Bob Cleek

Yeah, as the sayings go, in full-size boatbuilding, "You can never have enough clamps." and in ship modeling, "You can never have enough research!." at some point, you just have to start building. You're way ahead of me on that score.   I enjoy the research as much as the building, though. 

Roger,
Jim uses a 1/3 HP motor for many of his machines that is heavy enough that tipping over is an unlikely problem.
It is probably a good idea to set the distance between the table and the drum to remove a minimum layer of wood.
The force from the hand feeding the stock should be fairly low. Most of it is resisting kickback.  The push should not be enough
to tip over a much lighter unit.   The pull from the vac hose should be minimized.  A sky hook with a bungee or it being a horse shoe, with
down stream on the bench surface.
The only problem I have experienced is a weak spring holding the depth dial. It only wants the open, so I fit a 2" C-clamp to it and have it butt the table.
The media is easy to mount - not like me having to glue it to a Maple drum on my old NRJ plans homemade unit.
 
Get spare screws.  A plank fixed to the motor base floor with holes to hold the Allen wrenches and a contact lens type container with a lid to hold screws
will keep everything to hand and keep bits from going away while doing a media change has been good for me.

Roger,
 
Like all of Jim’s tools, the thickness sander is a superbly designed, easy to use tool. I have had one for several years now and have never had an issue of it wanting to tip during use. It may have something to do with the slight upward angle of the feed table. Regardless, I guess the key would be to not try to take too much off in one pass, but you’ll quickly get a feel for what is “about right” for the particular species and thickness you’re using at the time.
 
Not sure if it’s included with the base package, but there is a separate 6” retainer bar iavailable n addition to the two 3” ones. The two 3” ones allows you to load two different grades of sandpaper onto the machine so you have a “coarse” and a “fine” without having to change paper. If you’ve got slight wider stock, you may want to replace these with the single 6” retainer bar and a single grade of sandpaper. I have found this to be a useful addition.

I haven't used a view camera in a long time.  Got rid of my darkroom when I concluded that spending time in it took time I could be shooting so farmed the darkroom work out to the pro lab and concentrated on the photography.  Sold the 4x5 and the RB67 just in time before you couldn't give away film cameras (and a 4x5 digital back is just too much cash.   Anybody want to buy a few Canon F1's and a bunch of Canon lenses (that don't work on my digital Canons)?
 
Enter the digital age and knowing the limitations of a TS lens decided that focus stacking was the way for me to go.  A bit of hassle but it does work.
Kurt

I will be following your gléoiteog build with interest. I have a Galway Hooker on deck for my next build, a larger gleoiteog or a smaller leathbhad, if i ever can get my shop reorganized. I've done the research and, compared to other types, there's precious little available on the hookers, really, and some of the sail plans published aren't accurate at all. I can count the number of reliably accurate published plans drawings on one hand. (Notably, Chapelle's "Boston Hooker's" sail plan is nothing like the distinctive rig of the hookers and, contrary to his description in American Small Sailing Craft, there was no difference between the Galway Hookers and the Boston Hookers, the latter being built at Boston by a transplanted hooker builder from Galway.) If you can afford the astounding prices they're asking for a used copy (as much as $675 for the out-of-print 160 page paperback, but it can be found for much less if you search for it) Galway Hookers: Working Sailboats of Galway Bay, by Richard J. Scott, will be found invaluable. It is the only authoritative source detailing the methods employed for building these boats, for which no plans were ever used. They are built "basket style," by setting up four molds: a midship mold and one forward and aft of midships, a transom mold and the stem. These molds were made from patterns handed down through the generations, perhaps as far back as the mid-Eighteenth Century, by the handful of boatbuilders on the coast of County Galway and enlarged or reduced to suit the size of  the vessel to be built. Scott's book gives all the other proportional scantlings and measurements which were dictated by oral tradition, all being derived from the length of the vessel. (e.g. "the mast is as long as the boat is long; The bowsprit is half the length of the boat," sort of thing.)
 
With the backbone laid down, the patterns were set up and battens run from stem to transom and the frames were then built to fit inside the "basket" formed by the battens which, together with the patterns, The framing method of single futtocks alternately lapped was unique to our experience until the recent archaeological find of a Sixteenth Century Basque fishing boat, which more strongly evidences that the evolutionary genetics of the Galway Hooker may have been Iberian than was previously known.
 
Traditional Boats of Ireland, History, Forklore, and Construction is another great book, but it only briefly covers the hookers, giving them equal space along with all the other Irish working watercraft, of which there are many. While the hookers have enjoyed a resurgence of popularity in recent decades, they remain something of a local phenomenon. The best connection is probably the Galway Hooker's Association: https://www.galwayhookers.ie/  Padraig O'Sabhain's 304 page thesis The centrality of the Galway hooker to dwelling in the island and coastal communities of south west Conamara is linked on the Association's home page and, while I haven't had time to read it all, looks to be a something fun to curl up with on a rainy night.
 
One catch about researching the Irish hookers is that everything about them, from the names of their variants to the parts of the vessels are expressed in Irish Gaelic which uses Roman letters, but does not have the same phonetics as English. While I grew up in a home where Irish was spoken, we never learned it as children because it was the language my grandmother and mother spoke as "code" when they didn't want the kids to know what they were saying! That was only natural for my grandmother from "around the corner" from Galway in County Cork. When she was growing up, the British did all they could to stamp out the language. Children were forbidden to speak it in school. In today's Irish Republic, Irish is taught in all the schools and far more widely spoken than during the British Colonial period. Who'd have ever thought I'd have had any need to learn it later in life!
 
(I figure you know this stuff, but others who may have an interest in modeling the hooker might not.)
 
I plan to build a static model to a larger scale, perhaps 1:24, to permit depiction of all the classic details. 
 
Good luck with your build!
 
 

Very clever approach to planking first and removing the bulkheads! Your hull has a nice shape.
 
I'm not sure to what extent you are planning to display your framing, but you might want to take a closer look at the framing detail. While there is one set of construction drawings on the internet done by Nick Branson (https://www.boatdesign.net/threads/26ft-galway-hooker-pucan-to-build.40781/) which shows a simple half-lap scarf to join futtocks to create a single frame, these plans have been "modernized" and do not employ the traditional, and very distinctive, framing and other construction methods and scantlings of the traditional Irish hookers. There are no steamed frames in a traditionally-built Irish hooker.  Hookers have sawn frames.The molded depth of the frames is perhaps twice their sided width.  Peculiarly, the futtocks are staggered. There is a floor timber (no keelson) from which which three overlapping futtocks rise, alternating to one side or the other.  Their ends are cut at an angle and fastened with a bolt and four nails holding them where they overlap. These overlaps are lined up in a fair line fore and aft. Frames far forward and far aft are canted and, where their shape allows in the bow, may be sawn from a single timber. One might overlook this detail for the sake of "artistic license," but as it is so distinctive a construction feature, and one that reaches back in a straight line perhaps as much as 300 or more years to its likely Basque antecedents, you may wish to depict this feature accurately in your model. 
 
This series of three videos contains a fair amount of detail on the construction of the traditional hooker. You can hit "pause" when you see a hooker in frame and study how the futtocks are placed. 
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3R4ZdW3trY
 
 
 
 

Yes, on all counts. i can't imagine running one without a good vacuum pickup. (My Byrnes sander has and excellent one.)
 
Plain sandpaper isn't really the best option. What is the best is the same heavy cloth-backed abrasive material that belt sander belts are made of.

Yes, on all counts. i can't imagine running one without a good vacuum pickup. (My Byrnes sander has and excellent one.)
 
Plain sandpaper isn't really the best option. What is the best is the same heavy cloth-backed abrasive material that belt sander belts are made of.

I don't really have any experience with drum sanders and don't really need one for my current projects - however, I would be a bit concerned for the motor life with the open commutator. Dust can accumulate in the motor very quickly.
 
I gather the life-time of the abrasive paper also depends on how much thickness you take off by pass. If the drum gets too hot, you may rip out more easily the grains. So there will be RRMs, feed rate and thickness per pass to consider.

Eberhard, cleaver work resulting in nice attention to detail.

Not at all, no soldering. As I wrote above, the stiles are simply cemented on using the brand cement UHU Alleskleber. Seems to hold on well for several decades now on glass and some five years on the first case I built from Plexiglas.
 
I must admit, that I took the design from McCaffery's book on Miniature Ship models. He uses silicone to cement together the glass panes, as well as to stick on the stiles. At one time I found that I ran out of silicone and because of the weekend resorted to UHU. It is much easier to clean up than silicone, which tends to creep around (which of course is the purpose). Also, although McCaffery is really preoccopied with the longevity and stability of materials, he kind of ignores the issue of acetic acid fumes that form, when silicone cures and penetrate into the case.

Who's the lubber that brought that butt-ugly hank of yellow climbing rope aboard?  

The plastic bellows of the scroll saw needed to be replace. It would have cost about $100 to replace it. I did not like that price, so I replaced it with an aquarium air pump.

The old gunsmith’s formula for finishing gunstocks is 1/3 linseed oil, 1/3 turpentine, and 1/3 varnish.  This is applied with a rag and rubbed out with a Mark 1 Mod 0 finger.
 
I mixed some up a while ago using  stuff on hand from previous projects; satin marine varnish (not polyurethane), boiled linseed oil, and real turpentine.  It works great, providing a hard satin finish.  It,keeps well in a screw top jar.
 
incidently, I have a big waste basket container in my shop where I keep a supply of tin cans, plastic yougart cups, etc.  like Bob says, don’t throw things away.
 
Roger

Of course! The "Traditional Boats of Ireland Project" web page is from the same people who put together the book of the same name I mentioned. The book isn't cheap (or wasn't when I bought it new,) but if you liked the web page, you'll love the book. 

Who's the lubber that brought that butt-ugly hank of yellow climbing rope aboard?  

Well, I'm assuming if one is using a solvent-based coating at all, they will also have to buy the solvent as well, for cleaning purposes, at least.

"Satin Wipe-on Poly" is nothing more than thinned polyurethane coating. You are paying a lot of money for thinner! I've read that it isn't sold in Europe, where people simply thin the "full strength" polyurethane and achieve the same result. The same result can be achieved with a 50-50 mixture of linseed oil and turpentine. If you want faster drying, which isn't that much of a factor with thin coatings, you can add a bit of Japan dryer to the mix, or use "boiled" linseed oil, which isn't boiled at all, but simply has the Japan dryer added already.
 
Oops! I forgot to mention for "the youngsters" who may not be aware in this day and age, that rags and such soaked in linseed oil should always be properly hung to dry outdoors and disposed of in a covered metal can. This prevents spontaneous combustion which can occur hours after throwing them out. 

Like everyone, I suppose, I have a "junk bits box" into which go all miscellaneous bits that are 1/8" or larger. Sometimes I go through them to find a "sacrificial bit" that I won't care about dulling. Sometimes I cut the shaft off one when I need a bit of rod of its diameter.
 
On the other hand, one of each size of all of my good bits are kept in drill indexes. The rest are stored in boxes, often in envelopes, plastic zip lock bags, or, for the very small ones, the clear plastic tubes they come in from the store. All are organized as to size. It's very important to keep everything stored where you can get to it when you need to find it. Drill indexes are very important not only because they keep the drills from banging around in a jumbled box or drawer, but most importantly because it saves huge amounts of time. You can immediately go to the drill index and pull out the exactly size bit you need. You don't have to go fiddling through a mess of bits with a micrometer or calipers trying to find the right sized bit or the sharp one rather than the dull one. The first thing every well-taught craftsman learns is to keep his tools organized: a place for everything and everything in its place. For a pro, time is money, but for amateurs, time is progress on the task and a lot less frustration. (Do as I say, not as I do. )
 
For the small numbered bits, an index is essential. For a start, the classic Rogers index, which will set you back about $30 with the full set of bits, is invaluable. Those tiny bits have a way of disappearing if you aren't careful with them and I can't even pick up the smaller ones without a good set of tweezers if they are laying flat on the workbench they are so small. The plastic cover is also a great feature that protects the fragile tiny bits. These are so small that you would have to measure them with a micrometer to be sure of the size. The printed sizes on the index eliminate that entirely:
 

 
Larger bits are often sold in sets that come with indexes, as well. There are many different styles of index.
 

 
The index boxes keep the bits free of dust, which attracts moisture and promotes corrosion. You can give them all an occasional squirt with WD-40 to make sure they don't rust.  it's also easy enough to make your own indexes by just taking a piece of material, wood would be the most obvious, and drill a hole with each drill bit you have, label the holes, and stick the bits in the holes. However, if you are going to buy a set of bits, it makes sense to get a set that comes with an index that suits your fancy.
 
You'll know your current bits aren't worth using when they are dull. Like one Supreme Court Justice once wrote, "I can't define pornography, but I know it when I see it." Sometimes a problem with a bit's performance isn't because it's dull, but rather because the type of bit is the right one for the job, particularly when drilling metal, but if a bit won't cut metal as you expect it to, or it chews up your wood and doesn't make clean-edged holes, it might be dull. Trying a new one is usually the best way to tell. If new bit cuts better, you know the first one was dull. If not, you have a new bit on hand for when the first does inevitably get dull! There are many different bit types and different bit point angles. Over time, if you read up, you'll get some idea of what they all do. It's a learning curve thing. You may even get to the point of sharpening your larger bits yourself, but that's story for another night.
 
The point is, however, that every bit is worth keeping. Larger dull bits can be resharpened on a grinder or in a bit sharpener, if you want to get into that and if you have larger bits, sharpening is way more cost effective than buying new ones. Smaller bits, not so much. Bits can be useful in other ways, as well. Every so often you will have need for a little piece of rod and an old drill bit can save the day. They can be cut easily with Dremel cut-off wheels. Modelers should get in the habit of saving odds and ends which may be useful in a model someday. (At least that's what I tell "She Who Must Be Obeyed!" )
 
The best tool to measure the size of a drill bit, if you can't read the size stamped on the shaft in larger bits, is a drill index. Just keep sticking it in the holes until you find the hole that it fits exactly and read the size off the index. Failing that, a micrometer or a caliper is the tool for the job. Micrometers are more accurate, but a caliper will be very handy, if not essential, for any number of measuring tasks when modeling. They come in mechanical "Vernier" and electronic "digital" versions. The mechanical calipers' measurements are read off a scale like a common ruler. The digital ones have a digital readout. I'm partial to the mechanical ones because the digital read-out ones need batteries and I'm a Luddite at heart, anyhow. The one advantage of the digital ones is that you can set the fancier ones to read out in imperial or metric measurements, and even in decimal equivalents of imperial measurements.
 
Don't be scared off by the prices you see charged for some of these measuring tools. You get what you pay for, and high accuracy tolerances cost the big bucks because what you are really buying is a scientific instrument. That said, you don't have to spend the big bucks for the fancy highly accurate measuring devices unless you want to, though. We don't need NASA level tolerances when building ship models. A mid-range price point instrument is fine for modeling purposes and you can get by even with the low-priced ones. Shop around and make your own choice. (And like all fine instruments, keep them in their cases when not in use and don't drop them on the floor!)
 

 
Micrometer (above)
 

 
Mechanical Vernier caliper (above)
 

 
Electronic digital caliper
 
 

With the stories I've heard about $37 screws,  $640 toilet seats, and a $7,622 coffee maker, I wonder if any of us could afford such bits!
 
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-07-30-vw-18804-story.html

Who's the lubber that brought that butt-ugly hank of yellow climbing rope aboard?  

So, the next part of construction had me worried the most. That was removing the interior bulk heads (which is really destruction, not construction).  Damaging the hull after expending all that time, effort, and materiel, was a major fear.  
 
Removing the bulk head frame started with clipping the cross-braces with wire (sprue) cutters.  For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, and the violence rendered by crunching the wood braces between the bulkheads was a legitimate concern.  Fortunately, all went very well!  With the braces clipped, all the bulkhead fell away with a little twist.  In fact, one fell out without any encouragement.  Since the bulkheads were only attached at one small spot along the keel, the beeswax impregnated edges must have worked.  There was little or no glue stuck to the bulkheads.  
 
Earlier, I did not fully explain the process I used for applying the beeswax.  Before attaching the bulkheads to the keel, I rubbed the wax into the edges (except for the one small spot that would attach to the keel).  Then, one at a time, I heated the edges of each bulkhead with a blow dryer to melt the wax into the wood.  This requires using tongs or tweezers to not burn your fingers.  Another coating of "cold" wax was applied after the bulkheads were attached and braced, just before planking begun.

 
After light sanding... and a strip of basswood for a keelson was applied.

Who's the lubber that brought that butt-ugly hank of yellow climbing rope aboard?  

I’m not sure than $13.95 is a lot of money as opposed to buying two and determining the proper mix and then having three cans to store. But it’s good those that don’t have access to Home Depot have options. 

Like everyone, I suppose, I have a "junk bits box" into which go all miscellaneous bits that are 1/8" or larger. Sometimes I go through them to find a "sacrificial bit" that I won't care about dulling. Sometimes I cut the shaft off one when I need a bit of rod of its diameter.
 
On the other hand, one of each size of all of my good bits are kept in drill indexes. The rest are stored in boxes, often in envelopes, plastic zip lock bags, or, for the very small ones, the clear plastic tubes they come in from the store. All are organized as to size. It's very important to keep everything stored where you can get to it when you need to find it. Drill indexes are very important not only because they keep the drills from banging around in a jumbled box or drawer, but most importantly because it saves huge amounts of time. You can immediately go to the drill index and pull out the exactly size bit you need. You don't have to go fiddling through a mess of bits with a micrometer or calipers trying to find the right sized bit or the sharp one rather than the dull one. The first thing every well-taught craftsman learns is to keep his tools organized: a place for everything and everything in its place. For a pro, time is money, but for amateurs, time is progress on the task and a lot less frustration. (Do as I say, not as I do. )
 
For the small numbered bits, an index is essential. For a start, the classic Rogers index, which will set you back about $30 with the full set of bits, is invaluable. Those tiny bits have a way of disappearing if you aren't careful with them and I can't even pick up the smaller ones without a good set of tweezers if they are laying flat on the workbench they are so small. The plastic cover is also a great feature that protects the fragile tiny bits. These are so small that you would have to measure them with a micrometer to be sure of the size. The printed sizes on the index eliminate that entirely:
 

 
Larger bits are often sold in sets that come with indexes, as well. There are many different styles of index.
 

 
The index boxes keep the bits free of dust, which attracts moisture and promotes corrosion. You can give them all an occasional squirt with WD-40 to make sure they don't rust.  it's also easy enough to make your own indexes by just taking a piece of material, wood would be the most obvious, and drill a hole with each drill bit you have, label the holes, and stick the bits in the holes. However, if you are going to buy a set of bits, it makes sense to get a set that comes with an index that suits your fancy.
 
You'll know your current bits aren't worth using when they are dull. Like one Supreme Court Justice once wrote, "I can't define pornography, but I know it when I see it." Sometimes a problem with a bit's performance isn't because it's dull, but rather because the type of bit is the right one for the job, particularly when drilling metal, but if a bit won't cut metal as you expect it to, or it chews up your wood and doesn't make clean-edged holes, it might be dull. Trying a new one is usually the best way to tell. If new bit cuts better, you know the first one was dull. If not, you have a new bit on hand for when the first does inevitably get dull! There are many different bit types and different bit point angles. Over time, if you read up, you'll get some idea of what they all do. It's a learning curve thing. You may even get to the point of sharpening your larger bits yourself, but that's story for another night.
 
The point is, however, that every bit is worth keeping. Larger dull bits can be resharpened on a grinder or in a bit sharpener, if you want to get into that and if you have larger bits, sharpening is way more cost effective than buying new ones. Smaller bits, not so much. Bits can be useful in other ways, as well. Every so often you will have need for a little piece of rod and an old drill bit can save the day. They can be cut easily with Dremel cut-off wheels. Modelers should get in the habit of saving odds and ends which may be useful in a model someday. (At least that's what I tell "She Who Must Be Obeyed!" )
 
The best tool to measure the size of a drill bit, if you can't read the size stamped on the shaft in larger bits, is a drill index. Just keep sticking it in the holes until you find the hole that it fits exactly and read the size off the index. Failing that, a micrometer or a caliper is the tool for the job. Micrometers are more accurate, but a caliper will be very handy, if not essential, for any number of measuring tasks when modeling. They come in mechanical "Vernier" and electronic "digital" versions. The mechanical calipers' measurements are read off a scale like a common ruler. The digital ones have a digital readout. I'm partial to the mechanical ones because the digital read-out ones need batteries and I'm a Luddite at heart, anyhow. The one advantage of the digital ones is that you can set the fancier ones to read out in imperial or metric measurements, and even in decimal equivalents of imperial measurements.
 
Don't be scared off by the prices you see charged for some of these measuring tools. You get what you pay for, and high accuracy tolerances cost the big bucks because what you are really buying is a scientific instrument. That said, you don't have to spend the big bucks for the fancy highly accurate measuring devices unless you want to, though. We don't need NASA level tolerances when building ship models. A mid-range price point instrument is fine for modeling purposes and you can get by even with the low-priced ones. Shop around and make your own choice. (And like all fine instruments, keep them in their cases when not in use and don't drop them on the floor!)
 

 
Micrometer (above)
 

 
Mechanical Vernier caliper (above)
 

 
Electronic digital caliper