Mike Y

Dear Friends,
would like to let you know that I've finished my relocation from Belarus to Poland.
My workshop is reopened and from now I ship from within EU.
This is good news for my EU customers as now they do not care about import taxes.
 
Hope to see you again on my web site ShipWorkshop.com
 
regards,
Alexey
 
PS Yes, with heart full of love to Belarus my family have relocated to kind neighbor Poland...
 

Not for modelling purposes, but as soon as you start making small woodworking projects, or even a display case for the model...  

Small update: I dramatically reduced the noise by removing both wheels and applying tri-flow silicone lubricant to the internal sides of the ball bearings. They do not take any lube from the outside, but quite open from the inside. Now the bandsaw is running very smooth! I can use it without forcing my family to run away  

Finishes that were tested: (the bottle on the left side is a pure tung oil)

Results:

Unfortunately photos can't show all the nuances, I'm not a good photographer  
 
Don't want to make you bored with a full description of each test piece, just the main notes:
1) Be careful with your pure tung oil, it looks like mine started to solidify - the finished piece is full of small shiny glitter-like speckles, and the result is quite uneven. When I finished frames with the same tung oil - there was no such problem, but the oil was fresh.
It is also the darkest of all the finishes.

2) Sanding sealers were hard to apply - they become sticky really fast, and the #7 Rustins Shellac Sealer was so sticky that a lot of paper fibers just got glued right away. As a result, all shellac-based sealers were too blotchy and uneven. Maybe you really need to dilute them, but I did not want to play around with that - the number of possible recipes goes up to infinity, and it's too fiddly to do
The cellulose sealer was the least bad out of them all.
Look on all that hairy fibers that got stuck! Eeew.


3) The leftover glue looks more or less the same for all finishes except tung oil - it makes glue whiter and shinier.
4) Tung oil also makes treenails look a bit thicker, the rest of the finishes have the same effect on treenails.
 
 
As a result, I have two finalists - Danish Oil and Osmo Polyx (hard wax-oil mixture #3062). 
They look very similar, closest to the natural wood colour. Coincidentally they are also the easiest to apply and spot-fix!


Danish oil has a little bit more shine, while Osmo is the matt-est finish of them all. 
I was worried about wiping off Osmo (it is supposed to be sensitive to it, no thick layers should remain). Surprisingly, a thorough inspection with optivisor could not find any problems in tight areas, no build-up or any imperfections.
During the recent years I used it on a number of mini woodworking projects (boxes, pens, etc) and it holds well over time.
 
So, surprisingly, the winner is Osmo Polyx #3062! Danish oil is the second close.
Osmo is a relatively new finish, getting traction in fine woodworking, but I only found a few logs on MSW that mention it. It's not cheap, but a small can would last for a pretty long time. Based on these test results - I really encourage others to try and share what you think!

Had no modelling time for the last month, but hope to get back to the display case build next week.
In a meanwhile, remember the ebony dye test that I did 10 months ago? Here is the comment with the "before" pictures: https://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/7297-oliver-cromwell-by-mike-y-148-1777-pof-hahn-style/&do=findComment&comment=455741
It's time to check the results. It was mounted to be in the direct sunlight in the window facing south - basically getting maximum possible sun exposure during the winter and summer months. 
Parts of the piece were covered by paper to reduce the UV exposure (in hindsight, regular paper is probably not very effective for that).
So here it is after 10 months of sun:

 
And with paper removed:

 
So it looks like paper did nothing to protect it from UV. The spirit-based dye (in the bottom) got severely affected by the sun, very blotchy and ugly.
Water-based on (on top) shows no obvious signs of any discoloration. Note the top-right sector - it is a water-based dye with no finish. Tung oil finish (top-left) comes second, and danish oil (top-center) is too flat and glossy, without a proper texture.
Looks like I will simply use unfinished water-based dye on my wales. If it survived on a direct sun - should not be any troubles in the spot that does not have any sun exposure.
 
 

Hi Michael,
 
Here is a close-up:

 
For the context: my grandfather was a radio research engineer in USSR. He was working on the technologies similar to first cellular networks. He was a total radio geek (in a good way), and had an engineering mindset applied to any part of life.
His apartment was full of various electronic elements, catalogues and reference books. Pity that he is not with us anymore, he would really appreciate my hobby and line of work, so much to share...
 
The vice does not have any name or logo on it, and looks really well made (especially by soviet standards). There is a first letter of his last name hand-engraved on it - to prevent his co-workers from "borrowing" that hand vice. That hints that this tool was not widely available, and was valuable enough to be protected this way (nobody will "borrow" a tool that everybody has).
Doubt that the tool is made by him personally (he was definitely not into making tools, metal working or woodworking), but it could easily be something custom-made. Any sort of factory-produced tool in USSR had an identification number and a price tag stamped on it. This one has nothing similar, so probably not produced on a large scale. 
Here are similar hand vices of a factory-produced kind (not mine, pictures from the internet). Note a different handle and an identification number:

 

 
Old tools are an interesting angle to learn about history, work culture, industry of the time...

Making notches. New micro saws were handy to start them accurately without slippage:
 

 
And scalpel is really handy to remove the wood further. Very little force required, hence a good control of the cut. They flex much more than xacto blades, which makes it convenient for such application. Super happy with them, thanks Gaetan for making me try scalpels!
 

Thanks for sharing! I truly appreciate the advices from the experts! 
 
Yes, it is hard to control penetration, so I was planning on dyeing off-model only. Except wales, I want to sand/scrape them first to make sure they are even and smooth. Meaning I will need to dye a small part of the plank that fits the stem, and the rest would be dyed on model after fairing. All remaining planking would be done after wales, so no risk of dye sipping into the other planks.
 
I want to use some finish to seal the surface - to avoid marring with fat fingers. But want to keep it matte. Danish oil is too shiny indeed, but tung looks good and matte enough. Poly would be too shiny. 
So water-based stain with two coats of tung oil looks really close to what I want, now I need to see how it changes over time. Will also try Holly and a shoe dye for comparison.

Hmm! I was following the common sense that "it is better to use wood dye for wood, not the shoe dye". Probably I was wrong.. Will test the shoe dye as well!
Although I am pretty happy with the look of the water-based wood dye. Soft, monotone, even, a little bit grainy, exactly what I need for wales. But might be too fluffy for small parts.

In a meanwhile, tested different ebony dyes on pear. This is a lighter pear, the one that was included into the timbering set from Lumberyard. Should be perfect for the purpose, colour deviation makes no difference if you put a dye on it
 
Found two dyes available, both from Liberon, one is water-based, another is spirit-based. Water-based works as I expected, but does not penetrate the wood deep enough. The spirit one is very weird, not a uniform structure, looks dirty and does not give a consistent colour. You can't apply multiple coats of it, the instruction says "second coat can tear out the first coat". But penetrates the wood better than the water-based (cut off a few slices to check that). Okay...
On this photo, spirit-based dye is in the bottom, and water-based is on top, near the corresponding can:

 
Close-up (sorry, on this photo and all other photos - water-based is in the bottom, spirit-based is on top):

 
Then applied different finishes on them.
Again, water-based dye is in the bottom, spirit-based dye is on top.
Left side - no finish applied at all.
Center - three coats of danish oil
Right side - two coats of tung oil.
 

 

 
Now I will cover half of each section with the paper, and put this test piece into direct sunlight for a while, until it would be a time to install wales. So I probably have a year
The idea is to see how a certain finish will change over time, exposed to UV. 
Will follow up!

Bolin, maybe you would be an appropriate person to ask, since it is a bit related to the vessel you are building..
Last summer I had a brief visit of Skärgårdsmuseet on Nämdö, a tiny museum in the old school building on one of the islands. They had some factoids about Roslagen sloops and one thing made me puzzled: apparently there were some restrictions on the size and type of the ships that the archipelago farmers were allowed to have, and these restrictions were one of the major drivers for the design of these sloops (trying to maximise the efficiency).
What was the reason for such restrictions? Do you have some sources to read to find out more? 
It's unlikely to be driven by natural factors (there are no critical channels in this area), sounds more like an anti-competition measure. 
Would appreciate if you can share more details that you've found during your research  
 


 

Hi Hans,
 
Hope things are ok for you!
Have you figured out the transom geometry? 

Tried Arkowood (https://www.arkowood-lossburg.de/). Was looking for a high quality wood supplier in EU, who have at least pear, Castello boxwood and ebony. Looks like I found it!
 
Wood quality:
Colour variation - very small, wood is finely selected. Thickness deviation: not more then 0.05mm! Finish: very smooth finish, feels like sanded with 300-400 grit. Other: 
Custom size milling: no problem with that, if you do not see the right size in their catalogue - just mail what sizes do you need. The price level for custom milled wood looks the same as for the standard cuts they have in catalogue Communication: excellent, I received a reply to my mails in a few hours! Wood cost - looks ok. Hard to compare, but looks on the same level as in US suppliers. However, you save some money on not paying VAT, customs, postage fees and extra shipping, that you are usually paying if ordering from US Payment methods: paypal is accepted. Delivery cost: quite moderate, regular postage price from Germany to other EU country. No feeling like you are getting overcharged for delivery. Processing time: they promised 1-2 weeks, I got the wood in 2 weeks. So quite fast, with correct estimations Packing quality: ok, no damages  
The photo of what I received.
Left - swiss pear (steamed pear), center - castello boxwood, right - ebony:

Nothing that could not be fixed with a bit of sanding!  👍

Your accuracy and precision level pays off! These frame pieces look great, please avoid using that scary drawknife on them!  

Hi Andre,
 
They are fairly common in modern offices, and allow to work while standing. Height is adjusted smoothly and continuously with two buttons under the table, no tools required and it takes a few seconds. It is not a fixed set of positions, you can move it like you move your car window. I move it up and down all the time, depending on the work being done. They used to be expensive, but then IKEA released a very decent version for half the price (model name BEKANT).
You can buy the ready-made office table, or just a frame separately. Screw any tabletop on it and you have your custom made electrical table.  It is nice to have a solid wood instead of an office fiber board, so you can add a vice and clamp things without damaging the top. They exist in different sizes, colors and even corner versions are available: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/search/products/?q=bekant frame stand
The only downside - it is a table for light work, not a replacement for workbench, since legs have motors and screw rods embedded into them. So I would not recommend chiseling a tenon an mortise joints for your furniture projects on such table... Otherwise it is great   
 
There are a few topics on this forum where this was discussed in details, with photos, etc.
 
 
 

This is something else, but there is more than one "correct one". Try it, shake it, make sure it is not too flimsy, check the max height if you are tall  

Carl, I'm not denying the history or suggest to remove Cromwell from all the books. I just don't want him anywhere close such a intimate thing like a model that you put hundreds or hours and elbow grease into   In the same way as I would never build a model of Herman Göring's yacht.
And, as Brian mentioned, I am lucky to have a choice - the ship was captured, slightly modified and renamed, it's not too late to pick the version to build. 
 
So back to the modelling!
 
Roughly 1200 holes were drilled, the Buzzr did its job perfectly with zero broken bits! 💪

 
Bamboo treenails were glued in

 
Resulting in a pretty satisfying sight  

 
Pointy bits were cut off and most of the glue was removed with a dremel with nylon bristle brush. The hull was covered in plastic since this process is quite messy, small bits of glue are statically charged a bit and stick to everything.

 
Now the best part - sanding and fairing. I really love this one, turns an ugly uneven surface into a neat and clean one (unless there are gaps)  
 
Hahn jig is really convenient for such work, since you can actually lean on it and rest your hands on it without damaging the model. That allows you to work precisely and for a longer periods of time with elbows resting.  I can really recommend constructing support like this even if you do not use Hahn's method. 
Nevermind my corona haircut

 
 
Wide gauge chisel (Pfeil #7) came in handy for removing the remaining glue residue in hard-to-reach areas, as well as fairing the planks. It's surprisingly easy to control, can definitely recommend this tool.

 
The rest was done with a combination of sanding, scraping and chiseling. Final sanding grit was just 400 instead of a usual 600-1200.
 
Here is the end result. Notice how the treenail color is quite different, even though they were all cut from the same wood that looks identical from the outside. I know the the nail pattern is not entirely correct, as an excuse - it was marked up a year ago!  





 
It's definitely not perfect, there are a few tiny gaps and dings, but it's good to practice on an internal planking (that would be barely visible afterwards), to build up skills for the more exposed areas.
 
Now it's time to apply some finish (at least to get an even treenail color), but I have no idea which one to use - these planks are actually the first boxwood parts on the model! All my finishing experiments were on pear, cherry and walnut, and the results are very wood-specific. I definitely do not want to turn this boxwood dark green-ish or dark yellow, ideally want to keep the color as light as possible. My guess is that oil is not the way to go, but some kind of sanding sealer would be better. Will make some samples and try all the main finishes I have before using them on the model.
 
Feels a bit wasteful to spend quite a lot of boxwood for these experiments, considering its price and availability... But I wasted less than budgeted on whoopsies and redos, so there is a bit of a reserve  
 

I have a shameful confession: since the beginning of the build, I've never actually read who Oliver Cromwell was further than a basic summary. "Some aristocratic British dude, whatever, I like the model". In hindsight that was not the smartest thing, it's like picking a rare name for your child without googling it first 🤦‍♂️
Over the last year I found more and more articles about him and his legacy, and it started to smell pretty bad. History (and the present) have had enough brutal authoritarian tyrants, and Cromwell was a pretty dedicated one. I started feeling shame and disgust when opening my own build log, like it's a dirty word that may be actually offensive. I hereby apologise to Irish for my ignorance..   Luckily, there is a way out without deviating from history - that ship was renamed once it was captured by HMS Beaver. The new name was very creative - "Beavers Prize" - probably to make sure nobody would contest the origin of the vessel   It's great! It has no relation to any historical figures, a bit humorous and may work as a conversation starter  The spelling is not so obvious (Beaver's Prize is also used), but I would use the simpler spelling with no apostrophe, same as on the original NMM plans.  So from now on this log is renamed accordingly.  Horrah to the Beaver!      There are a few modifications that need to be done. When captured, it was measured and the plans were drafted. While there, some improvements were suggested and then implemented: * Second double-level capstan (I guess capstans were like clamps - you can never have too many) * Improved lower deck layout * Fore mast moved ahead a bit * New galley stove installed   Quote from the Hahn's book "Ships of The American Revolution":   Suggested changes are drawn as a dotted line on the NMM plan:    I really like that changes, especially the second capstan - it would make the quarter deck a bit more interesting.   P.S.: the actual construction is going well, all treenails are in place and I'm sanding and scraping the internal planking. Will post photos once that phase is completed.

And here is the current state of things:

Stem assembly required a bit of fitting and fairing, laser kerf was not taken into account when pieces were laid out.

But overall the glue-up was going easy.



There are some small gaps, but I decided not to be a perfectionist here  

 
Now the stem needs to be rounded and sanded:

End result:

Thanks, greenstone!
 
In a meanwhile, we had a bit of delay because of another project: this took a bit longer than expected - the manual is 400 steps long, but the result is amazing - pneumatic cylinders work, fantastic!

 
Back to ship modelling - we started fitting the deck. It was an exercise in an endless cycle of "sand a bit - try again - make some pencil marks - sand a bit more".
The deck is laser cut to separate planks that are tied together by a few tabs. They are probably supposed to be installed separately, but we decided to cut some corners and install the deck as a single piece. 
 

Daria had no problems sanding thin veneer, but I helped a bit every now and then - the process is too repetitive for a child. 
The glue-up was simple in the beginning, but turned into a nightmare quite soon - planks swelled because of the moisture in the glue, became wider and started to push each other out. I ended up cutting off some planks in the middle to leave the room for expansion. It was a mess and the glue dried to quick, so no photos. While I was loosing a battle against the glue and moisture and swelling planks - Daria decided to cheer me up and made a cute drawing of us working on a model  
 
 
That helped!
 
Resulting deck:
 
 
Fitting few parts around transom to close it off, I let her use the disk sander, which made her super happy - using some real adult tools, yay!

 
Then we did a bit of scraping:

 
A lot of sanding:

 
And - finally - finishing! Used some Danish oil. Might be a bit too shiny, but it is the easiest finish to apply and dries relatively quick:

 
Final result. Kind of blotchy, unfortunately. Maybe we should have sanded the deck more. 
The wood is not monotonous and have a bit different texture in different places. 
But it's good enough for the purpose!

 
 
 

Just for the information - looks like the order queue is pretty short now (Mikhail says that he has more time to manufacture them due to covid). My order was ready in just a few weeks (from the first email to the production process)! So if you were thinking about it, but were hesitating - now is the perfect time to order!
He has some standard cutter sets, from 15-ish to 25-ish items. One can even pick and choose the desired cutter types.
The price per piece is the same regardless of the cutter type, and only depends on the handle (plus box and shipping).
 
As all the others, I am very happy with the order and its quality (got the set of 23 items with pear handles).

Hope now you will spend more hours in your cozy work area  Glad that you are back to this build!

Finishes that were tested: (the bottle on the left side is a pure tung oil)

Results:

Unfortunately photos can't show all the nuances, I'm not a good photographer  
 
Don't want to make you bored with a full description of each test piece, just the main notes:
1) Be careful with your pure tung oil, it looks like mine started to solidify - the finished piece is full of small shiny glitter-like speckles, and the result is quite uneven. When I finished frames with the same tung oil - there was no such problem, but the oil was fresh.
It is also the darkest of all the finishes.

2) Sanding sealers were hard to apply - they become sticky really fast, and the #7 Rustins Shellac Sealer was so sticky that a lot of paper fibers just got glued right away. As a result, all shellac-based sealers were too blotchy and uneven. Maybe you really need to dilute them, but I did not want to play around with that - the number of possible recipes goes up to infinity, and it's too fiddly to do
The cellulose sealer was the least bad out of them all.
Look on all that hairy fibers that got stuck! Eeew.


3) The leftover glue looks more or less the same for all finishes except tung oil - it makes glue whiter and shinier.
4) Tung oil also makes treenails look a bit thicker, the rest of the finishes have the same effect on treenails.
 
 
As a result, I have two finalists - Danish Oil and Osmo Polyx (hard wax-oil mixture #3062). 
They look very similar, closest to the natural wood colour. Coincidentally they are also the easiest to apply and spot-fix!


Danish oil has a little bit more shine, while Osmo is the matt-est finish of them all. 
I was worried about wiping off Osmo (it is supposed to be sensitive to it, no thick layers should remain). Surprisingly, a thorough inspection with optivisor could not find any problems in tight areas, no build-up or any imperfections.
During the recent years I used it on a number of mini woodworking projects (boxes, pens, etc) and it holds well over time.
 
So, surprisingly, the winner is Osmo Polyx #3062! Danish oil is the second close.
Osmo is a relatively new finish, getting traction in fine woodworking, but I only found a few logs on MSW that mention it. It's not cheap, but a small can would last for a pretty long time. Based on these test results - I really encourage others to try and share what you think!