The Donald David, a Maine Lobster Boat, launched 1956

Pathfinder65 said:
Saco, moved here after my Army tours (1960-1968). We spend a month each year in your neck of the woods, (Myrtle Beach, SC.)

I just finished Bluejackets Lobster boat. Only my second build. Still new at this hobby. Currently struggling with Constructos 1799 Enterprise.

Looking forward to your scratch build.
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Do you have any photos of your lobster boat to show? I'd love to see some if it isn't difficult to do.
Thanks,
Steven:)
 
Thanks for the photos. I have no photos of the boat I am modeling, but I have collected a lot of lobster boat photos from which I choose whatever details I want to apply to my scratch build. :)Thumbsup
 
Well, I am mostly recovered now. Should find out from the doctor tomorrow just what was the cause of the stomach ailment. That may, or may not, result in some medication to ensure no relapse. Good news is that I'll be able to spend some time making sawdust. Can't expect too much, though, because my wife & I are going to Portland Oregon area for about a week of sightseeing. Our daughter, in Bonney Lake, WA will be driving to Portland with her 4-month o;d baby to spend a few days with us.
But none of that has anything to do with model boat building. To cover that base, I have a question about sourcing & sizing an electric motor to drive the propeller for my lobster boat build. I have the impression that it would be practical to use a motor with a 2:1 speed reducing gear for better efficiency since this is not a race boat. I am more interested in realistic speeds with good control and minimum over heating. Any recommendations for motors and/sources of info about motor options? Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
Steven
PS: Ideas for batteries and chargers would be very helpful as well. :)
Forgot to include Propeller info: 1 1/8" dia. with about 1.3"pitch. Drive shaft is 5/32" dia with #8-32 machine-screw thread on propeller end.
 
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Well, now we know what has been keeping me down; a large stone in my right kidney. Corrective action is planned, but scheduling is uncertain.
In the meantime, I have finished making a 5/64" wide chisel for cutting the rabbit on the keel of the Donald David. The planks are 5/64" thick, so I sized the chisel to fit. I don't expect to get a lot done soon, but I'm still at it.

5-64in Chisel_SAH_3642.jpg​
 
So, after numerous visits to doctors, and changing hospitals, I am closer to cleaning up my condition. Turns out that my kidney stone is much larger than indicated by CAT Scan and it has been in there for a VERY LONG time. On Nov. 6 I had surgery that removed about 1/2 of the stone. Surgery to finish the job is scheduled for Dec. 3.
I've done precious little with the Donald David in the interim, but I expect to start making sawdust again before Christmas. Will post photos as soon as I have made some progress. Thank goodness my garage workshop is insulated and has a heater! Attached are a few photos of my shop.
Cheers & Happy Modeling to all.

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Jimsky said:
Hello Steven. You have a very nice shop equipped with some handy machinery! Have a fast and speedy recovery!
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Thank, everyone. I appreciate the well-wishes. I expect to do just fine, but as my step-father often said: you can't never sometimes tell what is least likely to most likely happen. He seemed very serious every time he said it!
The "wooden planer" is a thickness sander that I built. Sanding drum is about 3" dia by 8" long. It works very well and has been a great help in preparing stock for my lobster boat model such as 5/64" thick pieces for the planks. I thought long about how large to make the drum and finally settled on 3" X 8". But it didn't long to start wishing it was larger. Reminds me of what Dad often said back in the 50's; whenever a man buys a boat, before he gets home with it he already wants one that is bigger and faster.
Cheers.
 
Well I am jealous, and thank you for the explanation. I need a thickness planer and would like a lathe. I asked the Admiral if she would talk to Santa and get me one of each. Keep your fingers crossed.
 
Thickness planers are more aggressive than thickness sanders. I have a Ryobi thickness planer that I bought 22 years ago when we were building our house. It still works very well but parts for it are no longer available, except for cutter blades and rollers. and brushes for the motor. Thickness sanders do reduce the thickness of stock, but they remove very thin amounts per pass through the machine. One rotation of the height adjusting knob on my sander reduces thickness by 0.025" and that small amount requires a very slow feed rate in order to work well. I usually cut sanding stock to a slight oversize on my tablesaw then run it through the sander. I save the planer for when I need to thin down boards that are too wide to precut on the table saw.
We have family coming here from WA & WI for Christmas, so the Haskell household will be busy getting ready. But, if anyone cares to have it I can post something like a build log for my thickness sander sometime in Jan. or Feb.. I have two or three magazine articles that I worked from to create my planer.
Happy modeling!
 
Happy New Year to all!
I am finally back to working on the Donald David, after 3 holidays, 2 surgeries and a ton of household projects. I did make a small upgrade to one of my workbenches to make it more suitable for modeling. It is a simple bench that I built in 1968 in the hobby shop at the US Navy base in Great Lakes, IL. I added a wooden panel at the back for the dual purpose of holding tools and preventing things from falling behind the bench.
Now I must get busy on cutting the rabbet on both sides of the keel. This involves a lot of hand-carving to accommodate the continual changes in the angle if the planks along its length. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Happy modeling!
Steven
 
It's a slow start, but I did some practice cutting with some of my carving chisels (including the 5/64" one that I made) and discovered I need sharpen my chisels and my carving skills. I'm practicing on some scraps of the white oak that the keel is made of. As I get a little progress I will start cutting the rabbet on the actual keel.
I am also cutting small pieces of thin plywood to the shape of the frames where they engage the keel. These pieces will guide the angle of my cuts as the planking boards change angle as they go along the length of the keel.
Happy Modeling!
Steven
 
Have you visited any of the boneyards in tge Stueben/Milbridge/Jonesport area? The evolution from all wood framing and construction of 1956 to molded fiberglass of 1996 resulted in changes to the working parts. There were also many differences as you came up coast from the MDI builders ti the builders in the downeast yards.

Was your subject strictly trap hauling or also outfitted for scallop dragging?
 
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