Stuntflyer

In an earlier post I noted stains coming from the black rubber protectors I purchased for my small hobby vise. I tried removing them with alcohol, acetone and lacquer thinner with no luck at all. However, this product works great and does an excellent job on pencil marks too. https://www.amazon.com/BADGER-16-606-Model-Airbrush-Cleaner/dp/B003976GKE Mike

Its been a while since my last post. This might be considered a small update, but it feels more like a milestone. Before gluing the aft deadwood to the keel, I needed to add the inner post and sternpost to it and glue it down in one piece. The 12" sternpost has a straight taper down from the top to 10" at the keel. I shimmed the bottom end up and milled a rabbet on both sides. Gudgeon strap scores were milled prior to tapering. The 15" inner post has no taper. There is a score on each side for the "feet" of the fashion pieces. Due to the two fashion pieces having different dimensions, both scores are the same depth and width though not the same length. The aft side of the inner post, below the scores, needed to be reduced to a width equal to the space between the rabbets in the sternpost. Once that was done, more shaping of the bearding line was done to make the transition from the deadwood to the aft end of the inner post gradual. After gluing the completed stern components to the keel, I added the aft support. Mike

Kurt, That's very kind of you. Not only the rejects but the frustration in having to do things over. If I learn something from it and am happy with the result then it is all worthwhile. Mike

Cliff, So far it's all boxwood and for the upcoming frames as well. It would be hard to tell the finished appearance from my photos. I will be applying W-O-P to protect the wood later on and that will change things a bit too. If you want me to send you a sample both ways, then pm me. Mike

The central spine is held down to the building board using four 6-32 bolts. These bolts will also be used for the pedestal stands later. Mortises must be made to recess the nuts below the rising wood surface. I made the mortises using the Dremel and a 1/32" engraving bit. I did the first mortise using a standard hex nut that I ground down. After that, I decided to look for a smaller nut from the many parts bins I had stored away. Luckily, I found some pressure fitting nuts. (When I was flying controline aerobatics these pressure fittings were often used to change the characteristic of the motor run, via pressure from the motor exhaust to the fuel tank). The brass nut you see here is much narrower and thinner than a standard one and no grinding is necessary. I used these on the three remaining holes. The nuts were adhered to the rising wood with epoxy after securing the keel to the board. A drop of oil was applied to the end of each bolt thread and the excess wiped off to prevent any possibility of accidental adhesion between the bolt and nut. The aft deadwood is bolted, but not permanently affixed to the keel' Mike

Thank you druxey, Ed, aviaamator, bdgiantman2 and Thomas for the nice comments and for all the "Likes" I managed to complete the rising wood over the past few days. It was made in two sections joined by a scarph joint. Most of the work was done on the mill with some minor adjustments done with needle files and miniature chisels. (http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=72391&cat=1,41504). I made sure that station line locations on the building board lined up with those same locations on the rising wood. When everything lined up perfectly, the space between station lines was then divided up evenly and transferred to the rising wood. Mike

Looking very nice, Steve! Mike

Thank you, Kurt! I'm still thinking about it and should have something worked out soon. Mike

Will do, druxey. Thanks for the reminder. Mike

Work continues with the completion of the aft deadwood. 15" stock was joined in three sections, doweled and milled to 12". This is necessary in order to produce the stepping line for the aft cants. The forward most stepping line is only 1" high or .020 actual. I'm no mill man, but having one for this kind of work really helps. The bottom shape is approximated here as a starting point for determining the shape of the taper. I tapered it from the bearding line down. I later found that the rubber protectors that protect the wood while in the vise were creating a stain on the sides of the deadwood, especially the fore deadwood. Luckily this won't be visible later. f Like the fore deadwood, adjustments were made to the stepping line for cant frame alignment. Mike

Beautiful!! Mike

That's right, Greg. I finished off the steps with a chisel while double checking that each step was in the correct position. After locking in the keel position with a small strip I found that a few steps were slightly off by a 1/2" more or less. I figured better to correct it now when I could do it off the building board. Mike

Cliff, Thanks for your interest in my build. I run the #2b pencil over the joint edge several times until fully darkened. For a darker joint, you could go with a #4b pencil. Mike

Making progress, albeit rather slowly. As they say, “The hurrier I go, the behinder I get.” The tapering of the keel and stem should be done before the rabbet is cut. The fore end of the keel is tapered from 12" to 10". This also reduces the width of the lower stem at the boxing joint. From there the stem is given a gentle taper to full width just below the whales. The transition from the boxing joint to the stem can be tricky, so care was taken while sanding. The aft end of the keel is also tapered down from 12" to 10". Once all the tapering is completed, the rabbet can be cut. The rabbet has been turned vertical and is approx 2 1/2" deep. This will allow for some adjustment later when the 3" planking is added. The fore deadwood and stemson where made from 15" boxwood sheet. The stepping line was done on the mill. There was no visible light coming through the joint prior to gluing. Those clamps come in handy! Mike

Wonderful, Ed! Mike

There are two ways that I know of to make the rabbet for the keel. One being a V-gouge and the other being a scraper. I have made some headway into learning how to use my chisels, but in the end I decided to play it safe and go with the scraper. The scraper was made from a hacksaw blade. After annealing, the shape was developed using a Dremel cut off wheel and some needle files. Although these enlarged photos might suggest otherwise, the 2" deep rabbet has a knife edge at the top of the keel and onto the stem. I spent a long time doing the rabbet, with very gentle pulls for fear of slipping or gouging the wood. Mike

I will second that! Mike

Thank you all for your interest in my new build and for all the "Likes". The three section keel is completed with the exception of the rabbet and joint bolts. The stem has been nailed for strength using 24 gauge copper wire. The tarred joints are done with a #2 pencil. The stem is in position relative to the baseboard and the support is secured as well. The keel is aligned straight and given side support from boxwood strips. I am starting to appreciate just how useful chisels can be when making these joints. I used to finesse them with a #11 blade and needle files. No wonder it took me so long. Mike

Hello everyone! After completing the building board I made the end supports for the central spine. They were made from 1/4" plywood and doweled for strength. Both supports have a 1/4" (actual) wide slot. I figured in the width of sticky back felt when cutting the slots. I'm using graphite transfer paper to trace drawings like the lower and upper stem. I should have some photos of the joined keel parts soon. Mike

More betterer! Mike

Looking super nice, Thomas! Full size views show really nice detailing Mike

I'm no expert, Chuck. Looks very nice to me. Mike

In an earlier post, I mentioned that the paper drawing for the building board was moving a bit due to high humidity. Even though my newly acquired dehumidifier flattened the drawing, I was skeptical about it remaining dimensionally stable. With that in mind, I removed the drawing from the board and replaced it with a Mylar drawing. Other than drawing directly onto the board itself, Mylar would be a good option to use. Holes for the pedestal mount need to be drilled. Since the building board is too wide to get a center hole on my drill press, I had to make a jig to allow for a 90° hole. The jig is made from scrap plywood 2 1/2" x 1/4" x 1 1/2". The brass tube is 1/8" i.d. The holes were drilled with a 1/8" x 6" long drill bit. I chose to use the Dremel tool instead of a hand drill as it allows for more control and places less side pressure on the jig when drilling. After center punching the hole locations in the building board, I drilled down approx 1/8" to establish the hole. The drill was then placed through the brass tube and into the shallow hole. Then it was simply a matter of holding the jig down firmly while drilling deeper. Note: To avoid any wobbling when using a long a drill bit, remember to shut off the Dremel before removing the drill bit from the hole. Afterwards I opened the holes for the 6/32" bolts that will used to hold the pedestals. After removing the bolts, the outer edges of the holes were cleaned up. Mike

The 12" keel is made in three sections. The fore end has a boxing joint. I chose to make the fore section using two pieces of 6" wide stock in order to simplify the joint making process. Chisels were used to clean up the joint after cutting the initial shape with a scroll saw. The vertical scarph joints were made on the table saw. Mike

Michael, I had a lot of fun building her and Chuck's laser kits for the ship are great. Mike