Some Idea

I have to agree with you here - I took a chance based on what I had heard on this forum and bought some myself. I found Mikhail to be very informative about what he sells and how to look after them too. I ordered my set and they arrived two weeks later!!!! They are simply fantastic and I love my set. The only place I have ever received such great service is from Jim Byrne's last Xmas. He sent me my order with no payment what so ever. I received it and got the bill in January. thats how business should be done.

That really is some lovely planking nice one vaddoc. I've also used thick planks and I found that if I didn't bevel them right to meet the previous plank the error really stood out. The other problem I discovered was if I bevelled the plank too much it looked great when I first put it on, but not so good once I got sanding. The gap just got bigger and bigger. I have to be honest though your work looks pretty much perfect I can see just how much work that you have put into this. Looking forward to your next update.

These are great saws and I use them as my go to saw. Now here’s the thing - you can spend a fortune on some other types but then you have to sharpen them. I can’t be bothered to do that so I get these and when they are blunt I get a new one. Great saws at a reasonable price.

That is a beautiful piece of work thats practical too. That would look nice just sat on a shelf as an piece of ornamental furniture.

Hi Tony towards the end of the monograph there is a page with the scantlings which gives the sizes of all of the parts. You just need to then scale the sizes given to the size that you want to build. As for the amount of wood in the various thicknesses I just guessed based on the building that I have previously done. I over ordered but that’s fine I can use it another time

Just a quick update. The 5 frames are now glued together and I'm getting on with bevelling them. I've done frame 28 and the pictures are of frame 32 sanded to shape which I think has come out quite nicely. When I started this build I never realised that some of the frames would consist of 13 individual parts. It make things much more interesting even if they are not seen when it's finished.

Ha ha well it was a 50/50 guess - Hi ya Jim hope things are good with you and Donna I think if I bought another bit of kit at the moment it would be the end of me. It'll have to wait until I get the all clear later in the year 😁

Hi Greg and thanks for the nice comment. I mean who wouldn't use their Byrnes saw as a flat surface 😄 Its perfectly flat and wipe clean too! I reckon Jim would approve!

I just wanted to say thanks for the advice on this thread. I've taken the plunge and ordered a Foredom SR and I also purchased the drill press attachment too. I'm looking forward to having a lot more control over the speed of the bit and also no run out on the bearings.

I'm making some good progress this weekend. The existing frames have now had all their bolts sanded down and they have been put away until a later date. All of the parts for the final 5 stern frames have been sanded to their final size too. I just had to remake 1 part on frame 32 as I wasn't quite happy with it The chocks are really nice to make but the parts are quite small. I think it would be very easy just to make them as 1 piece but then the grain of the wood would be running the wrong way. Its more work but I think worth it. I've now started gluing these frames together which I should get completed by tomorrow

I use Swann Morton too but I use a different handle. Their one is on the left but my preferred handle is on the right. Much more comfortable to use and heavier too

Hi Bob this is what I meant but you are better with words than me. If you use a piece of paper to measure the distance due to a curve then a calculator is or planking fan I think should be your next stop for planking. This is my opinion too for what its worth. A simple job that can become very overcomplicated when there is a very simple solution as you have suggested.

I too use proportional dividers but how can they be used for planking on a model? The frames are curved so if you take a measurement on the frame it will be incorrect. Dividers only work in straight lines as I understand it so they are great for working on plans but not 3D models. Paper and a calculator are required which makes the dividers redundant. Great bits of kit but seldom used in my very limited experience.

Hi GuntherMT thanks for letting me know about your experience I had hoped that they would be a great tool Hi Roger - A friend of mine who is a very experienced modeller bought a knock off version. It lasted 2 days - yes 2 days before it packed up. He should have known better and I still enjoy taking the Mickey now! I have more monies worth out of it pulling his leg than he ever did in his 2 days of ownership Buy cheap - get cheap and steal from the manufacturer too.

Hi Bob I've been thinking about replacing my Dremel which I've had for years with the Foredom tool. Are they really as good as they look. I know there's a lot of Chinese rip offs available but if I did take the plunge I'd pay the asking price for the genuine thing. I've just never met anyone who owns one and has put it through its paces? Mark

Some more done on Le Rochforte. Another 720 bolts drilled and glued in - I find this job strangely therapeutic and relaxing which is just as well. I've also thicknessed and cut the wood for the final 5 frames at the stern all of which are rising frames. These bring up a new challenge as they are built on chocks on the half floor side. It's been nice to look at the plans and understand them without scratching my head too. Tomorrow I'll hopefully get all of these parts sanded to shape and then start the assembly.

The mill is indexable on each axis. So I mark out the width with pencil and then touch to cutter to the surface. Then drop the cutter 0.5mm and make the passes. I check the width using a vernier so that I know its correct

Isn't it Just amazing!

Hi clogger the floor side is the side of the frame that sits the lowest on the rising wood. The half floor is raised slightly - If this doesn't help drop me a PM and I'll do my best to help you more. The good news is I've now sorted out the home heating I'm just waiting on the plasterer to arrive tomorrow to patch up the holes that we had to make in the walls and ceiling. So I'm now back onto this build and I'm very happy about that. Today I've been milling the slots for the floor chocks and drilling the holes for the frame bolts.

Hi Clogger - On frame 2 the floor side of the frame is the tallest. All of the floor side cuts have a solid line and this marks out the individual pieces. Similarly the dotted lines mark out the half floor side and this is the same for all of the frames. I'm sorry that I've not posted anything but our heating system at home has been causing us major issues. I've had to cut holes in the drywall to find a problem and its taking up a lot of my time to get it sorted out. Attached are a couple of pictures of frame 2 for you.

Hi Roger - I always clean my blades with something similar to this. Removes all of the gunk and restores its cutting ability. https://www.axminstertools.com/axcaliber-blade-bit-cleaner-500ml-104736

Another small milestone achieved today. I've now completed frames 16 - 27 and I'm definitely getting better at making them. Practice really does make perfect! I still need to cut the slots for the frame spacers and also drill and fit all of the bolts. I really do need to work on my butt joints though as I have a few which are really visible. They look OK when I'm gluing them up but a bit more precision on my part is required.

Hi Clogger and thanks for the nice comments I cut out the parts using a bandsaw but I stay away from the finished line. I then sand them down using a Dremel and a face sander before gluing them together. If you don't already have it I would recommend Adrian Sorolla's book called "An introduction to model ship building dockyard style". Its a full blown build of this model and I am using it as guide as this is my first POF build. What I do though is to make sure that when I sand the bevels the surfaces are sanded all of the way across. I think that this will make the assembly of the frames and final fairing a bit easier. I do this by simply using pencil witness marks on the piece. Just colour it in and you can see where you are sanding and also when you have achieved the flat face too. A few pictures below to explain. I use a file to do this work

Any soft solder will be ok - I still prefer the old type with the higher lead content it just flows better. Just have a good practice on something that doesn't matter and you will be ok. I should have said that the Powerflow flux is for soldering metals together only; never use this stuff on electrical connections.

Hi Dave - I can't vouch for the quality in any way but if all your going to do is the odd occasional bit of small soldering these will do you An 80W plug in iron £13.79 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/80W-LCD-Digital-Electronics-Soldering-Welding-Iron-Adjustable-Temperature-Tool/283979616080?hash=item421e810f50:g:1YoAAOSwWGNfN1N6 Or if you want to go with a gas soldering iron here's a pretty good make for £26. You can get cheaper ones and some come with a small gas torch adaptor https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GAS-SOLDERING-IRON-25w-80w-PRO-IRODA-SOLDERPRO-70-REFILLABLE-BUTANE-BLOW-TORCH/362052633206?epid=2147176154&hash=item544c04c276:g:VlQAAOSw21RbxwNF Use some Powerflow flux and you will have no problems. This is an aggressive flux that plumbers in the UK use for soldering pipework. I've used it for years and never had an issue. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fernox-FRY-Powerflow-Flux-For-Lead-Free-Solder-100-grams-WRAS-Approved/383565740013?_trkparms=ispr%3D1&hash=item594e4cb7ed:g:R9MAAOSwLEdfNZM9&amdata=enc%3AAQAFAAACcBaobrjLl8XobRIiIML1V4Imu%2Fn%2BzU5L90Z278x5ickkxFtV7J5P58ubuVigtBH%2Fey0ngebVyVAiyrzn%2FM%2F9TIttaXRgTC94tVdLWWclQb3zAIuzuu4gCMS47M1lHBRPE%2FSHXWXlm3rA1MCvKBdA9pzD%2BKjOltq2pJftFrbgvty8Vk3LyBPpkayBJdLMcBI25zdo%2FRjxGjv%2FTfikZzDpOpXGbvMMCcI85D7SyE7gbLb8upBeoebOwflvD%2B4xRaDeYMb5SiNDg%2B0PhQeXqbHK9JRuxyQCVKwHhA6tWZkzJC7LUhwEqIMmkYsFgnVaXN%2BzeQ8lbZgvE5kdQvucv7PtcXAizYxWWlITWDweX319HjrohTlYccBekicsVKz0DYogJw52Xuzvy6sIBuDKI8VxiIebas9qdLn6zFlTSLoz5ChCI3iE%2BXkVqiaER3ovvgSwo4ShZWbUJQjYNrATokLHn%2BUJ7jgYhwVT3eedl0XaFpvOFb0cZt3D0uue1Y7vxQnUNSFGC2A%2BMHGuXyiSdqDaSYL2w6DM85BZXhFH%2B1eOgbkXB%2FEIBLjJJiKgbUks0Z1S7R3mJX%2FRM3uyXaySGuQtI26owYEzrvZ8nHtsq4SW4K%2F4zrv5d2iClim2vA4gK1x1j29sW569npqXJtbUqcxaR94t9ysgktPG%2FfSpHqd4o6R%2Fzudl%2B6Ww3%2FbmZm%2BDBbx1JWF1ZZ0PzMFvkQcgZUGoqXQUotR60%2BOVrLk5H27Gvq1%2FGs%2BANC17Kd7jHT3h91SWwUgeDe4O4uf%2BLZ2hkOUGcr8cgoNQnYK7kczBsfs8A3ybMDuDIUVTdM3UFXpFTZXVqg%3D%3D|cksum%3A3835657400136ee460c97e55433c906e775df77bac7f|ampid%3APL_CLK|clp%3A2334524