Bob Cleek

Come to think of it, a few years back, ModelExpo had a sale on drill bits by size and I ordered a bunch of different sizes. I had the exact same problem and an email to them got solved in the same way. Apparently, the kids the manufacturer had chained to the workbenches in China weren't all that concerned about putting the correct number of bits in the right tubes! I thought it was a fluke and forgot about that until now. They sent the replacements right away, though with no questions asked.

I assume that “titanium” refers to titanium alloy steel, not pure titanium?
 
 For steel to be useful for cutting it must be hardenable, by heat treatment.  In the past this required a high carbon content in the iron alloy.  Within the past 40 or so years low carbon steel alloys have been developed that can be heat treated to very high strengths.  This is done by adding small amounts of elements like titanium.  These are commonly known as microalloyed steels or in the industry vernacular, “addition of BatS&@$.”
 
These steels are strong but tough and exhibit much better ductility at low temperatures than the old high carbon steels.  Chisels do not require enhanced cold weather properties and increased toughness can make sharpening difficult.  I would rather have edge tools with easily sharpened blades made from the old high carbon steels.  I suspect that this is a marketing gimmick by MicroMark.

I wish this was something I learned when I first started, I guess it doesn’t matter much now but when I started building models, if I thought I would need a tool At any point I just bought it. Now I pretty much have any thing I need but at first I had several tools sitting around that never got touched. It’s a good idea to buy tools as you need them, I found that buying tools one at a time allows you to really learn that tool which makes using it really nice later. I will say that I ordered bits from model expo sometime last year and only had one or two discrepancies, not enough to have more sent to me. I’m sure your purchase will be fine! 

Come to think of it, a few years back, ModelExpo had a sale on drill bits by size and I ordered a bunch of different sizes. I had the exact same problem and an email to them got solved in the same way. Apparently, the kids the manufacturer had chained to the workbenches in China weren't all that concerned about putting the correct number of bits in the right tubes! I thought it was a fluke and forgot about that until now. They sent the replacements right away, though with no questions asked.

I bought that big box of drill bits from ModelExpo the last time they were on sale.  I measured all of them when they arrived and found a HUGE discrepancy between what was supposed to supplied and what actually was received.  Some sizes were missing completely, some had double the quantity,  Don't tell anyone but when I emailed them with the results they sent me all the missing sizes and didn't tell me to send them the ones that were excess!  Pain in the neck to measure all those drills but it worked out in the end (for me)!

As you probably know, you can obtain the lines, sail, and deck plans for the vessel from Mystic Seaport, although these do not appear to include construction drawings. https://store.mysticseaport.org/ships-plans/emma-c-berry-noank-well-smack.html. Unfortunately, she has not been documented by the Historic American Engineering  I don't expect she was a sufficiently wasn't a sufficiently important vessel to have ever had detailed construction drawings. She would have most likely been built "by eye" to requested dimensions with the decisions as to construction left to the boat builder.
 
All things considered, I think your best bet is to pay a visit to Mystic and bring your camera, note book, and a measuring stick, marked in black and white bands, which can be included in photos as a scale for measuring items in the photos later. I'd suggest calling ahead, as well. I expect that even with the pandemic protocols, they may be able to let you climb aboard and document whatever you want. You'll have to get in her and count the frames and so on, if a large scale "as built" model is your goal.

In most, the "bellows" that blows the air is simply a rubber bladder that is compressed by the arm's downward movement with a piece of plastic tubing connected to it. These rubber bladders crap out on a regular basis and are easily replaceable. I'll bet if your saw is still in production, the manufacturer has replacement air bladders for sale..

Our posts "crossed in the mail." You've found a good temporary solution. I would note, however, that the paper-backed Brodart mylar dust jacket cover is archival and has a neutral acidity. The mylar prevents the face of the book from sticking to adjacent books when on the shelf. The paper backing permits torn and creased dust jackets to be flattened out in the paper and mylar "sandwich" without the need to use tape on them. Next time you're by your local library, see if they can sell you a proper archival cover.

I use what the public libraries use to protect their dust jackets. Brodart library supply company makes the most commonly-seen ones. Other companies, such as Gaylord Archival do also. They come in a wide range sizes in cut sheets, which don't make a lot of sense to me unless all your books are the same size, or rolls, which allow you to use one size which can be folded to fit a wide range of book sizes. I use Brodart's "Just-A-Fold Original" style. I buy them by the roll and cut off what I need, which is economical. (A large library would have the full size range, for convenience's sake.)  I have them on most all of the books in my reference book library. A roll will last practically forever. I bought a roll the 14" high size decades ago and have yet to consume all of it. Brodart now sells a package deal that looks handy with three rolls of different widths, 10", 12", and 14". They have an acid-free archival paper backing and a clear archival plastic cover. You sandwich the dust cover between the paper and the plastic and fold over the excess. 
 
If you only want one or two covers, perhaps you may be able to talk a local library into selling you what you need for a small job.
 
Here's Brodart's "how to do it" PDF that tells you how to best select the many options they offer: http://www.shopbrodart.com/_resources/www/brodart/_system/content/images/PDF/2017_BJC_Guide.pdf 
 
http://www.shopbrodart.com/Library-Supplies/Book-Jacket-Covers/
 
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=brodart+fold-on+book+covers&i=office-products&gclid=CjwKCAiAiML-BRAAEiwAuWVgghlKRBuEVApXKK-nQWH3GS5EjrIUT6NkhSahCvShZFseVdpuF-f_GBoCPWoQAvD_BwE&hvadid=318674205520&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9032112&hvnetw=s&hvqmt=b&hvrand=17492042603946677432&hvtargid=kwd-400194176838&hydadcr=28992_10194946&tag=googhydr-20&ref=pd_sl_6rbppx1ax4_b
 
 
 
 

Our posts "crossed in the mail." You've found a good temporary solution. I would note, however, that the paper-backed Brodart mylar dust jacket cover is archival and has a neutral acidity. The mylar prevents the face of the book from sticking to adjacent books when on the shelf. The paper backing permits torn and creased dust jackets to be flattened out in the paper and mylar "sandwich" without the need to use tape on them. Next time you're by your local library, see if they can sell you a proper archival cover.

I use what the public libraries use to protect their dust jackets. Brodart library supply company makes the most commonly-seen ones. Other companies, such as Gaylord Archival do also. They come in a wide range sizes in cut sheets, which don't make a lot of sense to me unless all your books are the same size, or rolls, which allow you to use one size which can be folded to fit a wide range of book sizes. I use Brodart's "Just-A-Fold Original" style. I buy them by the roll and cut off what I need, which is economical. (A large library would have the full size range, for convenience's sake.)  I have them on most all of the books in my reference book library. A roll will last practically forever. I bought a roll the 14" high size decades ago and have yet to consume all of it. Brodart now sells a package deal that looks handy with three rolls of different widths, 10", 12", and 14". They have an acid-free archival paper backing and a clear archival plastic cover. You sandwich the dust cover between the paper and the plastic and fold over the excess. 
 
If you only want one or two covers, perhaps you may be able to talk a local library into selling you what you need for a small job.
 
Here's Brodart's "how to do it" PDF that tells you how to best select the many options they offer: http://www.shopbrodart.com/_resources/www/brodart/_system/content/images/PDF/2017_BJC_Guide.pdf 
 
http://www.shopbrodart.com/Library-Supplies/Book-Jacket-Covers/
 
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=brodart+fold-on+book+covers&i=office-products&gclid=CjwKCAiAiML-BRAAEiwAuWVgghlKRBuEVApXKK-nQWH3GS5EjrIUT6NkhSahCvShZFseVdpuF-f_GBoCPWoQAvD_BwE&hvadid=318674205520&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9032112&hvnetw=s&hvqmt=b&hvrand=17492042603946677432&hvtargid=kwd-400194176838&hydadcr=28992_10194946&tag=googhydr-20&ref=pd_sl_6rbppx1ax4_b
 
 
 
 

I use what the public libraries use to protect their dust jackets. Brodart library supply company makes the most commonly-seen ones. Other companies, such as Gaylord Archival do also. They come in a wide range sizes in cut sheets, which don't make a lot of sense to me unless all your books are the same size, or rolls, which allow you to use one size which can be folded to fit a wide range of book sizes. I use Brodart's "Just-A-Fold Original" style. I buy them by the roll and cut off what I need, which is economical. (A large library would have the full size range, for convenience's sake.)  I have them on most all of the books in my reference book library. A roll will last practically forever. I bought a roll the 14" high size decades ago and have yet to consume all of it. Brodart now sells a package deal that looks handy with three rolls of different widths, 10", 12", and 14". They have an acid-free archival paper backing and a clear archival plastic cover. You sandwich the dust cover between the paper and the plastic and fold over the excess. 
 
If you only want one or two covers, perhaps you may be able to talk a local library into selling you what you need for a small job.
 
Here's Brodart's "how to do it" PDF that tells you how to best select the many options they offer: http://www.shopbrodart.com/_resources/www/brodart/_system/content/images/PDF/2017_BJC_Guide.pdf 
 
http://www.shopbrodart.com/Library-Supplies/Book-Jacket-Covers/
 
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=brodart+fold-on+book+covers&i=office-products&gclid=CjwKCAiAiML-BRAAEiwAuWVgghlKRBuEVApXKK-nQWH3GS5EjrIUT6NkhSahCvShZFseVdpuF-f_GBoCPWoQAvD_BwE&hvadid=318674205520&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9032112&hvnetw=s&hvqmt=b&hvrand=17492042603946677432&hvtargid=kwd-400194176838&hydadcr=28992_10194946&tag=googhydr-20&ref=pd_sl_6rbppx1ax4_b
 
 
 
 

Our posts "crossed in the mail." You've found a good temporary solution. I would note, however, that the paper-backed Brodart mylar dust jacket cover is archival and has a neutral acidity. The mylar prevents the face of the book from sticking to adjacent books when on the shelf. The paper backing permits torn and creased dust jackets to be flattened out in the paper and mylar "sandwich" without the need to use tape on them. Next time you're by your local library, see if they can sell you a proper archival cover.

I use what the public libraries use to protect their dust jackets. Brodart library supply company makes the most commonly-seen ones. Other companies, such as Gaylord Archival do also. They come in a wide range sizes in cut sheets, which don't make a lot of sense to me unless all your books are the same size, or rolls, which allow you to use one size which can be folded to fit a wide range of book sizes. I use Brodart's "Just-A-Fold Original" style. I buy them by the roll and cut off what I need, which is economical. (A large library would have the full size range, for convenience's sake.)  I have them on most all of the books in my reference book library. A roll will last practically forever. I bought a roll the 14" high size decades ago and have yet to consume all of it. Brodart now sells a package deal that looks handy with three rolls of different widths, 10", 12", and 14". They have an acid-free archival paper backing and a clear archival plastic cover. You sandwich the dust cover between the paper and the plastic and fold over the excess. 
 
If you only want one or two covers, perhaps you may be able to talk a local library into selling you what you need for a small job.
 
Here's Brodart's "how to do it" PDF that tells you how to best select the many options they offer: http://www.shopbrodart.com/_resources/www/brodart/_system/content/images/PDF/2017_BJC_Guide.pdf 
 
http://www.shopbrodart.com/Library-Supplies/Book-Jacket-Covers/
 
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=brodart+fold-on+book+covers&i=office-products&gclid=CjwKCAiAiML-BRAAEiwAuWVgghlKRBuEVApXKK-nQWH3GS5EjrIUT6NkhSahCvShZFseVdpuF-f_GBoCPWoQAvD_BwE&hvadid=318674205520&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9032112&hvnetw=s&hvqmt=b&hvrand=17492042603946677432&hvtargid=kwd-400194176838&hydadcr=28992_10194946&tag=googhydr-20&ref=pd_sl_6rbppx1ax4_b
 
 
 
 

In most, the "bellows" that blows the air is simply a rubber bladder that is compressed by the arm's downward movement with a piece of plastic tubing connected to it. These rubber bladders crap out on a regular basis and are easily replaceable. I'll bet if your saw is still in production, the manufacturer has replacement air bladders for sale..

In most, the "bellows" that blows the air is simply a rubber bladder that is compressed by the arm's downward movement with a piece of plastic tubing connected to it. These rubber bladders crap out on a regular basis and are easily replaceable. I'll bet if your saw is still in production, the manufacturer has replacement air bladders for sale..

There are plenty to choose from out there. They range in price from under $200 to $1000 or more. Most all are table top. You will want variable speed, good hold down function and chip relief so you can see where the blade is going. Most are slow start so you need to be aware of that. Then it comes to the all important blade types. There are so many that it is too much to include here but you will want to invest in good quality blades for the works you plan. These are not for thick stock cutting and do their best on thin stock. If they have a surface light that is a plus.
Joe

Better (read 'generally more expensive') units are usually better for vibration-free running. Cheap ones tend to 'thrash'.

For those needing drill bits, I just noticed that ModelExpo is having a great "loss leader" sale on an entire set of #61 through #80 bits (the same as the Rogers circular bit index,) five of each size in clear plastic tubes in a nice wooden box with a decent pin vise for only $35. That's as low a price as I've ever seen for micro-bits. When you need more individual sizes, ModelExpo sells these bits in packs of five for $3.49. The same bits without the wooden case and pin vise would run about $70, so the bits alone are half price and the box and pin vise are a bonus! If I didn't already have a good supply, I'd grab one in a hot minute. 
 
https://modelexpo-online.com/MT2001-Set-of-100-Number-Drills-5-each-of-61-80-in-a-Wood-Box-Pin-Vise_p_1411.html

As said, it's a matter of scale. You can get away with it, barely, at 3/4" to the foot, as below, if you use very fine thread and the closest stitch setting. but corners hand stitched with the same thread produces a bit cruder results and bolt roping is a real challenge. On this model, I didn't sew the panels together, but rather simply stitched through the single sheet of fine cloth. There's no seam overlap on the panels, but the line of stitching does produce an impression of reality.
 
I didn't have any better close-ups of machine-sewn sails, but these shots of a three-quarters inch scale catboat give some idea of as much as one might expect of a home sewing machine. Below that, I wouldn't recommend cloth sails at all. (The copper fittings were left to develop a natural "penny brown" patina on their own, thereby simulating bronze. The photos were taken before that process had taken place.)
 
 
 




 
 
 



 
 
 

For those needing drill bits, I just noticed that ModelExpo is having a great "loss leader" sale on an entire set of #61 through #80 bits (the same as the Rogers circular bit index,) five of each size in clear plastic tubes in a nice wooden box with a decent pin vise for only $35. That's as low a price as I've ever seen for micro-bits. When you need more individual sizes, ModelExpo sells these bits in packs of five for $3.49. The same bits without the wooden case and pin vise would run about $70, so the bits alone are half price and the box and pin vise are a bonus! If I didn't already have a good supply, I'd grab one in a hot minute. 
 
https://modelexpo-online.com/MT2001-Set-of-100-Number-Drills-5-each-of-61-80-in-a-Wood-Box-Pin-Vise_p_1411.html

For those needing drill bits, I just noticed that ModelExpo is having a great "loss leader" sale on an entire set of #61 through #80 bits (the same as the Rogers circular bit index,) five of each size in clear plastic tubes in a nice wooden box with a decent pin vise for only $35. That's as low a price as I've ever seen for micro-bits. When you need more individual sizes, ModelExpo sells these bits in packs of five for $3.49. The same bits without the wooden case and pin vise would run about $70, so the bits alone are half price and the box and pin vise are a bonus! If I didn't already have a good supply, I'd grab one in a hot minute. 
 
https://modelexpo-online.com/MT2001-Set-of-100-Number-Drills-5-each-of-61-80-in-a-Wood-Box-Pin-Vise_p_1411.html

In most cases the cloth is also way over scale

I am in agreement with many of the comments above regarding sewn sails being grossly out of scale.   Assuming on a full size sail the stitches are about 1/8" apart, perhaps more, perhaps less,  at 1:48 they would have to be a few thousandths of an inch apart.    I don't think this is possible with any sewing machine.  Sorry to be a naysayer, but sewn sails really stand out and not in a good way.   Just my own personal thoughts.  
Allan

Adding to Eberhard and Dr.PR's comments, this discussion reminds me of something my late boatbuilding mentor, a older fellow who'd been one of the last to have gone through a traditional trade apprenticeship and had run a boatyard of his own for perhaps fifty years, said to me on the subject: "A house framing carpenter cuts to the nearest quarter inch, a finish carpenter cuts to the nearest thirty-second of an inch, and a boat builder cuts to the nearest boat." His point was that it isn't the measurements that matter, but rather the fit of the piece to the ones next to it, so forget about the dimensions on the plans and pay attention to what you are fitting together.
 
Any sort of ship or boat plans, at least until the advent of CAD, are never absolutely accurate. What they are, really, is simply "scaled plans for drawing full scale plans." You can't draw a scale line fine enough, even at 1:48. Back in the day, they'd draw the lines of a 150' ship on a six or seven foot long piece of drafting vellum and the scale lines drawn would still be so wide if blown up to full scale that you couldn't take accurate measurements from the plans. While at modeling scales, the problem isn't as great, how often do we see plans drawn to 1:48, even? The rule in full size engineering is always that measurements are never to be taken from the drawings, but rather must be taken from the notation of the distance on the drawing. In modeling, we can cheat somewhat, but only if we "build to the boat" and not to the plans. What the pre-CAD draftsmen did was to take up a "table of offsets" from the drawings with dividers and read the distances from scales, knowing that no matter how carefully they placed their divider points on the center of the line, the table of offsets would never be perfectly accurate. Indeed, if the offsets for a 150' ship were accurate to within an inch or two, they were quite good. 
 
The purpose of the table of offsets was to enable the loftsman to loft the patterns for the ship full size. The loftsman takes the table of offsets and the lines drawings and uses these to draw the vessel full size on the lofting floor. When doing so, the loftsman uses battens to spring fair curves, using the offsets as a guide, but the offset points are rarely all on the fair curve sprung with the batten. (There are many tricks to the loftsman's trade. In "fairing the lines" from the draftsman's offsets, the loftsman uses the "diagonals" to test the accuracy of the lofting, for example. Further discussion of this is beyond the scope of this post, but for those interested, Lofting, by Alan Vaitses is highly recommended.) The loftsman trusts the batten, not the draftsman's offset measurements to develop the full size patterns for the shape-defining parts of the ship. Only once in a while, when there are a number of identical vessels to be built, will you get lucky and find that a loftsman has generated a corrected table of offsets from the full size lofting that are "tighter than a gnat's ***." In this case, there will usually be a notation on the table of offsets like "Corrected offsets." or "Offsets as lofted." Otherwise, the offsets will have to be "faired" on the loft floor.
 
The loftsman's full size patterns were usually only those essential to get the vessel "in frame." From there, the "wood butchers" "built to the ship," not to the plans. They'd set up a few basic frames, sometimes as few as as a midship frame at the widest beam and a couple forward and aft of that, plus a stem and transom. Then they'd tack battens sprung across the faces of these frames and the resulting "basket" defined the shape of all the frames in between. In such fashion, a fair hull would be constructed. This is sort of the way planked models used to be built, although once in a while, an author would draw up a full set of frames and publish them for modelers to use, as we see in the old modeling books by Davis and his contemporaries.
 
Today, CAD makes it possible, in theory, at least, to generate far more accurate drawings and it seems modelers are seduced by CAD and then find themselves sucked into believing they have to become micro-machinists using extremely accurate (and expensive) machines with DRO, or even CNC, to turn out parts accurate to .0005 if they want to build a good model, even from a kit, but this isn't so. "If it looks right, it is right." was the old time ship builder's maxim and it serves the modeler as well in miniature as it did the old timers working in full size. The old timers didn't have to worry about cutting each side perfectly square and to exact size when making a box. They just cut half of the sides a bit large and when the box was built, they planed the overhangs on the edges to fit, yielding a perfectly jointed cube. I'm not knocking CNC, for it certainly has it's place. (We wouldn't have IKEA knock-down furniture without it!) For building one-off models, though, the old fashioned measuring tools are more than sufficient and often much less expensive, not to mention a joy to own and even collect. Our goal is to create a compelling impression of reality in miniature. That doesn't always mean NASA-level tolerances in our measurements. (Even at that, John Glenn orbited the earth in a rocket ship designed with slide rules!) Sometimes, even slight deviations from exact scaling, such a a smidgen smaller rigging lines, can actually produce a more compelling impression of reality than perfectly sized ones, and that's when modeling becomes an art and not just a craft. So as the man says, "Don't sweat the small stuff."