Stern galley windows - need some advice please.

Bryian

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Hi Gentlemen,
Just looking through my kit fittings and these stern galley windows are CNC cut from boxwood.
I don't like my chances of cutting out the window frames with a Xacto knife as I can guarantee some of the glazing beads will break away.

I have been following another Chinese build log of the same model and the same problem happened. Just wondering if someone can post a link for 1/48 scale plastic window frames that might do the job ?

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What would happen if you used a fine wire to administer small drops of super glue along the window frames (let it soak in) and let hardened. Then cut them out with a knife (always knife point into the corners)?
 
here are some examples of stern windows I cut, at one time i had access to a small laser the one I use now is way to powerful and just fried this type of delicate work, the difference from 100 watt laser to a 800 watt.

you can cut them heavy or adjust the drawing to cut very fine.

One thing to keep in mind is you will either have to paint the window frames OR clean off the char. Needless to say the finer you laser cut the frames the more chance of them breaking. I solved the problem by using my mini air brush sand blaster and just blew away the char you can see to the left on the second photo where I hit it with the sand blaster. If you are going to paint the windows then no point in using wood use plastic far stronger.

rather than trying to find replacements for windows for your model at your scale just have them custom cut.
to do that someone like Mike who has cut with a laser can give us a topic on laser cutting. What you need to know and how to do it.



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Pardon my ignorance but is it possible to somehow fit a rheostat to a laser in order to reduce the power from 800 watts to 100 watts?

yes you can dial down the power and you can also cut faster. But there is only so far down you can go. you can not go from 800 down to 100. Also to consider the laser beam and the curf it cuts at small table top laser beans may be .006 or smaller an industrial laser the bean may be from .012 to .018.
 
As mentioned there are multiple ways to do window frames. With the laser I can even etch detail directly onto the frames themselves (i.e. bolts, lines, art, etc). I also have several methods to prevent char. The most important thing in fabricating parts like this is the original art and wood choice. Scale line drawings saved as a PDF is a good start. The best option is to have CAD drawings. I can even trace from hand drawings saved as a bitmap, jpeg but the accuracy won't be as good.

Happy to help... my email is... myk_racing@hotmail.com

Mike
 
My laser is 60watt and has fully adjustable power output, speed, frequency, and focus. I can go down to a 0.003" kerf and I have an ultra fine lens that can go even smaller.

the 2 lasers in the shop are 1,400 watt and 800 watt they can cut in one pass 1/4 steel or 2 inches of hardwood. They can cut out 10 sets of bulkheads in 17 minutes but they can't do what Mike's laser does. These are totally 2 different machines. you can't put go cart tries on a semi truck and you can't put semi truck tires on a go cart.
 
the 2 lasers in the shop are 1,400 watt and 800 watt they can cut in one pass 1/4 steel or 2 inches of hardwood. They can cut out 10 sets of bulkheads in 17 minutes but they can't do what Mike's laser does. These are totally 2 different machines. you can't put go cart tries on a semi truck and you can't put semi truck tires on a go cart.

100% agree. Completely different machine. I can only cut out parts up to 3/8" thick. For larger parts (like frames) I would use my ShopBot CNC machine.

I love to fabricate parts!!
 
What kind of project Doc? Is there more information available?

Don: it will be an exciting little scratch built project. I should have the prototype parts in basswood finished cutting today. Hope to have it quickly assembled this week. After that we will build the final version in hardwoods. Stay tuned!! Any idea where I can get some hand turned cannons?
 
it will be an exciting little scratch built project. I should have the prototype parts in basswood finished cutting today. Hope to have it quickly assembled this week. After that we will build the final version in hardwoods. Stay tuned!! Any idea where I can get some hand turned cannons?

does the material matter for the cannons? I suggest reaching out to Don Farr he is the PR man for the projects group. This group has connections to 3D artists, 3D printers, mold making and resin casting and metal casting the group also works as a team for D&R for special projects.
 
I have a Preac miniature table saw with a .010" kerf blade. If it were my kit, I'd simply put that blade in and cut along the edges of the windows. I've cut 1/32" thick strips of boxwood 1/8" wide into 1/8" squares with that blade without any chipping. The Preac doesn't have a real powerful motor so It won't shatter wood like larger saws and the .010" thick blade has never failed me when cutting fine small items.

As for the windows that are still covered with wood. If you have a Byrnes thickness sander, you can run the billet through the thickness sander with a fine grit sandpaper taking small amounts off of the undersurface where this excess wood is until the windows are open. You'd have to do that before cutting them free. Unfortunately I don't have a thickness sander or I'd offer to free them for you myself,

Anyway, that's how I would handle it.

I used to have the Boss laser cutter, 80 watt, and the lowest power I could go and still cut wood was 10% of full power. By varying the power and speed, there wasn't much i couldn't cut. I cut windows, even blocks that are built in layers.

Another alternative is to draw the windows in 3D. Upload the 3D drawing to Shapeways and have them 3D printed. If you want to send the original parts to me, I can scan them, trace them in CAD, convert the drawings to 3D and send you the 3D file for uploading to Shapeways. I've had them 3D print windows for my Patrick Henry kit which I no longer produce. Heck, you wouldn't believe some of the drawings I've created in 3D and had them 3D printed by Shapeways. I can do cannons in 3D in about 5 minutes with the trunnion. I've got several in my Shapeways store available for purcahse.

Hope that helps,

Bob
 
Hi Brian,

Why not remove each window and just sanding them down from the rear side. This will remove the wood from the inner window frames. I have done this with the fragile boxwood carvings of my Royal Caroline and this worked fine. For this I used my old band sander to have a constant movement of the sanding.
Hope it helps.
 
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