Authentic JTM 45/100 build diary. Clips added.

[VintageCharlie]

yup, a thin plywood sandwhich is another thing i consider - should take care of most of the hole-ripping problems, if pressed together well.

[Xplorer]

this is what i'll use.

[VintageCharlie]

Thanks for the tip, Adrien! Started to reply to your mail, but burried it somewhere as a draft and didn't send it out.

Here is what i wanted to tell you - this is simply a small metal saw. I tried to cut a small piece of the material with a very similar thing - a bigger cousin of this small guy, but the teeth and all is practically the same. Here's the thing - you can cut more modern stuff easily with it, but it will chip on the bottom and tear out the bottom most layers - the whole edge on the bopttom becomes lighter in colour - almost a bit translucent.
I suppose the only thing one can do is to clamp it down, put some thin ply-wood sheet under the board material, press it firmly to the material with clamps and then cut - it SHOULD be ok that way. I will probably find out soon. I also purchased a razor saw - something similar to what you guys in US can get under the X-acto brand - a saw with tiny v shaped rathor sharp and thin teeth. Haven't tried out that one yet.
Also when ccutting, maybe it's a good idea to draw a line with a razor on the bottom side of the cut, so the outer layers don't detatch at the eedge that easily - have to try that too - probably this weekend.

I now have 3 types of various small teeth and thin saws to try. But it probably comes down to just clamping it between two sheets (top and bottom) or at least one sheet of thin ply wood or something similar to avoid chipping and other issues as far as possible.

Oh, and, Adrien, wear safety glasses and a mask - it's said to be be nasty stuff when cut and when these small particles get in all your body openings

I hope i don't screw up myself and wish good luck to you too!

p.s. one might consider a cnc router with a thin bit - should be safe if one has not much space for experimentation and it should work fine - still considering that option before i hack it up myself.

[VintageCharlie]

btw, how do you plan to cut the full length main board with this little saw? It's frame will block further cutting when you're maybe not even half through?
I hate this - why did they stop making this stuff - there's no current production perforated boards that i know of that would be good for amp building purposes - not even fiber-glass stuff.

[Xplorer]

i'm sure that it isn't gonna chip the edges of the cut. i might even do it without guides ( which could even cause problems to the natural movement of the saw, and then : problems ) except for a line draw on it with a pencil. i'm good enough to build stuffs and models, and don't need it. i worked on some 500 000 euros models for architecture, at jean nouvel's ateliers of architecture. and i also worked on some models from 3d that i did, with a lazer that makes a special powder to get solid. i have some experience about cutting stuffs and i think that this little saw will be enough. at marshall's factory, i don't know what tool they used, but i don't think that they care that much of the way their boards were cut. that little saw, which features a thinner and narrower blade will have a much different effect compared to a classic metal saw. ( double size ) and when i'll be in the middle of the big board, i'll simply turn it and start again from the other side
or, i'll get the blade out of the chassis, and hold it between my fingers, if there's something left to cut in the middle.

[VintageCharlie]

Looks like you might manage it, with all the modeling experience on your back. Still, i recommend to clamp it down to some other thi sheet beneath it. If you'd do it on a good circular saw, then it would be no problem. That is what marshall seems to have done for the most part. And RS too. Either circular or bandsaw. Some boards in original marshalls seem to hae been cut by hand, badly at that - so it's all "authentic"!

[VintageCharlie]

this is pathetic - i want to go on with my build already, but i'm fiddling with hand-saw and fancy-saw options for 2 weeks now. I'll just go get an axe and be done with it!

[Xplorer]

ha ha ha ! you're a maniaque ! is this build an object for some kind of compulsive problem at some point ?
ha ha ha ha
but i can understand, i'm a bit too !

Karlis : build it ! you'll make us amazed by your work, i'm sure.

[VintageCharlie]

yes, i took some sort of test on facebook - "which fictional character are you" or something like that and i got "dexter" - so i compensate for MASSIVE problems with this.

[Xplorer]

LOL , it makes sense ! though i never seen this serie yet. i just know that it's a kind psychopath, very methodic or something ?

next step for you : building a replica of appollo 11
the step after that : building a replica of an iphone 5 !!!
with NOS parts from 2011 !

[VintageCharlie]

yeah, a guy from a latvian forum already took that joke - he said that i could as well be building a 57 chevy clone with the old parts. that joke has a grain of thruth in it though - and to some extent it refers to many of us guys here - no matter how much of the right parts you stick in there, it doesn't make it any more "original" than a reissue marshall. Though, my main idea for this build is still the same - if i throw in it as many nos components as possible, i won't have to think "what if..." further down the road - i'll know i have come as close as possible and it SHOULD sound as close as one could get to it (provided it's put together right). Of course, RS board material, selectors, bulgins, belling lees and some other bits are a bit of on the insane side, but somehow the aesthetics come into play too, for us maniacs at least.

[Xplorer]

exactly, this is what affect most of us here, and most of the model builders. like a challenge at some point.

[VintageCharlie]

Ok, i cut out my boards from the RS sheet. Worked pretty perfectly for me. I used 2 clamps and secured a wood block as a guide for the cut. I used a saw that has a thin, small teethed blade (looks like the blades of a metal saw, but without the "wave") that is quite tall, so i can guide it well along the wood-block and get a nice 90 degree angle. Worked really well, the edges are even smoother than with any circular saw. A bit of 600 grit sandpaper and the edges are perfect. Will post pics of the boards and the tools that worked well for me soon.

I have the keystone turret staking kit and will get on with the turrets now - a neighbour has a drill press, so that's where i will hang out the next hours... and report back here as soon as possible. Btw. i already tested the kit and i can tell that for split top turret's you only need the swager for the bigger diameter - the small one won't do. The old RS turrets don't split when staked, the Harwins split quite a bit, but ok, BUT recent RS production ones are real crap - they split terribly to the point where pieces fall out, etc. Would love to use the old RS ones, but they are oxidized and that miught cause more trouble than benefit.


Best regards,

VintageCharlie

[VintageCharlie]

As i like to make my life complicated, i think i might go with the old RS turrets i have. Will have to find out if and how they can be cleaned from 50 years of oxidation (don't see any rust, just oxidation on top) - they're just incomparably higher quality than any of the new knock-offs.
If you have any recommendations, please let me know, meanwhile i'm looking for some chemicals that would tak away the oxidation and not touch the metal itself. I hope it is possible to clean them without increasing the risk of corrosion, worse solder flow or cold joints - if that's somehow possible, then i'm going with the old RS turrets.

[Xplorer]

i realize that restoring old british stuffs is a really cool game ; )
my dream, younger, was to restore a spitfire in duxford. about turrets they don't have it but they had magnesium "rivets" ( french word, don't remember in english ) to screw the metal pannels on the airplane. but over time, megnesium isn't useable anymore and they have to change every one ! thousands .... what a work ...
but i worked a bit on the restoration of an avro Lancaster.

why don't you go with the harwin turrets ?
also, did you receive my message with the traces ? ... or it was maybe a too heavy email.
how could you find old rs turrets ?
glad it worked fine for ou with the boards ! hope you managed to be able to have some boards left for another build.