully shaping it on a disk sander: Adding some bevels, the bevel guide was handy! Done! So that joint is quite manufacturable, which is a good news! This is the first and only attempt, no scrap pieces. However: 1) Side joints are too miniature (3mm lips) and are easy to chip out 2) No need to add that miters on the side joint - they only add complexity and no real visual effect. 3) Building the display case will require some ridiculous precision - making sure all stock is precisely dimensioned, careful alignment and squaring. Will definitely need to buy some extra wood. 4) Worried about wood shrinkage/movement and getting out of alignment due to humidity variations... What do you think?

Procrastination continued, made a napkin holder as a gift, this time it sooort of related to ship modelling? Walnut, cherry "frames", maple and ebony strip, Osmo finish (a bitch to apply in a tight corners, should be really applied before assembly).

You are building it so quick! The log started just a month ago, and you already have most of the frames in place! Envious! Though there might be a big of fairing ahead

It is a true beauty!

Maybe it would make sense to make them longer than needed, scribe the cutoff lines, and join together with spacers or battens above the cutoff line?

Hjx, it is mostly "swiss pear" - european pear tree that gets is pink/brown colour after kiln drying. If your wood is rough - pass it through the planer or thickness sander first, otherwise sanding will take a lot of time. Nothing special for polishing - just sanding with Mirka sandpaper, grits 220 -> 400 -> 600 -> 1200, sometimes up to 2000. Different brands and kinds of paper leave slighly diferent finish, so your grits may be slightly different. Sanding on a flat surface (paper clamped to the table, moving the wooden part on the paper, not vice versa), or with a cork sanding blocks of various shapes. Never sanding freehand. That is all to avoid rounding the edges, which is unavoidable if the paper has a soft backing (fingers, foam, etc). quite frequently I scrape the wood after sanding with 220 or 220 -> 400, using heavy duty xacto blades for scraping (holding the blade with fingers, without a handle. This helps the blade to follow the lines of the wooden part). Do not forget to round the sharp corners of the blade to avoid scratches. It is also very handy for curved surfaces, where sanding block might not be convenient. I use an optivisor to check the surface and see if I sanded enough, or there are still some scratch marks after the previous grit. frankly, I never checked if what I am doing is an overkill. The difference between grits is quite visible when the wood is not finished, but after finishing - not sure if it is possible to see a difference between 600 and 2000 grit. But fine grits take very little time, so I do it anyway Sanding is a very important - few min of sanding each part makes a big difference to its look and feel.

There is definitely a market for benchtop air filters that could be just put on the back side of the workbench, pulling air through the filter. The main problem is getting a powerful enough, but quiet motors and propellers.

It looks great and built in such a short timeframe! Looking forward for the next log, hope it would be full of interesting jigs, fixtures and methods. Sharing them is fun!

Isn't it easier to use the disk sander for tapering?

Tony, it is a pretty quick and simple jig, but gives you a very different control. No movement at all, much simpler! It is like riding the bicycle with two hands instead of one

Still procrastinating, spending modelling time on things like handmade gifts to close family And when not - playing with tools. Built a crosscut and miter sled for the Proxxon FET saw. They are more precise and safer than the miter guide on the saw. Helping to keep fingers further from the blade and have a quick and consistent 90deg and 45deg angles.

Small update: finally got around to replacing the stock ball bearings on the top wheel. Luckily they are a pretty standard size, so I ordered SKF 608-2RSL http://www.skf.com/group/products/bearings-units-housings/ball-bearings/deep-groove-ball-bearings/single-row-deep-groove-ball-bearings/deep-groove-ball-bearings/index.html?designation=608-2RSL Works like a charm! The nasty noise is gone! Should have done it from the very beginning, especially since these bearings are quite cheap (even SKF ones). Got fooled by Proxxon support who claimed that everything is fine and the bearings are fine, even after watching the video with the noise captured on it. Replacing the bearings was easy, no temperature fit required - just gently bump out the old bearings with a hammer, and squeeze in new ones using a clamp for the even pressure without any stress.

"Keel clamp, adult size"

Hoorray, Danny is back! I missed your buld logs, even if it is not about ships

Is it really a drill press? Looks like a mill, if the bearings are good enough to handle some lateral forces? And it is a damn nice mill! There is something charming in a hand-made tools (not DIY level, but this work-of-a-true-craftsman level). There is always some story behind it, one looks on that drill/mill and visualises a man with a glass of whiskey, sitting next to the fireplace and drafting the sketches of the machine Cheers!

Seems like you had a busy weekend cutting all that blanks! The speed is truly impressive! Sorry for commenting every second update... But you might want to consider not cutting the paper in the center of the patterns, to prevent distortion and an incorrect frame width (for the midship frames where both sides of a frame are joined in the bottom). Like this:

It is really nice to see that tools in action!

Can you tell more about your mill? It seems to be based on MF70...

Yes, I was on that island a few times, and was impressed by the view on the docks from top of the hill. But, as usual, you can't get to the boats without breaking in. Though my favourite place is Skeppsholmen, especially its eastern part. Lots of wooden boats and ships, boatbuilding club, blacksmith workshop, smell of tar, drying lumber, etc... Really feels like a shipyard!

Matle, thanks for the info! Beckholmen is a bit tricky to stroll, it is mostly docks and just a little bit is open to the public. Or you know the right hole in the fence?

Gaetan, what are your planking plans this time? In such scale, might look great if not planked at all, bare frames and fully see-through from all angles Ok, sorry, it is your model, just dreaming Would be interesting to hear your thoughts on that!

Bob: got it, will photo. However, seems like we need to wait a bit. Here is the official schedule of SS Mariefred for 2017: So the first time it would be available to public is on 27th May. So before that it is probably in some dock somewhere. I checked the facebook group, no clear info there. But there are some interesting photos and videos! https://sv-se.facebook.com/steamshipmariefred/ While waiting - please check if there are some other areas that you want to check. Especially if there is something that you need that could be only observed onboard - in this case I will need to pay the entrance fee, which is ok, but then I better be a good spy and make all the photos you need!

Hi Bob, What part exactly? There are many windows on that ship To avoid confusion, it would be nice if you can highlight the relevant part using some other photo. Is it something on a side or a front of the ship? It is typically moored diagonally, so can't make a photo of the rear part without paying for the entrance ticket. It is moored in the morning next to the city hall, so should be easy to photo!