Bob Cleek

Harry Dring and Karl Kortum were great guys. I'll never forget Harry's rants when we used to talk about the NPS's inability to recognize the necessity of proper maintenance on the historic fleet they inherited from the original Maritime Museum Karl Kortum and Roger Olmstead built from the ground up. You must be familiar with the J. Porter Shaw Library, then. As you probably know, J. Porter Shaw, its namesake, took a large number of glass plate negative photographs of early San Francisco shipping and waterfront life, the donation of which formed the nucleus of what became the library. You and he were kindred spirits!

It looks like it may lack the strength and rigidity necessary for carving.

Considering the regrettably low market value of your collection, I would strongly urge you to contact the J. Porter Shaw Library, Fort Mason, San Francisco, (San Francisco National Maritime Park, Golden Gate Recreational Area) (Phone: 415-561-7040) (https://www.nps.gov/safr/learn/historyculture/library-collections.htm) and offer to donate them to their collections. It appears that you have a valuable historic photographic record of this "endangered species" of indigenous working watercraft. I expect they would be very interested in obtaining them. I doubt they would be able to pay for them, but I expect your donation of them would be tax-deductible and your contribution would be a lasting legacy to the work you've done on the subject. I believe the J. Porter Shaw Library, a premier maritime historical research resource, is already the "go to" source for information on the Monterey-type, as it is for the lateen-rigged San Francisco Ligourian fishing boats from which they evolved.

Yes, indeed. I never pass up the opportunity to grab one when I can. I have pieces of plastic chopping board screwed into my woodworking bench vise's jaws to cushion the workpieces. The Record woodworking bench vises, as most all, are sold without jaw pads and shop-built sacrificial wood jaws are screwed to the metal jaw faces. I've found pieces of cutting board to be just the ticket for this. I don't bother with wooden jaw pads anymore.

I'll use the larger full-size bamboo chopsticks or a dowel of suitable diameter. No need to bundle the skinny bamboo skewers.

Precisely. That's what I'll be doing in the future. I'll pick some up at the stationery store as soon as our "lockdown" ends. With a nod to Mark, I may even stick a couple on the ends of a pair of chopsticks. I've never connected the metal band on a pencil with the blade, but I'd expect the metal being rather thin, the blade would simply cut through it.

Good point! I always bring the cheap chopsticks from the Asian restaurants home with me for use in my shop. I've got tons of them. I miss the higher quality old fashioned big ones they used to use, though. The new ones that are just routed out of a single piece and you break apart for use aren't as high a quality of bamboo as the older and longer ones. I do like the rubber on the erasers. Perhaps I'll try to find some of the old larger pencil erasers that slip over the end of the pencils. I'll have to be careful to avoid "shrapnel," though! (I never, ever, stand in line with any sort of spinning saw blade.) Just checked. They're on sale for $1.68 a gross, just slightly more than a penny a piece! https://www.officesupply.com/school-supplies/student-teacher-supplies/basic-school-supplies/pencil-erasers/integra-pencil-erasers/p46499.html?ref=pla&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&adpos=&scid=scplp46499&sc_intid=46499&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI47qirqmW6QIVRT2tBh0UjQj6EAQYASABEgIDlPD_BwE

The "standing" rigging is "running" rigging because lateen "yards" ("antennae,") would foul on the shrouds if the shrouds were fixed. The lee shrouds, actually "running backstays," were cast off and the windward shrouds set up when tacking. The tackles permit setting up the shrouds as required.

A plain old number two pencil with an eraser on the end makes a great "push stick" for micro-saws. Use the eraser end to hold thin strips down flat on the table. Use two, one in each hand, so you can feed through, one leap-frogging over the other, to keep control of the workpiece as it moves past the blade.

Except that silicone is the corona virus of finish coatings. Once it gets into the air, it spreads and then settles and thereafter is always there. Microscopic dust specks of silicone will invariably create "fisheyes" in fine paint and varnish finishes and are near-impossible to remove. A work area contaminated with silicone is very difficult to decontaminate. I, too, belong to the "no silicone in my shop" club. "Flaming" thread also works well to eliminate "fuzz" on scale line. Using a proper type of polyester based thread has the same qualities without having to put anything at all on the line. Beeswax works fine

Just make sure it has a very good chuck and/or capacity for collets. When you get down to the very fine drill bits like we use for modeling, the slightest bit out of true, or a little wobble, and the bit will snap. Anybody can make a cheap small drill press, but accuracy to high tolerances costs money. An x-y table will be keenly appreciated, too, so add the cost of that to the package.

Thanks a million for the receipe! That saves tons of time experimenting.

You'll probably find that any sort of vibration damper between the saw and the table it is on will dampen the table's vibration, but not the saw's vibration! I think you'll find that bolting the saw down to the most solid platform youi can find or devise will get you as close to no vibration as you can get. Mass trumps vibration.

I've reviewed the published comparisons. Dewalt is the highest rated of the mid-price-range scroll saws. Hegner is at the top of any list, along with a couple of others, all highly-priced accordingly.

I had the same question. I have one of the same Craftsman scroll saws you do. Somebody gave it to me for free. (Now, I'm looking for somebody else to give it to for free!) It works decently enough for basic scroll sawing, assuming the correct blades are used, but it's a low-end machine and it has a lot of vibration which makes sawing to tight tolerances difficult and sawing for any lenght of time fatiguing. . It's on a Craftsman stand designed for it. I C-clamped the leg of the stand to the solid post of my workbench and that reduced the vibration significantly. To minimize the vibration on them to the extent possible, they really have to be bolted down to something rock sold, like a heavy workbench. An ordinary table is better than nothing, but it won't get you all the way there. My Sakura scroll saw, on a similar stand, has a double parallel link arm and practically no vibration whatsoever. The difference is about five or six hundred bucks between an "entry level" Craftsman and a top of the line "professional" machine. I got the Sakura near-new-used for less than the "entry level" saws cost. Used tools in good shape are often amazingly inexpensive compared to new-retail prices. It pays to keep an eye on the online classifieds. You won't see as many on eBay because the shipping makes them too expensive to sell with the shipping costs. What you are paying for in the high-end scroll saws, basically, is minimal vibration that permits easier accurate cutting and minimal fatigue in use. You may find this site on scroll saws helpful : https://scrollsawhero.com/the-ultimate-getting-started-guide-to-scroll-saws/#Arm_Type

"Experience begins when you start." Your beading and crocheting experience will have application in rigging ships, so you're already on your way. Enjoy! Just start with something very simple and do the best job you can on that. There is a learning curve. The most common mistake most all make is biting off way more than you can chew. Square-rigged ship models aren't really the best choice for beginners. Try starting with a fore and aft rig first and work up to the complex rigs. (Don't ask me how I know this! Most of all of us have been there.)

I have the Domanoff endless ropemaker. He has two or three ropemakers. I have the "top of the line" one that will make any kind of rope, three or four strand, cored or not, right or left hand twist. Truth be told, I've only "played with it" thus far. I've just ordered a bunch of Gutermann Mara thread and I'll be getting more serious shortly. I would say it's a quality machine. Its well made, considering its made of plexiglas. It has a microprocessor control in the control box that is not at all intuitive. You must read the instructions to know how to set it up and adjust it. (Adjustments are made by pushing the "emergency stop" button a certain number of times when the other controls are set in various configurations. You have to read the instruction manual to know the codes. I found Alexy Domanoff a great guy to deal with. He walked me through setting mine up because I hadn't received the set up manual when i bought it used from another fellow who never used it once. I would consider it in an entirely separate class from the Dominoff serving machine in terms of apparent construction quality. I'll find out how well it spins a lot of different sizes of rope soon. I expect to be happy with the result. I haven't heard any complaints about its performance. Nothing but good stuff.

That micro-milling machine is sweet! It's a beautiful piece of "steam punk" engineering. I love it.

Correct. Also, divider points and pen points will also be steel. Note the steel points in the K&E Paragon set pictured above.

True, water is a no-no. However, I'd put a finer point on "most of the better quality drafting instruments" being brass. The highest quality drafting instruments were made of cold rolled "German silver," which is sometimes called "nickel brass" which is 60% copper, 20% nickel, and 20% zinc. It's also sometimes called "nickel silver," or "cupronickel." German silver is within the category of brasses, but shouldn't be confused with common brass at all. Lower quality instruments will be chrome plated. Unlike chrome or nickel plating, German silver has a satin finish. High quality sets, such as Keuffel and Esser's Paragon line and Dietzgen's Gem Union line, originally came with a flannel-type jeweler's polishing cloth such as made for polishing fine silverware.

Yep. You can't beat "old 'arn." I have a four inch 1950 vintage Craftsman, made by King-Seely, I believe. It works great for shorter stock. A 6" jointer would handle larger stock better, but I don't use it for much more than three or four foot long stock. A 6" jointer is a relatively large machine. I rarely joint raw wood down to square finished on all sides. I just joint it until I have a flat wide enough to then cut pieces off on the band or table saw. Putting a round piece of wood through a table saw gives me the heeby-jeebies. One little wobble and it's likely to be coming back at you.

Not good news, Allan. If you do get it to open, please post the "fix!" The raw data is available in various texts, but this spreadsheet program really seems to be a much easier way to access it. Thanks much!

I've checked the rigging spread sheet done by Dan. I can't seem to get it to respond. It appears to be a "dead" link. I can get to it, but it doesn't work. Is it possible to revive it. It looks woderful.

True in theory. In practice, once the tar got tracked all over the decks and dust and dirt and decomposed tow all mixed in, both the seams and the decks were black, unless it was a naval vessel or fancy packet with regularly holystoned decks. The tar would soften in the hot sun and get tracked everywhere.

I'll bet you'll find your shooting board to serve its purpose well. Measurement tolerances with wood are not as exacting as with metal. Wood moves more than metal does with changes in ambient humidity. If it fits without looking loose, its plenty good for modeling. Remember the old saying, "Never send a rocket scientist to do a wood-butcher's job!"