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Warped Mast Dowels

  • Thread starter Thread starter RegW
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RegW

RegW

Joined
Oct 23, 2023
Messages
101
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103

Location
Calgary, Alberta, CANADA
I've just reached the masting phase of my build and sadly discovered that the lower mast dowels for the Foremast, Main Mast and Mizzen are warped significantly. They all appeared fine as packaged in the kit, but displayed this problem after removing the elastic bands that held them together. I'm looking for suggestions for straightening these. I've used the following technique on sample pieces of maple (which these masts are made from).

A. Soak the dowels in water for 24 hrs.
B. Remove the dowels from water and fasten to straight/flat surface with "correcting shims"
C. Blow dry with heat gun set to 300ºF till dry (about 2 minutes)
D. Apply a penetrating oil (non-tinted) and reset the clamps and shims
E. Let sit overnight then remove.

This corrected the warp and the penetrating oil should stabilize the dowel fibers - but I'm uncertain if the warp will return after these dowel are installed on the ship.

Looking for suggestions please :)

RegWarped Masts.png
 
My instinct would tell me that warped dowels can’t be permanently straightened, but I have no research to back that up. I think most of the old hands on this site would recommend pitching the kit dowels and making new dowels from a piece of nice straight-grained lumber.

BTW, nice-looking bench. Wish I had space for one. Only lacks a green cutting mat.
 
If Model Expo does not replace this , I think they will thought, I agree buy a new one,just in case it does warp again. 6 months after you finish. But that's just me lol.
Bobby K
 
milacek said:
I think your dowels will return to their warped condition over time. Make your own from square stock.
Click to expand...
Exactly right. There have been other threads discussing the making of spars. Here's one one them:

The Dreaded Octagonal profile from a round dowel

Hello all: I am working on the yards and spars for my 1:64 “Granado” (Victory Models) and I’m at the stage where I have a few yards that require an Octagonal profile on dowels (8mm and 6mm.) Before I dive in based on my suspicions, I am interested in learning what techniques have worked - or...
shipsofscale.com

Fair winds!
 
I ordered new mast/dowels, but Model Expo only has inch diameters and I need 12x500mm plus a 10x500mm length of dowels. I know that I could use my lathe to achieve that fix, but I'm too lazy to do that which can be avoided. So I ordered from Cornwall Model Boats Ltd. - and possibly avoided the "new tariffs" that our countries (Canada and USA) are inventing. Sheesh.

Mind you, my american friends didn't seem to mind when I spent a couple of weeks in California with our CL-415's dumping tons of water on them, and their fires. ;)
 
I see a few good advice here, buy square wood and make new ones. Why square? Round wood from the store, if machine make will warp over time. When you use square wood and sand that to a round one will stay straight.
Look in the link in my signature how to rejuvenate the round wood.
 

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Steef66 said:
I see a few good advice here, buy square wood and make new ones. Why square?
Click to expand...
Square pieces are not magic compared to dowels. The difference is that, because of the way dowels are manufactured, the grain is not necessarily oriented with the run of the stick. In the US dowels are often made of birch, which is pretty hard and can have wiggly grain. If you start with rectangular lumber, you can orient the grain when you rip the pieces and cut the taper. Also, you can choose wood with straighter grain. Pine and basswood, which are relatively soft, are suitable. Of course, well-seasoned wood is more stable and less likely to warp. Fair winds!
 
RegW said:
I ordered new mast/dowels, but Model Expo only has inch diameters and I need 12x500mm plus a 10x500mm length of dowels. I know that I could use my lathe to achieve that fix, but I'm too lazy to do that which can be avoided. So I ordered from Cornwall Model Boats Ltd. - and possibly avoided the "new tariffs" that our countries (Canada and USA) are inventing. Sheesh.

Mind you, my american friends didn't seem to mind when I spent a couple of weeks in California with our CL-415's dumping tons of water on them, and their fires. ;)
Click to expand...
I agree with the above post from @Steef66 Buy the square stock and turn them into any diameter you want/need using this or similar tools. It is 15.99 dollars on Amazon



1741799497885.png

or make your own



 
Jimsky said:
I agree with the above post from @Steef66 Buy the square stock and turn them into any diameter you want/need using this or similar tools. It is 15.99 dollars on Amazon.
Click to expand...
Cool tool! But it negates one of the advantages of square stock. When starting square, you cut the taper first while things are rectangular, which is easier, then round things off (or keep some sections square or rectangle depending on requirements). Fair winds!
 
Steef66 said:
I like to use a hand plane to make mast round. But I do a lot of things different that also take a lot of time.
Click to expand...
I spend a lot of time doing things exactly like that! As this is my first ship build I'm wondering if I'm slower than a turtle and curious ... How long does an experienced builder take to complete a reasonably detailed ship? One year? Two years? Enquiring mind wants to know. I've been working on mine for over 1 year and I'm just now getting to the masting stage.
 
RegW said:
I spend a lot of time doing things exactly like that! As this is my first ship build I'm wondering if I'm slower than a turtle and curious ... How long does an experienced builder take to complete a reasonably detailed ship? One year? Two years? Enquiring mind wants to know. I've been working on mine for over 1 year and I'm just now getting to the masting stage.
Click to expand...
I'm working on a dutch 2 decker and in 2 years just the bottom is ready. And another one about 5 years and still not ready. Pleasure in your build is the point, not how fast and how many ships to build in a year.
 
Our local home improvement store/ lumberyard sometimes receives high grade lumber that has a crack in one end. They then cut two feet from the cracked end in order to sell a shorter but still premium grade board. The cracked crop end is then sold in the bargain bin. These crops are sometimes found in wide sizes; 1”x8” or 1”x10”. Here, wood in the bargain bin sells for $2.50.

A 1”x10” x2’ bargain bin piece of clear pine provides a lot of great modeling wood. In these wider boards much will be straight grained. If it were me, I’d rip a piece for the mast from my straight grained pine, plane the corners to make it octagonal and sand it round.

It’s easier than you think.

Roger
 
Pine would make me nervous because it’s very susceptible to seasonal humidity changes and it’s usually not completely dry when sold; however if you’ve had good success with it then maybe I need to re-cage my thinking. Certainly cheaper and more readily available than many alternatives.
 
RegW said:
I ordered new mast/dowels, but Model Expo only has inch diameters and I need 12x500mm plus a 10x500mm length of dowels. I know that I could use my lathe to achieve that fix, but I'm too lazy to do that which can be avoided. So I ordered from Cornwall Model Boats Ltd. - and possibly avoided the "new tariffs" that our countries (Canada and USA) are inventing. Sheesh.

Mind you, my american friends didn't seem to mind when I spent a couple of weeks in California with our CL-415's dumping tons of water on them, and their fires. ;)
Click to expand...
If noone said thanks for coming to CA's aid....THANKS!!

Both our "inventing" politicians need to remember who their neighbors and good friends are!!! Served with some of your special forces in AF and they were awesome! Be well and hope your mast eventually work out!
 
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