Bob Cleek

Actually, when it comes to butt joints, even with butt blocks, it's proper to install them in a spacing which keeps them all as far apart from each other as is possible. The butts are inherently weak points which are better spread as far apart as possible and there are various classic "butt shift schedules" which you will find in any wooden boat or ship building text.  I have seen in many modeling books the practice of butting planks on a frame. However, in full size construction practice and its related literature, I've never seen planks butted on a frame to be a recommended practice. The butt block is a far stronger and better construction method. Modernly, of course, epoxy adhesives have made face-scarfing plank stock a viable alternative, eliminating the plank butt issue entirely. In all my years mucking about boatyards, I've only encountered one vessel, a 63' staysail schooner, which, oddly to everyone's eyes, had her planks butted on her frames. She was originally launched as the Mavoureen Mary and was renamed Landfall a few years later. She was designed by Edson Schock for the actress Maureen O'Hara and her husband. and launched in the early 'thirties. She's had a good long life and is still around, last I heard. When I last saw her in the mid-seventies, the was undergoing frame and planking repairs which were occasioned, according to the yard crew, by the fact that her planks were butted on her sawn frames. They attributed this oddity to the fact that, for some reason, she was built by the Boeing Aircraft Company! Boeing of Canada did build yachts early on, an offshoot of their seaplane manufacturing subsidiary.  
 
Gotcha! In fact, the Venetian gondolas are intentionally built with an asymmetrical hull. They do move to one side if left to their own devices. The purpose of this oddity is that it compensates for the opposite tendency when the gondolier sculls with his oar on only one side of the boat. This design feature is unique to gondolas.

Actually, when it comes to butt joints, even with butt blocks, it's proper to install them in a spacing which keeps them all as far apart from each other as is possible. The butts are inherently weak points which are better spread as far apart as possible and there are various classic "butt shift schedules" which you will find in any wooden boat or ship building text.  I have seen in many modeling books the practice of butting planks on a frame. However, in full size construction practice and its related literature, I've never seen planks butted on a frame to be a recommended practice. The butt block is a far stronger and better construction method. Modernly, of course, epoxy adhesives have made face-scarfing plank stock a viable alternative, eliminating the plank butt issue entirely. In all my years mucking about boatyards, I've only encountered one vessel, a 63' staysail schooner, which, oddly to everyone's eyes, had her planks butted on her frames. She was originally launched as the Mavoureen Mary and was renamed Landfall a few years later. She was designed by Edson Schock for the actress Maureen O'Hara and her husband. and launched in the early 'thirties. She's had a good long life and is still around, last I heard. When I last saw her in the mid-seventies, the was undergoing frame and planking repairs which were occasioned, according to the yard crew, by the fact that her planks were butted on her sawn frames. They attributed this oddity to the fact that, for some reason, she was built by the Boeing Aircraft Company! Boeing of Canada did build yachts early on, an offshoot of their seaplane manufacturing subsidiary.  
 
Gotcha! In fact, the Venetian gondolas are intentionally built with an asymmetrical hull. They do move to one side if left to their own devices. The purpose of this oddity is that it compensates for the opposite tendency when the gondolier sculls with his oar on only one side of the boat. This design feature is unique to gondolas.

Apparently (per a video I watch a short while ago) cleaning out the sawdust from all the nooks and crannies in and under table saws should be a regular occurance to avoid an electrical fire.
 

Over the course of many years, I've heard good things about PSME, but have never sprung for a catalog. Can you comment on their pricing, compared to MicroMark and others? 

Better safe than sorry!  Did I ever tell you the story about the starting capacitor dying on the motor on my 1950's 8" Craftsman table saw? The capacitor was a special order item because it was shaped like a pack of cigarettes to fit in the base of the motor instead of the round "cans" used modernly. Until I could source another one, I had to start the motor by wrapping a length of Venetian blind cord around the motor spindle opposite the belt sheave and then flipping the switch and pulling the cord like an outboard motor to get the motor spinning up to speed so it would run. It worked fine, but that was back in the days when I believed I was invulnerable!
 

Better safe than sorry!  Did I ever tell you the story about the starting capacitor dying on the motor on my 1950's 8" Craftsman table saw? The capacitor was a special order item because it was shaped like a pack of cigarettes to fit in the base of the motor instead of the round "cans" used modernly. Until I could source another one, I had to start the motor by wrapping a length of Venetian blind cord around the motor spindle opposite the belt sheave and then flipping the switch and pulling the cord like an outboard motor to get the motor spinning up to speed so it would run. It worked fine, but that was back in the days when I believed I was invulnerable!
 

Better safe than sorry!  Did I ever tell you the story about the starting capacitor dying on the motor on my 1950's 8" Craftsman table saw? The capacitor was a special order item because it was shaped like a pack of cigarettes to fit in the base of the motor instead of the round "cans" used modernly. Until I could source another one, I had to start the motor by wrapping a length of Venetian blind cord around the motor spindle opposite the belt sheave and then flipping the switch and pulling the cord like an outboard motor to get the motor spinning up to speed so it would run. It worked fine, but that was back in the days when I believed I was invulnerable!
 

Over the course of many years, I've heard good things about PSME, but have never sprung for a catalog. Can you comment on their pricing, compared to MicroMark and others? 

Better safe than sorry!  Did I ever tell you the story about the starting capacitor dying on the motor on my 1950's 8" Craftsman table saw? The capacitor was a special order item because it was shaped like a pack of cigarettes to fit in the base of the motor instead of the round "cans" used modernly. Until I could source another one, I had to start the motor by wrapping a length of Venetian blind cord around the motor spindle opposite the belt sheave and then flipping the switch and pulling the cord like an outboard motor to get the motor spinning up to speed so it would run. It worked fine, but that was back in the days when I believed I was invulnerable!
 

Better safe than sorry!  Did I ever tell you the story about the starting capacitor dying on the motor on my 1950's 8" Craftsman table saw? The capacitor was a special order item because it was shaped like a pack of cigarettes to fit in the base of the motor instead of the round "cans" used modernly. Until I could source another one, I had to start the motor by wrapping a length of Venetian blind cord around the motor spindle opposite the belt sheave and then flipping the switch and pulling the cord like an outboard motor to get the motor spinning up to speed so it would run. It worked fine, but that was back in the days when I believed I was invulnerable!
 

Better safe than sorry!  Did I ever tell you the story about the starting capacitor dying on the motor on my 1950's 8" Craftsman table saw? The capacitor was a special order item because it was shaped like a pack of cigarettes to fit in the base of the motor instead of the round "cans" used modernly. Until I could source another one, I had to start the motor by wrapping a length of Venetian blind cord around the motor spindle opposite the belt sheave and then flipping the switch and pulling the cord like an outboard motor to get the motor spinning up to speed so it would run. It worked fine, but that was back in the days when I believed I was invulnerable!
 

I thought it time to post a small update for you. The package containing the new switch for my saw is somewhere in the Province of Ontario now, according to USPS tracking. So, this is really a non-update. I debated the hot-wiring solution suggested. However, the idea of reaching over a running saw to pull the plug held very little appeal. So we wait....

True, but I've never had one break on me like surgical scalpel blades are won't to do. There is an advantage to the heavier gauge metal of hobby knife blades. By the way, surgeons will generally only make a couple of cuts with a scalpel before exchanging it for a new sharp one. Scalpels aren't designed to hold their really sharp edges for any more than about that.
 
It's odd, but nobody's mentioned sharpening hobby knife blades. A fine sharpening stone, or a leather or MDF stropping wheel charged with green polishing abrasive, or even some fine sandpaper, will put a new razor-sharp edge on a hobby knife blade in seconds. I have a very old Arkansas sharpening stone which was designed for sharpening old fashioned straight razors. I use it to keep a sharp edge on my hobby knives. It works fine.

What you want are pin vises like those immediately above that will hold variously sized collets. A pin vise that will hold even down to 1/32 of an inch diameter, will be too big for the small bits in the Rogers drill index and drills. 
 

 
Tell your daughter to shop around. There are two apparently identical items, one by Rogers and the other by Gyros, another drill bit company. You will find them listed for fifty bucks at Fundemonium, a hobby store chain, to thirty bucks in the Micro-Mark catalog, to twenty bucks on Amazon. Buy the twenty buck one and wait until you break a bit, then buy a capsule of ten bits from a reputable bit retailer. (Model Expo sometimes has bits in packages of ten on sale at half price... stock up when you get the chance.) By waiting until a bit wears out or breaks, you'll discover which ones you use the most and need to keep in stock. You'll find other sizes are used much less frequently. Bits are also sold in packages of two. You'll end up in the poorhouse quickly buying them this way. It's far more economical to buy them in packages of ten.

True, but I've never had one break on me like surgical scalpel blades are won't to do. There is an advantage to the heavier gauge metal of hobby knife blades. By the way, surgeons will generally only make a couple of cuts with a scalpel before exchanging it for a new sharp one. Scalpels aren't designed to hold their really sharp edges for any more than about that.
 
It's odd, but nobody's mentioned sharpening hobby knife blades. A fine sharpening stone, or a leather or MDF stropping wheel charged with green polishing abrasive, or even some fine sandpaper, will put a new razor-sharp edge on a hobby knife blade in seconds. I have a very old Arkansas sharpening stone which was designed for sharpening old fashioned straight razors. I use it to keep a sharp edge on my hobby knives. It works fine.

True, but I've never had one break on me like surgical scalpel blades are won't to do. There is an advantage to the heavier gauge metal of hobby knife blades. By the way, surgeons will generally only make a couple of cuts with a scalpel before exchanging it for a new sharp one. Scalpels aren't designed to hold their really sharp edges for any more than about that.
 
It's odd, but nobody's mentioned sharpening hobby knife blades. A fine sharpening stone, or a leather or MDF stropping wheel charged with green polishing abrasive, or even some fine sandpaper, will put a new razor-sharp edge on a hobby knife blade in seconds. I have a very old Arkansas sharpening stone which was designed for sharpening old fashioned straight razors. I use it to keep a sharp edge on my hobby knives. It works fine.

True, but I've never had one break on me like surgical scalpel blades are won't to do. There is an advantage to the heavier gauge metal of hobby knife blades. By the way, surgeons will generally only make a couple of cuts with a scalpel before exchanging it for a new sharp one. Scalpels aren't designed to hold their really sharp edges for any more than about that.
 
It's odd, but nobody's mentioned sharpening hobby knife blades. A fine sharpening stone, or a leather or MDF stropping wheel charged with green polishing abrasive, or even some fine sandpaper, will put a new razor-sharp edge on a hobby knife blade in seconds. I have a very old Arkansas sharpening stone which was designed for sharpening old fashioned straight razors. I use it to keep a sharp edge on my hobby knives. It works fine.

What you want are pin vises like those immediately above that will hold variously sized collets. A pin vise that will hold even down to 1/32 of an inch diameter, will be too big for the small bits in the Rogers drill index and drills. 
 

 
Tell your daughter to shop around. There are two apparently identical items, one by Rogers and the other by Gyros, another drill bit company. You will find them listed for fifty bucks at Fundemonium, a hobby store chain, to thirty bucks in the Micro-Mark catalog, to twenty bucks on Amazon. Buy the twenty buck one and wait until you break a bit, then buy a capsule of ten bits from a reputable bit retailer. (Model Expo sometimes has bits in packages of ten on sale at half price... stock up when you get the chance.) By waiting until a bit wears out or breaks, you'll discover which ones you use the most and need to keep in stock. You'll find other sizes are used much less frequently. Bits are also sold in packages of two. You'll end up in the poorhouse quickly buying them this way. It's far more economical to buy them in packages of ten.

Bob, that is the plan, get a decent set for the money to get started and then stock up on my own as necessary.  My pin vise looks very similar to the silver one above and it has a dual collet.  And I misspoke in my last post, I should have said my pin vise can hold a bit up to 3/32".  I already have four #60 bits (how they got into my hobby tool box I'll never know) and my pin vise handles those just fine.  Thanks again. 

Sharpening works quite well when using the sandpaper tools delivered by proxxon.  I got both needles and blades  sharp enough .  There is also a rotating sharpening stone available by proxxon I usually start with the blades.
Clark 

True, but I've never had one break on me like surgical scalpel blades are won't to do. There is an advantage to the heavier gauge metal of hobby knife blades. By the way, surgeons will generally only make a couple of cuts with a scalpel before exchanging it for a new sharp one. Scalpels aren't designed to hold their really sharp edges for any more than about that.
 
It's odd, but nobody's mentioned sharpening hobby knife blades. A fine sharpening stone, or a leather or MDF stropping wheel charged with green polishing abrasive, or even some fine sandpaper, will put a new razor-sharp edge on a hobby knife blade in seconds. I have a very old Arkansas sharpening stone which was designed for sharpening old fashioned straight razors. I use it to keep a sharp edge on my hobby knives. It works fine.

True, but I've never had one break on me like surgical scalpel blades are won't to do. There is an advantage to the heavier gauge metal of hobby knife blades. By the way, surgeons will generally only make a couple of cuts with a scalpel before exchanging it for a new sharp one. Scalpels aren't designed to hold their really sharp edges for any more than about that.
 
It's odd, but nobody's mentioned sharpening hobby knife blades. A fine sharpening stone, or a leather or MDF stropping wheel charged with green polishing abrasive, or even some fine sandpaper, will put a new razor-sharp edge on a hobby knife blade in seconds. I have a very old Arkansas sharpening stone which was designed for sharpening old fashioned straight razors. I use it to keep a sharp edge on my hobby knives. It works fine.

True, but I've never had one break on me like surgical scalpel blades are won't to do. There is an advantage to the heavier gauge metal of hobby knife blades. By the way, surgeons will generally only make a couple of cuts with a scalpel before exchanging it for a new sharp one. Scalpels aren't designed to hold their really sharp edges for any more than about that.
 
It's odd, but nobody's mentioned sharpening hobby knife blades. A fine sharpening stone, or a leather or MDF stropping wheel charged with green polishing abrasive, or even some fine sandpaper, will put a new razor-sharp edge on a hobby knife blade in seconds. I have a very old Arkansas sharpening stone which was designed for sharpening old fashioned straight razors. I use it to keep a sharp edge on my hobby knives. It works fine.

What you want are pin vises like those immediately above that will hold variously sized collets. A pin vise that will hold even down to 1/32 of an inch diameter, will be too big for the small bits in the Rogers drill index and drills. 
 

 
Tell your daughter to shop around. There are two apparently identical items, one by Rogers and the other by Gyros, another drill bit company. You will find them listed for fifty bucks at Fundemonium, a hobby store chain, to thirty bucks in the Micro-Mark catalog, to twenty bucks on Amazon. Buy the twenty buck one and wait until you break a bit, then buy a capsule of ten bits from a reputable bit retailer. (Model Expo sometimes has bits in packages of ten on sale at half price... stock up when you get the chance.) By waiting until a bit wears out or breaks, you'll discover which ones you use the most and need to keep in stock. You'll find other sizes are used much less frequently. Bits are also sold in packages of two. You'll end up in the poorhouse quickly buying them this way. It's far more economical to buy them in packages of ten.

this is part of my assortment of pin vices.  The round head one is my favorite but is limited to #60 and smaller.  It will not go down to #80. The bright  metal ones have multiple chucks but again will not go down the very small drills. The little brass one will hold #80 - #61.