Here is a little project my son & I built for my wife a few years ago. It is scratch built using poplar. The wagon driver & the guy hammering were cowboys & my son then 13 operated & painted on them to look Amish. I haven't put the bridles on the horses yet until they get to there permanent position. The wagon, & surrey are from Jordan Products, they have very good details & are resonable to buy. The Silo is from a paper towel roll wrapped with white medical tape to look like metal panels. Hope you enjoy.
Amish Barn Raising
- Thread starter Sawdust
- Start date
Thanks Jerry for the comment. Check out my Maple Valley Logging & Millwork project on the Logging & Mining Thread. I just joined this THR & will be posting my items. We dismanteled our layout thinking we were going to move but decided not to yet. I am currently building things as diaromas so they can be added to the future layout. I will be posting other things soon. There is not much going on lately, there seems to be a lot of viewers but not many reply. I hope it gets more busy. Have a good week Jerry!
Excellent.:thumb:
I knew of one maker some years back who offered the distinctive coaches the Amish use but memory escapes me as to who.
I knew of one maker some years back who offered the distinctive coaches the Amish use but memory escapes me as to who.
That is a handsome building....Let's see more...:thumb:
How do you "rip" your lumber..?? I can get a hold of a lifetime supply of poplar....I just don't know what I'd do with it....:cry:
How do you "rip" your lumber..?? I can get a hold of a lifetime supply of poplar....I just don't know what I'd do with it....:cry:
Thanks Gus. I use Poplar & Cedar mostly because I get a lot of that waste off my jobs. I didn't want to pay the high dollar amount for a simple modelers table saw around $400. so I aquired an old Rockwell cast iron model that I converted by closing up the blade insert area so the tiny pieces wouldn't escape. I also put a 51/2" cordless saw blade on which has a very thin kerf. With a few jigs for ripping & stacking & ripping again & some minor sanding sometimes, I keep a pretty good scaled lumber supply. I love my work & building with wood & have a lot of appreciation for the tree that was cut down so I try very hard to put it all to good use. Modeling for me is very relaxing & cutting my own scaled lumber is as well but I have to be in the mood for it. Scratchbuilding for me is very rewarding & it's a challenge sometimes but it's fun. If your handy with tools which most are in this hobby take that big step & go for it. This is probably the best time ever to be in this hobby because of the technology compared to before. The most important thing to remember is keep it SCALED. A fat man leaning on a porch post that's larger than his whole body just don't look right
Start out with a small project like an opened framed lean too or a shed & before you know it you got it. If I can find my first projects I'll post them. It was an out house & a lean too shed for a coal mining area I have. That table saw, I have seen them for as little as $25-$50. You can buy a new little Skil or Craftsman for a little over $100. for modeling they would be great. Go for it Gus! If I can help in any way let me know.
Having a decent scale sawmill operation is priceless if you like to build with wood. I can remember (mostly) before I had a saw. when you'd go to build something you's never have the wood needed on hand. Often the hobby shop did not have the right sizes or enough of the right sizes.
I got a dremil 4 inch table saw ( they have quit making them, probably on the advise of a competent lawyer). mine has an aftermarket acurizer Kit that greatly improved the performance.
The dremil saw in under powered, but if I work slow I can get what I need when I want it. As it was mentioned a good saw is expensive ( the model ship folks like the saws that Jim Bynes (SP?) produces - He also makes a presision thickness sander.
If you are going to scratchbuild with wood, the cost of good equipment, while high, will rapidly pay for itself. When I start a project I like to try to estimate the amount of each dimension of wood I will use, and cut more than enough.
Invariably, weather you are cutting your own wood or buying it, you misjudge, and run out of a critical size of lumber. If you don't have a saw, this sends you to the hobby store, sometimes to order something that won't be there for weeks.
If you own a saw you just go down to the workroom and make some dust.
If you are going to build with wood (and nothing but wood looks much like wood), like to scratchbuild, and are in this hobby to stay, few items will give you the savings and the satisfaction that owning a miniature table saw will.
If you look at Sawdust's Maple Valley lumber and mill work, and look at my Logging in Eastern Tn on the DGCC&WRR in 1928, and study other threads that don't have our names on them. Look at the use of scale lumber, and you will see that if you have a small tablesaw, scale lumber is almost free.
Being almost free, we are much more likely to use lots of it, and it makes it easy and cheap to build whatever we want to. If you compare it to the cost of buying a couple limited edition super detailed craftsman kits, one or two of that will pay for a good saw, and after that it is all gravy.
and Sawdust, a little constructive criticism here. that scene needs a few more workmen, and at least three ladders.
thanks once more for sharing
Bill Nelson
Note- These things are dangerous, count your fingers before and after use, and devise stratagems to keep your fingers 3 inches from the spinning carbide.
I got a dremil 4 inch table saw ( they have quit making them, probably on the advise of a competent lawyer). mine has an aftermarket acurizer Kit that greatly improved the performance.
The dremil saw in under powered, but if I work slow I can get what I need when I want it. As it was mentioned a good saw is expensive ( the model ship folks like the saws that Jim Bynes (SP?) produces - He also makes a presision thickness sander.
If you are going to scratchbuild with wood, the cost of good equipment, while high, will rapidly pay for itself. When I start a project I like to try to estimate the amount of each dimension of wood I will use, and cut more than enough.
Invariably, weather you are cutting your own wood or buying it, you misjudge, and run out of a critical size of lumber. If you don't have a saw, this sends you to the hobby store, sometimes to order something that won't be there for weeks.
If you own a saw you just go down to the workroom and make some dust.
If you are going to build with wood (and nothing but wood looks much like wood), like to scratchbuild, and are in this hobby to stay, few items will give you the savings and the satisfaction that owning a miniature table saw will.
If you look at Sawdust's Maple Valley lumber and mill work, and look at my Logging in Eastern Tn on the DGCC&WRR in 1928, and study other threads that don't have our names on them. Look at the use of scale lumber, and you will see that if you have a small tablesaw, scale lumber is almost free.
Being almost free, we are much more likely to use lots of it, and it makes it easy and cheap to build whatever we want to. If you compare it to the cost of buying a couple limited edition super detailed craftsman kits, one or two of that will pay for a good saw, and after that it is all gravy.
and Sawdust, a little constructive criticism here. that scene needs a few more workmen, and at least three ladders.
thanks once more for sharing
Bill Nelson
Note- These things are dangerous, count your fingers before and after use, and devise stratagems to keep your fingers 3 inches from the spinning carbide.
Yeh Bill I'm well aware of the Amish Culture & how they work together. I actually have about 10-12 more workers to add to that scene as well as all the good stuff that goes with it. Once this goes on the layout I'm going to add some ladies preparing some of that good food for those hard workers along with a row of buggies near the fence line. I found a source for the buggie wheels & I'm going to scratchbuild the buggies this winter. Thanks for your interest once again Bill.
I just caught up with this thread and I'm left wondering how commercial wood manufacturers strip 2"x 3" and larger basswood slabs into 1/32 x 1/16 wide x 24" strips, without making sawdust out of profit.
Thickness planner and vibrating ganged cutting knives,
Skiving and peeling like plywood ply is made,
A meat slicer,
Anybody ?
PS:
Sawdust, you must go back to the future with the dust colector from your milling operation there. You got a fortune in sawdust the 50's modellers dyed with home brews.
Thickness planner and vibrating ganged cutting knives,
Skiving and peeling like plywood ply is made,
A meat slicer,
Anybody ?
PS:
Sawdust, you must go back to the future with the dust colector from your milling operation there. You got a fortune in sawdust the 50's modellers dyed with home brews.
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Why don't you make your own wheels with a jig. just remember that the rear wheels are bigger than the front. Here are a few pics from my scratched built buggy
By the way, I always said that a model by itself is just a model, but when you place it in a scenario, it tells a story. Great job
Attachments
Thanks guys for your comments.
Chaparral I actually do save some sawdust but mostly from my finishing sander. It is very fine & works well in HO scale for dust around the mill. I have read about the ole timers dyeing the sawdust & some are still doing it. I understand the process is very time consuming & messy. I have wanted to give it a try though. One of my home owners I contracted some work for cuts scaled lumber for ship builders all over the world. He does it mostly as a hobby & uses exotic woods. There is nothing he can't cut from his basement when it comes to scaled stripwood. Here is a link of the saw he uses. Go to their home page for some other nice things.
http://www.micromark.com/MICROLUX-MINI-TILT-ARBOR-TABLE-SAW-FOR-BENCHTOP-HOBBY-USE,7500.html
Silveroxide those are fantastic models. I like the wheel jig but I model HO scale. Does this jig come in HO scale. Are these wagons of yours kits or do you scratch build them. Again very fine work.
Chaparral I actually do save some sawdust but mostly from my finishing sander. It is very fine & works well in HO scale for dust around the mill. I have read about the ole timers dyeing the sawdust & some are still doing it. I understand the process is very time consuming & messy. I have wanted to give it a try though. One of my home owners I contracted some work for cuts scaled lumber for ship builders all over the world. He does it mostly as a hobby & uses exotic woods. There is nothing he can't cut from his basement when it comes to scaled stripwood. Here is a link of the saw he uses. Go to their home page for some other nice things.
http://www.micromark.com/MICROLUX-MINI-TILT-ARBOR-TABLE-SAW-FOR-BENCHTOP-HOBBY-USE,7500.html
Silveroxide those are fantastic models. I like the wheel jig but I model HO scale. Does this jig come in HO scale. Are these wagons of yours kits or do you scratch build them. Again very fine work.
Those are my designs using photos. They are 1/16 scale but I did a Civil War cannon and limber reduced to 1/32 or 1/48 scale. It would be hard to make a jig that small. I may try it someday just to see if I can do it.
Hey I resemble that!... what we used to do before ground foam we used to have a screen, and you would soak the sawdust in water and rit dye, and then lay it on the screen to dry. we used different coarseness sawdust for different things, but that is what you did for grass, dirt, ballast. I have saved sawdust, but mainly for the groundcover near the sawmill.
Bill Nelson