Hmmm...mmm..mmm... well I am starting to consider tools... My first tools should really be some sheets of tracing paper, and a few sheets of carbon paper. I also need to get a nice coping saw. I saw one that was pretty deeply set for $24 CDN. I could maybe buy this Scroll saw I saw at a local pawn shop for $100! Then I could build a whack of hulls... Maybe I could one day build the British Grand Fleet? And ... uhhh.... a nice spice rack for Mom? Is it against RC combat rules to sheet your boat in birch bark? Just wondering.....
Personally I'm a fan of scroll saws, but I'm not as manly of a woodworker as some and lack the patience to cut ribs with a coping saw.
No way carbon paper all the way. Both the carbon paper and rib drawings are reusable, you don't have to deal with paper glued to your ribs. Really whatever you prefer...
I got rid of my carbon paper when I threw out the mimeograph machine Where do you still get it? Officemax? And going forward, Lord willing, I will prefer drawing the ribs in sketchup and printing them
Well, if you look at my old turn of the century methods.... on my Warspite build thread... check out the awesome powers of onion paper and carbon paper... Long live the past....err... O.K. So next.... set up a telegraph wire and clicker..... LOL
CARBON PAPER?!?!? My first ship ribs were on Onion Skin with lead pencil carbon on the back side..... Ok...I was really poor at the time, but it did work. Great thread Tug!! While Harbor Freight is a great source for first time builder tools I keep thinking to all the great garage sale tool finds I've had over the years. Once picked up a very usable scroll saw for $15 bucks. But....you could also easily do a build using only hand tools like a coping/fret saw versus a scroll saw. I think on my first build I used a saber saw and a coping saw to cut out ribs. Not easy but with a fine toothed blade, patience and being VERY VERY CAREFUL it can be done. Hey....that would make a great thread...."The Ultimate Low-Down Build" How a beginner can get equipped, build and fight a ship on the low down.
Full disclosure, I already started a cheap cruiser build using the $60 toolkit... Italian cruiser Zara. Plans will be posted, pics too...
Hmmmm....I just had a very crazy thought. Being somewhat of a scrounger I just might be tempted down the road to do a "Bottom of the Barrel Build" to see just how inexpensive (cheap) I can build a fighting boat. For instance I just scored a stack of 1/4 inch thick approximately 12"x12" plywood squares where I pick up scrape firewood from a pallet making company. Usually their free wood bin has 2x4 cut-offs and other trim scraps that we burn in our fireplace. This last time there was a stack of these plywood squares beside the bin, so I snatched them up. They would be plenty good enough to make ribs out of. Also recently scored a dozen 1/8"x 3" x 36" balsa sheets at my local Mom & Pop hardware store for a buck and a quarter each. They were in perfect shape just the last bunch of a one time batch they had ordered some time back. At some of the local hobby stores in my area there are a lot of damaged sheets of balsa of all different thickness that I will ask and see what kind of discount I can get, maybe 50% or 75% off - who knows. I have a scrap metal yard nearby that I can get all kinds of cheap brass, stainless steel and such from at scrap prices and if I pay cash......even cheaper. Hmmmmm something to think about. There's probably a dozen or more ways to help Newbies discover ways around RETAIL.
Oh, there are more 'Cheap Shop' projects coming, I promise... not boat projects, but shop tool projects.
Some cats are born to be hull inspectors, others take training... but all have the potential to be great hull inspectors. I suspect that the native curiosity of cats makes them good at it. Rescued kitties are particularly good at it Junior Propwasher Third Class Lucky-Boo is seen in this picture having just successfully completed his final examination for promotion to Junior Propwasher Second Class... he correctly assessed that the hull in question 1) was not assembled, 2) had a complete lack of cat food, and 3) was thus totally unseaworthy. Congratulations are in order for the promotion! Lucky-Boo celebrated by knocking pieces of the offending hull around the floor for a while. A good place to look for future hull inspectors is a local shelter, or at PetCo, just inside the main entrance where they have cages for the local cat rescue to display furbabies who need furrever homes.
