grendel

fill a tin full of sand (catering baked bean size) pour in petrol stand back to avoid singed eyebrows or worse, ignite sand, go get sausages and burgers and cook them in a frying pan over the fire. the sand keeps the petrol from wicking out too quickly so controls the burn, these types of cookers are called benghazi's and were used by the troops in the desert during the war (where trees and wood were scarce, but sand and petrol plentiful)

not sure why the dog is wearing the hat myself

This is what i mean, on the older brass screw the countersink goes right to the flat of the head, on the more modern brass screw with the posidrive/ phillips head, there is a small almost parallel depth above the countersink with a distinctly rounded form.

(its the fact they feel the need for phillips slots rather than straight slots that make the heads thicker nowadays.

Tim, I have chisels down to about 1/16" and milling bits down to 0.8mm for work like this on the model, I too like the wilkos pick and mix bags, they are usually full to the point I can only just close the zip lock. if you need to raise those hinges just a tiny amount then just a slip of paper under the hinge may well do the job. small hinges generally have that issue, if you put two screw heads opposite each other, if putting in piano hinges I have been known to alternate the heads and miss each alternate hole for fixing the opposite sides of the hinge, this is if i have the length to be able to still get enough fixings, the alternative is if you can buy some old brass screws, these generally have a better head thats not so deep (offset by the razor sharp edges to the countersink on the screw). I keep my eyes open for brass screws when I go to boot fairs and will buy up the lot if I can find them. usually for a quid a box, which is cheap compared to the horrible thick headed soft brass screws you can get nowadays.

So, the problem was the same one I have with the hinges on my model, thats quite a common problem with small hinges

walkers or smiths crisps?

took off the hinges, stuck a matchstick in each hole and redrilled the screws in the right places.

its the slightly more knowledgeable version of the navy lark, green side down a bit, red side up a bit

you wont like one of my purchases then, some micro scissors for fine cutting dental scissors.

no, not really the lettering is 10mm high, I have ordered some 0.04mm from china, and will see how well thaqt cuts when it gets here, the 0.02 cuts ok, but 0.1mm is too thick to cut using a scalpel.

well i have stuck the too small set i have already cut out to a test piece of the wood, that has a coat of varnish. i will overspray with a clear coating to ensure it doesnt come unstuck.

like working from home with the extra time to get things done. Miss being able to chat with my work colleagues.

thanks Paul, it was china i ordered from, but nowhere at that time had a stock of the 0.05mm,

or just leave a 6 foot gap between boats when mooring and accept the fact you will lose a few mooring spaces, there would be a good business opportunity for someone as a ferry from ship to shore, perhaps they ought to tow a second boat to maintain social distance.

I once managed to pick up a 6" long splinter in the palm of my hand, it went in about an inch and a half and firmly resisted all attempts to remove it, a trip to the local doctors ensued, where it was surgically removed (I think the doctor rather enjoyed an excuse to wield a scalpel).

Tim, if you think those hinges are bad, you ought to try the ones I use on the hinged parts of the model, the hinges are about 5mm long and 3mm wide, the biggest problem is getting the fixing pins flush, generally once fitted the hinge wont fold together due to the heads of the 'screws' (or in my case pins) and I find I need to file the tops of the pins until they are flush, so check its not the screw heads causing the gape (it doesnt take much) piano hinges are a good option, you can get them down to a reasonably small size (I have to trim the width of the smallest commercially available for the model as they are about 1mm too wide)

the stainless is just 0.02mm thick, its a kind offer, and I may take you up on it, I am going to try sticking the spare word i have to some varnished teak as per the sides and see how it looks, my preference of course it to manage with my own efforts where possible. the trouble is I would like a slightly thicker stainless, but as sizing goes the next available is 0.1mm, though I havent tried cutting that yet, I guess the ideal would be about 0.05mm, but I cant find anywhere that produces that at the moment, I know stainless foil is used in the heat treatment of metals to harden them (its used to exclude oxygen)

the one sitting on the wall used to be horizon at acle, in the basin.

doing it that slickly they must have done it before, the first time though....

Oh I knew i was in the right ball park, and after measuring the Broad Ambition is spot on, the Powels craft on the other hand was a little small (about 20% small) due to the slight angle the photo was taken, i have now matched the text height to the Broad Ambition text and will cut a new one at that size, the powels craft was the tricky one as when sailing with the canopy down, it is covered by the folded down cockpit sides and not visible, still i will get there.

I suppose before i go too much further, i had better check the size is correct, be stupid if i was making it harder for myself by .making them smaller than necessary.

Its not so much that the work is small, but i am wearing reading glasses and using my magnifying light, it takes intense concentration as one slip and you have to start again, and after a single word i need to take about an hours break before attempting the next. as you can see, the scalpel blade is bigger than the finished item, fortunately the stainless steel is quite strong, aluminium foil would be too frail for this.

I did have to take a break between words, and i still have the dots of the I's to do, i took the step of putting it onto the double sided tape before cutting it., now just one more like this to do, 2 Powles Crafts and some registration numbers.

so its tricky, but its doable