jhearl

I've owned the resistance soldering unit you pictured for a long time. I don't use it for every soldering task, but for things where joints are very close together, it is an ideal solution. The oyster tongs pictured below are made entirely from brass with every joint soldered. I don't think it would be possible to do this with a standard soldering iron because the rods are so close together. It's a shame they are so very expensive, but I don't regret having spent the money.
 
My normal technique for something like this is to use a soft solder like Tix. I'll apply some flux to the joint, then lay a very small piece of solder in the flux. The flux helps to hold the solder next to the joint. The trickiest part is getting the points of the hand piece on the joint without knocking the solder off.  It only takes a second or so for the solder to melt once you press the pedal and it's so quick, the heat is confined to the joint you're working on. Of course, the heavier the material, the longer it takes. The wires on the tongs are .032" so they're quite small.
 
Hope that helps -
John
 

Ab Hoving is a member of the forum, so you might want to send him a PM.
https://modelshipworld.com/profile/31631-ab-hoving/
 
Cheers -
John

Ab Hoving is a member of the forum, so you might want to send him a PM.
https://modelshipworld.com/profile/31631-ab-hoving/
 
Cheers -
John

Ab Hoving is a member of the forum, so you might want to send him a PM.
https://modelshipworld.com/profile/31631-ab-hoving/
 
Cheers -
John

Ab Hoving is a member of the forum, so you might want to send him a PM.
https://modelshipworld.com/profile/31631-ab-hoving/
 
Cheers -
John

I am currently building a model of a replica of the shallop that John Smith used to explore the Chesapeake Bay in 1607. The boat is 30 feet long. The replica the model is based on has a Danforth anchor in it, but I know that's incorrect. I don't have any knowledge of boats in the 17th century but I'm sure there are members who do. What kind of small anchor would be appropriate for that size boat in that period? 
 
Thanks in advance -
John

Thanks for the reply. Pretty much what I figured but just wanted to check since my knowledge of this period is close to zero.
 
Cheers -
John

Thanks for the reply. Pretty much what I figured but just wanted to check since my knowledge of this period is close to zero.
 
Cheers -
John

I am no expert on glass or much of anything for that matter! During the time I was there, the house underwent a major restoration and a great deal of effort was put into determining what parts of the house were original. There is also a well-documented chain of ownership of that house. The majority of the window sashes were determined to be original to the house. There was at least one replaced after the American Civil War because a cannonball penetrated the house, largely destroying at least one window. In any case, the experts were able to determine which panes were original and which were replaced in the 1880s. Exactly how, I can't say. Perhaps through examination of the paint and glazing around them or perhaps some sort of examination of the glass itself. As best I can recall, they didn't remove any of the panes during the restoration but the restoration started about 2 years before I went to work there. Window glass in the 1700s was made in a different way than glass made in the 1800s so it had a different appearance. A web search on "dating window glass" will turn up a good bit of interesting material.

There was an interesting discussion about parrels here:
 
 
Cheers -
John

There was an interesting discussion about parrels here:
 
 
Cheers -
John

If you go to a hardware store, you can find locknuts with plastic inserts that you can use to replace the ones on the headband. The locknuts will not loosen up once you put them on. Just be sure you know what size thread you need before you go to the store.
 
Cheers -
John

If you go to a hardware store, you can find locknuts with plastic inserts that you can use to replace the ones on the headband. The locknuts will not loosen up once you put them on. Just be sure you know what size thread you need before you go to the store.
 
Cheers -
John

looks like a wonderful tool for slicing off the ends of your fingers! 😰

I own the Sherline mill so I guess I'll weigh in with a few things to consider. Before I do, though, if you don't already own a metal lathe, I'd recommend making that your first purchase over a mill. You will use it FAR more often. That aside, the main thing to consider between the Sherline and a mini-mill is the size. I sometimes find the Sherline to be a bit small for some things I'd like to do. But I simply don't have room in my shop for a larger mill. The mini-mill offers more travel in all three axes than the Sherline and that could occasionally be useful. At the time I bought my mill, Sherline didn't offer larger and taller columns, but they do now, so that would be something to consider.  On the other hand, the large mini-mills are MUCH heavier. The one Micromark sells weighs 110 pounds. There's no chance I could get that up on a cabinet by myself or even get it out of the box! As for power, I have not found any limitation with the Sherline. I'm not trying to hog out 1/4" deep cuts in steel with a half-inch cutter, of course. On the other hand, if I needed some deep cut in steel, I could do it with the Sherline - it just might take a little longer.  For ship modeling, it's not likely you're going to need a lot of power and you're probably going to be cutting more brass and wood than you are steel.
 
One feature I like on the Sherline that I don't believe is available on the MM mill is the ability to rotate the headstock by 90 degrees. I'm not talking about rotating the column - just the headstock. When I make propellers, I use this feature to cut slots in the hub. There's probably a way to do that without rotating the headstock but it seems to me it would require a more difficult setup.
 
If you decide to go with Sherline, you might want to compare prices at Discount Campus - http://www.discountcampus.com/
I've bought all my Sherline equipment through them because they offer a better price. They are an authorized reseller and, in fact, the equipment winds up getting shipped directly from Sherline in any case.
 
Another thing to consider is adding the DRO option. I don't have it on my lathe and don't miss it, but I find it VERY useful on the mill. And, by all means, get it with one of the accessory packages. Also consider a rotary table. Very useful for things like steering wheels.
 
Bottom line, if I had it to do over again, I'd go with the Sherline with larger table and column.
 
Hope that helps some -
John
 

looks like a wonderful tool for slicing off the ends of your fingers! 😰

looks like a wonderful tool for slicing off the ends of your fingers! 😰

looks like a wonderful tool for slicing off the ends of your fingers! 😰

I'll tell you how I go about attaching toe rails. I don't pre-bend them or paint them before installing. I start by placing the toe-rail stock at the stem. (You'll probably need to cut an angle on the stock so it fits properly.) While holding it in place with one hand, I drill hole, about an inch or so back from the stem through the toe rail and down into the deck. Then I insert a piece of stiff brass rod through the hole. Now, I move aft to the point where the toe rail needs to curve and repeat the above process. I continue doing that until I've gotten all the way to the stern. You don't need wire every inch or so - just at the points where the toe rail needs to curve.
 
Here's a picture of this that I did quickly on some scrap (just pretend it's on the edge of a deck):

 
Note that I have NOT used any glue at this point! It's only the wire holding the toe rail in place. Next,  you can carefully raise the toe rail up on the wires. This will give you some space to apply small drops of medium CA.

 
Push the toe rail back down on the deck and it will be glued in place. Rather than removing the brass wire, I cut it off as close as I can to the top of the toe rail, then sand it down flush. You can apply a small drop of thin CA right on the brass wire and that will anchor it in place. Once painted, the wire will pretty much be invisible.
 
Hope that helps.
John

looks like a wonderful tool for slicing off the ends of your fingers! 😰

looks like a wonderful tool for slicing off the ends of your fingers! 😰

looks like a wonderful tool for slicing off the ends of your fingers! 😰

I own the Sherline mill so I guess I'll weigh in with a few things to consider. Before I do, though, if you don't already own a metal lathe, I'd recommend making that your first purchase over a mill. You will use it FAR more often. That aside, the main thing to consider between the Sherline and a mini-mill is the size. I sometimes find the Sherline to be a bit small for some things I'd like to do. But I simply don't have room in my shop for a larger mill. The mini-mill offers more travel in all three axes than the Sherline and that could occasionally be useful. At the time I bought my mill, Sherline didn't offer larger and taller columns, but they do now, so that would be something to consider.  On the other hand, the large mini-mills are MUCH heavier. The one Micromark sells weighs 110 pounds. There's no chance I could get that up on a cabinet by myself or even get it out of the box! As for power, I have not found any limitation with the Sherline. I'm not trying to hog out 1/4" deep cuts in steel with a half-inch cutter, of course. On the other hand, if I needed some deep cut in steel, I could do it with the Sherline - it just might take a little longer.  For ship modeling, it's not likely you're going to need a lot of power and you're probably going to be cutting more brass and wood than you are steel.
 
One feature I like on the Sherline that I don't believe is available on the MM mill is the ability to rotate the headstock by 90 degrees. I'm not talking about rotating the column - just the headstock. When I make propellers, I use this feature to cut slots in the hub. There's probably a way to do that without rotating the headstock but it seems to me it would require a more difficult setup.
 
If you decide to go with Sherline, you might want to compare prices at Discount Campus - http://www.discountcampus.com/
I've bought all my Sherline equipment through them because they offer a better price. They are an authorized reseller and, in fact, the equipment winds up getting shipped directly from Sherline in any case.
 
Another thing to consider is adding the DRO option. I don't have it on my lathe and don't miss it, but I find it VERY useful on the mill. And, by all means, get it with one of the accessory packages. Also consider a rotary table. Very useful for things like steering wheels.
 
Bottom line, if I had it to do over again, I'd go with the Sherline with larger table and column.
 
Hope that helps some -
John
 

I own the Sherline mill so I guess I'll weigh in with a few things to consider. Before I do, though, if you don't already own a metal lathe, I'd recommend making that your first purchase over a mill. You will use it FAR more often. That aside, the main thing to consider between the Sherline and a mini-mill is the size. I sometimes find the Sherline to be a bit small for some things I'd like to do. But I simply don't have room in my shop for a larger mill. The mini-mill offers more travel in all three axes than the Sherline and that could occasionally be useful. At the time I bought my mill, Sherline didn't offer larger and taller columns, but they do now, so that would be something to consider.  On the other hand, the large mini-mills are MUCH heavier. The one Micromark sells weighs 110 pounds. There's no chance I could get that up on a cabinet by myself or even get it out of the box! As for power, I have not found any limitation with the Sherline. I'm not trying to hog out 1/4" deep cuts in steel with a half-inch cutter, of course. On the other hand, if I needed some deep cut in steel, I could do it with the Sherline - it just might take a little longer.  For ship modeling, it's not likely you're going to need a lot of power and you're probably going to be cutting more brass and wood than you are steel.
 
One feature I like on the Sherline that I don't believe is available on the MM mill is the ability to rotate the headstock by 90 degrees. I'm not talking about rotating the column - just the headstock. When I make propellers, I use this feature to cut slots in the hub. There's probably a way to do that without rotating the headstock but it seems to me it would require a more difficult setup.
 
If you decide to go with Sherline, you might want to compare prices at Discount Campus - http://www.discountcampus.com/
I've bought all my Sherline equipment through them because they offer a better price. They are an authorized reseller and, in fact, the equipment winds up getting shipped directly from Sherline in any case.
 
Another thing to consider is adding the DRO option. I don't have it on my lathe and don't miss it, but I find it VERY useful on the mill. And, by all means, get it with one of the accessory packages. Also consider a rotary table. Very useful for things like steering wheels.
 
Bottom line, if I had it to do over again, I'd go with the Sherline with larger table and column.
 
Hope that helps some -
John
 

I own the Sherline mill so I guess I'll weigh in with a few things to consider. Before I do, though, if you don't already own a metal lathe, I'd recommend making that your first purchase over a mill. You will use it FAR more often. That aside, the main thing to consider between the Sherline and a mini-mill is the size. I sometimes find the Sherline to be a bit small for some things I'd like to do. But I simply don't have room in my shop for a larger mill. The mini-mill offers more travel in all three axes than the Sherline and that could occasionally be useful. At the time I bought my mill, Sherline didn't offer larger and taller columns, but they do now, so that would be something to consider.  On the other hand, the large mini-mills are MUCH heavier. The one Micromark sells weighs 110 pounds. There's no chance I could get that up on a cabinet by myself or even get it out of the box! As for power, I have not found any limitation with the Sherline. I'm not trying to hog out 1/4" deep cuts in steel with a half-inch cutter, of course. On the other hand, if I needed some deep cut in steel, I could do it with the Sherline - it just might take a little longer.  For ship modeling, it's not likely you're going to need a lot of power and you're probably going to be cutting more brass and wood than you are steel.
 
One feature I like on the Sherline that I don't believe is available on the MM mill is the ability to rotate the headstock by 90 degrees. I'm not talking about rotating the column - just the headstock. When I make propellers, I use this feature to cut slots in the hub. There's probably a way to do that without rotating the headstock but it seems to me it would require a more difficult setup.
 
If you decide to go with Sherline, you might want to compare prices at Discount Campus - http://www.discountcampus.com/
I've bought all my Sherline equipment through them because they offer a better price. They are an authorized reseller and, in fact, the equipment winds up getting shipped directly from Sherline in any case.
 
Another thing to consider is adding the DRO option. I don't have it on my lathe and don't miss it, but I find it VERY useful on the mill. And, by all means, get it with one of the accessory packages. Also consider a rotary table. Very useful for things like steering wheels.
 
Bottom line, if I had it to do over again, I'd go with the Sherline with larger table and column.
 
Hope that helps some -
John