Bob Cleek

I second Druxey's suggestion. There's never any certainty with any of this, so experiments off the model are recommended, as always. Natural cordage shrinks when it gets wet because the moisture causes the natural fibers to swell which tightens the lay. The line becomes slack after being wet because the moisture causes the rope to tighten and stretch. Afterwards, it stays stretched until re-wetted.
 
You should test a section of your laid up rigging line to see if simply applying the shellac before trying to first soak the line in hot water will alone shrink it sufficiently. The shellac soaking into the twisted line may be tighten the line sufficiently on its own and, if so, when the alcohol evaporates, whether the shellac will have sealed your rigging from further moisture and will have cemented the twisted fibers tightly together and sealed out further moisture being absorbed.
 
If that doesn't cause the line to shrink sufficiently, I'd test it with an application of boiling hot water and see if that shrinks the cordage tighter. If so, I'd put the model somewhere the humidity was low for a day or three and then apply a generous amount of boiling hot water and let it soak into the rigging. Cotton should shrink in hot water, even if the cotton has been "pre-shrunk." Your twisting up the rope should cause it to tighten in any event because as the cotton fibers soak up the water, they will expand and your twist will tighten as the fibers become larger. Let the water dry (a hair dryer should speed things up if you are careful) and then apply thinned clear ("white") shellac (most canned shellac can be applied right out of the can.) The shellac should soak into the rigging and "set" the cordage, also sealing it so it will not absorb moisture in the future. The shellac should not change the color any nor should it be visible when dry. 
 
When attempting to shrink rigging, and particularly standing rigging, work on each side alternately rather than both sides simultaneously. This will permit one side's taking up before the other and should prevent a sudden over-shortening on both sides that could cause the rigging to over-tighten and pull loose or break if too tight.
 
And again, experiment with these techniques before you attack the model's finished work with any of them. We're just making it up as we go and free advice on the internet is often worth less than what you pay for it. Let us know how it works!

Indeed it does!
 
Read the below threads (from the "articles - more" drop-down menu at the forum masthead) which address the problem of rope unraveling generally and polyester rope unraveling particularly. Note Chuck Passaro's method of "heat treating" polyester rope to eliminate unraveling. The information in these threads will probably solve your problems with unraveling.
 
 
 

As with all structural materials, wood has its structural limitations which vary from species to species. There is very little that can be done to treat wood in order to enable it to exceed its inherent strength limitations. All wood is substantially stronger along its grain structure than across its grain structure, although some species have an interlocking grain structure which affords much greater strength across the grain than parallel grain structured species. This additional cross-grained structure is not, however, sufficiently strong to afford sufficient structural strength in most any application. Obviously, the smaller the piece of wood of any species, the less structural strength it will have.
 
I've worked with wood for a long time and I know of only one method of strengthening wood that affords any real improvement over the wood's inherent structural properties and even that is rather limited. This method employs a particular cocktail of somewhat exotic solvents and epoxy resins which penetrate the surface of the wood. The solvents carry the epoxy resin into the wood and when the solvents evaporate and the epoxy resin which has soaked into the wood cures, the epoxy-soaked wood is essentially "plasticized." The cured epoxy employs the wood structure to form a matrix which is stronger than the wood or epoxy alone.
 
Some employ this mechanism by applying thinned epoxy resin to wood, the epoxy being thinned with solvents such as acetone, xylol. or toluene, but testing indicates that this simple approach is not as effective in penetrating the wood than commercially available proprietary "penetrating epoxies." The only proprietary penetrating epoxy formulation which has shown greatly enhanced abilities to penetrate (i.e. soak into) wood, both into end-grain and the face of wood surfaces is called Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer(tm) or CPES(tm). This product is manufactured by Smith and Company of Richmond, California. it is, however, repackaged and sold in some marine chandleries and hardware stores as "Rot Doctor." CPES has been around for probably fifty years now. It was originally developed for use in the preservation and restoration of decayed architectural embellishments such as  gingerbread" fret saw work, turnings, and carvings on Victorian wooden buildings. It was never designed nor advertised to be used to add strength to structural wood, but rather only to preserve trim. That said, it was quickly embraced by the wooden boatbuilding community because CPES was an excellent sealer beneath wood in the marine environment and a very good primer for bonding epoxy structural laminations in wooden boatbuilding. I've used gallons of the stuff over the years and can attest that, to the depth it soaks into a piece of wood, it adds strength, and particularly impact resistance, to the epoxy-treated wood. A full explanation of this product can be found at Smith and Company's website: http://www.smithandcompany.org/CPES/ (This product, which isn't cheap, but has a long shelf life, can be purchased in most marine chandleries and by mail order from the company's website. Other "penetrating epoxies" are also marketed, but I've been using the original Smith's product for almost 50 years and I don't know a commercial boatyard that has ever used any of the "off brands.")
 
Because there's a limit to everything, I can't say CPES is going to turn all your modeling wood into hard epoxy resin, but it will provide some additional strength to small pieces and "sticks." Whether it provides enough for your purposes will depend on the use to which the piece is put and you'll just have to experiment with it. (It's also an excellent primer for wooden hulls which will be placed in water, whether they be painted or resin-coated.) With respect to "sticks" like small scale yards and such, you might consider abandoning wood altogether and going to brass or copper. The construction standards for many museums and institutional model collections sometimes specify the use of noble metal spars in smaller diameters to minimize the chance of breakage otherwise present in thin wooden spars.
 
In conclusion, frankly, if your wood piece isn't strong enough, I'd think you'd be better off using a stronger species of wood or using brass for that part. It goes without saying that if your piece is "cross-grained," there's no point in expecting it to ever have much strength at all. 

Indeed it does!
 
Read the below threads (from the "articles - more" drop-down menu at the forum masthead) which address the problem of rope unraveling generally and polyester rope unraveling particularly. Note Chuck Passaro's method of "heat treating" polyester rope to eliminate unraveling. The information in these threads will probably solve your problems with unraveling.
 
 
 

i have used 3 different products to strengthen some balsa fillets.
epoxy resin, fiberglass resin and wood hardener
 
Epoxy resin and fiberglass gave some limited positive results. The wood hardener, im not sure. All i know is that its smell was vey similar to a nitro thinner. Basic difference was the price hardener 10$ per liter while thinner cost 4$. So basically was a waste of money.
 
In short, i haven't come up with a solution than satisfies me 100%

Maybe go to European boxwood, (buxus sempervirens)?   Color is off, but I have found that is so tight grained that it is the strongest wood for small dimensioned stuff.  Janka hardess of 2.840 lbf for boxwood versus 1660 for Swiss pear and 1880 for castello (calycophyllum multiforum) 
Allan
 

As with all structural materials, wood has its structural limitations which vary from species to species. There is very little that can be done to treat wood in order to enable it to exceed its inherent strength limitations. All wood is substantially stronger along its grain structure than across its grain structure, although some species have an interlocking grain structure which affords much greater strength across the grain than parallel grain structured species. This additional cross-grained structure is not, however, sufficiently strong to afford sufficient structural strength in most any application. Obviously, the smaller the piece of wood of any species, the less structural strength it will have.
 
I've worked with wood for a long time and I know of only one method of strengthening wood that affords any real improvement over the wood's inherent structural properties and even that is rather limited. This method employs a particular cocktail of somewhat exotic solvents and epoxy resins which penetrate the surface of the wood. The solvents carry the epoxy resin into the wood and when the solvents evaporate and the epoxy resin which has soaked into the wood cures, the epoxy-soaked wood is essentially "plasticized." The cured epoxy employs the wood structure to form a matrix which is stronger than the wood or epoxy alone.
 
Some employ this mechanism by applying thinned epoxy resin to wood, the epoxy being thinned with solvents such as acetone, xylol. or toluene, but testing indicates that this simple approach is not as effective in penetrating the wood than commercially available proprietary "penetrating epoxies." The only proprietary penetrating epoxy formulation which has shown greatly enhanced abilities to penetrate (i.e. soak into) wood, both into end-grain and the face of wood surfaces is called Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer(tm) or CPES(tm). This product is manufactured by Smith and Company of Richmond, California. it is, however, repackaged and sold in some marine chandleries and hardware stores as "Rot Doctor." CPES has been around for probably fifty years now. It was originally developed for use in the preservation and restoration of decayed architectural embellishments such as  gingerbread" fret saw work, turnings, and carvings on Victorian wooden buildings. It was never designed nor advertised to be used to add strength to structural wood, but rather only to preserve trim. That said, it was quickly embraced by the wooden boatbuilding community because CPES was an excellent sealer beneath wood in the marine environment and a very good primer for bonding epoxy structural laminations in wooden boatbuilding. I've used gallons of the stuff over the years and can attest that, to the depth it soaks into a piece of wood, it adds strength, and particularly impact resistance, to the epoxy-treated wood. A full explanation of this product can be found at Smith and Company's website: http://www.smithandcompany.org/CPES/ (This product, which isn't cheap, but has a long shelf life, can be purchased in most marine chandleries and by mail order from the company's website. Other "penetrating epoxies" are also marketed, but I've been using the original Smith's product for almost 50 years and I don't know a commercial boatyard that has ever used any of the "off brands.")
 
Because there's a limit to everything, I can't say CPES is going to turn all your modeling wood into hard epoxy resin, but it will provide some additional strength to small pieces and "sticks." Whether it provides enough for your purposes will depend on the use to which the piece is put and you'll just have to experiment with it. (It's also an excellent primer for wooden hulls which will be placed in water, whether they be painted or resin-coated.) With respect to "sticks" like small scale yards and such, you might consider abandoning wood altogether and going to brass or copper. The construction standards for many museums and institutional model collections sometimes specify the use of noble metal spars in smaller diameters to minimize the chance of breakage otherwise present in thin wooden spars.
 
In conclusion, frankly, if your wood piece isn't strong enough, I'd think you'd be better off using a stronger species of wood or using brass for that part. It goes without saying that if your piece is "cross-grained," there's no point in expecting it to ever have much strength at all. 

As with all structural materials, wood has its structural limitations which vary from species to species. There is very little that can be done to treat wood in order to enable it to exceed its inherent strength limitations. All wood is substantially stronger along its grain structure than across its grain structure, although some species have an interlocking grain structure which affords much greater strength across the grain than parallel grain structured species. This additional cross-grained structure is not, however, sufficiently strong to afford sufficient structural strength in most any application. Obviously, the smaller the piece of wood of any species, the less structural strength it will have.
 
I've worked with wood for a long time and I know of only one method of strengthening wood that affords any real improvement over the wood's inherent structural properties and even that is rather limited. This method employs a particular cocktail of somewhat exotic solvents and epoxy resins which penetrate the surface of the wood. The solvents carry the epoxy resin into the wood and when the solvents evaporate and the epoxy resin which has soaked into the wood cures, the epoxy-soaked wood is essentially "plasticized." The cured epoxy employs the wood structure to form a matrix which is stronger than the wood or epoxy alone.
 
Some employ this mechanism by applying thinned epoxy resin to wood, the epoxy being thinned with solvents such as acetone, xylol. or toluene, but testing indicates that this simple approach is not as effective in penetrating the wood than commercially available proprietary "penetrating epoxies." The only proprietary penetrating epoxy formulation which has shown greatly enhanced abilities to penetrate (i.e. soak into) wood, both into end-grain and the face of wood surfaces is called Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer(tm) or CPES(tm). This product is manufactured by Smith and Company of Richmond, California. it is, however, repackaged and sold in some marine chandleries and hardware stores as "Rot Doctor." CPES has been around for probably fifty years now. It was originally developed for use in the preservation and restoration of decayed architectural embellishments such as  gingerbread" fret saw work, turnings, and carvings on Victorian wooden buildings. It was never designed nor advertised to be used to add strength to structural wood, but rather only to preserve trim. That said, it was quickly embraced by the wooden boatbuilding community because CPES was an excellent sealer beneath wood in the marine environment and a very good primer for bonding epoxy structural laminations in wooden boatbuilding. I've used gallons of the stuff over the years and can attest that, to the depth it soaks into a piece of wood, it adds strength, and particularly impact resistance, to the epoxy-treated wood. A full explanation of this product can be found at Smith and Company's website: http://www.smithandcompany.org/CPES/ (This product, which isn't cheap, but has a long shelf life, can be purchased in most marine chandleries and by mail order from the company's website. Other "penetrating epoxies" are also marketed, but I've been using the original Smith's product for almost 50 years and I don't know a commercial boatyard that has ever used any of the "off brands.")
 
Because there's a limit to everything, I can't say CPES is going to turn all your modeling wood into hard epoxy resin, but it will provide some additional strength to small pieces and "sticks." Whether it provides enough for your purposes will depend on the use to which the piece is put and you'll just have to experiment with it. (It's also an excellent primer for wooden hulls which will be placed in water, whether they be painted or resin-coated.) With respect to "sticks" like small scale yards and such, you might consider abandoning wood altogether and going to brass or copper. The construction standards for many museums and institutional model collections sometimes specify the use of noble metal spars in smaller diameters to minimize the chance of breakage otherwise present in thin wooden spars.
 
In conclusion, frankly, if your wood piece isn't strong enough, I'd think you'd be better off using a stronger species of wood or using brass for that part. It goes without saying that if your piece is "cross-grained," there's no point in expecting it to ever have much strength at all. 

As with all structural materials, wood has its structural limitations which vary from species to species. There is very little that can be done to treat wood in order to enable it to exceed its inherent strength limitations. All wood is substantially stronger along its grain structure than across its grain structure, although some species have an interlocking grain structure which affords much greater strength across the grain than parallel grain structured species. This additional cross-grained structure is not, however, sufficiently strong to afford sufficient structural strength in most any application. Obviously, the smaller the piece of wood of any species, the less structural strength it will have.
 
I've worked with wood for a long time and I know of only one method of strengthening wood that affords any real improvement over the wood's inherent structural properties and even that is rather limited. This method employs a particular cocktail of somewhat exotic solvents and epoxy resins which penetrate the surface of the wood. The solvents carry the epoxy resin into the wood and when the solvents evaporate and the epoxy resin which has soaked into the wood cures, the epoxy-soaked wood is essentially "plasticized." The cured epoxy employs the wood structure to form a matrix which is stronger than the wood or epoxy alone.
 
Some employ this mechanism by applying thinned epoxy resin to wood, the epoxy being thinned with solvents such as acetone, xylol. or toluene, but testing indicates that this simple approach is not as effective in penetrating the wood than commercially available proprietary "penetrating epoxies." The only proprietary penetrating epoxy formulation which has shown greatly enhanced abilities to penetrate (i.e. soak into) wood, both into end-grain and the face of wood surfaces is called Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer(tm) or CPES(tm). This product is manufactured by Smith and Company of Richmond, California. it is, however, repackaged and sold in some marine chandleries and hardware stores as "Rot Doctor." CPES has been around for probably fifty years now. It was originally developed for use in the preservation and restoration of decayed architectural embellishments such as  gingerbread" fret saw work, turnings, and carvings on Victorian wooden buildings. It was never designed nor advertised to be used to add strength to structural wood, but rather only to preserve trim. That said, it was quickly embraced by the wooden boatbuilding community because CPES was an excellent sealer beneath wood in the marine environment and a very good primer for bonding epoxy structural laminations in wooden boatbuilding. I've used gallons of the stuff over the years and can attest that, to the depth it soaks into a piece of wood, it adds strength, and particularly impact resistance, to the epoxy-treated wood. A full explanation of this product can be found at Smith and Company's website: http://www.smithandcompany.org/CPES/ (This product, which isn't cheap, but has a long shelf life, can be purchased in most marine chandleries and by mail order from the company's website. Other "penetrating epoxies" are also marketed, but I've been using the original Smith's product for almost 50 years and I don't know a commercial boatyard that has ever used any of the "off brands.")
 
Because there's a limit to everything, I can't say CPES is going to turn all your modeling wood into hard epoxy resin, but it will provide some additional strength to small pieces and "sticks." Whether it provides enough for your purposes will depend on the use to which the piece is put and you'll just have to experiment with it. (It's also an excellent primer for wooden hulls which will be placed in water, whether they be painted or resin-coated.) With respect to "sticks" like small scale yards and such, you might consider abandoning wood altogether and going to brass or copper. The construction standards for many museums and institutional model collections sometimes specify the use of noble metal spars in smaller diameters to minimize the chance of breakage otherwise present in thin wooden spars.
 
In conclusion, frankly, if your wood piece isn't strong enough, I'd think you'd be better off using a stronger species of wood or using brass for that part. It goes without saying that if your piece is "cross-grained," there's no point in expecting it to ever have much strength at all. 

I've sure someone will respond with copies they can share.  Better it was the plans pages and not the finished, fully-rigged model, as has been the case on repeated occasions. In the meantime, write 100 times, "Cats and ship models don't mix." 
 
Consider losing the cats and getting a dog.  

One of these smaller sized "crock pots" ("slow cookers") would serve for keeping hide glue heated, wouldn't it? No need to spring for a Lee Valley or Garret Wade $150 model, right?   0.65 qt slow cooker warmer, fondue pot set,chocolate melting pot (amazon.com) 
 

 

As with all structural materials, wood has its structural limitations which vary from species to species. There is very little that can be done to treat wood in order to enable it to exceed its inherent strength limitations. All wood is substantially stronger along its grain structure than across its grain structure, although some species have an interlocking grain structure which affords much greater strength across the grain than parallel grain structured species. This additional cross-grained structure is not, however, sufficiently strong to afford sufficient structural strength in most any application. Obviously, the smaller the piece of wood of any species, the less structural strength it will have.
 
I've worked with wood for a long time and I know of only one method of strengthening wood that affords any real improvement over the wood's inherent structural properties and even that is rather limited. This method employs a particular cocktail of somewhat exotic solvents and epoxy resins which penetrate the surface of the wood. The solvents carry the epoxy resin into the wood and when the solvents evaporate and the epoxy resin which has soaked into the wood cures, the epoxy-soaked wood is essentially "plasticized." The cured epoxy employs the wood structure to form a matrix which is stronger than the wood or epoxy alone.
 
Some employ this mechanism by applying thinned epoxy resin to wood, the epoxy being thinned with solvents such as acetone, xylol. or toluene, but testing indicates that this simple approach is not as effective in penetrating the wood than commercially available proprietary "penetrating epoxies." The only proprietary penetrating epoxy formulation which has shown greatly enhanced abilities to penetrate (i.e. soak into) wood, both into end-grain and the face of wood surfaces is called Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer(tm) or CPES(tm). This product is manufactured by Smith and Company of Richmond, California. it is, however, repackaged and sold in some marine chandleries and hardware stores as "Rot Doctor." CPES has been around for probably fifty years now. It was originally developed for use in the preservation and restoration of decayed architectural embellishments such as  gingerbread" fret saw work, turnings, and carvings on Victorian wooden buildings. It was never designed nor advertised to be used to add strength to structural wood, but rather only to preserve trim. That said, it was quickly embraced by the wooden boatbuilding community because CPES was an excellent sealer beneath wood in the marine environment and a very good primer for bonding epoxy structural laminations in wooden boatbuilding. I've used gallons of the stuff over the years and can attest that, to the depth it soaks into a piece of wood, it adds strength, and particularly impact resistance, to the epoxy-treated wood. A full explanation of this product can be found at Smith and Company's website: http://www.smithandcompany.org/CPES/ (This product, which isn't cheap, but has a long shelf life, can be purchased in most marine chandleries and by mail order from the company's website. Other "penetrating epoxies" are also marketed, but I've been using the original Smith's product for almost 50 years and I don't know a commercial boatyard that has ever used any of the "off brands.")
 
Because there's a limit to everything, I can't say CPES is going to turn all your modeling wood into hard epoxy resin, but it will provide some additional strength to small pieces and "sticks." Whether it provides enough for your purposes will depend on the use to which the piece is put and you'll just have to experiment with it. (It's also an excellent primer for wooden hulls which will be placed in water, whether they be painted or resin-coated.) With respect to "sticks" like small scale yards and such, you might consider abandoning wood altogether and going to brass or copper. The construction standards for many museums and institutional model collections sometimes specify the use of noble metal spars in smaller diameters to minimize the chance of breakage otherwise present in thin wooden spars.
 
In conclusion, frankly, if your wood piece isn't strong enough, I'd think you'd be better off using a stronger species of wood or using brass for that part. It goes without saying that if your piece is "cross-grained," there's no point in expecting it to ever have much strength at all. 

As with all structural materials, wood has its structural limitations which vary from species to species. There is very little that can be done to treat wood in order to enable it to exceed its inherent strength limitations. All wood is substantially stronger along its grain structure than across its grain structure, although some species have an interlocking grain structure which affords much greater strength across the grain than parallel grain structured species. This additional cross-grained structure is not, however, sufficiently strong to afford sufficient structural strength in most any application. Obviously, the smaller the piece of wood of any species, the less structural strength it will have.
 
I've worked with wood for a long time and I know of only one method of strengthening wood that affords any real improvement over the wood's inherent structural properties and even that is rather limited. This method employs a particular cocktail of somewhat exotic solvents and epoxy resins which penetrate the surface of the wood. The solvents carry the epoxy resin into the wood and when the solvents evaporate and the epoxy resin which has soaked into the wood cures, the epoxy-soaked wood is essentially "plasticized." The cured epoxy employs the wood structure to form a matrix which is stronger than the wood or epoxy alone.
 
Some employ this mechanism by applying thinned epoxy resin to wood, the epoxy being thinned with solvents such as acetone, xylol. or toluene, but testing indicates that this simple approach is not as effective in penetrating the wood than commercially available proprietary "penetrating epoxies." The only proprietary penetrating epoxy formulation which has shown greatly enhanced abilities to penetrate (i.e. soak into) wood, both into end-grain and the face of wood surfaces is called Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer(tm) or CPES(tm). This product is manufactured by Smith and Company of Richmond, California. it is, however, repackaged and sold in some marine chandleries and hardware stores as "Rot Doctor." CPES has been around for probably fifty years now. It was originally developed for use in the preservation and restoration of decayed architectural embellishments such as  gingerbread" fret saw work, turnings, and carvings on Victorian wooden buildings. It was never designed nor advertised to be used to add strength to structural wood, but rather only to preserve trim. That said, it was quickly embraced by the wooden boatbuilding community because CPES was an excellent sealer beneath wood in the marine environment and a very good primer for bonding epoxy structural laminations in wooden boatbuilding. I've used gallons of the stuff over the years and can attest that, to the depth it soaks into a piece of wood, it adds strength, and particularly impact resistance, to the epoxy-treated wood. A full explanation of this product can be found at Smith and Company's website: http://www.smithandcompany.org/CPES/ (This product, which isn't cheap, but has a long shelf life, can be purchased in most marine chandleries and by mail order from the company's website. Other "penetrating epoxies" are also marketed, but I've been using the original Smith's product for almost 50 years and I don't know a commercial boatyard that has ever used any of the "off brands.")
 
Because there's a limit to everything, I can't say CPES is going to turn all your modeling wood into hard epoxy resin, but it will provide some additional strength to small pieces and "sticks." Whether it provides enough for your purposes will depend on the use to which the piece is put and you'll just have to experiment with it. (It's also an excellent primer for wooden hulls which will be placed in water, whether they be painted or resin-coated.) With respect to "sticks" like small scale yards and such, you might consider abandoning wood altogether and going to brass or copper. The construction standards for many museums and institutional model collections sometimes specify the use of noble metal spars in smaller diameters to minimize the chance of breakage otherwise present in thin wooden spars.
 
In conclusion, frankly, if your wood piece isn't strong enough, I'd think you'd be better off using a stronger species of wood or using brass for that part. It goes without saying that if your piece is "cross-grained," there's no point in expecting it to ever have much strength at all. 

As with all structural materials, wood has its structural limitations which vary from species to species. There is very little that can be done to treat wood in order to enable it to exceed its inherent strength limitations. All wood is substantially stronger along its grain structure than across its grain structure, although some species have an interlocking grain structure which affords much greater strength across the grain than parallel grain structured species. This additional cross-grained structure is not, however, sufficiently strong to afford sufficient structural strength in most any application. Obviously, the smaller the piece of wood of any species, the less structural strength it will have.
 
I've worked with wood for a long time and I know of only one method of strengthening wood that affords any real improvement over the wood's inherent structural properties and even that is rather limited. This method employs a particular cocktail of somewhat exotic solvents and epoxy resins which penetrate the surface of the wood. The solvents carry the epoxy resin into the wood and when the solvents evaporate and the epoxy resin which has soaked into the wood cures, the epoxy-soaked wood is essentially "plasticized." The cured epoxy employs the wood structure to form a matrix which is stronger than the wood or epoxy alone.
 
Some employ this mechanism by applying thinned epoxy resin to wood, the epoxy being thinned with solvents such as acetone, xylol. or toluene, but testing indicates that this simple approach is not as effective in penetrating the wood than commercially available proprietary "penetrating epoxies." The only proprietary penetrating epoxy formulation which has shown greatly enhanced abilities to penetrate (i.e. soak into) wood, both into end-grain and the face of wood surfaces is called Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer(tm) or CPES(tm). This product is manufactured by Smith and Company of Richmond, California. it is, however, repackaged and sold in some marine chandleries and hardware stores as "Rot Doctor." CPES has been around for probably fifty years now. It was originally developed for use in the preservation and restoration of decayed architectural embellishments such as  gingerbread" fret saw work, turnings, and carvings on Victorian wooden buildings. It was never designed nor advertised to be used to add strength to structural wood, but rather only to preserve trim. That said, it was quickly embraced by the wooden boatbuilding community because CPES was an excellent sealer beneath wood in the marine environment and a very good primer for bonding epoxy structural laminations in wooden boatbuilding. I've used gallons of the stuff over the years and can attest that, to the depth it soaks into a piece of wood, it adds strength, and particularly impact resistance, to the epoxy-treated wood. A full explanation of this product can be found at Smith and Company's website: http://www.smithandcompany.org/CPES/ (This product, which isn't cheap, but has a long shelf life, can be purchased in most marine chandleries and by mail order from the company's website. Other "penetrating epoxies" are also marketed, but I've been using the original Smith's product for almost 50 years and I don't know a commercial boatyard that has ever used any of the "off brands.")
 
Because there's a limit to everything, I can't say CPES is going to turn all your modeling wood into hard epoxy resin, but it will provide some additional strength to small pieces and "sticks." Whether it provides enough for your purposes will depend on the use to which the piece is put and you'll just have to experiment with it. (It's also an excellent primer for wooden hulls which will be placed in water, whether they be painted or resin-coated.) With respect to "sticks" like small scale yards and such, you might consider abandoning wood altogether and going to brass or copper. The construction standards for many museums and institutional model collections sometimes specify the use of noble metal spars in smaller diameters to minimize the chance of breakage otherwise present in thin wooden spars.
 
In conclusion, frankly, if your wood piece isn't strong enough, I'd think you'd be better off using a stronger species of wood or using brass for that part. It goes without saying that if your piece is "cross-grained," there's no point in expecting it to ever have much strength at all. 

As with all structural materials, wood has its structural limitations which vary from species to species. There is very little that can be done to treat wood in order to enable it to exceed its inherent strength limitations. All wood is substantially stronger along its grain structure than across its grain structure, although some species have an interlocking grain structure which affords much greater strength across the grain than parallel grain structured species. This additional cross-grained structure is not, however, sufficiently strong to afford sufficient structural strength in most any application. Obviously, the smaller the piece of wood of any species, the less structural strength it will have.
 
I've worked with wood for a long time and I know of only one method of strengthening wood that affords any real improvement over the wood's inherent structural properties and even that is rather limited. This method employs a particular cocktail of somewhat exotic solvents and epoxy resins which penetrate the surface of the wood. The solvents carry the epoxy resin into the wood and when the solvents evaporate and the epoxy resin which has soaked into the wood cures, the epoxy-soaked wood is essentially "plasticized." The cured epoxy employs the wood structure to form a matrix which is stronger than the wood or epoxy alone.
 
Some employ this mechanism by applying thinned epoxy resin to wood, the epoxy being thinned with solvents such as acetone, xylol. or toluene, but testing indicates that this simple approach is not as effective in penetrating the wood than commercially available proprietary "penetrating epoxies." The only proprietary penetrating epoxy formulation which has shown greatly enhanced abilities to penetrate (i.e. soak into) wood, both into end-grain and the face of wood surfaces is called Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer(tm) or CPES(tm). This product is manufactured by Smith and Company of Richmond, California. it is, however, repackaged and sold in some marine chandleries and hardware stores as "Rot Doctor." CPES has been around for probably fifty years now. It was originally developed for use in the preservation and restoration of decayed architectural embellishments such as  gingerbread" fret saw work, turnings, and carvings on Victorian wooden buildings. It was never designed nor advertised to be used to add strength to structural wood, but rather only to preserve trim. That said, it was quickly embraced by the wooden boatbuilding community because CPES was an excellent sealer beneath wood in the marine environment and a very good primer for bonding epoxy structural laminations in wooden boatbuilding. I've used gallons of the stuff over the years and can attest that, to the depth it soaks into a piece of wood, it adds strength, and particularly impact resistance, to the epoxy-treated wood. A full explanation of this product can be found at Smith and Company's website: http://www.smithandcompany.org/CPES/ (This product, which isn't cheap, but has a long shelf life, can be purchased in most marine chandleries and by mail order from the company's website. Other "penetrating epoxies" are also marketed, but I've been using the original Smith's product for almost 50 years and I don't know a commercial boatyard that has ever used any of the "off brands.")
 
Because there's a limit to everything, I can't say CPES is going to turn all your modeling wood into hard epoxy resin, but it will provide some additional strength to small pieces and "sticks." Whether it provides enough for your purposes will depend on the use to which the piece is put and you'll just have to experiment with it. (It's also an excellent primer for wooden hulls which will be placed in water, whether they be painted or resin-coated.) With respect to "sticks" like small scale yards and such, you might consider abandoning wood altogether and going to brass or copper. The construction standards for many museums and institutional model collections sometimes specify the use of noble metal spars in smaller diameters to minimize the chance of breakage otherwise present in thin wooden spars.
 
In conclusion, frankly, if your wood piece isn't strong enough, I'd think you'd be better off using a stronger species of wood or using brass for that part. It goes without saying that if your piece is "cross-grained," there's no point in expecting it to ever have much strength at all. 

As with all structural materials, wood has its structural limitations which vary from species to species. There is very little that can be done to treat wood in order to enable it to exceed its inherent strength limitations. All wood is substantially stronger along its grain structure than across its grain structure, although some species have an interlocking grain structure which affords much greater strength across the grain than parallel grain structured species. This additional cross-grained structure is not, however, sufficiently strong to afford sufficient structural strength in most any application. Obviously, the smaller the piece of wood of any species, the less structural strength it will have.
 
I've worked with wood for a long time and I know of only one method of strengthening wood that affords any real improvement over the wood's inherent structural properties and even that is rather limited. This method employs a particular cocktail of somewhat exotic solvents and epoxy resins which penetrate the surface of the wood. The solvents carry the epoxy resin into the wood and when the solvents evaporate and the epoxy resin which has soaked into the wood cures, the epoxy-soaked wood is essentially "plasticized." The cured epoxy employs the wood structure to form a matrix which is stronger than the wood or epoxy alone.
 
Some employ this mechanism by applying thinned epoxy resin to wood, the epoxy being thinned with solvents such as acetone, xylol. or toluene, but testing indicates that this simple approach is not as effective in penetrating the wood than commercially available proprietary "penetrating epoxies." The only proprietary penetrating epoxy formulation which has shown greatly enhanced abilities to penetrate (i.e. soak into) wood, both into end-grain and the face of wood surfaces is called Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer(tm) or CPES(tm). This product is manufactured by Smith and Company of Richmond, California. it is, however, repackaged and sold in some marine chandleries and hardware stores as "Rot Doctor." CPES has been around for probably fifty years now. It was originally developed for use in the preservation and restoration of decayed architectural embellishments such as  gingerbread" fret saw work, turnings, and carvings on Victorian wooden buildings. It was never designed nor advertised to be used to add strength to structural wood, but rather only to preserve trim. That said, it was quickly embraced by the wooden boatbuilding community because CPES was an excellent sealer beneath wood in the marine environment and a very good primer for bonding epoxy structural laminations in wooden boatbuilding. I've used gallons of the stuff over the years and can attest that, to the depth it soaks into a piece of wood, it adds strength, and particularly impact resistance, to the epoxy-treated wood. A full explanation of this product can be found at Smith and Company's website: http://www.smithandcompany.org/CPES/ (This product, which isn't cheap, but has a long shelf life, can be purchased in most marine chandleries and by mail order from the company's website. Other "penetrating epoxies" are also marketed, but I've been using the original Smith's product for almost 50 years and I don't know a commercial boatyard that has ever used any of the "off brands.")
 
Because there's a limit to everything, I can't say CPES is going to turn all your modeling wood into hard epoxy resin, but it will provide some additional strength to small pieces and "sticks." Whether it provides enough for your purposes will depend on the use to which the piece is put and you'll just have to experiment with it. (It's also an excellent primer for wooden hulls which will be placed in water, whether they be painted or resin-coated.) With respect to "sticks" like small scale yards and such, you might consider abandoning wood altogether and going to brass or copper. The construction standards for many museums and institutional model collections sometimes specify the use of noble metal spars in smaller diameters to minimize the chance of breakage otherwise present in thin wooden spars.
 
In conclusion, frankly, if your wood piece isn't strong enough, I'd think you'd be better off using a stronger species of wood or using brass for that part. It goes without saying that if your piece is "cross-grained," there's no point in expecting it to ever have much strength at all. 

As with all structural materials, wood has its structural limitations which vary from species to species. There is very little that can be done to treat wood in order to enable it to exceed its inherent strength limitations. All wood is substantially stronger along its grain structure than across its grain structure, although some species have an interlocking grain structure which affords much greater strength across the grain than parallel grain structured species. This additional cross-grained structure is not, however, sufficiently strong to afford sufficient structural strength in most any application. Obviously, the smaller the piece of wood of any species, the less structural strength it will have.
 
I've worked with wood for a long time and I know of only one method of strengthening wood that affords any real improvement over the wood's inherent structural properties and even that is rather limited. This method employs a particular cocktail of somewhat exotic solvents and epoxy resins which penetrate the surface of the wood. The solvents carry the epoxy resin into the wood and when the solvents evaporate and the epoxy resin which has soaked into the wood cures, the epoxy-soaked wood is essentially "plasticized." The cured epoxy employs the wood structure to form a matrix which is stronger than the wood or epoxy alone.
 
Some employ this mechanism by applying thinned epoxy resin to wood, the epoxy being thinned with solvents such as acetone, xylol. or toluene, but testing indicates that this simple approach is not as effective in penetrating the wood than commercially available proprietary "penetrating epoxies." The only proprietary penetrating epoxy formulation which has shown greatly enhanced abilities to penetrate (i.e. soak into) wood, both into end-grain and the face of wood surfaces is called Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer(tm) or CPES(tm). This product is manufactured by Smith and Company of Richmond, California. it is, however, repackaged and sold in some marine chandleries and hardware stores as "Rot Doctor." CPES has been around for probably fifty years now. It was originally developed for use in the preservation and restoration of decayed architectural embellishments such as  gingerbread" fret saw work, turnings, and carvings on Victorian wooden buildings. It was never designed nor advertised to be used to add strength to structural wood, but rather only to preserve trim. That said, it was quickly embraced by the wooden boatbuilding community because CPES was an excellent sealer beneath wood in the marine environment and a very good primer for bonding epoxy structural laminations in wooden boatbuilding. I've used gallons of the stuff over the years and can attest that, to the depth it soaks into a piece of wood, it adds strength, and particularly impact resistance, to the epoxy-treated wood. A full explanation of this product can be found at Smith and Company's website: http://www.smithandcompany.org/CPES/ (This product, which isn't cheap, but has a long shelf life, can be purchased in most marine chandleries and by mail order from the company's website. Other "penetrating epoxies" are also marketed, but I've been using the original Smith's product for almost 50 years and I don't know a commercial boatyard that has ever used any of the "off brands.")
 
Because there's a limit to everything, I can't say CPES is going to turn all your modeling wood into hard epoxy resin, but it will provide some additional strength to small pieces and "sticks." Whether it provides enough for your purposes will depend on the use to which the piece is put and you'll just have to experiment with it. (It's also an excellent primer for wooden hulls which will be placed in water, whether they be painted or resin-coated.) With respect to "sticks" like small scale yards and such, you might consider abandoning wood altogether and going to brass or copper. The construction standards for many museums and institutional model collections sometimes specify the use of noble metal spars in smaller diameters to minimize the chance of breakage otherwise present in thin wooden spars.
 
In conclusion, frankly, if your wood piece isn't strong enough, I'd think you'd be better off using a stronger species of wood or using brass for that part. It goes without saying that if your piece is "cross-grained," there's no point in expecting it to ever have much strength at all. 

As with all structural materials, wood has its structural limitations which vary from species to species. There is very little that can be done to treat wood in order to enable it to exceed its inherent strength limitations. All wood is substantially stronger along its grain structure than across its grain structure, although some species have an interlocking grain structure which affords much greater strength across the grain than parallel grain structured species. This additional cross-grained structure is not, however, sufficiently strong to afford sufficient structural strength in most any application. Obviously, the smaller the piece of wood of any species, the less structural strength it will have.
 
I've worked with wood for a long time and I know of only one method of strengthening wood that affords any real improvement over the wood's inherent structural properties and even that is rather limited. This method employs a particular cocktail of somewhat exotic solvents and epoxy resins which penetrate the surface of the wood. The solvents carry the epoxy resin into the wood and when the solvents evaporate and the epoxy resin which has soaked into the wood cures, the epoxy-soaked wood is essentially "plasticized." The cured epoxy employs the wood structure to form a matrix which is stronger than the wood or epoxy alone.
 
Some employ this mechanism by applying thinned epoxy resin to wood, the epoxy being thinned with solvents such as acetone, xylol. or toluene, but testing indicates that this simple approach is not as effective in penetrating the wood than commercially available proprietary "penetrating epoxies." The only proprietary penetrating epoxy formulation which has shown greatly enhanced abilities to penetrate (i.e. soak into) wood, both into end-grain and the face of wood surfaces is called Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer(tm) or CPES(tm). This product is manufactured by Smith and Company of Richmond, California. it is, however, repackaged and sold in some marine chandleries and hardware stores as "Rot Doctor." CPES has been around for probably fifty years now. It was originally developed for use in the preservation and restoration of decayed architectural embellishments such as  gingerbread" fret saw work, turnings, and carvings on Victorian wooden buildings. It was never designed nor advertised to be used to add strength to structural wood, but rather only to preserve trim. That said, it was quickly embraced by the wooden boatbuilding community because CPES was an excellent sealer beneath wood in the marine environment and a very good primer for bonding epoxy structural laminations in wooden boatbuilding. I've used gallons of the stuff over the years and can attest that, to the depth it soaks into a piece of wood, it adds strength, and particularly impact resistance, to the epoxy-treated wood. A full explanation of this product can be found at Smith and Company's website: http://www.smithandcompany.org/CPES/ (This product, which isn't cheap, but has a long shelf life, can be purchased in most marine chandleries and by mail order from the company's website. Other "penetrating epoxies" are also marketed, but I've been using the original Smith's product for almost 50 years and I don't know a commercial boatyard that has ever used any of the "off brands.")
 
Because there's a limit to everything, I can't say CPES is going to turn all your modeling wood into hard epoxy resin, but it will provide some additional strength to small pieces and "sticks." Whether it provides enough for your purposes will depend on the use to which the piece is put and you'll just have to experiment with it. (It's also an excellent primer for wooden hulls which will be placed in water, whether they be painted or resin-coated.) With respect to "sticks" like small scale yards and such, you might consider abandoning wood altogether and going to brass or copper. The construction standards for many museums and institutional model collections sometimes specify the use of noble metal spars in smaller diameters to minimize the chance of breakage otherwise present in thin wooden spars.
 
In conclusion, frankly, if your wood piece isn't strong enough, I'd think you'd be better off using a stronger species of wood or using brass for that part. It goes without saying that if your piece is "cross-grained," there's no point in expecting it to ever have much strength at all. 

My ship models are all cased.  The cleaning lady is interested in them so is careful.  So far, so good!
 
Roger

My wife breeds and shows champion basset hounds. One of her young bitches got ahold of a couple of my favorite books and chewed up the covers. I went ballistic, but it was my fault for leaving the books where she could get at them, not my dearly beloved's for leaving the door open to my reading room. Rationale: I should know better. The dog doesn't know any better. 
 
Cats, dogs, kids, the cleaning lady... just about anything will pose a danger to a ship model that isn't properly cased. 

My wife breeds and shows champion basset hounds. One of her young bitches got ahold of a couple of my favorite books and chewed up the covers. I went ballistic, but it was my fault for leaving the books where she could get at them, not my dearly beloved's for leaving the door open to my reading room. Rationale: I should know better. The dog doesn't know any better. 
 
Cats, dogs, kids, the cleaning lady... just about anything will pose a danger to a ship model that isn't properly cased. 

My wife breeds and shows champion basset hounds. One of her young bitches got ahold of a couple of my favorite books and chewed up the covers. I went ballistic, but it was my fault for leaving the books where she could get at them, not my dearly beloved's for leaving the door open to my reading room. Rationale: I should know better. The dog doesn't know any better. 
 
Cats, dogs, kids, the cleaning lady... just about anything will pose a danger to a ship model that isn't properly cased. 

My wife breeds and shows champion basset hounds. One of her young bitches got ahold of a couple of my favorite books and chewed up the covers. I went ballistic, but it was my fault for leaving the books where she could get at them, not my dearly beloved's for leaving the door open to my reading room. Rationale: I should know better. The dog doesn't know any better. 
 
Cats, dogs, kids, the cleaning lady... just about anything will pose a danger to a ship model that isn't properly cased. 

I've sure someone will respond with copies they can share.  Better it was the plans pages and not the finished, fully-rigged model, as has been the case on repeated occasions. In the meantime, write 100 times, "Cats and ship models don't mix." 
 
Consider losing the cats and getting a dog.  

Bob,
 
I like both cats and dogs; I am partial to yellow cats and Beagles, but my wife won’t hear of either; “i’m Allergic (cats), they (Beagles) don’t behave, what happens when we travel (either), etc.”  After having to drive a rental car home from SW Florida to NW Minnesota because of airline cancellations I am ready to forgo traveling in favor of a dog or cat but it doesn’t look like that is doing to happen. 
 
Having said that, my son has an overly friendly female Golden Retriever that is about as subtle as a medieval battering Ram.  She could destroy any well built ship model in nothing flat!
 
Roger