I just thought of why we are calling this "scratch work" Most of us are scratching our heads wondering, "how does he do this?" RichWOW.. that about sums it up. great work and detail...
I just thought of why we are calling this "scratch work" Most of us are scratching our heads wondering, "how does he do this?" RichWOW.. that about sums it up. great work and detail...
Not just the tool that is amazing but the man working it. RichThanks, guys!
The shell room is made up of 3 rows of 6 pillars which support 24 shelves. Each shelf has a hollow into which the mortar shells fit. The pillars are cut from square swiss pear stock. I used my Byrnes saw with the sliding table to cut the pillars and the notches for the shelves. The sliding table is deadly accurate, and each pillar is EXACTLY as long as as the next, with the shelf slots perfectly aligned. The tool is amazing!
The shelves were cut from swiss pear also. To form the depressions that hold the shells, I used a 3/8" twist drill on my drill press. IView attachment 204446View attachment 204447View attachment 204448View attachment 204449View attachment 204450View attachment 204451 set the fence and the stop so each depression was in a consistent location on the shelves.
These are fantastically fun! Not something you see on many ship builds!The shell room has 6 racks for the mortar shells. Each rack has 3 pillars and 4 shelves. The pillars sit on the lower support beams directly over the floor riders. The shells are 3/8" wooden balls that I dyed black.
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Love, love, love this Dave!I glued the 6ix shell racks to the lower support beams. The placement needs to be precise because two more layers of structure sit on top of the shell racks before the mortar pit floor. The plans call for the racks to be pinned in place. I thought this would be too difficult to do precisely so I used a couple of home made jigs to align the shell racks while the epoxy I used dried. They're not going anywhere!
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It looks very accurate and the idea of gluing with epoxy is just right and helpful.I glued the six shell racks to the lower support beams. The placement needs to be precise because two more layers of structure sit on top of the shell racks before the mortar pit floor. The plans call for the racks to be pinned in place. I thought this would be too difficult to do precisely so I used a couple of home made jigs to align the shell racks while the epoxy I used dried. They're not going anywhere!
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Your possession and use of high quality tools and selection of wood continue to inspire trying to rise that your bar. . . lacking the same tools and lumber yard. I cannot begin to approach your precision but doing what I am able as time passes. RichThanks, guys!
Kurt: True! The mortar shells, at scale 12" diameter are appreciably bigger than bowling balls, though!