Nautical Research Journal 373
9.
the dowel. (Figure 6F) Make a 45-degree cut along one side of the guide cut all the way around but do not cut so deep that you break into the drilled hole. (Figure 6B) Then, make another 45-degree cut on the other side of the guide cut. You now should have a 90-degree cut all around the dowel. (Figure 6C) The two Ds in the fi gure are where the dowel broke as I was working it, so mark off and do all of the shaping and parting work on one thimble at time. If you try to work on two or more pieces at a time, you will weaken the dowel so much that you can guarantee a break somewhere every time, as the fi gure shows. Then take a fi ne cut needle fi le and round off both sides of the 45-degree cuts. (Figure 6E) Again, do not fi le so deep that you reach the drilled hole (if you do, your thimble probably will part itself and take wing into the nether regions of your shop, never to be seen again). Use some 400-grit sandpaper to smooth the curves if you wish.
Except for parting off, the thimble is done. In order to part off, you need a small jig that catches the thimble
as you cut through the fi led groove and into the drilled hole. (Figures 8 to10) This is simply a little four-sided box glued to a piece of wood for a base; the fi gures give you enough construction details and so looks do not matter. The depth of the box is equal to the length of thimble. The dowel should fi t just loosely into the box; you do not want it to stick in the box so that you have to pry it out. Insert the piece end into the box and place the cutting edge of the #11 scalpel blade onto the bottom of the groove, rotate the dowel, and the thimble will be cut loose in a second. With the thimble left in the box, use a fl at needle fi le to square the cut end with a stroke or two and the thimble is complete; no further sanding should be necessary. This insignifi cant little box will substantially increase your effi ciency by remarkably reducing the amount of time you spend crawling around the fl oor looking for errant thimbles.
When all the required pieces are fi nished (with about fi fty percent extra for spares), I give them all a coat of matte varnish thinned about fi fty percent with paint
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