sawing tools - first scratchbuild - bonhomme Richard 1779

dedoo

dedoo

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Hey guy's i'm making preparations to start building my first scratch build - the bonhomme Richard 1779 - and since this needs some extra tools I hope you veterans could give me advice on how to go about selecting the right tools. I understand that quality is more important than quantity and a tool is only as good as the guys that uses it but what types of tools is what i'm looking for.

For instance the ribs - I want to make them from steamed pear we have a swiss variation from where I live and it's just beautiful so i set my mind on using that - at least for the ribs.
But what dimensions should I buy? Is it better to buy as thick as possible and buy a bigger table saw bigger than a byrnes or proxxon fet i mean as these both can only saw 15/16 or close to that range. Or buy a bandsaw - those machines freak me out though as I keep on thinking about loosing a finger whenever i saw with one of those machines.

I have a thickness planer and sander so i'm set on those but I need some advice about to go about sawing planks and not waste a lot of wood in the process.

Hope my english is understandable :) I'm Dutch
 
Hallo and welcome to the scratch build modeling

The Bonhomme Richard is not the easiest beginning in scratch building in combination of Plank On Frame construction, but here are a lot of people willing to help, if there is any problems.
In which scale do you want to build? Did you define this already?
Stemed pear or swiss pear or Elsbeere is a very good decision and you will have a lot of fun with this timber(s) - beautifull appearance (I like Elsbeere the most)
When you write "buy as thick as possible" I guess you mean raw material in 5 or 8cm thickness, or? Something like this? You have to calculate here appr. 2.000 Euros per m³ for timber which is already dry, so tree cut some 3 or 4 years ago.
432b3637-608e-11eb-8065-51d38f8909e3.jpg
If yes - you need a very good and accurate circular saw and some space for the dry storage of the wood. This bigger saw you can use only for cutting thinner sheets, so it is really a question, if you want to do this. On the other hand, you can order also timber sheets in the necessary thickness (3, 4, 5 or xmm) from different dealers in Europe.

In the following some (in my opinion) important power tools, which are helping very much. And as example my toys, which I bought in the last years - there are a lot of other good tools out there from other manufacturer.....

I guess most important for scratch building is a good scroll saw, which you will need from the beginning for the frame elements. Some modeler like the band saw more, but I prefer scroll saw, because of the possibility to cut narrower radius. I have a Hegner

Hegner Multicut SE - Scrollsaw with variable speed - Out of the Box

Over the years I was using my Proxxon DSH - a good machine, but I was not 100% happy with it. Today I got my new Hegner delivered and I wanted to share with you "Out of the Box" Hegner Multicut SE - Scrollsaw Variable Speed The HEGNER Multicut SEV Variable Speed has all the features of the...
shipsofscale.com

Also very helpful for frame preparation, and for the Bonhomme you will work some month on the frames, is a good oszillating drum sander, which is helping very much in sanding the outer and inner form of the frames. Here I have a Jet.

JET JBOS-5 Oscillating Spindle Sander - my new toy

Some days ago I received my new "tool-toy". It is the Jet JBOS-5 Spindle sander. In the following I want to show you this interesting tool, today the important figures and the delivered content and in the following some experience using this tool during my built of the La Salamandre It is a...
shipsofscale.com

The minature precision circular saw you mentioned already - f.e the Byrnes

I have in addition, and this tool is more or less every day in action is a good disk-sander, here I have also a Hagner

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

Hahaha Jim, you should wrap it up and post it down under to me. ;)
shipsofscale.com

This is just for beginning the talk ........ somehow a warm up - some modelers are addicted to buy tools
 
Thanks for that lengty reply Uwe. Much appreciated.

What I meant with as large as possible - as thick as possible - my first scouting for wood came up with several dealers on for instance ebay who sell steamed and already planed wood planks - not sure if that is the corect way to name it :) but it is already planed to a uniform thickness of 2 3 6 and even 8cm thick.

like this
pear.gif

not sure if that is way more expensive than buying the wood in planks like you showed but at least this seller for instance made sure all the wood you buy can be actually used, No insects no cracks and knots and although a bit harder right now due to corona you can pick it out yourself.

I for instance have no clue yet what I would need for the build in volume or kg's for a ship like the bonhomme 1:48 scale. The ancre book is on it's way so I have not had the time yet to study the drawings and make educated guesses yet.

as for tools I have a proxxon dsh/e scrollsaw and a proxxon TG250E disc sander. Good tip about the oscillating sander especially for the inside of the ribs this will come in very handy i assume.

But to get back to the saw - would a band saw or a circular saw be better if i purchased wood like pictured above?
Like said I like a bandsaw because it's versatile but if it's really hard to make straight cuts then I guess i'd be better off with a tablesaw although the cuts will be much wider and this have more loss of wood.

or am I thinking wrong?
 
Last edited:
I posted on a thread when I made my own thickness sander. The link will take you to the post describing my system of making timbres for model building. Some equipment is full size, some is model size.

Another homemade Thickness Sander

To continue from another thread, I was asked to post info and pics of my thickness sander. I have all the other stuff from full size to mini size to break down and make model "lumber". I have made California Redwood and Michigan Poplar sticks down to 3/32" square and can do them down to 1/8"...
shipsofscale.com

The workshops thread is nice too. You can see what other guys are doing from the pictures. My workshop starts at post #238.

Workshops - My shipyard/your shipyard

hi guys, I would like to join in here as well and show my now almost finished workshop. For many years I had used the room as a workshop for house rebuilding. I let the hobby rest for many, many years. Now the house reconstruction is finished and I would like to dedicate myself to our hobby...
shipsofscale.com

Poke around. Some amazing stuff there.
 
dedoo said:
Thanks for that lengty reply Uwe. Much appreciated.

What I meant with as large as possible - as thick as possible - my first scouting for wood came up with several dealers on for instance ebay who sell steamed and already planed wood planks - not sure if that is the corect way to name it :) but it is already planed to a uniform thickness of 2 3 6 and even 8cm thick.

like this
View attachment 218930

not sure if that is way more expensive than buying the wood in planks like you showed but at least this seller for instance made sure all the wood you buy can be actually used, No insects no cracks and knots and although a bit harder right now due to corona you can pick it out yourself.

I for instance have no clue yet what I would need for the build in volume or kg's for a ship like the bonhomme 1:48 scale. The ancre book is on it's way so I have not had the time yet to study the drawings and make educated guesses yet.

as for tools I have a proxxon dsh/e scrollsaw and a proxxon TG250E disc sander. Good tip about the oscillating sander especially for the inside of the ribs this will come in very handy i assume.

But to get back to the saw - would a band saw or a circilar saw be better if i purchased wood like pictured above?
Like said I like a bandsaw because it's versatile but if it's really hard to make straight cuts then I guess i'd be better off with a tablesaw although the cuts will be much wider and this have more loss of wood.

or am I thinking wrong?
Click to expand...
So you are already well equipped ......

Your photo is showing a very well-sorted timber dealer - prepared in different thickness and already dry - Do you have direct access to this dealer? Maybe it is also an interesting address for other members, so maybe you could post a link.....

Coming back to the saw:
Until now I am working more with my circular saw for such cuts, but a lot of modelers are using a band saw for such work, means preparing the strips and sheets.

F.e. I know, that @Maarten bought a bigger bandsaw and is using it together with the small Proxxon bandsaw, maybe he can tell us more about his experience

Timber from logs

For my future project I am collecting timber. Recently I was already able to buy some pear, boxwood and also old ebony piano keys, all via internet. Last weekend I got in contact with somebody who harvested a part of his pear orchard where he removed 200 trees and he sold the logs of 220 cm x 15...
shipsofscale.com

Necessary quantity:
I would not order the complete wood at once, but in reasonable bundles - so that you can work for some months on your model
F.e. in the beginning you would need the keel and keelson, bow and stern structure and the frames - during working on these parts you can easily prepare yourself for the next working steps and calculate the necessities for the next bundle of timber.
You should only be sure, that the timber for one part of the work is coming from the same source (slightly color differences are possible) -> with this you can be sure, that all frames have more or less the same color and grain - This is very important when it comes to planking
 
Uwek said:
So you are already well equipped ......

Your photo is showing a very well-sorted timber dealer - prepared in different thickness and already dry - Do you have direct access to this dealer? Maybe it is also an interesting address for other members, so maybe you could post a link.....

Coming back to the saw:
Until now I am working more with my circular saw for such cuts, but a lot of modelers are using a band saw for such work, means preparing the strips and sheets.

F.e. I know, that @Maarten bought a bigger bandsaw and is using it together with the small Proxxon bandsaw, maybe he can tell us more about his experience

Timber from logs

For my future project I am collecting timber. Recently I was already able to buy some pear, boxwood and also old ebony piano keys, all via internet. Last weekend I got in contact with somebody who harvested a part of his pear orchard where he removed 200 trees and he sold the logs of 220 cm x 15...
shipsofscale.com

Necessary quantity:
I would not order the complete wood at once, but in reasonable bundles - so that you can work for some months on your model
F.e. in the beginning you would need the keel and keelson, bow and stern structure and the frames - during working on these parts you can easily prepare yourself for the next working steps and calculate the necessities for the next bundle of timber.
You should only be sure, that the timber for one part of the work is coming from the same source (slightly color differences are possible) -> with this you can be sure, that all frames have more or less the same color and grain - This is very important when it comes to planking
Click to expand...
Hi Uwe,

The picture is from de arnhrmse fijnhouthandel, see the link below. They do have a hobby attic, selling the smaller pieces for the hobbyist.

Arnhemse Fijnhouthandel - Teak Eiken en >100 andere houtsoorten, plaatmateriaal en fineer.

Arnhemse fijnhouthandel levert UIT VOORRAAD! Massief hout (100+ soorten) Teak Eiken plaatmateriaal en fineer en nog veel meer voor het maken van meubelen zoals teak , lijmen, kitten etc klik op onze site en zie onze mogelijkheden
www.af.nl www.af.nl
 
how has your pearwoodstash dried up Maarten? I have an option open for a large batch. Will save me a lot in the long run but i'm curious how your wood ended up and if usable at all. Not worried about some cracks but more about insects and other nasty stuff
 
Maarten said:
Hi Uwe,

The picture is from de arnhrmse fijnhouthandel, see the link below. They do have a hobby attic, selling the smaller pieces for the hobbyist.

Arnhemse Fijnhouthandel - Teak Eiken en >100 andere houtsoorten, plaatmateriaal en fineer.

Arnhemse fijnhouthandel levert UIT VOORRAAD! Massief hout (100+ soorten) Teak Eiken plaatmateriaal en fineer en nog veel meer voor het maken van meubelen zoals teak , lijmen, kitten etc klik op onze site en zie onze mogelijkheden
www.af.nl www.af.nl
Click to expand...
dedoo said:
Maarten beat me to it - but yes that's the shop
https://www.af.nl/voorraad/massief/peren/P3261893.JPG -

i copied the above picture
Click to expand...
Many Thanks for the links - what a great shop
The photo you showed is all steamed pear !!!
I have bookmarked the link
 
dedoo said:
Thanks for that lengty reply Uwe. Much appreciated.

What I meant with as large as possible - as thick as possible - my first scouting for wood came up with several dealers on for instance ebay who sell steamed and already planed wood planks - not sure if that is the corect way to name it :) but it is already planed to a uniform thickness of 2 3 6 and even 8cm thick.

like this
View attachment 218930

not sure if that is way more expensive than buying the wood in planks like you showed but at least this seller for instance made sure all the wood you buy can be actually used, No insects no cracks and knots and although a bit harder right now due to corona you can pick it out yourself.

I for instance have no clue yet what I would need for the build in volume or kg's for a ship like the bonhomme 1:48 scale. The ancre book is on it's way so I have not had the time yet to study the drawings and make educated guesses yet.

as for tools I have a proxxon dsh/e scrollsaw and a proxxon TG250E disc sander. Good tip about the oscillating sander especially for the inside of the ribs this will come in very handy i assume.

But to get back to the saw - would a band saw or a circular saw be better if i purchased wood like pictured above?
Like said I like a bandsaw because it's versatile but if it's really hard to make straight cuts then I guess i'd be better off with a tablesaw although the cuts will be much wider and this have more loss of wood.

or am I thinking wrong?
Click to expand...
I purchased a big high quality bandsaw last year, this as I bought 11 pear tree trunks at only €3,- per tree. I should say with a high quality band saw you can saw rather flat billets, depending on the size of the blade you use on the saw. The bigger the blade the more straight the cut. But offcoure I need to plane it afterwards on my proxxon thicknesser.

I you buy the pre planed wood billets I think the table saw will be sufficient, this as a quality band saw is much more expensive.

The positive thing actually of having your own band saw is you can work with your own wood, I have now almost 1m3 of unsteamed pear wood which I can saw tailored for the project I need.

I even use maple coming from my own garden now.
 
Hoi Danny,

Welcome here :)
I give you already a lot of advice on the other forum. But I think you're here better off. More people who build scratch here and more expertise. The most speciality there is VOC. :rolleyes:
AF you found already for your wood. Thumbsup
A little thing about the pear wood. not-steamed is a little lighter in colour and missing the pink. The ship I'm building there is the hull normal pear wood.
Another fine wood to use is cherrywood. The deck of my ship is cherry. Personal I wished this was the other way around. You can work with different colours so you don't have to paint everything. African black wood (ebony) for example are the handrails made of. Nice things to think about before starting.

I wish you success here.
 
lol small world - Thanks Stefan. Ebony I have a few nice pieces still I think I have 6 pieces left 5x5x40cm. It;s the pear I'm after right now. But yes you are right planning ahead is a good thing - although some people only plan and never come to the actual building that way ROTF

I only have a few planks unsteamed pear left and I need more than that for the Bonhomme :)
 
A short info related to ebony, which is hard to bend and the sanding dust is also toxic.
A very good alternative is the black hornbeam - looking very similar (also in grain) and much easier to work with

Modeling timber and wooden strips - by supplier BIBIGON (Sergey Trubchaninov)

based on an information in one other Topic, I contacted the company BIBIGON, Sergey Trubchaninov, to send me some wooden strips and plate samples. And I am very pleased what I got...... BTW: Sergey is very well known as a very good modeler, so he knows very well, what and in which quality the...
shipsofscale.com

BTW: @dedoo - you could also ask @bibigon for an offer for your necessary wood - the prices are very reasonable and very high quality
 
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