Pin Pusher

[nheather]

Hi,

 

Totally new to model ship building.  I have just purchased a Vanguard Models Sherborne, and reading that I would need a pin pusher I added one to the order.  Knowing nothing about them, I added the Modelcraft pin pusher with adjustable depth stop.

 

But having received it the pusher seems huge compared with the tiny brass pins in the kit and I wonder whether it is too big.  The diameter of the tube that the pin sits in is huge compared with the pin so it would seem to me that it will be difficult to position the pin accurately or drive it straight.

 

I now see that they also sell a smaller pen grip pusher and I wonder whether I would be best with that.

[barkeater]

Hello. I'm assuming that you want to use the pin pusher for planking. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Having said that, you will find two groups of people here, those that use pins and those that don't. I'm in the latter group. I use an electric plank bender to get the shape to the plank I'm working on and then just glue it with wood glue. If correctly formed you can just hold it place for a minute and move on. For really tricky spots add a tiny bit of cyanoacrylate which sets up in seconds but be careful as it stains wood and is hard to sand out as it penetrates. With pins, you risk splitting the wood and, in most cases, they have to be removed. Pins also leave holes so if you are doing your second layer in a double planked model you then have to deal with the holes. I do use pins to attach furniture and where I want to simulate a bolt, but that is about it. I do use tree nails on my second planking but here I glue the plank in place then drill a hole with a pine vise and insert the tree nail. For your info, a #72 drill bit usually works well with the pins you get. Have fun and best of luck.

Richard

[Dan Poirier]

I just finished first planking on the Vanguard Sherbourne model, and I too bought a pin pusher online only to find it way too big for the TINY nails (this one).

 

I ended up using needle nose pliers to push the nails in. It got the job done, but I sure bent a lot of nails along the way.

 

It seems like there must be a tool that would work better for this.

[James H]

54 minutes ago, nheather said:

Hi,

 

Totally new to model ship building.  I have just purchased a Vanguard Models Sherborne, and reading that I would need a pin pusher I added one to the order.  Knowing nothing about them, I added the Modelcraft pin pusher with adjustable depth stop.

 

But having received it the pusher seems huge compared with the tiny brass pins in the kit and I wonder whether it is too big.  The diameter of the tube that the pin sits in is huge compared with the pin so it would seem to me that it will be difficult to position the pin accurately or drive it straight.

 

I now see that they also sell a smaller pen grip pusher and I wonder whether I would be best with that.

That’s the exact same one I use. 

[DocRob]

I made one myself for my Duchess of Kingston build, using wood for dowels, drilled a hole into the front, inserted a brass tube, which was before fitted with a brass rod inside secured with CA glue. With the inner diameter of the tube, you can adapt to the size of nails. Easily done.



Cheers Rob

[James H]

A pin pusher isn't a precision tool. It's just for slapping in brass pins anywhere along the place where the joint is. There's a knack to using one quickly so you get the pins roughly where you need them. 

 

The Modelcraft pin pusher works real well and of course you can set it so it doesn't push all the way into the wood. Quite neat.

[nheather]

Thanks, I ended up returning it to Vanguard Models - interestingly he advised that in all his years of model making he had never used a pin pusher, he just used needle-nosed pliers.