With many tears and much sadness, we share the news that Jim was diagnosed with ALS last February, and passed away in early October. He was 64 ...

Jim had a true passion for model ship-building. For many years he had done extensive research on the U.S.S. Constitution and was in the final phase of completing his scratch build of the Constitution as it was originally launched in 1797. In 2002 he and I formed Model Machines LLC. People using Jim's machines included builders of model ships, railroads, doll houses, doll house furniture, pen turners, segmented bowls -- even architects. In recent years guitar, harp and violin makers were added to this list.

Jim was a remarkable craftsman and was always ready to help and mentor others, many of whom soon became his very good friends. Jim had close ties with both the Model Ship World and Nautical Research Guild organizations, and attended conferences throughout the U.S. for 20 years ... he developed many long friendships within these organizations.

Jim was a humble, quiet man who was deeply loved and will be missed by so many. Our hearts - as family, as co-workers, as woodworkers, as friends - are broken. For the moment, we are uncertain about the future of Byrnes Model Machines - but we're working on it, and hope to have an announcement in the next few weeks.

This is a time of sadness and introspection for us ...we truly appreciate your business, support and friendship over the years - we thank you for your patience and understanding.