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[Greggy1964]

Some one recently dumped an old chest of draws on the wide strip of grass that runs the entire length of the estate where I live. I was annoyed at first because I hate scumbags who fly tip

On further inspection I realised that it was very old and made of hardwood. The drawer fronts are oak and the sides of the draws appear to be obechi. The drawer bottoms and back panels to the unit are 3 layer 1/8" lite ply.

Because it is old it was easily broken down into constituent parts as the glue holding the whole thing together had failed years ago.

The unit frame consists of a mahogany type hardwood mixed with oak?

I'm going to turn it into a 1920's style little runabout speed boat powered by an electric motor and nicads.

I posses a bandsaw, circular saw, and scroll saw, all benchtop types. So it will take but a few hours to convert it all into planks and boards the required shape.

The boat I've drawn up is a typical 16ft two seat runabout that was common in the 1920's and 30's and initially I've drawn it out at 24" long (1/8th scale).

But I like what I see and might redraw it out at 32" long (1/6th scale) and fit a small glowplug engine! Hmmmm!

I've stuck some photos's up of the progress so far, the drawings are at the lines stage with no details as yet. I'll add those as go along.

Now then, where to get my hands on a motor and prop shaft!

[steamboatbob]

go find a local cabinetmaker who uses solid timber and ask them to run the hardwood through a thicknesser to clean it up and get it to a nice even depth of board. a few dollars here will save you hours of cleaning up by hand.

[Greggy1964]

Hi Steamboatbob,

I tried using my local timber shop but they won't touch recycled wood saying that there could be old nails and screws in it that would ruin machine cutting blades.

It's a fair point because it has the remains of rusted screws in it that can't be removed without wrecking the wood.

I will be using most of the material for planks so I'll rip it up on my tabletop circular saw avoiding the nails and screws where possible!

[Seaspray]

Many a fine piece of ply was got from the bottom of drawers of old furniture, in my days when it was costly to buy. The solid wood if not required was used as kindling as it usually had woodworm.

I would check it over with a little hand held metal detector before ripping it to the sizes required.

[derekwarner]

Good quality timber for plank ripping is very expensive in OZ ...so that was a good 'buy' for all that timber  

That little Casio fx-115s V.P.A.M calculator is also a great unit   - Derek

[Seaspray]

Got a Texas calculator in '84 for doing O level maths, lasted a fortnight. Exchanged it for a Casio fx 100 COLLEGE .

Still going well, even has the same old piece of masking tape to secure the battery lid in place. Yep I dropped it. I now buy Casio watches and products because of the quality.

Just a mention as I've just remembered. My KG5 turrets are made of wood that looks like it had be sourced from old furniture.

Seaspray. 

[derekwarner]

Seaspray...when I did my OZ equivalent to O math levels....we used a paper hand book call 'Log &Trig' tables & just to back check our answers we also had a plastic ruler with a slider bit in the center  & they were called 'slide rules'

The former are as accurate as any current electronic calculator, the latter was a good learning tool for persons wishing to further their skills with a vernier calliper

Sadly ....the end result is ..younger people without an electronic calculator have difficulty with simple math........& younger technicians or engineers cannot read a vernier calliper unless it has a TV screen attached to the top left hand side of the anvil

I rest my case  - Derek

[HS93 (RIP)]

Seaspray...when I did my OZ equivalent to O math levels....we used a paper hand book call 'Log &Trig' tables & just to back check our answers we also had a plastic ruler with a slider bit in the center   & they were called 'slide rules'

The former are as accurate as any current electronic calculator, the latter was a good learning tool for persons wishing to further their skills with a vernier calliper

Sadly ....the end result is ..younger people without an electronic calculator have difficulty with simple math........& younger technicians or engineers cannot read a vernier calliper unless it has a TV screen attached to the top left hand side of the anvil

I rest my case   - Derek

Derek , Seaspray was 50 years old when he did his  , so you have to let him off a bit 


Peter

[Seaspray]

I was but as a lad at Secondary School it was pencil and paper. I think i only used the calculator @ 50 for cos sin and tan . Progressing into engineering slightly i used the old micrometer with the sizes marked on the stock and barrel. It is a lot easy with the TV screen on them, you don't have to count and think. 

[BobF]

Back to timber then. I always rescue old easy chairs that have been dumped, as they are made from beach wood. I don't make models with them, but I do make an assortment of tent pegs.