jhearl

Those of you who have purchased tiny nuts and bolts from Scale Hardware in the past will recall that they went out of business a while back. I just got an email this morning from Model Motorcars, Ltd. to inform that they have bought the Scale Hardware name and stock and will continue to produce their products. Here's a link to the new site:
 
https://model-motorcars.myshopify.com/collections/small-parts-hardware/bolts
 
Cheers -
John

Those of you who have purchased tiny nuts and bolts from Scale Hardware in the past will recall that they went out of business a while back. I just got an email this morning from Model Motorcars, Ltd. to inform that they have bought the Scale Hardware name and stock and will continue to produce their products. Here's a link to the new site:
 
https://model-motorcars.myshopify.com/collections/small-parts-hardware/bolts
 
Cheers -
John

Those of you who have purchased tiny nuts and bolts from Scale Hardware in the past will recall that they went out of business a while back. I just got an email this morning from Model Motorcars, Ltd. to inform that they have bought the Scale Hardware name and stock and will continue to produce their products. Here's a link to the new site:
 
https://model-motorcars.myshopify.com/collections/small-parts-hardware/bolts
 
Cheers -
John

Those of you who have purchased tiny nuts and bolts from Scale Hardware in the past will recall that they went out of business a while back. I just got an email this morning from Model Motorcars, Ltd. to inform that they have bought the Scale Hardware name and stock and will continue to produce their products. Here's a link to the new site:
 
https://model-motorcars.myshopify.com/collections/small-parts-hardware/bolts
 
Cheers -
John

I bought my Sherline gear from Discount Campus http://www.discountcampus.com/store/sherlineonline.htm and got a better price than Sherline was offering. No complaints at all on the service I received.
 
I heartily recommend getting the DRO on the mill. It really can be helpful. I didn't get CNC because I wouldn't know how to use it and don't really have a lot of interest in investing the time to learn it. Aside from that, it adds significantly to the cost since you also have to factor in a computer and software.
 
Although I live in the US, I bought my mill in metric. I just find it much easier to use than Imperial. I can divide by 10 in my head much more easily than I can divide by 16. I work in metric for all my measuring, not just the mill. That said, you'll likely be working with cutters measured in Imperial, such as 1/8" or 3/16". Sometimes you need to be able to move half the width of your cutter, so you have to convert to metric. I just made up a simple conversion chart that I tacked to the wall behind the mill. No big deal.
 
Cheers -
John

I bought my Sherline gear from Discount Campus http://www.discountcampus.com/store/sherlineonline.htm and got a better price than Sherline was offering. No complaints at all on the service I received.
 
I heartily recommend getting the DRO on the mill. It really can be helpful. I didn't get CNC because I wouldn't know how to use it and don't really have a lot of interest in investing the time to learn it. Aside from that, it adds significantly to the cost since you also have to factor in a computer and software.
 
Although I live in the US, I bought my mill in metric. I just find it much easier to use than Imperial. I can divide by 10 in my head much more easily than I can divide by 16. I work in metric for all my measuring, not just the mill. That said, you'll likely be working with cutters measured in Imperial, such as 1/8" or 3/16". Sometimes you need to be able to move half the width of your cutter, so you have to convert to metric. I just made up a simple conversion chart that I tacked to the wall behind the mill. No big deal.
 
Cheers -
John

I bought my Sherline gear from Discount Campus http://www.discountcampus.com/store/sherlineonline.htm and got a better price than Sherline was offering. No complaints at all on the service I received.
 
I heartily recommend getting the DRO on the mill. It really can be helpful. I didn't get CNC because I wouldn't know how to use it and don't really have a lot of interest in investing the time to learn it. Aside from that, it adds significantly to the cost since you also have to factor in a computer and software.
 
Although I live in the US, I bought my mill in metric. I just find it much easier to use than Imperial. I can divide by 10 in my head much more easily than I can divide by 16. I work in metric for all my measuring, not just the mill. That said, you'll likely be working with cutters measured in Imperial, such as 1/8" or 3/16". Sometimes you need to be able to move half the width of your cutter, so you have to convert to metric. I just made up a simple conversion chart that I tacked to the wall behind the mill. No big deal.
 
Cheers -
John

I bought my Sherline gear from Discount Campus http://www.discountcampus.com/store/sherlineonline.htm and got a better price than Sherline was offering. No complaints at all on the service I received.
 
I heartily recommend getting the DRO on the mill. It really can be helpful. I didn't get CNC because I wouldn't know how to use it and don't really have a lot of interest in investing the time to learn it. Aside from that, it adds significantly to the cost since you also have to factor in a computer and software.
 
Although I live in the US, I bought my mill in metric. I just find it much easier to use than Imperial. I can divide by 10 in my head much more easily than I can divide by 16. I work in metric for all my measuring, not just the mill. That said, you'll likely be working with cutters measured in Imperial, such as 1/8" or 3/16". Sometimes you need to be able to move half the width of your cutter, so you have to convert to metric. I just made up a simple conversion chart that I tacked to the wall behind the mill. No big deal.
 
Cheers -
John

Chuck -
 
I decided to send the question to you as a PM rather than turn your tutorial into a discussion. But since it seems OK with you, here's what I said in the original post:
 
I recently watched a YouTube video about a product called Blue Stuff which allows you to press a mold material around a part. The material softens when heated and hardens when cooled. It is re-usable. It seems hard to find in the US, but there is a similar product called Instant Mold available from Amazon. A quick YouTube search will reveal many videos on both products.
 
I certainly understand that it would not be appropriate for delicate parts like the one in your demo. However, I need to make 8 hawse hole covers for the 1:24 scale model I'm working on and the master will be anything but delicate!  So it seems like the Instant Mold might be useful for more robust parts. As I mentioned, I have not tried it, so I can't say for sure.
 
Cheers -
John

Chuck -
 
I decided to send the question to you as a PM rather than turn your tutorial into a discussion. But since it seems OK with you, here's what I said in the original post:
 
I recently watched a YouTube video about a product called Blue Stuff which allows you to press a mold material around a part. The material softens when heated and hardens when cooled. It is re-usable. It seems hard to find in the US, but there is a similar product called Instant Mold available from Amazon. A quick YouTube search will reveal many videos on both products.
 
I certainly understand that it would not be appropriate for delicate parts like the one in your demo. However, I need to make 8 hawse hole covers for the 1:24 scale model I'm working on and the master will be anything but delicate!  So it seems like the Instant Mold might be useful for more robust parts. As I mentioned, I have not tried it, so I can't say for sure.
 
Cheers -
John

You will likely have more luck searching for information on "sailing scows" or "scow schooners" or "scow sloops" rather than looking for barges.
 
Cheers -
John

Chuck -
 
I decided to send the question to you as a PM rather than turn your tutorial into a discussion. But since it seems OK with you, here's what I said in the original post:
 
I recently watched a YouTube video about a product called Blue Stuff which allows you to press a mold material around a part. The material softens when heated and hardens when cooled. It is re-usable. It seems hard to find in the US, but there is a similar product called Instant Mold available from Amazon. A quick YouTube search will reveal many videos on both products.
 
I certainly understand that it would not be appropriate for delicate parts like the one in your demo. However, I need to make 8 hawse hole covers for the 1:24 scale model I'm working on and the master will be anything but delicate!  So it seems like the Instant Mold might be useful for more robust parts. As I mentioned, I have not tried it, so I can't say for sure.
 
Cheers -
John

Chuck -
 
I decided to send the question to you as a PM rather than turn your tutorial into a discussion. But since it seems OK with you, here's what I said in the original post:
 
I recently watched a YouTube video about a product called Blue Stuff which allows you to press a mold material around a part. The material softens when heated and hardens when cooled. It is re-usable. It seems hard to find in the US, but there is a similar product called Instant Mold available from Amazon. A quick YouTube search will reveal many videos on both products.
 
I certainly understand that it would not be appropriate for delicate parts like the one in your demo. However, I need to make 8 hawse hole covers for the 1:24 scale model I'm working on and the master will be anything but delicate!  So it seems like the Instant Mold might be useful for more robust parts. As I mentioned, I have not tried it, so I can't say for sure.
 
Cheers -
John

Chuck -
 
I decided to send the question to you as a PM rather than turn your tutorial into a discussion. But since it seems OK with you, here's what I said in the original post:
 
I recently watched a YouTube video about a product called Blue Stuff which allows you to press a mold material around a part. The material softens when heated and hardens when cooled. It is re-usable. It seems hard to find in the US, but there is a similar product called Instant Mold available from Amazon. A quick YouTube search will reveal many videos on both products.
 
I certainly understand that it would not be appropriate for delicate parts like the one in your demo. However, I need to make 8 hawse hole covers for the 1:24 scale model I'm working on and the master will be anything but delicate!  So it seems like the Instant Mold might be useful for more robust parts. As I mentioned, I have not tried it, so I can't say for sure.
 
Cheers -
John

Chuck -
 
I decided to send the question to you as a PM rather than turn your tutorial into a discussion. But since it seems OK with you, here's what I said in the original post:
 
I recently watched a YouTube video about a product called Blue Stuff which allows you to press a mold material around a part. The material softens when heated and hardens when cooled. It is re-usable. It seems hard to find in the US, but there is a similar product called Instant Mold available from Amazon. A quick YouTube search will reveal many videos on both products.
 
I certainly understand that it would not be appropriate for delicate parts like the one in your demo. However, I need to make 8 hawse hole covers for the 1:24 scale model I'm working on and the master will be anything but delicate!  So it seems like the Instant Mold might be useful for more robust parts. As I mentioned, I have not tried it, so I can't say for sure.
 
Cheers -
John

Jollyroger -
 
Maybe I can help with your confusion about the raw materials. It can be hard, with European kits, to identify one wood versus another. In general, African Walnut is dark, Mukali is light in color, and Sapele may be in between the two. There is a pretty decent database of woods that has pictures located here - http://www.wood-database.com/ Between similar-colored woods, you may have to rely on the overall dimensions (width and thickness) to tell them apart. That site I mentioned above doesn't list Mukali, but you can do a Google image search for it to find examples.
 
As to the lengths, you want to think about what they are used for. For example, you list "hold planking" at 155mm and "hull planking" at 730mm. What they are saying here is that you'll need 26 pieces, each 155mm long, to plank the hold. Since all the planking material is 730mm long, you'll need to cut those hold planks to length. Some may not wind up being a full 155mm long but none will be longer than that because of the small area you're planking. For the outside of the hull, on the other hand, they're telling you that you may need some long planks so you're starting out with the ones that are 730mm long. You will, of course, have to cut some of them shorter as you proceed. In other words, if they show you a length that is shorter than the overall length of the raw material, they expect you to cut it to the length they list.
 
This, of course, can make it difficult to check the contents of a kit. For example, you can only get four 155mm planks out of a 730mm length of raw stock and then you'll have a 110mm (or so) piece left over. That might be long enough to use in some other area or it may wind up just becoming scrap. Most kit manufacturers give you more wood than you should need. But if you have just opened the kit and you see a bunch of 730mm long pieces of wood, it may not occur to you to think about how many 155mm pieces that will make. Since the list shows you'll need 26 planks for the hold, that means if you can get 4 of those planks from each long strip, you'll need 7 long strips. Plus, you'll need 44 strips of the same dimension wood for the hull planking, so you should have at least 51 strips of that raw material. Likely you will have more.
 
I hope that helps to clear up your confusion a bit.
 
Cheers -
John

Jollyroger -
 
Maybe I can help with your confusion about the raw materials. It can be hard, with European kits, to identify one wood versus another. In general, African Walnut is dark, Mukali is light in color, and Sapele may be in between the two. There is a pretty decent database of woods that has pictures located here - http://www.wood-database.com/ Between similar-colored woods, you may have to rely on the overall dimensions (width and thickness) to tell them apart. That site I mentioned above doesn't list Mukali, but you can do a Google image search for it to find examples.
 
As to the lengths, you want to think about what they are used for. For example, you list "hold planking" at 155mm and "hull planking" at 730mm. What they are saying here is that you'll need 26 pieces, each 155mm long, to plank the hold. Since all the planking material is 730mm long, you'll need to cut those hold planks to length. Some may not wind up being a full 155mm long but none will be longer than that because of the small area you're planking. For the outside of the hull, on the other hand, they're telling you that you may need some long planks so you're starting out with the ones that are 730mm long. You will, of course, have to cut some of them shorter as you proceed. In other words, if they show you a length that is shorter than the overall length of the raw material, they expect you to cut it to the length they list.
 
This, of course, can make it difficult to check the contents of a kit. For example, you can only get four 155mm planks out of a 730mm length of raw stock and then you'll have a 110mm (or so) piece left over. That might be long enough to use in some other area or it may wind up just becoming scrap. Most kit manufacturers give you more wood than you should need. But if you have just opened the kit and you see a bunch of 730mm long pieces of wood, it may not occur to you to think about how many 155mm pieces that will make. Since the list shows you'll need 26 planks for the hold, that means if you can get 4 of those planks from each long strip, you'll need 7 long strips. Plus, you'll need 44 strips of the same dimension wood for the hull planking, so you should have at least 51 strips of that raw material. Likely you will have more.
 
I hope that helps to clear up your confusion a bit.
 
Cheers -
John

One suggestion if you decide on Sherline - get the longer-bed lathe (17" vs 8"). When I bought my 8" lathe, I didn't think I'd have any need for the long-bed model, but I was definitely wrong about that. The initial cost difference between the two is around $100 but to upgrade mine now, is over $300. I'd also suggest you give some thought to whether or not you want metal lathe. It's easy to cut wood with a metal lathe, but pretty hard to machine metal with a wood lathe.
 
Cheers -
John

I own one and for most of what I do with a lathe, I found it to be much too large. It can be useful for tapering long masts but that's all I use it for and there are certainly other ways to do that. I eventually bought a Sherline lathe and find it much more useful. As well, the Sherline allows you to work with metal. For instance, I can turn small brass sheaves on the Sherline but that would be damn near impossible with the Rikon. If I had it to do over again, I surely would not buy the Rikon lathe. Of course, your needs may differ from mine. It's a fine piece of equipment - just not suitable for my needs.
 
Cheers -
John

One suggestion if you decide on Sherline - get the longer-bed lathe (17" vs 8"). When I bought my 8" lathe, I didn't think I'd have any need for the long-bed model, but I was definitely wrong about that. The initial cost difference between the two is around $100 but to upgrade mine now, is over $300. I'd also suggest you give some thought to whether or not you want metal lathe. It's easy to cut wood with a metal lathe, but pretty hard to machine metal with a wood lathe.
 
Cheers -
John

One suggestion if you decide on Sherline - get the longer-bed lathe (17" vs 8"). When I bought my 8" lathe, I didn't think I'd have any need for the long-bed model, but I was definitely wrong about that. The initial cost difference between the two is around $100 but to upgrade mine now, is over $300. I'd also suggest you give some thought to whether or not you want metal lathe. It's easy to cut wood with a metal lathe, but pretty hard to machine metal with a wood lathe.
 
Cheers -
John

I own one and for most of what I do with a lathe, I found it to be much too large. It can be useful for tapering long masts but that's all I use it for and there are certainly other ways to do that. I eventually bought a Sherline lathe and find it much more useful. As well, the Sherline allows you to work with metal. For instance, I can turn small brass sheaves on the Sherline but that would be damn near impossible with the Rikon. If I had it to do over again, I surely would not buy the Rikon lathe. Of course, your needs may differ from mine. It's a fine piece of equipment - just not suitable for my needs.
 
Cheers -
John

One suggestion if you decide on Sherline - get the longer-bed lathe (17" vs 8"). When I bought my 8" lathe, I didn't think I'd have any need for the long-bed model, but I was definitely wrong about that. The initial cost difference between the two is around $100 but to upgrade mine now, is over $300. I'd also suggest you give some thought to whether or not you want metal lathe. It's easy to cut wood with a metal lathe, but pretty hard to machine metal with a wood lathe.
 
Cheers -
John

I have a pair and use them when planking a hull, but in my opinion, they are overkill for someone new to the hobby. As others have said, they are expensive and not as frequently used as other things you might spend that $100 on. You can easily determine plank widths by using a planking fan such as the one Chuck Passaro has posted on the site - http://modelshipworldforum.com/resources/Framing_and_Planking/plankingfan.pdf
Instructions for using the fan are found in his excellent planking tutorial - http://modelshipworldforum.com/resources/Framing_and_Planking/Lining%20Off%20your%20hull%20for%20planking.pdf
 
One must be careful when using proportional dividers to take measurements directly from a frame or bulkhead if the bulkhead has much curvature. You wind up measuring the chord of the arc rather than the length of the arc itself. That can result in planks that are narrower than they should be. When I'm determining plank widths, I lay a tic strip in the space to get the overall length, then use the proportional dividers to determine the individual plank widths.
 
Of course, there are other uses for them than in just planking, but again, there are probably better things to spend your money on when you're getting started in the hobby.
 
Cheers -
John

I have a pair and use them when planking a hull, but in my opinion, they are overkill for someone new to the hobby. As others have said, they are expensive and not as frequently used as other things you might spend that $100 on. You can easily determine plank widths by using a planking fan such as the one Chuck Passaro has posted on the site - http://modelshipworldforum.com/resources/Framing_and_Planking/plankingfan.pdf
Instructions for using the fan are found in his excellent planking tutorial - http://modelshipworldforum.com/resources/Framing_and_Planking/Lining%20Off%20your%20hull%20for%20planking.pdf
 
One must be careful when using proportional dividers to take measurements directly from a frame or bulkhead if the bulkhead has much curvature. You wind up measuring the chord of the arc rather than the length of the arc itself. That can result in planks that are narrower than they should be. When I'm determining plank widths, I lay a tic strip in the space to get the overall length, then use the proportional dividers to determine the individual plank widths.
 
Of course, there are other uses for them than in just planking, but again, there are probably better things to spend your money on when you're getting started in the hobby.
 
Cheers -
John