Purchased shortly ago / sthg new in your workshop -> present it here

[DARIVS ARCHITECTVS]

Jaager -- Thanks for the suggestion. I found the green sharpening compound for next to nothing online and will pick up some leather bands next time at the hobby store. Is there a way for keeping serrated edge knives sharp? I've got a Japanese hacksaw that I use in my miter box that I use alot and will eventually need to re-sharpen the serrated teeth. Any suggestions on this score would be appreciated.

I would like to see a tutorial on keeping razor knives sharp, the materials needed, process, etc.

 

[DAWarden-(Jaager)]

Is there a way for keeping serrated edge knives sharp?

I have a serrated knife that I use for slicing tomato. I keep a ~1000 grit stone and hone it - being for food the edge does not have to be able 'to split water molecules when you blow on it' sharp. Being a stone the serrated points cannot dig in as it is honed edge first. My serrated blade is coves on one side and flat on the other. I do nothing to the coves side. Just working one side still gets me a sharp edge back.
I suppose I could strop it since that is done away from the edge. But I think that the sharp points -even being dragged away on the surface of leather would really tear it up.

 

[Steef66]

Just look on youtube, a lot of sharpening video's to find or look here https://shipsofscale.com/sosforums/...d-ornaments-by-stephan-kertész-steef66.16094/

 

[DAWarden-(Jaager)]

I would like to see a tutorial on keeping razor knives sharp, the materials needed, process, etc.

Check out Lee Valley https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/tools/sharpening-by-hand

 

[Roger Pellett]

If you don’t already have them, a set of Zona razor saws is a worthwhile addition to your tool kit. These are inexpensive; look on your favorite on line tool source like Amazon. Blades are replaceable and cheap enough that I don’t bother trying to sharpen them. In addition to cutting wood, I also use them for cutting brass tubing.

The Zona saws are much better than the ones that fit into Xacto knife handles as they bolt to the handles.

Roger

 

[Rob444]

Is there a way for keeping serrated edge knives sharp?

These work well

DMT Diafold Serrated Knife SharpenerFine

Serrated knives, just like traditional blades, can benefit greatly from sharpening. Sharpening serrated knives just requires a different tool. The DMT® Diamond Serrated Knife Sharpener makes quick work of this job by allowing you to sharpen the gullets of your serrated knives. The conical shape...

www.sharpeningsupplies.com

Rob

 

[Ignatius27]

These work well

DMT Diafold Serrated Knife SharpenerFine

Serrated knives, just like traditional blades, can benefit greatly from sharpening. Sharpening serrated knives just requires a different tool. The DMT® Diamond Serrated Knife Sharpener makes quick work of this job by allowing you to sharpen the gullets of your serrated knives. The conical shape...

www.sharpeningsupplies.com

Rob

Wow. These look dangerous...my wife and our 15-18 serrated knives that need sharpening thank you!

 

[Ignatius27]

If you don’t already have them, a set of Zona razor saws is a worthwhile addition to your tool kit. These are inexpensive; look on your favorite on line tool source like Amazon. Blades are replaceable and cheap enough that I don’t bother trying to sharpen them. In addition to cutting wood, I also use them for cutting brass tubing.

The Zona saws are much better than the ones that fit into Xacto knife handles as they bolt to the handles.

Roger

Roger -- I need a razor saw / miter box combination that actually are sized for each other. I've been using a 6-inch miter box that is too wide for my Japanese razor saw and I'm not getting fine cuts. Looks like Zona has a couple of razor saw & miter box combos in my budget. Thanks.

 

[Bob Cleek]

You have bought a solid hull kit. I would not let that router get near the hull of this model. It can destroy it in an instant! Instead buy a quality small hand plane and a spokeshave. Both of these, especially the spokeshave are used to shape solid hull models. Chisels are used too and you apparently already have some. To sharpen, buy a sharpening guide and a sharpening stone (oil or water as you prefer). There are guides on line and several good books available about sharpening edged tools. DO NOT try to sharpen edged tools on that powered grinder! Like the router it is too aggressive.

The University of Michigan operates a 450 ft long “towing tank” for testing models of ship hull to determine resistance. As a student there in the 1960’s, I watched professional model makers sculpt highly accurate models to be towed in the tank from clear white pine. Although the laminations to build these models were sawed on a bandsaw, shaping was done by hand. I still have and use a set of three miniature spoke shaves bought back then for a student project.

Power tools have their uses building models but first develop skill with hand tools.

Roger.

I still have and use a set of three miniature spoke shaves bought back then for a student project.

I'll bet they look just like these. Good luck finding Aldon model maker's spoke shaves anywhere today. They do occasionally turn up on eBay now and again. That's where I found mine... new old stock! Long ago, though.







Instead buy a quality small hand plane and a spokeshave.

I highly recommend this modelmaker's plane. It has guides on each side which can be adjusted so it can be used as a thickness plane. Without the side "runners," it's a very high quality "No. 100" size plane. Cast iron Stanley "100's" can be found used on eBay or new Stanley and Buck sheet metal and Kunz cast-iron "No. 100" knock-offs can be bought new for a lot less, but for around a hundred bucks and closer to seventy-fivie bucks on one of their frequent sales, the Bridge City modelmaker's plane is really a piece of "jewelry" worth treating yourself to. All the features of a full-sized plane (e.g. adjustable mouth) in a modelmaker's plane. Top of the line stuff. Not to be left around where it might find its way into somebody else's pocket!

See: https://bridgecitytools.com/collections/planes



Ignatius, as Roger indicated, that big Bosch plunge router you have, while a great tool, is not really good for much for ship modeling. Apparently, you were contemplating fitting small cutters on it and "free handing" carving a hull. I also noticed that you misunderstood the use of a portable bandsaw, confusing it with a stationary bandsaw. These and other comments in this thread cause me to think that you may not be as familiar with the use of power tools as one should be to use them safely. Routers, for example, are all about jigs and guides and under-table mounts. They really aren't safe to use without something that holds them fixed in position, or against and edge guide. They can be wickedly dangerous if one "gets loose" while running. Before buying any power tools, I would urge you to take a "shop course" at a local community college or high school, which often offer them in the evenings, or "apprentice" yourself to a woodworking friend, and learn how to use all of the power tools you have any interest in acquiring. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure! Additionally, if you are fortunate enough to find a course that also teaches how to use hand tools, you'll probably come to realize that there's lots of money to be saved in not buying power tools that aren't really all that useful. In this day and age, we have what's known as the "Norm Abrams Syndrome." (He's the guy who used to host that PBS series on woodworking, The New Yankee Workshop. Delta power tool company was the sponsor of the show and, entertaining as it was, Norm never used a hand tool where a Delta power tool would also do the job, thus creating a generation of wood butchers who thought they had to buy a shop full of power tools to build a bookshelf! Often, a well-sharpened, quality hand tool will get a job done in less time than it takes to plug a power tool into the wall outlet and make a better job of it, too. My old well-sharpened and -set Diston "garage sale special" hand saws certainly do a quicker job of shortening a two-by-four than hooking up my $250 Skil "side-winder" for just one cut.

 

[Corsair]

Roger -- I need a razor saw / miter box combination that actually are sized for each other. I've been using a 6-inch miter box that is too wide for my Japanese razor saw and I'm not getting fine cuts. Looks like Zona has a couple of razor saw & miter box combos in my budget. Thanks.

I have the zona saw and miter box, and they are great.

 

[Roger Pellett]

Bob, yes, same spokeshave.

Ignatius, I wouldn’t waste my money on a miter box. With your router and el cheapo table saw you can make better ones. See photo below. I make miter boxes for specific applications. I consider them to be somewhat disposable. Mine are made with a Sherline mill and Byrnes saw but your tools should work too.

Roger

 

[Bill-R]

I just replaced my first Zona miter box. It was about 30 years old and served me well.

Bill