Jack Panzeca

Hi Ryland,
 
Thanks for checking in.  I have not been in the shipyard since April.  This is not what I had in mind for retirement.  I have been on the road since May working on two different independent cinema complexes.  I have only been home a few weekends since May and this will keep up until February.
 
The good news is that I am doing what I love to do and the job site activity is really good for me, it is a lot more exercise than walking from the Byrnes saw to the Byrnes sander.
 
I really miss the shipbuilding process and look forward to getting back into the swing of things.  Grant and Mobbsie are doing beautiful work and their logs are the best possible guide and inspiration I could have.
 
I was sorry to miss the NRG conference but there was no way to escape from what I am doing.
 
I will try to follow along more frequently until we hit panic phase again in December.
 
I hope that all is well with you and the rest of the MSW community.
 
Talk to you soon,

Hi Ryland,
 
Thanks for checking in.  I have not been in the shipyard since April.  This is not what I had in mind for retirement.  I have been on the road since May working on two different independent cinema complexes.  I have only been home a few weekends since May and this will keep up until February.
 
The good news is that I am doing what I love to do and the job site activity is really good for me, it is a lot more exercise than walking from the Byrnes saw to the Byrnes sander.
 
I really miss the shipbuilding process and look forward to getting back into the swing of things.  Grant and Mobbsie are doing beautiful work and their logs are the best possible guide and inspiration I could have.
 
I was sorry to miss the NRG conference but there was no way to escape from what I am doing.
 
I will try to follow along more frequently until we hit panic phase again in December.
 
I hope that all is well with you and the rest of the MSW community.
 
Talk to you soon,

Hi Ryland,
 
Thanks for checking in.  I have not been in the shipyard since April.  This is not what I had in mind for retirement.  I have been on the road since May working on two different independent cinema complexes.  I have only been home a few weekends since May and this will keep up until February.
 
The good news is that I am doing what I love to do and the job site activity is really good for me, it is a lot more exercise than walking from the Byrnes saw to the Byrnes sander.
 
I really miss the shipbuilding process and look forward to getting back into the swing of things.  Grant and Mobbsie are doing beautiful work and their logs are the best possible guide and inspiration I could have.
 
I was sorry to miss the NRG conference but there was no way to escape from what I am doing.
 
I will try to follow along more frequently until we hit panic phase again in December.
 
I hope that all is well with you and the rest of the MSW community.
 
Talk to you soon,

Hi Ryland,
 
Thanks for checking in.  I have not been in the shipyard since April.  This is not what I had in mind for retirement.  I have been on the road since May working on two different independent cinema complexes.  I have only been home a few weekends since May and this will keep up until February.
 
The good news is that I am doing what I love to do and the job site activity is really good for me, it is a lot more exercise than walking from the Byrnes saw to the Byrnes sander.
 
I really miss the shipbuilding process and look forward to getting back into the swing of things.  Grant and Mobbsie are doing beautiful work and their logs are the best possible guide and inspiration I could have.
 
I was sorry to miss the NRG conference but there was no way to escape from what I am doing.
 
I will try to follow along more frequently until we hit panic phase again in December.
 
I hope that all is well with you and the rest of the MSW community.
 
Talk to you soon,

Hi Ryland,
 
Thanks for checking in.  I have not been in the shipyard since April.  This is not what I had in mind for retirement.  I have been on the road since May working on two different independent cinema complexes.  I have only been home a few weekends since May and this will keep up until February.
 
The good news is that I am doing what I love to do and the job site activity is really good for me, it is a lot more exercise than walking from the Byrnes saw to the Byrnes sander.
 
I really miss the shipbuilding process and look forward to getting back into the swing of things.  Grant and Mobbsie are doing beautiful work and their logs are the best possible guide and inspiration I could have.
 
I was sorry to miss the NRG conference but there was no way to escape from what I am doing.
 
I will try to follow along more frequently until we hit panic phase again in December.
 
I hope that all is well with you and the rest of the MSW community.
 
Talk to you soon,

Proxxon Micro MBS 240/E Band Saw Review
 
Since I posted my new toy on my build log it has been suggested I write a review of this Band saw.
This is really first impressions by a novice user.
 
It may be of interest to those in the UK that the machine was purchased not from Chronos the UK Proxxon dealer, but from TBS- Aachen in Germany. Delivery was very quick, I was able to pay by Paypal, and there was a saving of £52.72 over the Chronos price, including a modest postage charge.
 
http://www.tbs-aachen.de/Proxxon/table_top_tools/bandsaw/Proxxon_27172_MICRO_bandsaw_MBS_240/E_i2486_42358.htm
 
A few general shots

 

 

Note the push stick hanging on the side of the machine, this is included.
 

 
First impressions.
This is the largest of the Proxxon tools I have, measuring  19½" high x 15½" deep x 11" wide. (including the motor on the side, and the table) It sits on a base of mdf 1” thick, 9¼" wide x 12¼" deep. The machine feels sturdy, it is quite stable, but portable, and I can pick it up one handed.
As can be seen below it sits comfortably on my desk.


The machine arrived with a standard blade already fitted, and all that was necessary to set it up was to attach the table and get familiar with the operations.
I found it useful to photocopy the exploded views in the manual so easy reference could be made to the parts etc; when reading the text.
 
Changing blades is fairly straightforward but as a complete novice with band saws it would have been comforting to have some sort of tensioning gauge when fitting blades rather than the narrative dire warning:- putting too much tension on the blade can tear apart and damage the device.
How much tension is too much tension, should there be any lateral play in the blade at all or should it feel rigid when pressed from the long side. It seemed to me that there is a range of tensions where I can’t detect differences in performance, but which is the optimum one.
Tensioning is done by degrees using the knob on top of the machine, best done with the cover off where the blade can be felt. I worked on the basis of when there was minimal play in the blade on the long side and the motor ran quietly, it was about right.
Access to the internals is via four Allan bolts to remove the cover which remains attached to the machine via a chain. A hinged door system would have made for quicker adjustments/cleaning.

 

 

The lower running wheel with the drive pulley attached. The wheels have a plastic cover around them over which the saw blade runs. In the photo you can see a brush which clears away bits of plastic scuffed off the wheel. These are replaceable items and I have noticed that the rate of wear changes depending on the tension, but again as a novice user it is difficult to know what is normal for this machine.
 

The machine has quite an efficient dust clearing system using the vacuum cleaner hose attachment.
 
Using the machine.
My initial use was limited to practising curved cuts on scrap wood which it easily accommodated. I progressed to cutting out the keel and false keel for my attempt at a 1:64 scale Pinnace.
 

This is fairly fine stuff using 1.5mm boxwood sheet, and it (or perhaps me) struggled a little with the internal curves given the scale.
I rather think a scroll saw would be more suited to the job, and certainly for the boat frames which are quite small.
Even so this is a very useful addition to the workshop and apart from cutting more complex shapes it will replace my table saw for many jobs also.
 
Here’s the official video of the machine.

Any member who has perhaps more experience in using this particular machine please feel free to comment.
 
B.E.
 
 
 

It's update time again gents, only a small one this time though.
 
Thank-you one and all for your positive and very kind remarks, also for all who hit the like button.
 
The Mortar pit is now complete and fitted, given the two coats of WOP and the fit became really tight, fortunately a little persuasion and it went home ok.
 
The Hatch coamings are made from Redheart, not familiar with this wood and I don't think I like it very much, It's really easy to work with and I think is softer than Swiss Pear, another drawback is that the filings act very similar to Ebony in that they stain other wood, when sanding down the sandpaper mustn't be used for any other wood, having said all that the effect is very different. 
 
The Hatch Boards are made from Walnut and are so simple, the bend in the boards was formed by moulding them around the Hatch Coaming, you will see the method I used in the pictures, nothing startling there I can assure you.
 
Said Hatch is now complete and fixed onto the deck, the cross section has now been placed into a plastic carrier bag and put aside waiting for company.
 
My attention is currently focused on repairing my Barge which was damaged in the Museum, a log has yet to be set up but will be located in the Scratch Section, this log will be up and running in the next day or so.
 
Picture time
 
The completed Mortar Pit frame

 
Hatch Coaming

 
Old planks laid over the coaming and held down by an elastic band

 

 
The shape for the boards to follow

 
The four boards clamped in place

 
Completed Hatch including the lifting rings, they look a little on the heavy side.

 
Both Mortar Pit and Coaming fixed in position

 

 
So your up to date now guys, it may be a while before the next update.
 
Be Good
 
mobbsie

Sorry Guys, I hit the wrong key, we will continue.
 
A big jump, the complete Upper Deck

 

 

 
These are the plans for the Upper Deck just for clarity

 
The Mortar Pit dry fitted

 
Mortar Pit all glued up with shackle rings fitted.

 
So there we are guys, your up to date, sorry for the big jump with the Upper Deck but I think I just got carried away.
 
All comments, remarks or suggestions are welcome, good or bad.
 
Be Good
 
mobbsie
 
 

Hi Guys
 
It's update time again.
 
Thanks one and all for your very kind comments and remarks also the like button, very much appreciated.
 
All the Beams are now completed, fitted and given two coats of WOP.
 
The Trimmer Beams were fitted as part of the Upper Deck along with the Carlings, next up came the Hanging Knees and Lodging Knees. Notches cut into the Lodging Knees and some of these proved problematic.
 
Because of my inability to Mill I used a sharp blade to cut the notches, the nature of the wood (Swiss Pear) which very soft some of the edges of the notches broke away, these then had to be remade. On reflection I would have done things differently in that I would not have cut the notches in the Knees until the Ledges had been offered up. Not all notches lined up, and so had to opened up so a parallel fit could be achieved.
 
The Upper Deck came together really quickly which was a surprise, it looked daunting to me and I really wasn't looking forward to this part of the build,  I think it's a reasonable finish, after sanding it was given 2 coats of WOP.
 
Next up was the Mortar Pit, its quite a snug fit so sanding will have to be gentle with a fine paper, it's now glued up with the rings attached to the inside, when the glue has set sanding will be done and WOP applied.
 
Enough words, time for some pictures.
 
All the Beams are fitted including the Half Beams, these were a real pig to fit, just awkward.

 
Here's one of the Hanging Knees, these turned out to be a really good fit.

 
The first of the Lodging Knees fitted.

 
First set of Lodging Knees and Hanging Knees

Hi Grant,
 
I cant quite believe it but my build partner has given me the hurry-up. I think that's a bit ironic as I've been playing the waiting game for weeks now.    
It all looks really good mate, the waterway shape looks right and they fit nice and snug.  
 
Your hatch coaming and boards look great although I still don't like Redheart.  
 
I will catch up soon enough but at the moment were experiencing a mini heat wave and its sapping what little energy I have, and jees that aint much to start with. Temperatures are up around the high 20s with the highest in London of 37 degrees C. Not very hot I hear some of you say, hot enough for me, time to sit in a ice tub.
 
Chat soon mate and well done on taking the lead   :P  
 
Be Good
 
mobbsie

Thanks once again for all the kind words folks and to all those who hit the "like" button.
 
The Main Hatch
 
The main hatch was a fairly simple construction using Redheart for the Coamings and Head Ledges, and Walnut for the Hatch Cover Boards. Templates were made from the drawings to assist with the lap joints and round up. Once the timber components of the hatch had been completed, two coats of Wipe-On Poly were applied to the Hatch, the Mortar Pit Housing and the deck frames on the Starboard side (which will not be planked).
 
Lifting rings for both Mortar Pit Housing and the Main Hatch were made from brass wire formed around a drill bit, cut off with a rotary cutting disc and then soldered closed (I cheated and used a lead/tin soft solder).  These were blackened chemically using a new (for me) product called Jax Pewter Black.  Its claim is that it blackens all sorts of metals, including solder.  After a bit of experimentation, I settled on diluting the solution 50/50 with distilled water, and after the usual cleaning process with vinegar and acetone beforehand, it seems to work fairly well. The same process was used to install lifting rings in the mortar pit housing.
 
The Waterways were next to be tackled.  These are made from boxwood and have two angled faces on the top side, which are not even.  I thought about how to mill these for quite some time. After a tip from Danny, I tried to follow his technique of making a scraper from an old exacto chisel blade. Although I managed to make a reasonable shape for one angle, I couldn’t get an edge on it sufficient to scrape the timber.  After some more thought, I marked out the profile along the length of the timber, and then used a couple of very small planes – one Veritas squirrel tail palm plane, and one even smaller Japanese finger plane. These worked a treat and the job turned out to be much easier than I had expected.
 
Here’s a couple of pictures showing the current state of play.
 

 

 
 
 

On the lower plank you can see the size difference between my nail and the nail i originally intended to use.
 

I have also marked, drilled, repaired, sanded, redrilled (don´t ask) with a larger drill, sanded again, repaired again for the 2500 holes. I have only one totally uninteresting picture of this.
The distance between the holes is 0,9 mm.
 

And what is this?
If you look carefully you will see small drilled holes for the ropes holding the sail in the future.
And now you think... Is the man so mad that he shows pictures of some drilled holes?
 
And the answer to this is, well, yes. Because it took an ETERNITY to drill these holes because they weren´t drilled before the assembly of the ship. It took hours just to drill one hole with the weird thing i constructed to even be able to drill the holes. I had to turn the drill with a small nipper one quarter of a turn at a time.
 
So this is a warning to anyone building this ship in the future, drill the holes before its to late.
 

 

And this is the final result (also the third generation) of the now attached oar holders.
Some pictures will make you sea sick because i forgot to rotate them, sorry about that but sea sickness sort of comes with the territory.

The result after the construction and coloring result of 2500 nails.
 

 
And what is this? well...

Three generations of the same part, i have a bad habbit of reworking my parts... The one in the middle is the one that ended up on the boat but i made it smaller after the photo was taken, was way to fat on this picture.
 
 

 

 
The attached end result.

In the coming posts i will try to show what i have been doing since autumn last year, slow progress but at least it is progress.
 
The sign of things to come...
 
The sign says "The Oseberg ship", 9th century.
I have masked out my name.
 
The sign is ordered and not made by me.
 

Just stained the outside of the ship.  Keeping with the traditions i am a man with few words...
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Time for another update.  Unfortunately, my pace has slowed due to a consulting gig that has been looming for a while and has finally kicked in.  I hate it when real life gets in the way of my hobbies. 
 
The frames are completed.  At least they are made, there is still a lot of work to do to call them "complete" and glue them into their permanent home. It is a shame that when I finally get them figured out there are no more of them to do.  They are fitted loosely and the first double frame has a coat of Wipe-On Poly.  The rest are very raw with a lot of sanding left to do.
 

 
The next step is to do the frame cutouts for the gun-ports, sweeps, etc.  
 
Grant:  I hope that you are doing well, I will still never catch up!         Good luck on your recovery.
 
Thanks for looking in and thanks to all the "likes", always appreciated.

Hi Guys,
 
Thanks Carl, Grant, Greg and mobbsie as well as the "Likes".
 
Well, once again real life is getting in the way of my model building.  I used to build multiplex cinemas before I retired and I have had a consulting gig looming for a while.  It has been encroaching on my shipyard time to some extent but lately it has taken on a life of it's own.  I have not done any work on the Bomb Vessel since my last update.  I have been in the shipyard but my workbench has been converted into a desk.  It is covered with paper instead of sawdust, very sad.  
 
I have been prepping for a 6 to 8 week job site stay to finish off a small cinema in a small town in Oklahoma.  I was the consultant for the original design several years ago and it makes sense that I should come back for the finish (shorter learning curve).  I start next Sunday and I hope to get home on future Sundays but I am not counting on it.
 
The good news is that it will help extend the retirement money and I have been thrilled to realize that I still remember how to do this.  The job site exercise will be good for me too.
 
I will still check in to MSW from the hotel room, watching with envy as Grant and mobbsie continue to get even further ahead.  Grant is right about the benefit of have their roadmap to follow when I do get to work on mine again.
 
Talk to you soon.  
 
I'll be back! (Terminator2)

Hi Grant,
 
Beautiful work as usual.  I like being in the following position.  You make the best cheat sheet ever.  
 
Holiday today in the USA so I got a chance to catch up on MSW posts.

Beautiful work Mobbsie!  
 
I can't wait to get back to work on mine.   I am a complete failure as a retired person.  Work sure gets in the way of my hobbies.  
 
Another 6 weeks before I get back to work on my build, I will never catch up now but I love following in your footsteps.  You and Grant sure make this easy for the rest of us.
 
Thanks,

Hi Mike,
 
I like the flat too.

Beautiful work Mobbsie!  
 
I can't wait to get back to work on mine.   I am a complete failure as a retired person.  Work sure gets in the way of my hobbies.  
 
Another 6 weeks before I get back to work on my build, I will never catch up now but I love following in your footsteps.  You and Grant sure make this easy for the rest of us.
 
Thanks,