paul ron

wow, stats, specs, charts n all. but... ive been using titebond or wood glue for the past 55+ years and can say without hesitation, not a single joint has come appart yet. so i find it hard to trust ca glue to last as long since i dont have any track record to compare. also ca glue out gasses for a long time.... which is very toxic as well as annoying when doing close work, burning eyes and skin irritations. besides... the acetone and other toxic waste involved doesnt sound like its better or advantageous to just using water for wood glues. are you wearing eye protection, gloves, a respirator rated for chemicals? soooo.... my question to all the ca users... what is your oldest project using ca glue?

i put my belt sander in my bench vice and square or round n shape my dowels to plan. then using a scraper i carefully finish them. its faster than the lathe, takes minutes to do. no centering, adjusting chucks n tool rests... etc.

@ers, sorry to hear about your situation. i know its a tough subject to deal with. i hope everyone takes your warnings very serious... same goes for hearing n eye protection. the few times when working dust, ill use my 3gal shop vac with adapters or hoods i custom make for the tool or area im working in. most hoods n adapters are made of card board or even toilet paper tubes or mailing tubes. my paint station is a cardboard box n ac filter i can fold up when not in use. there is no excuse not to use your personal protection equipment!

thats a good question... my 2 grand daughters, 9 and 11, have watched my scratch clipper model grow. when i run into any problems, i ask them to help me solve it. we'll brainstorm some ideas as we try to justify our fix. you would be surprised how crafty kids are. this has peaked their interest, so when they come to my house, they cant wait to see the ship in progress. recently, my 11 year old asked me if she can build a ship too. of course i said sure and that lit her face right up. i may start with something simple just to show her the process and how to work with plans. btw julia the 11 yo has helped me do home repairs and alwaysenjoys reading the instructions with me ever since she learned to read. the younger girl, chloe, is more interested in sewing, drawing n painting... thats another of my hobbies in progress. shes more artsy fartsy. i gave her a tam to work in so she looks the part, my little Rembrandt painting a cartoon character called stitch using her own painting set up in her own work space on my bench. we built table easels together. they loved using the jig saw n drill press... chloe said she feels so grown up now that she is allowed to use the shop machines n tools (with my supervision of course). i think the best way to get kids involved, let them help at an early age. ease them in as their curiosity grows. since they've seen how its done, they feel more relaxed and will want to go on their own. that helps them focus on their projects because its all theirs. one important thing to remember... you cant mess it up!... you can always fix it or make another... and together, we can figure it out.

my experiance with shellac flakes in alcohol, doing french polish on furniture, if the cut is too heavy, or too many coats, it takes alot longer to cure. the alcohol evaporates fast leaving the shellac resin behind, it will feel dry. but its still in a fresh state maybe a bit tacky for a few days but does fully harden, then i can recoat. the best thing in your favor... you can strip it very easily while its fresh just using alcohol to wipe it down. it may need a light sanding or 000 steel wool rub out. i dont do that because i dont like the residual steel wool or sand on my new shellac... i gently rub it out with my clean dry hand. my tough skin is better than sanding and doesnt gum up. though my choice for ships... clear semi gloss or matt acrilic spray. it lays evenly and has a polished wax finish. not gloss, not flat... right in the middle. btw, when making shellac, check if the flakes you got are dewaxed or not. you have to let the wax settle, then skim it so you dont get wax in your batch, which makes it too soft. https://kmtools.com/blogs/news/all-about-shellac-finish

ive done some research on these small lathes several years ago and what makes a big difference is what comes with the machine and what accessories are available. the older the lathe is, the accessories become rare and expensive. if you do buy a small lathe, be sure to check what comes with it and if other accessories you'll need to do more advanced work are available or included. i always wanted a unimat, and still do. ive had a few opportunities to buy one and im still kicking myself for not buying the few that were fully loaded. since they were old and did need some heavy cleaning and some overhauling, i passed them up since the asking price was too high for the condition it was in. that was a mistake. now the same lathes full loaded are much more expensive and even less accessories are available or way out of price range. unless the lathe was dropped out of the 5th floor window or abused, they are very tough and really easy enough to clean and refurbish. most of these machines use standard parts like sealed bearings, pullies, chucks... parts that wear over time like drive belts are easy enough to replace. runout is the biggest problem, but new bearings are easy enough to replace... also some parts and mods can be made by you on the lathe. if you arent handy, then buy a new(er) lathe. but realize you get what you pay for. they dont make em like they use to! cheap is cheap. try doing a search in the forums? this subject has come up many times over the years. there are plenty of machinest forms too you can search for information... even get the manuals for them, its an education in itself and thats were you'll find the differences. as for size?... i worked on a lathe that was 8' long making tiny metal parts and even threaded ss #4 left handed screws.

NO! a good mechanic makes a living correcting mistakes.

google "model ship cradles"... then look at "images." im sure you'll be inspired once you see so many variations.

looks like JMS is gone, now listed as guest. too bad, his idea is a very useful tool. i wish i saw this sooner.

the derma roller is a great idea. i found them on amazon if anyone is interested... https://www.amazon.com/derma-roller/s?k=derma+roller btw i kind of like the fishscale logic for speed and fouling. im sure there were good reasons for other methods.

i see the break... its not very clean. but if you can mate the parts, epoxy it and splint it with a sleeve. it looks like you can also wrap it with thread so it wouldn't look out of place yet still be durable. to send it out for repairs... your main problem would be transporting the ship and risking more damage. best bet is to pull up your big boy pants n attempt doing it yourself. its not as hard as it looks. oh... try asking a hobby shop if they know someone in your town? maybe someone here is a neighbor? good luck.

searched the build logs n found this....

mailing tubes! to keep the strips tighter in the tube, stuff some paper towels in them. you can band the tubes together. rubber bands or tapes leaves a residue on the wood.

varathane is a low voc varnish. it takes a few days to cure so be patient. once dry it will look beautiful. i made the mistake of using this on my wood floors. it took a few days to dry completely. if you can raise the heat, it will dry faster. the best varnish ive found is minwax fast drying satin. it drys to the touch in a few hours, hardened finish overnight. the fast dry only comes in quarts or pints.

the shop vacs work very well for home dust collection systems. its more a pita making adapters for all the machines.

use a needle to feed titebond glue behind n between the planks essentially gluing them together. then clamp it up tight n all is good again.

and a quick search... https://www.amazon.com/Brass-Bars/b?node=11260307011 https://www.amazon.com/Brass-Shims-Shim-Stock/b?node=11260311011

steam!

hobby shops have stock brass n other metals.

there are models that replicate the actual ships, where details matter to keep it authentic to its period and style. this takes alot of historic research. you wont see shiny brass cannons and beautiful woodwork, sheething plates are weathered and ropes are rigged for work instead of neat bundles. some go as far as making beautiful diaramas of battles or sails set to weather, even ships under construction. some show cutaways of lower decks and stowage areas with cargo n men at work all accurate to the mm. then there are models that are considered craftsmen's ships. it doesnt have to be authentic to its period, not an accurate rendition; the builder took artistic licence for a particular look, such to show off the wood or brass or sail configurations... a demonstration of his artistic skills. then we have artistic representations of what the builder imagins his ship should look like. maybe using plans as a starter but with frills n ornaments that didnt exist at the time but they look great. what it comes down to, its up to you! its your work of art and the only one to please is you. we are craftsmen, we are artists and recreators of time and imagination, dreams of the past. you have stepped into the twilite zone.

the last chapters has some manuvering techniques with drawings https://archive.org/details/apdfYoungSeaOfficersSheetAnchorFileSizeReduced/page/n140/mode/1up

take a gear from a clock, mount it on a stick... pounce wheel.

that'll work. in case you need to store overnight... at least you'll have a pair left. 🤭

to store the pad while working, put some alcohol in an ash tray n sit the pad there between coats. to store the pad long term, a relish jar is the way to go.... short wide mouth easy to pick up the pad.