I hate making tree-nails

[barkeater]

I hate making tree-nails. To me it is the most tedious job there is, but they look so good that I tree-nail everything. I tried using thorns from a locust tree but I did not think they looked as good. So I will sit today watching sports and pulling little pieces of bamboo through my draw plate. Making blocks or pieces for gun carriages can be repetitive, but in the end you get something to look at other than a thin piece of wood that is just skinnier than when you started. Oh well, the game is coming on so it is back to my draw plate. Thanks for listening. What do you hate?

[rtwpsom2]

You just need to scale your model up so the bamboo is the right size. 

[BLACK VIKING]

Ratlines probably the most tedious things on the planet  

 

Martyn

[Chuck Seiler]

1 hour ago, barkeater said:

I hate making tree-nails.

Then you are making them wrong. 

 

A couple years ago when I was more active in my local club, I would help man the ship modeling both at the County Faire.  One of my mates would demonstrate making treenails with a drawplate, making his length of 'nails' increasingly smaller.  As he got down to about 1MM and showed everybody his creation (ooooo ahhhhhh) I would chuck up a inch or 2 of bamboo in the ol' Dremel and whip at an inch of 1MM treenail in under  a minute with a piece of fine sand paper.

 

Good quality bamboo is strong for is size.  I use BBQ skewers, but you have to make sure you get good ones.  It takes some practice and is prone to burnngfingers if not careful, but they are great.  I use hem to affix small furniture items to the deck.

Edited July 7, 2018 by Chuck Seiler

[lmagna]

21 minutes ago, Chuck Seiler said:

I use hem to affix small furniture items to the deck.

Now that is something I had not considered. MUCH better than metal pins in my opinion.

Thanks for the tip Chuck

[druxey]

Bamboo through a Byrnes' drawplate (feed in from the small hole side!) makes the job very quick and pleasant.

[Jim Rogers]

Paying a teenager to do it is even better. You get Trenails, they learn a skill.

[mtaylor]

There's a couple of other ways for mass producing them. It all depends on scale of the ship and how visible you want then,

 

1) One way I'm seeing is to drill the holes and then fill the hole with wood putty of the color you want to use, matching or contrasting.  Let dry and then sand.

 

2) Another way is toothpicks.  stick them in the hole with small bit of glue.  When dry, cut the toothpick as close to the hull as you can get.  A light sanding is next.

 

3) Some just mark them on the plank with a pencil.

 

4) Have a look here also shows a different method for mass producing using a mill or drill press. 

 

 

[hornet]

4 hours ago, Chuck Seiler said:

Then you are making them wrong. 

 

A couple years ago when I was more active in my local club, I would help man the ship modeling both at the County Faire.  One of my mates would demonstrate making treenails with a drawplate, making his length of 'nails' increasingly smaller.  As he got down to about 1MM and showed everybody his creation (ooooo ahhhhhh) I would chuck up a inch or 2 of bamboo in the ol' Dremel and whip at an inch of 1MM treenail in under  a minute with a piece of fine sand paper.

 

Good quality bamboo is strong for is size.  I use BBQ skewers, but you have to make sure you get good ones.  It takes some practice and is prone to burnngfingers if not careful, but they are great.  I use hem to affix small furniture items to the deck.

1 mm is easy with Byrnes draw plate but I have found that for a 1:64 scale model, 0.5 mm is more to scale. When drawing bamboo down to this size it I have found it does get tedious and fiddly. 

[barkeater]

I use a Byrnes draw plate. I work in 1/48 scale and go down to a 28 or 26 on the plate which I like the look of. I use a #72 drill bit and this is about .4mm. I don't think a Dremel would work for me at this scale since getting them uniform without breaking would be tough. I like wood tree-nails over the alternatives some of which I've tried. My comment was written with humor in mind. I've done thousands of tree-nails and knocked out a bunch today. It's just that when you are on your 10th or 11th piece, you have to be saying to yourself, "I hate tree-nails".
 

[druxey]

Hah! You had us.

[terryw]

For light-colored treenails, I use the straws from a household corn broom available at most home goods stores.  I purchased a hand-held type at a dollar store and got enough straws to last a lifetime.  Each one is about 10 inches long and there are various diameters.  I pull them through a draw plate to get the exact size I need.  A couple of minutes work gives me about 20 or 25 10 inch lengths.

For dark treenails, I use the bristles from a palmyra brush or stable broom.  Same deal except the lengths are a lot shorter.

Both types give very strong, uniform treenails.

I dip in diluted white glue then cut them almost flush with little snips.  A bit of sanding when dry and it's done.

Terry

[Ulises Victoria]

Long time ago I used mesquite thorns, which I got from a friend who had a ranch with thousands of those trees. The beauty of them is that they would fit the thinniest hole. I can't get them anymore, though.