Beavers Prize 1777 by Mike Y - 1:48 - POF - Hahn style

[cog]

lovely set of clamps Mike. I do like the darker one too, as I like aged wood ... well done

[Trussben]

Got to agree, those are some beautiful clamps.

 

ben

[druxey]

I was being tongue-in-cheek with my suggestion, Mike! But they are professional grade quality.

[michael mott]

Beautiful work on the clamps Mike.

 

Michael

[Gaetan Bordeleau]

That would be a nice cover page for Lee Valley.

I could not do better.

[Kurt Johnson]

I love Lee Valley!

 

Kurt

[druxey]

We all do, Kurt! I like Gaetan's suggestion of the clamps for a catalog cover.

[Kurt Johnson]

Me too.

 

Kurt

[Mike Y]

Maybe it would fit their 1st April format - a line of tools for hamsters. Would love to see more of their "miniature" stuff.

[Kurt Johnson]

I have most of their miniature stuff. That’s the first thing I look at when ever I go to their website regardless of what I’m actually looking for.

 

Kurt

[Mike Y]

Thanks everybody for the feedback about clamps!

 

The log was a bit silent for a while, but for a good reason. Me and Admiral finally found a good apartment worth the upgrade (larger, pretty new, pretty good neighbourhood, good school right across the street, etc), so we were busy selling the previous one, settling in a new one, etc. We moved in around Christmas, but the todo list was pretty long. So plenty of home-remodeling instead of shipbuilding   Now 90% of all the renovation stuff is done, and we managed not to go crazy while doing it. 

 

Moving the display case was tricky, it is not really designed for the ease of mounting. 

Here it is, protected by some sofa cushions:

 

But it survived the move pretty well, and found its new place next to a "french balcony" (don't worry, there is a real balcony on the other side):

 

And I got a nice corner for my modelling area, super prime spot!  

Admiral got a whole room for her knitting hobby, so she is satisfied with the arrangement.

 

The downside of having a lot of windows is not having enough wall area to mount shelves. Though all frequently used tools fit that single shelf pretty well.

To hide the rest, I took some space in the storage area in the hall, which is pretty close by:

 

And some tools are stored in the shelves under the display case.

 

So I hope to finish the renovation todolist in a month or so, and get back to sawdust making!

 

[druxey]

Enjoy your new home and workshop, Mike!

[cog]

55 minutes ago, druxey said:

Enjoy your new home and workshop, Mike!

hear, hear

[BANYAN]

Ditto; looks like just the setup for some quality modelling time.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Kurt Johnson]

Mike, Glad to hear you’re still with us. I’m happy your family are getting settled into its new home, that’s always an adventure. How does Daria like her new school? Did you actually get to spend Christmas in the new place? Looking forward to seeing more of your creations. 

 

Congratulations,

 

Kurt

Edited March 10, 2019 by Kurt Johnson

[mtaylor]

Looks great, Mike.  I like the corner workspace with the windows on each side.

[Mike Y]

Thanks everybody!  We are fully settled in the apartment and had a series of housewarming parties, kid birthdays, vacations and other offtopic activities. 

 

I finally got some time to resume modelling. The longer the pause is, the harder it is to resume. Especially since I am facing is an internal planking, which is a tricky thing if you want it to be neat. And not all mistakes could be hidden by sanding, since a lot of planks have different thickness. D-oh!

 

Clamping jig to the table is very convenient, I am glad I added a vice to make it possible, can recommend!

First boxwood pieces on the model! Future limber streaks. Planing during a sunset is very relaxing.

Made a mill fixture to route a rabbet into that boards.

 

It works, but the cut is not very smooth. Overall, this boxwood tends to chip a bit when you mill it freehand of when you scrape it. That is unusual after pear that scrapes smooth. So I need to rely more on files and planes, using scraping for finishing touches, not for shaping

 

I haven't faired the internal part of the hull in delicate areas, so now I am repaying that debt by fairing it now, trying not to scratch the keelson. And hey, it's 21st century, moving pictures are a thing!  

Frames are scratched with a diamond file to improve glue adhesion and break down the surface patina layer.

Final fit is checked with a test plank next to it. Of course, the bottom of the plank is shaped to follow the curvature, and underside edges are broken to simplify the fit with the next plank.

After the glue-up, some final blending is done with fine sandpaper and scraping:

 

And the end result is "hoorray, I installed the first plank in a few years"  

Now it's just a matter of adding the rest of the planks. 

It's so great to be back!  

Edited June 25, 2019 by Mike Y

[cog]

Good to see you at the bench again, Mike. Great restart!

[gjdale]

Great to see you back working on your fine model Mike.

[BANYAN]

Welcome back to the fray Mike.  Now that you have started it will be all the easier to keep going (says I having put off some tasks for too long   )  That hull looks very good.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[John Cheevers]

well done on the clamps!

[Jorge Diaz O]

Hi,very nice...

[mtaylor]

It's great to hear that you're settled into the new apartment, Mike.  I'm surprised the boxwood is chipping but the results look excellent. 

[Mike Y]

Before installing any more planks, started drawing the reference lines using tick strips. I should have done that before installing the limber strake, but I really wanted to cut some wood to resume modelling..  

I am still happy with my flexible jig, that allows working with model in any direction. Very handy for such jobs, allows resting the hand instead of using it suspended.

 

Now it's time to face some sloppiness that I made when fairing the hull. The exposed side got a lot of love, while the other side had a lot of areas that are not properly faired. "Not a big deal, I will plank this anyway", said stupid me a few years ago...  

Some areas are easy to fix (just adding a thin strip to bridge the gap):

But some are bad, and are located in tricky areas.

So I spent a few hours with tiny chisels and riffler files to level cant frames. Luckily no need for a nice finish, since planks will hide all the dents. But it is a very delicate task to avoid scratching everything around. Some masking tape and care is necessary.

 

Note to self, and hopefully somebody will avoid the same mistake: spend extra time fairing everything, especially tight areas. Use a strip of wood to check the smooth run, your eye will deceive you. Any hour saved on fairing phase means you borrow that time and will spend 5x fairing it in situ. Damaging something while doing it.

 

So now everything is lined up, but the close-ups around the stern are brutal   Most of it will get hidden though.

I assumed equal plank width when lining up, but of course they will have different thickness. It is good to have guide marks anyway!

 

So now it's time to start planking, and hopefully avoid too many redos. Really worried about sloppy fairing biting me down the road, will see. Will try to counter it with creative sanding. In worst case scenario - will use a full set of carlings & ledges when making the deck, so nobody will see the mistakes   

 

Edited July 29, 2019 by Mike Y

[Tigersteve]

Very good advice, Mike!

Steve

[BANYAN]

Nice work Mike, and some very sage advice re fairing.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Mike Y]

Thanks a lot for the comments! They are inspiring  

 

Had a bit of a block before continuing the inner planking. Started improving my build jig by adding some magnets to it. Very simple and very convenient, now I can attach tiny plane/chisel/scraper right to it, and nothing will fall off. Just stick magnets to your work surfaces, they are cool!

Decided to try dry heat bending (thanks, Chuck!), ordered a tiny iron and a soldering iron with some special tips (really nice way to bend a circle!).

It takes some practice...

Who knew that you can overheat the wood by heating it for too long? Had a number of planks cracked because of that:

A lot of mistakes were made:I need some margin, because it was not easy to control the location of a bend. Will practice more. Unfortunately you can't practice on scraps, results really vary depending on a wood type, width and thickness. I had two identical boxwood planks, one 5mm, another closer to 4.2mm width - the narrower one bends so much easier!

But I like the method, no clamping and no need to wait for the next morning. Hopefully I will master that skill and will be able to prepare a bunch of planks during one modelling session.

Finally I realised that I do not need an extreme side bend, just a little bit goes a long way.

The first bent and shaped plank is in place, made out of a straight strip. So nice to find a method that works!

Now I can continue with the rest of the planks.

The glue-up was a bit awkward though, since there was no way to clamp the front tip. Luckily it mostly stayed in place because of the pre-bending, so keeping it with a finger worked just fine.

Edited October 2, 2019 by Mike Y

[mtaylor]

Mike,

If you haven't done so, drop the wood into some water for say 30 minutes or so.  The heat will turn it to steam and help with the thicker planks.  Yep.. more testing.

[cog]

Hello Mike,

Good to see you work your magic.

Thanks for the magnet tip, I'll have to remember that one, will also come in handy on my regular workbench

 

16 hours ago, Mike Y said:

Who knew that you can overheat the wood by heating it for too long? Had a number of planks cracked because of that

 

Yes it does, for you remove all moisture, and the longer you heat the wood, the further inside the moisture will be "vaporised", and the wood will turn brittle and break. By heating the wood you change the cell structure, and if you do it long enough you burn the cell's wall due to heat, and lack of moisture. 

Edited October 3, 2019 by cog

[Chuck]

Nice work mike.  Good to see you back at it.  Yes indeed, as with any new technique it requires a bit of practice to find its limitations.  You will soon discover that that its easier ti bend a little in two or three places along a curve rather than a lot in one place for certain bends.  Give it a try.  

 

Basically find the apex to bend and then move the strip a little one way or the other and bend it again maybe an inch away from the last center point.  It extends and elongates the bend needed.