Bob Cleek

If space limitations apply, the lighter weight lathe is an decided advantage. However, weight equates with accuracy when it comes to machine tools. That's just a fact of life.

Or cut a groove with whatever you've got and split the log with wedges and a maul. Not always possible, depending upon the log and the species, but that's the way they did it in the old days. Still works today.

That must have been a frustrating problem! So close and yet so far. While greatly hesitant to say anything critical, I feel compelled to ask why the "bug" in the bow scrollwork appears to have eight legs, making it a spider or a scorpion, even though the vessel was named "Wasp?" Thanks for sharing what is a most interesting build!

I think there may be a sound reason for the majority's practice in this case. Bronze will develop an even brownish or verdigris green patina over time in the marine environment, depending upon the particular alloy. Brass, on the other hand, is less predictable when left to its own devices. In the marine environment, it develops a green patina rapidly and often unevenly. As a general rule, brass, where used at all (e.g. bells, clock cases, lamps) is always kept polished on vessels, while bronze is not. On professionally maintained fancy yachts, however, it is customary to keep large bronze fittings polished bright, as is evident in the photos of this model's prototype. That's a huge amount of work. As you probably know, to reduce the amount of polishing maintenance, some of these "high maintenance" yachts had their yellow metal gold electroplated, hence the term describing them as "gold platers." Since brass oxidizes unpredictably... even the touch of a finger can result in an ugly unevenness in the patina of a polished part ... the spectacular professionally-built "boardroom models" also often had all their brass parts gold plated. In that instance, as the models were of steamships, their unpainted gold plated fittings weren't an accurate depiction of the prototype, but, rather, something of a understandable stylistic affectation demonstrating the quality of the materials and the skills of the builders. Painting brass with lacquer is frequently done by manufacturers to prevent its oxidation, but the practice is a cure worse than the disease in the marine environment. While good lacquer finishes work fairly well in the dry confines of a building on land, in the marine environment it is very common for lacquered brass to develop black spotting beneath the lacquer and removing good, well-aged lacquer requires the mechanical abrasion of the lacquer on the entire piece down to bare brass so that it may be thereafter properly maintained by regular light polishing. I'd like to think that a surgically clean polished brass piece in a proper case maintained within reasonable humidity levels would oxidize gracefully and that the resulting patina would be pleasing to the eye, but I'm not sure that bet can be considered a sure one in the long haul. Far be it from me to second-guess what is one of the most impressive demonstrations of modeling metal work I've ever seen, but considering the practice of polishing the yellow metal on the prototype, and the relative ease and low cost of thin gold electroplating and the wide range of finishes to any level of shine and color shade available, it seems to me that your masterful fabrications are eminently entitled to that treatment.

Unimats came with 110 VAC and 220 VAC motors. They were metric machines. They haven't been made since the late Seventies. Very true. A common machine tool with lots of units in production over a long period of time which will accept lots of generic after-market tooling is a huge savings. Less common, more specialized machine tools with lots of proprietary tooling get expensive very quickly. Precision machine tools and tooling have always been expensive, but prices have really gone up for quality stuff in recent times.

Ditto to everything that's been posted above. There are many discussions here on these topics. I'll just mention a few observations as the owner of three lathes of various sizes and types. (A well-equipped Unimat SL, a fully tooled Atlas/Craftsman 12x48, and a Craftsman full size wood-turning lathe.) 1. The price of a basic lathe or mill is, at best, only about half of what one would reasonably end up spending to equip the basic tool with the tooling necessary to perform the work usually done on them. 2. A good quality used lathe or mill, assuming it is in good condition, which often requires knowledgeable examination and testing, is always a better buy than a new one. This is especially so if one is able to purchase a lathe or mill in good shape with a considerable amount of tooling included in the deal. The "package" deals on new lathes and mills aren't anything special, generally. The "extras" are simply very basic tooling that would permit one to do one or two very basic operations. You may save a few bucks on the "package" over the retail prices, but you'll be spending far more than you save on the new machine than you would buying a good used one. They are like cars that way. Once you drive them off the lot, their value depreciates immediately. 1. The Unimat SL and Unimat 3 are excellent precision machines. They can be set up as either a lathe or a mill. The SL has been recognized by many as the finest modelmakers" lathe ever built. That said, they haven't been made since the seventies and you will certainly pay more for a Unimat than for anything close to one new. (The new "Unimats" are not the same. Somebody just bought the name to capitalize on it and brought out very poor products under the Unimat label.) Parts and attachments for the Unimats are no longer available except on the secondary market, such as eBay, and are extremely expensive. Don't even think about buying a basic machine and trying to fully equip it buying tooling on eBay and not paying a lot more than the equivalent for another machine. The old Unimats are great, but something of a collectors' cult item these days. The one advantage of that is that their value increases over time. I was lucky enough to be given mine. I spent another $750 or so just getting the basic tooling I wanted without any of the attachments for it, like the threading attachment, the jigsaw attachment, the table saw attachment, the rotary table, and so on, just to give you an idea of what it all costs. If it weren't a matter of "dancing with the girl ya brought," I'd have bought a used mini-lathe with better parts availability. 2. Sherline makes good, solid machines. To my way of thinking, however, they aren't cheap and they are limited by their size and power. For the same money, or much less on the used market, one can acquire a larger, more powerful and more versatile lathe such as the Chinese-made "7X's" or similar. (The prudent buyer obtains these for a bit more cost at reliable retailers like Grizzly Industrial or LittleMachineShop. Theirs have better quality control. Buy one at a bargain rate retailer and you can expect casting sand in the gearbox, etc., etc., etc. Precision costs money. Buying "seconds" is a false economy.) 3. Because so much of the price of any lathe or mill is dependent upon the tooling you will eventually be buying, and because much of it may be proprietary, careful consideration needs be given to the brand that one is purchasing and how available less expensive generic tooling might be. Similarly, one needs to decide between metric and Imperial standards. The advantage of the Chinese 7X's for modeling, or anything else for that matter, is that there's millions of them so there's tons of tooling available in standard thread patterns. That often makes a huge difference in cost in the long run. On the other hand, a proprietary part for an "oddball" lathe or mill can sometimes cost so much repairs become pointless. 4. A lathe with a milling attachment can do milling operations. A mill cannot do lathe operations. 5. Within broad limits, of course, every size lathe can do smaller work, but none can do work larger than the physical limits of the diameter and length of work pieces. (For example, the Chinese mini-lathes will spin a 7" diameter work piece which is as long as its bed. A "7X14" allows you work anything within a 7" by 14" size envelope.) You won't go wrong with a larger lathe, but many find they need to later buy a larger lathe, or wished they had. 6. Not only is a lathe the most versatile machine tool of all, but it is also the most dangerous. Rotary saws may injure a greater number of people, but only because there are so many more of them. A lathe is not a machine to be operated intuitively. It demands at least a basic understanding of its operation and a thorough grounding in safety protocols. Get somebody who knows what they are doing to instruct you or take a class at the local adult education junior college or something. Even a relatively small lathe can kill you. A mini-lathe might not kill you, but it can still maim you pretty good. Never forget that. https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/14/nyregion/yale-student-dies-in-machine-shop-accident.html 7. If I were buying a mini-lathe today, I'd be looking at something like these: https://www.grizzly.com/products/Grizzly-4-x-6-Micro-Metal-Lathe/G0745 https://www.grizzly.com/products/Grizzly-7-x-14-Variable-Speed-Benchtop-Lathe/G0765 https://www.grizzly.com/products/Grizzly-8-x-16-Variable-Speed-Benchtop-Lathe/G0768 https://www.grizzly.com/products/Grizzly-9-x-19-Bench-Lathe/G4000

A good epoxy bond should be as strong as needed. Pinning the pieces would be advised if you were using ordinary PVA wood glue, especially since clamping sticks end to end is difficult. Pinning is also difficult because you have to drill a straight hole into exactly the same spot on both broken ends or the two ends won't join together perfectly. (Hint: It's done on a lathe with the end in the headstock chuck and the drill bit in the tailstock chuck.) There are lots of online sources for micro-drill bits. You aren't likely to find them in a hardware store, although sometimes a few of the larger small sizes may be available in the Dremel tool display case. They are used a lot in the electronics industry and elsewhere. You can get a standard set of numbered-sized bits for between $20 and $30. You can also sometimes find them individually for about $.75 each at a good hobby shop or in tubes of ten or a dozen on line. You will find yourself using (and breaking) the same few sizes, so "buying in bulk" provides a significant savings over buying individual bits, especially if you can "stock up" when one of the dealers has a sale. https://www.amazon.com/s?k=micro+drill+bit+set&hvadid=78409042794384&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvqmt=e&tag=mh0b-20&ref=pd_sl_421r1x8trl_e https://www.amazon.com/CML-Supply-Micro-Drill-Chuck/dp/B001RJE3X8/ref=sr_1_11?dchild=1&hvadid=78409042794384&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvqmt=e&keywords=micro+drill+bit+set&qid=1591571449&sr=8-11&tag=mh0b-20 Get on the Micro-Mark catalog mailing list. https://www.micromark.com/ They have a wide selection of modeling tools and hobby supplies and their catalog will give you a good idea of what is available on the market. Their tool offerings are often not the best of their type (i.e. "hobby quality") and they are often much more expensive that elsewhere. Their prices get more reasonable if you sign up for their email advertisements, which always have "loss leader" deals and substantial discounts on things. Syren Ship Models (click on their icon in the "sponsors" bar on the MSW forum home page) is the go-to place for blocks ("pulleys" to the landsmen) and rigging line. (Although you may want to try to duplicate the original rigging line on the model, which may be simply sewing thread.) Sourcing obscure tools and materials is actually part of the fun of the hobby. If you are new to the hobby, it never hurts to post a question in the "Modeling Tools and Workshop Equipment" section of the forum. You will get plenty of advice on what you need and where it can be had for the least money. (Generally speaking, any tool the advertisements say is "essential for ship modeling" probably isn't!) There are also good articles on tools in the "Articles Database" in the address bar at the top of the forum homepage.

Perhaps, but if the pieces fit together well, that's not necessary. One of the (few) advantages of epoxy adhesive for modeling purposes is that its bonding strength isn't dependent upon clamping pressure.

She's coming together beautifully, Kevin! Thanks for sharing so much with us. I know that can take as much time as the modeling! BTW, I stumbled across your movie, Tobago 1677 on Amazon Prime last night. I enjoyed it a lot. MSW member Ab Hoving's cameo was noted, too!

As for glues, epoxy adhesive is probably the strongest of all. I'd be inclined to use epoxy for broken spars because they do have to have some strength when rigged. (Rigging tensions can add up surprisingly.) It's tedious to use, so practice a bit on scrap wood first. Excess epoxy adhesive can be cleaned up before curing using acetone or vinegar.

There's always the "old standby" of suitably sized round seeds. I suppose you have to know your seeds to know which to buy, though.

My goodness! I missed this build log the first time around and just noticed it now. I know Islander, nee Kathleen, quite well, having crewed for her owner, Harry Smith, in a Master Mariner's Benevolent Association classic yacht race back in the early 1970's. She was a sorry old bucket back then, but Harry and his family loved her and nursed her along in her old age. Despite a prior owner covering her in plywood and fiberglass resin, she still maintained the respect due her age. I was a young guy working for a yacht brokerage that specialized in wooden classic yachts back then when very few people had any interest in wooden boats. Harry invited me to crew in the race because my own gaff rigged ketch was hauled out and he needed crew for the race, an annual regatta of the top wooden classics on the West Coast. I have to say Islander's sailing abilities weren't improved by hanging a ballast keel on her, nor by covering her in an inch or two of plywood and fiberglass, but we had plenty of fun watching the fleet pass us by one by one on the course and the lunch Harry's wife packed was great! She berthed in Paradise Cay Yacht Harbor in Tiburon, which is somewhat off the beaten path, but whenever I'd have occasion to be there, I'd check her out. I had no idea she'd gone to the Hyde Street Pier. Nothing makes a sailor feel old like seeing a boat he's sailed end up in a maritime museum! It would be wonderful if they found a way to restore her to her original state. She's probably the last of her kind now. Fact is, though, she was well past being a candidate for restoration fifty years ago. The HAER documentation is great and makes it possible for someone to build a replica from the ground up for far less expense and labor than trying to restore the original. Kathleen, as she's now called again, was one of three surviving "pumpkin seeds" on the Bay up to the mid-seventies. The "pumpkin seed" was a San Francisco Bay and Delta centerboard hull which evolved to handle the heavy winds, short chop, and shallow waters of much of the Bay and Delta. They were called so because their shallow draft centerboard hulls resembled a pumpkin seed. Harry Smith had Islander (Kathleen,) my good friend, Bill Vaughn, had Billikin, quite similar to Kathleen, unrestored, but still shipshape and in her original centerboard yawl configuration, and another fellow I knew, Bob Porteous, had Polaris, a nice pumpkin seed sloop he'd owned forever. I was in my early twenties back then and all of those guys were much older than I was. I'm sure they've all gone to their rewards by now. Bill Vaughn passed away a few years ago, into his eighties. Billikin was broken up long ago. I'm not sure if Polaris is still around. Last I saw her was maybe ten or fifteen years ago. Today, there are fewer and fewer of us "old timers" (never thought i'd be calling myself that!) who as young kids were taught and mentored by masters of the "pre-fibergalss" "wooden ships and iron men" sailing fraternity and learned our seamanship and maritime trade crafts from mentors who worked in wood, handed cotton canvas sails, and spliced hemp line. Now wooden boats are like classic cars and have a following again, but the game is a lot like the Civil War re-enactors, they're trying to recreate the past but there was a break in the continuity of the craft. While they provide modelers with honest and worthwhile enjoyment, God knows there are far more than enough Victory and Constitution models around. Models like you're attempting here with Kathleen are really far more valuable contributions to the historical record and, IMHO, their uniqueness makes them much more satisfying to build. Neither do you have to add a room to your house to display them when they are done. I encourage modelers to model these types of near-extinct watercraft. Twenty-five or fifty years from now, if you are still around, you will be proud to have built a "contemporary model" which may be the only reliable model of an extinct craft. The HAER collection, its indexing weaknesses notwithstanding, is a goldmine full of plans for modelers who are willing to do a bit of pick and shovel work finding what's in there. Better still, the plans are wonderfully detailed, complete, and professionally researched, and best of all, absolutely free. (Our tax dollars at work!) The TIFF format plans can be enlarged easily without loss of definition or widening of lines, which is a boon to modelers. So, as for your model, it does seem to be, as you have described it, "50% the Kathleen and 50% a boat." Actually, Islander could be accurately described as "50% Kathleen and 50% Islander," given the unfortunate modifications imposed upon her during her long life. Now, the model you've built so far will always be your first and you should always cherish it, but you may want to consider a new start on a model that is 100% Kathleen. Take the HAER plans and eliminate that abortion of a concrete ballast keel and deadwood. Replace the rudder with the "barn door" rudder she likely had. (And if you are lucky, one of the many photos that are part of the HAER collection, but not scanned, may show that original rudder in a photo of her hauled out.) In her original centerboard configuration, she'd make a beautiful model. (Now that I've discovered her plans, I've put her in my own modeling "on deck circle," in fact.) It would be a challenge, perhaps, but if you take it slowly with a lot of attention to detail and rely on the resources of the MSW forum, you can do it. I wouldn't bother with a plank on bulkhead hull approach. (It's more difficult to plank, I think.) I'd suggest you either go with a solid "bread and butter" hull or full-out plank on frame. (Or consider card stock if that interests you.) This model would also be suitable for building with bent frames, as real small craft often are. (The frames are bent inside a "basket" of battens fastened over a few bulkheads which are then removed.) Take a look at the available tutorials and be ruthlessly attentive to detail. Start a build log and ask questions when they arise. You can do it!

Or there's the old counterfeiter's trick: Tumble the damp paper in the dryer with a fabric softener sheet. (Or so I'm told. ... "Hey, can you break a hundred for me?")

I would advise you experiment on some scrap wood with both and see which you prefer. I'm guessing you'll end up preferring the pin vise for it's accuracy. However, I'd say that after a Dremel, some sort of drill press would be the next most useful powered tool a modeler would want to have, so I'd urge you to bite the bullet and get one now. You can get one of the $79 Chinese mini drill presses and get by, but you get what you pay for and, too often, less than that with Chinese machine tools. You can also pay a bit more ($134 US) for a Vanda-Lay drill press that holds a Dremel mototool. (The Dremel drill press stand is generally considered to be close to worthless because it lacks the precision modeling demands. ) http://vanda-layindustries.com/ (I have no idea of the shiping and duty costs to Australia, though.) Vanda-Lay also has a variants of their basic drill press (above) which include a mini-milling machine using the Dremel mototool as well as other brands. These Dremel-powered machine tools are quite good, but aren't up to the level of the far more expensive dedicated micro-milling machines. Their primary weakness is the Dremel Mototool, which depends on speed rather than torque for its power. For modeling, however, they do offer a good compromise in terms of a cost to benefit analysis. Vanda-Lay is a small family business with excellent service and support. See the discussion on drill presses at:

Thanks for the tip, Rob! We've had unusually high temperatures here in Northern CA the last couple of days, breaking 100F in some places. I'm close to the coast with sea breezes keeping things cool most of the time, so I just need something for the summer heat spells. I saw someplace that they are now making them with a hose that can be run out a window to deal with the "exhaust" and condensate. I'll be looking for that feature for sure!

Using a drill press, clamp a strip of wood to the drill press table to serve as a fence so that the drill bit is above the center of the pin rail when the rail is up against the clamped wood fence. Slide the pin rail against the fence and drill the holes equally spaced. The line of holes will be straight. If you want to get really fancy, you can mount the fence on a piece of wood with a pin the diameter of the holes sticking up exactly the distance between the pins from the point where the drill bit hits. Then the pin rail can be drilled and, as each hole is drilled, the rail can be dropped over the pin on each most recently drilled hole as the pin rail is slid against the fence, which perfectly aligns the next hole to be drilled. That will ensure the holes are equally spaced and in a straight line. If pins aren't evenly spaced in a straight line on a pin rail, they tend to stick out like a sore thumb. Drilling pin rails without a drill press is very difficult. I'd use a bit in a pin vise. A hand-held Dremel is quite difficult to control for such an application.

Have you considered the new freestanding portable air conditioners? I haven't played with one, but I'm seriously considering it. If anybody has any experience with them, please chime in. I like the portability, the absence of installation work, and no hard wiring required. https://www.google.com/search?q=freestanding+portable+air+conditioner&oq=freestanding+portable+air+conditioner&aqs=chrome..69i57j0.7120j1j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Why don't you take some scraps of the same wood you used on your deck and experiment a bit with the various options, then pick the one which provides the effect you want? That's really the only way to be sure you'll get the effect you want without risking messing up your deck.

No, David, you misunderstood me. Your solution to the issue of the Morgan's skylight bars at that scale is excellent. What I was saying is that the bars go "above the window glass, not below the window glass" in response to the original poster's proposal to put them "below the frame." As clearly shown on the picture of the real Morgan skylight, the bars run through the frame stiles and muntins above the window glass. The bars wouldn't protect the glass from breakage if they didn't ! Whether there is "glass" on the model part or the "glass" is omitted, which is appropriate for the small scale of your model skylight, was irrelevant to my comment. I was simply addressing the original poster's musing that he might just glue metal bars to the underside of the frame, which I thought would be placing them too deep in the frame. I see now that you also glued your threads to the underside of the frame and to very good effect. (Good enough to fool me into thinking you'd drilled through the stiles and muntins and threaded them through the first time around!) It had been my erroneous impression when previously reading your build log that you had sandwiched them between two pieces to get the effect that they'd been run through the stiles and muntins above the window glass. A careful re-reading corrected that error. No criticism whatsoever was intended. I thought your solution worked well the first time I saw it in your build log. I have an old, but complete, Marine Models Co. Morgan kit in my stash and a scratch-built Morgan model depicting her ship-rigged and as she was originally launched has been in my modeling "on deck circle" for a long time now. I've got considerable research filed away and I've studied that skylight detail a lot. It's one of those elements that draws the viewer's attention and is a real challenge at scale, so it has to be done well. It's a really small part at that scale and its detail can't really be ignored or faked if it's to look right. You accomplished that on your model, to be sure. You did a good job on it.

What purpose would it serve to have them turned around the deadeyes one way on port and the other on starboard?

Flexibility is of great value because you will evolve and want to change things around. As for the basics: 1. Insulate the whole building, walls and ceiling, and even the floor if you can. Make sure it is weather-tight. You don't want a damp atmosphere to wreak havoc with your iron tools and cause wood to warp and twist. You'll also want a heater and/or air conditioning. (Small portable units for both are now available at reasonable cost.) From the level of your workbench upwards, I'd suggest covering the walls with white melamine-faced pegboard. This is very handy for tool and materials storage and very flexible. Things can be rearranged as you want over time. 2. Put a row of wall outlets at the height of your workbenches and some at the baseboard. Also, attach power bars to the front of your workbenches beneath the lip of the benchtop. These are dirt cheap and will provide excellent access for corded power tools. You don't want hand-held power tool cords strung across your workbench working surface. The outlets on the front of the benches prevent this. You want to be able to minimize the number of cords running across the floor, as well. Bench-top stationary tools plug into the higher outlets on the walls behind the benches. Also install a weatherproof outlet outside on the shop wall. Ideally, there will be a concrete pad outside the entrance. This is valuable shop real estate which is very handy for messy painting jobs, woodworking that generates a lot of sawdust, and similar tasks. 3. Make sure your workbenches are very solid and have sufficiently strong lips for attaching clamp-on devices. You should have at least one very solidly mounted medium-sized vise you can put all your strength into without the bench moving! A small clamp on vise is also handy. No vise is any stronger than what it's mounted on. 4. To the greatest extent possible, leave space beneath your benches to permit easy sweeping and vacuuming. Put anything you can on rollers, so it can be moved around to accommodate space needs for various projects and for cleaning (and searching for dropped tiny pieces!) 5. Consider investing in a heavy-duty "Work-mate" woodworking bench. (The larger models with scissor-folding legs.) These are easily stored when not in use and invaluable for many essential tasks. This can serve for your primary workbench for "heavy" tasks on larger parts and will hold pretty much anything of any shape. YouTube is full of videos on the things that can be done with this "cult status" tool. It's a great space saver in a small shop and a great thing to have even in a large shop. https://www.toolnut.com/black-decker-wm425-workmate425-portable-project-center-and-vise.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=shopping&msclkid=a62653da17071f5406ba0d0e723e17ca&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=*Shopping - High - Broad&utm_term=4578022847964901&utm_content=Catch All "Advanced, 1-Handed Clamp system with exclusive clutch design for easy clamping. Front jaw swings up for vertical clamping. Folds for easy storage and carrying. Vise jaws angle to hold wedge shapes up to 8 5/16 in. wide. Swivel pegs hold shapes up to 18-3/4." 6. If circumstances permit, run a coax cable to the shop and install a cable outlet on each wall at workbench height to provide a connection for internet access and a television, if you are so inclined. (I find a TV to be welcome company when doing boring repetitive tasks.) The more "comforts of home" you can provide, the more attractive it will be to be in your shop. 7. A high-volume electric exhaust fan (as in home bathrooms) where you have the passive ventilator up at the apex of the roof will, in combination with an open window or door, provide good ventilation when working with solvents, paints and adhesives. If you are going to do any metal work involving combustible heavier-than-air gases, be sure you also have provision for passive exhausting at lower levels. A portable fan is always a handy thing to have in a shop. 8. Buy a lock and don't give a key to anybody else in the family. Significant Others have a genetic predisposition to dumping anything they don't want in the house on top of any horizontal surface in a workshop where it becomes your problem to find a permanent home for it.

I've never heard of the stuff. What a great idea! Can you please provide information on where to buy it?

Without a picture, I'm left guessing what you are describing, but if by "gluing the bars to the underside of the frames" you mean below the top of the skylight, that would be incorrect. The protective bars on skylights are always set above the glass on the outside, not below the glass inside.

I use plenty of aluminum oxide abrasive sheet material, too. I haven't had problems with the longer-lasting heavier abrasive belt material, though. They will tend to clog with softer wood species and I've found that on edges of laminations glued with PVA, the glue will soften and clog the abrasive if allowed to heat up excessively when sanding. I've not had any problem with wood clogging when the abrasive is cleaned with a crepe rubber abrasive cleaning block. Keeping the abrasive clean extends its useful life considerably.

Until somebody cites a contrary authority, I'd say any shroud which might potentially be subject to chafe by a yard can be expected to be wormed, parceled, and served. These are generally the forward shrouds on each mast, at least as high as the highest yard.