jhearl

I'm at work at the moment so I can't take a pic (will be glad to later if you want). I probably wasn't clear with the term "depth stop." What I mean is a length stop. There's a metal bar that slides along the front edge/top of the sliding table. There's a tab on the right end of the bar. Shove your stock up to the tab and it sets the length of the piece you want to cut so you can make identical pieces over and over. A couple of thumb screws allow you to move it or remove it.
 
Depth of cut is controlled by blade height, of course. I agree that setting blade height on the Preac is one of it's less-well-thought-out features. They did sell an accessory blade-height adjuster, which is a sort of bracket that fits under the blade arbor and by turning a thumb screw (by hand), you can raise and lower the blade quite precisely. It's a bit finicky but without it, it's very difficult to set blade height.
 
Cheers -
John

That's a great idea for making square nuts! and bolts with square heads Never thought of using square tubing.  They look really great. Thanks for sharing the picture. I suspect I will use this technique before I'm done with this model.
 
Cheers -
John

Just wanted to report back. I decided that .6mm was too small for my project but 1mm and 1.6mm would work well. I ordered a set of UNM miniature taps & dies from Amazon and some nuts from Scale Hardware. Using the 1.6mm die wasn't hard but the 1mm die was pretty tricky. Teeny, tiny! One thing I determined is that using half-hard, non-annealed brass rod seems to be the way to go. I bought some silver-plated copper wire (18 guage) and it turned out to be too soft - it twisted as I tried to turn the die and eventually broke off before I could finish threading. I also tried annealing the 1.6mm brass rod and it too twisted as I turned the die. So using the brass rod just the way it comes from K&S seems to provide the best results.
 
When I ordered the nuts, I made a mistake and ordered stainless steel 1mm nuts instead of brass. Didn't really matter since I planned to paint the finished assembly anyway. But the 1mm nuts seem smaller proportionally, than the 1.6mm nuts. In other words, I wish the outside dimension as a little larger. Nevertheless, they worked on the threads I created.
 
Here's a picture of the final assembly. This is a main sheet horse for the scow schooner Alma. The rod in the front is the 1.6mm rod. The one in the back is the 1mm rod. It does have the 1mm nuts on it but, as you can see, they look small compared to the 1.6mm nuts. Still, I'm happy with the results.
 
 

Although I don't own this particular saw, I have and use a tapering jig for my old Preac. Note the lip on the end of the jig against which the stock sits. That in itself helps to push the stock through the blade. I normally stand on the right of the saw and with my right-hand fingers or a push stick held in my right hand (depending on the width of the stock) press the stock against that lip and into the taper jig while pushing the jig toward the blade with my left hand making sure the jig stays tight against the rip fence.
 
Cheers -
John

That's a great idea for making square nuts! and bolts with square heads Never thought of using square tubing.  They look really great. Thanks for sharing the picture. I suspect I will use this technique before I'm done with this model.
 
Cheers -
John

Just wanted to report back. I decided that .6mm was too small for my project but 1mm and 1.6mm would work well. I ordered a set of UNM miniature taps & dies from Amazon and some nuts from Scale Hardware. Using the 1.6mm die wasn't hard but the 1mm die was pretty tricky. Teeny, tiny! One thing I determined is that using half-hard, non-annealed brass rod seems to be the way to go. I bought some silver-plated copper wire (18 guage) and it turned out to be too soft - it twisted as I tried to turn the die and eventually broke off before I could finish threading. I also tried annealing the 1.6mm brass rod and it too twisted as I turned the die. So using the brass rod just the way it comes from K&S seems to provide the best results.
 
When I ordered the nuts, I made a mistake and ordered stainless steel 1mm nuts instead of brass. Didn't really matter since I planned to paint the finished assembly anyway. But the 1mm nuts seem smaller proportionally, than the 1.6mm nuts. In other words, I wish the outside dimension as a little larger. Nevertheless, they worked on the threads I created.
 
Here's a picture of the final assembly. This is a main sheet horse for the scow schooner Alma. The rod in the front is the 1.6mm rod. The one in the back is the 1mm rod. It does have the 1mm nuts on it but, as you can see, they look small compared to the 1.6mm nuts. Still, I'm happy with the results.
 
 

You're probably already aware of this, but just in case -- Sherline sells a wood tool rest for their lathes. It's simple to use.
https://www.sherlinedirect.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=61&CFID=63140255&CFTOKEN=19584344
 
Cheers -
John

Although I don't own this particular saw, I have and use a tapering jig for my old Preac. Note the lip on the end of the jig against which the stock sits. That in itself helps to push the stock through the blade. I normally stand on the right of the saw and with my right-hand fingers or a push stick held in my right hand (depending on the width of the stock) press the stock against that lip and into the taper jig while pushing the jig toward the blade with my left hand making sure the jig stays tight against the rip fence.
 
Cheers -
John

It's not clear to me exactly what problem you're having. Splitting the wood seems to be one of them and that can be avoided by not cutting into the grain of the wood. For example, looking at your second photo, if you were cutting out the top edge of the plank, you'd want to be cutting from the right side to the left side. If you are cutting the bottom, you want to cut from the left side to the right side.
 
Apart from that, I'm confused by the shape of your plank. It's wider at the left end than at the right. (Again, looking at picture 2.) It should be narrower at the left end. The whole point of this type plank is that it tapes to a point where it's too narrow (less than half its full width) and must then be continued with two planks. You might want to go back to the page on the site with planking tutorials and take a closer look at the one on "Planking a Bluff Bow" by Collin Lloyd and the Primer on Planking by David Antscherl. Take a look at the 2nd & 4th drawings on page 2 of the latter document.Those should illustrate what I'm talking about.
 
If this didn't address the problems you're having, please post more details.
 
Cheers -
John

grsjax and Paul - thanks for your thoughts. The nuts would be brass, so maybe it would work to try to rethread them if necessary. Paul - the statement on the Otto Frei website about jeweler's threads being different from watchmaker or machinist threads is what worries me. If that's the case, it seems the thread pitch would be different even on the same size bolt for different types?
 
The other thing I've considered is faking it by buying slightly smaller nuts and drilling out the internal threads enough so they'd fit over the threads of the rod. I suspect no one could tell. But it would be nice to be able to say they were truly threaded, so that's what I'm shooting for.
 
Cheers -
John

This question may be a bit "out there" but I am wanting to make a part on the boat I'm building that is a (approximately) 1mm diameter rod with threads on each end. I can't use all-thread for it because most of it needs to be unthreaded. I've searched around on the web and found any number of jeweler's tap and die sets in the 0.6mm & up range. That would work fine. But I was thinking to use some hex nuts from Scale Hardware. It occurred to me that I could wind up with a die that cut a different number of threads per inch than the hex nuts were tapped for. None of the suppliers I've found for dies mention the number of threads per inch - nor does Scale Hardware.
 
I sent an email to Scale Hardware and got a quick and helpful reply as follows:
 
"Metric threads are measured by pitch (the distance between two threads) rather than threads per inch.  I can say the .6mm thread is approximately 169 tpi and the 1.0mm thread is 102 tpi. "
 
I've sent an email to the Otto Frei company (one of the suppliers of jeweler's taps & dies) but haven't heard back from them so far. Since they are just a seller, not a manufacturer, they may not know the answer. So, I thought, just for grins, I'd ask if anyone here might have tried using a jeweler's die and matching it with nuts from Scale Hardware? It might seem like all metric dies are the same, but the Otto Frei page says "Jeweler's tap & dies sets have broader threads than watchmakers or machinist taps & dies, which have finer threads."  http://www.ottofrei.com/Swiss-Made-Colibri-Jewelers-Screwplate-With-Taps-Set.html
So I'm worried that the two could be different. Of course, I can, if forced into, struggle to make my own nuts, but I know they won't look as good as those from Scale Hardware.
 
Thanks in advance -
John

grsjax and Paul - thanks for your thoughts. The nuts would be brass, so maybe it would work to try to rethread them if necessary. Paul - the statement on the Otto Frei website about jeweler's threads being different from watchmaker or machinist threads is what worries me. If that's the case, it seems the thread pitch would be different even on the same size bolt for different types?
 
The other thing I've considered is faking it by buying slightly smaller nuts and drilling out the internal threads enough so they'd fit over the threads of the rod. I suspect no one could tell. But it would be nice to be able to say they were truly threaded, so that's what I'm shooting for.
 
Cheers -
John

This question may be a bit "out there" but I am wanting to make a part on the boat I'm building that is a (approximately) 1mm diameter rod with threads on each end. I can't use all-thread for it because most of it needs to be unthreaded. I've searched around on the web and found any number of jeweler's tap and die sets in the 0.6mm & up range. That would work fine. But I was thinking to use some hex nuts from Scale Hardware. It occurred to me that I could wind up with a die that cut a different number of threads per inch than the hex nuts were tapped for. None of the suppliers I've found for dies mention the number of threads per inch - nor does Scale Hardware.
 
I sent an email to Scale Hardware and got a quick and helpful reply as follows:
 
"Metric threads are measured by pitch (the distance between two threads) rather than threads per inch.  I can say the .6mm thread is approximately 169 tpi and the 1.0mm thread is 102 tpi. "
 
I've sent an email to the Otto Frei company (one of the suppliers of jeweler's taps & dies) but haven't heard back from them so far. Since they are just a seller, not a manufacturer, they may not know the answer. So, I thought, just for grins, I'd ask if anyone here might have tried using a jeweler's die and matching it with nuts from Scale Hardware? It might seem like all metric dies are the same, but the Otto Frei page says "Jeweler's tap & dies sets have broader threads than watchmakers or machinist taps & dies, which have finer threads."  http://www.ottofrei.com/Swiss-Made-Colibri-Jewelers-Screwplate-With-Taps-Set.html
So I'm worried that the two could be different. Of course, I can, if forced into, struggle to make my own nuts, but I know they won't look as good as those from Scale Hardware.
 
Thanks in advance -
John

Check online jewelry suppliers for something called "jump rings."  They come in various sizes and metals. But these are quite easy to make. Take some brass wire and wrap it in a tight spiral around a drill bit or brass rod slightly larger than the desired inside diameter. Then, use a jeweler's saw to cut the rings off (just cut in a straight line down the length of the drill bit while holding the assembly in a soft-jawed vise). When you make the cut, it will, of course, remove some of the material, so that's why you want to start with a drill bit that's slightly larger than your desired size. Of course, depending on the scale, close enough might just be close enough.
 
If you need to make eyebolts, check this page - http://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/3336-securing-eyebolts/?p=107526
 
Cheers -
John

Check online jewelry suppliers for something called "jump rings."  They come in various sizes and metals. But these are quite easy to make. Take some brass wire and wrap it in a tight spiral around a drill bit or brass rod slightly larger than the desired inside diameter. Then, use a jeweler's saw to cut the rings off (just cut in a straight line down the length of the drill bit while holding the assembly in a soft-jawed vise). When you make the cut, it will, of course, remove some of the material, so that's why you want to start with a drill bit that's slightly larger than your desired size. Of course, depending on the scale, close enough might just be close enough.
 
If you need to make eyebolts, check this page - http://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/3336-securing-eyebolts/?p=107526
 
Cheers -
John

Very nice and clear explanation - thanks very much! I'll be interested to see how the tap and die set work out. I hope you'll post your results here.
 
Cheers -
John

Since I work for a museum that has many pieces of furniture dating to the 1700s, I thought I'd pop upstairs and ask our curator what she thought of the beeswax thing. She isn't an expert on ship models but conjectured that there were other things that could cause damage to rigging more readily than any acid in beeswax, such as dry rot and insects although she didn't discount the possibility of beeswax causing damage over a very long term. However, she said the conservator we use typically only puts Butcher's Wax on antique furniture although he sometimes uses the Renaissance Wax referenced above. Both are made by the same company. http://www.bwccompany.com/
 
I also found a very interesting article about beeswax from the North Carolina State Cooperative Extension. http://cleveland.ces.ncsu.edu/beeswax/ One thing the article points out is that the acids are "fatty acids." I have no background in chemistry so I don't know if those sorts of acids are different than something like muriatic acid. They do mention in the article that beeswax is found in the wrappings of Egyptian mummies. They've been around for a pretty long time!
 
Cheers -
John

From the last picture, it appears to me that the 2nd-5th (and possibly the 6th) bulkheads don't come close enough to the rabbet. If you lay a plank along those bulkheads, down near the keel, while you're fairing the hull, you'll likely find the plank won't hit every bulkhead. This is pretty easy to correct though. Get yourself some basswood in a 3-inch wide, 24-inch long sheet. Thickness may depend on the amount of space you need to fill in but 1/16" should work OK. Cut a piece off the end of the strip as wide as the bulkhead so you wind up with a strip that's 3 inches long with the grain running crossways. That makes it very easy to bend the wood around the curve of the bulkhead. Apply some wood glue to the bulkhead and glue on the strip. I just hold it with my fingers for the 60 seconds or so it takes to adhere. Once the glue has thoroughly dried (I usually wait over night) you can proceed with fairing the hull. Of course, if three inches isn't enough length, you can just add more pieces as needed.
 
Cheers -
John

From the last picture, it appears to me that the 2nd-5th (and possibly the 6th) bulkheads don't come close enough to the rabbet. If you lay a plank along those bulkheads, down near the keel, while you're fairing the hull, you'll likely find the plank won't hit every bulkhead. This is pretty easy to correct though. Get yourself some basswood in a 3-inch wide, 24-inch long sheet. Thickness may depend on the amount of space you need to fill in but 1/16" should work OK. Cut a piece off the end of the strip as wide as the bulkhead so you wind up with a strip that's 3 inches long with the grain running crossways. That makes it very easy to bend the wood around the curve of the bulkhead. Apply some wood glue to the bulkhead and glue on the strip. I just hold it with my fingers for the 60 seconds or so it takes to adhere. Once the glue has thoroughly dried (I usually wait over night) you can proceed with fairing the hull. Of course, if three inches isn't enough length, you can just add more pieces as needed.
 
Cheers -
John

Back when I built my copy of Armed Virginia Sloop and wrote a series of articles about the build, I gave a fairly detailed description of how to make a mouse on a stay. I've attached the relevant article in PDF form. Take a look at pages 6-8. It might be helpful to other builders.
 
AVS-Part5.pdf
 
Also, if I may, I'll comment on the issue of finding lines attached where you need to attach another line. If there's one thing ship modeling will teach you, it is to think ahead. In my early builds, I sometimes discovered I'd overlooked something like putting in an eyebolt which, it turned out, was in the plans, but I'd just missed. Over time, I got to the point where even when constructing the hull, I'd think about rigging or something else that might be affected by what I was doing (or failing to do) at the time. If you take up scratch building, you'll find you really need to develop this skill since you won't have any instructions at all. All part of the learning curve! I have a feeling this is one lesson you've managed to learn already. :-)
 
Cheers -
John

I use a similar but slightly different method to the video shown above. I have some pics and descriptions on my website.
 
http://modelboatyard.com/stropping.html
 
Cheers -
John

Here's a suggestion for you - as you place the deck beams, be aware of the locations of the holes in the deck covering board (or waterway) for the stanchions. The stanchions come later in the process but they are designed, in some places, to fit right next to a frame. I thought I had followed the plans when set the deck beams. But when I placed the covering board much later, I discovered that some of the holes were right over the tops of deck beams. Of course, by then it was far too late to do anything to correct it - the deck was already installed - so I had to cut the stanchions short and epoxy them in. But this would be a good time to take the covering boards out of the matrix and place them in position to see if you have room for the stanchions.
 
Cheers -
John

Here's a suggestion for you - as you place the deck beams, be aware of the locations of the holes in the deck covering board (or waterway) for the stanchions. The stanchions come later in the process but they are designed, in some places, to fit right next to a frame. I thought I had followed the plans when set the deck beams. But when I placed the covering board much later, I discovered that some of the holes were right over the tops of deck beams. Of course, by then it was far too late to do anything to correct it - the deck was already installed - so I had to cut the stanchions short and epoxy them in. But this would be a good time to take the covering boards out of the matrix and place them in position to see if you have room for the stanchions.
 
Cheers -
John

I've found Vallejo paints in Hobby Lobby and in my (more or less) local hobby shop. They seem to be pretty widely available here in the US.

I use a similar but slightly different method to the video shown above. I have some pics and descriptions on my website.
 
http://modelboatyard.com/stropping.html
 
Cheers -
John