Young America by EdT - FINISHED - extreme clipper 1853

[rwiederrich]

The issue of inadequate available belaying pins for all the running lines for sail control is a real issue and I found evidence of how it might have been tackled in part.  Brace lines were set up to belay the numerous clew and bunt lines required for sail control.

 

Not sure if you stated that you will add sails or simply yards to your YA...but for informational purposes I wanted to pass this image along.

 

Rob

[Sailor1234567890]

Rob,

That is a great image. It shows a solution to a problem as you mention but I'm not sure it's the problem you think it is. The reason those lines are made fast to something other than the pins is quite simply that the pins are under water. They are quite inaccessible. Doubling up on the pins was quite common but the image you show isn't an alternative solution to the lack of pins but a solution to the lee rail being awash much of the time in heavy weather. At the very bottom of the image, you can just make out the hand of a sailor holding on to the lifeline that those lines are made fast to.

[rwiederrich]

From what I gather if the pin rails were going to be inaccessible due to material or availability, a new rail was fashioned in the shrouds.  This was very typical of wood haulers that loaded heavily on deck , obscuring the gunwale mounted pin rails.  I was not aware a listing ships submerged rail could be the cause....I've never seen evidence of that before.

In the image I posted it does appear a life line was utilized, though that is only speculation.   My point was, that alternate belaying points were used, if not enough pins were available.

 

Thanks for your input..it encourages discourse, and further investigation.

 

Rob

[EdT]

Thank you, Johann and Pat for your generous comments - and to all those who marked the "like" box.

 

Thank you for the interesting picture, Rob.  Actually, there should bemuch unused length on the main deck pin rails for many more lines than would be required even with double topsails.  In laying out the belaying points for YA, space for pins is adequate and then some, except at the stern where the absence of structural rail is a limitation. The fact that the lines coiled on the lifeline are reeved through shroud fairleads tells me that they would have assigned permanent pins on the rail.  Given the weather, these are certainly not studdingsail lines that would likely not have a permanent home on the rail.  So, I tend to lean toward Sailor123...'s view.  But who knows.  In any event, the lifeline would not be a very firm anchor for hauled-up clue and buntlines.  I'm guessing.  Also, some aspects of the rigging in the picture suggest a later period.

 

Ed

[Julie Mo]

Amazing attention to detail, Frank!  Looking at the photos you supplied, I was trying to put together a video in my mind and as it formed I was even more impressed.  Beautiful work!

[EdT]

Thank you, Julie.  I assume the comment was directed to me and the Frank was a typo - although Frank does very beautiful work.  I take so many pictures that I sometimes feel that it is a video.

 

Ed

[rwiederrich]

1 hour ago, EdT said:

Thank you, Johann and Pat for your generous comments - and to all those who marked the "like" box.

 

Thank you for the interesting picture, Rob.  Actually, there should bemuch unused length on the main deck pin rails for many more lines than would be required even with double topsails.  In laying out the belaying points for YA, space for pins is adequate and then some, except at the stern where the absence of structural rail is a limitation. The fact that the lines coiled on the lifeline are reeved through shroud fairleads tells me that they would have assigned permanent pins on the rail.  Given the weather, these are certainly not studdingsail lines that would likely not have a permanent home on the rail.  So, I tend to lean toward Sailor123...'s view.  But who knows.  In any event, the lifeline would not be a very firm anchor for hauled-up clue and buntlines.  I'm guessing.  Also, some aspects of the rigging in the picture suggest a later period.

 

Ed

As you pointed out, it is clear the lines are assigned fairleads..which would suggest they are also assigned permanent pins on the rail.  I gathered the lines were not for stunsails.......as you did.

I recall..you or someone mentioning they might have an issue with belaying all the lines coming down through the tops and those controlling the sails.

Any way...I hope it ........I was going to say *helps*..but your mastery of the subject needs little help from me.

 

Beautiful ship and progress.

 

Rob

[BANYAN]

Hi Rob, Sailor 123 and Ed.  I had a similar discussion recently for in my HMCSS Victoria log, and for which the Contract for her building specified shroud fairleads.  My resulting research and consultation also led me to believe that several lines would be led through a triple hole shroud fairlead and down to a common belaying pin in the rail.  These were for 'groups' of lines that would be worked together for a given sail.  This accords with Ed's thinking  and reinforces the solution I had adopted also.  

cheers

 

Pat

[rwiederrich]

Thanks Pat for the clarity.  Recognizing now (Like a light bulb turning on), that sail control ropes where of a much smaller diameter...doubling or tripling them in groups on one belay pin was a common practice.  Unfortunately My assumption from the image I provided was that additional lines had to be temporarily belayed (As in this case) on a suspected life line for a reason. And a breaching wave, in my view was not adequate reason to move belaying points.  It's a ship at sea in regularly heavy seas(It was common to get wetted)....why not do the same for all belays if one was so fearfully inclined to do so for these particular lines?  I see, also that further forward the same can be seen for the mainmast fairleads.  From this, without actually knowing what was the mind set of the crew for doing so...I would have to also conclude that, for convenience sake alone, control lines were temporarily moved.  As stated by others.

 

Like yourself, I want to replicate actual sail control lines(Bunt, clew) running through their fairleads and down to their appropriate pins..this image provided a real world example of the practice....however, convoluted I may have represented it.

 

Rob

 

[EdT]

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 213 – Ratlines

 

I decided to do at least the lower ratlines next, mainly so the height of the shroud fairleads can be set and those installed early on.  If I need relief from this repetitive work I can (and probably will) begin other things – like the bowsprit.

 

At 1½", the ratlines are among the smallest lines on the ship.  In diameter they measure about 1/2", converting to about .07" at 1:72 scale.  I am using No. 80 crocheting cotton for these, dyed black with dilute India ink.  The ends of the ratlines have spliced eyes that are lashed to the outer shrouds. Attachment to the inner shrouds is by means of clove hitches in the ratline itself.  The first picture shows eye splices being put into the ends of ratlines.

 

 

One end of the line is first passed through the line with a needle to form a loop, like the one on the left.  This is then pulled tight around a pin, looped over and glued with darkened PVA glue.  The two-faced carpet tape on the vise jaw holds the two legs until the glue has dried.  The splice on the right has been glued.  When dry, the short leg will be cut off flush leaving a simulated eye splice.  Two of these are shown in the next picture.

 

 

The next picture shows the first few foremast ratlines secured.

 

 

After lashing the eye to the aft shroud, clove hitches are used on the next three.  The forward end is then lashed and the eye formed in place as was done above.  In the picture the glue has dried and the excess rope is being sliced off.  Uniform tensioning of these ratlines may take some practice – as can be seen at the left.  The next picture is an ultra-close-up showing the forward lashed eyes and the intermediate clove hitches.

 

 

This picture also shows the lashings on the one of the staves across the shrouds after every five or so shrouds.  This was made by stiffening a larger thread size with glue.  The next picture shows the installation up to the first stave.

 

 

The staves extended forward to the first shroud.  Their purpose was to maintain shroud spacing.  The picture was taken before the ends of the various lashings were trimmed off.  In the last picture these ends have been trimmed.

 

 

The fairleads will be lashed on the inside of the shrouds, just above the lower stave.

 

Ed

[rwiederrich]

Wonderful...just wonderful.

 

Rob

[stm]

Ed for clarification purposes, I had the understanding that staves were either wood or metal. Would you happen to know if metal was preferred over wood? 

 

Thank you.

 

Scott 

[EdT]

Scott, I believe you are correct that either iron or wood may have been used.  I assumed 1" diameter served iron for the sheer poles and staves of about one inch that could be either.  My use of stiffened rope is not definitive either way and could be interpreted as either.  Appearance would be similar, I assume.  1" or slightly larger diameter wood is not too practical at this scale.  I would tend to favor wood as the more common material in the early years, but do not have a reference.

 

Ed

[druxey]

Oh, my. I've not seen ratlines made in the prototypical way at this scale before. Both eye-spliced and with lashed ends. How do you figure out the correct eye-spliced length for each ratline before installing it? Wow! I'm in awe, Ed.

[EdT]

Well. thank you Druxey - for making my day.  When faced with a puzzle like finding the correct length of a ratline with intermediate knots and eyes at both ends, the answer is: don't try.  I made the first splice at the workbench as shown, then lashed it to the shroud, tied the clove hitches on the internal shrouds, lashed the loose end at the opposite outer shroud without an eye, then stitched and formed the second eye in place.  The third picture shows the last step in forming that in situ eye.  The process was much easier than I thought it would be.  However, getting uniform shape between shrouds takes some practice and I am not there yet.

 

I don't like that fuzz on the cotton thread.  Any suggestions?  Longridge passed his rope quickly thru an alcohol flame and I did that for many lines on my Victory - but there was occasional attrition on the small sizes.

 

Ed

[BANYAN]

Ed if you haven't already considered it, I have had some success passing/running my line over a very warm/hot incandescent light bulb (bought a cheap lamp stand and tried several types of globes/wattage - settled on 40W) - doesn't completely remove the attrition ratio but minimised it considerably

 

cheers

 

Pat

[druxey]

Thanks for the answer to my question Ed. I'm only slightly less in awe of you now.

[Capt.Bob]

Hi All,

Sorry Ed, but its too exciting to keep to myself.  Vol II is finally available at SeaWatch Books.

 

Guess what just arrived at my door.  Yes!, its true there is a Young America Vol II.  It has all the appearance of a Master Class in model manufacture.  If you never build Young America, the detailed descriptions of how Ed made all those marvelous deck fittings is well worth the price.  The techniques are extremely well documented in numerous photos and clearly written text.  I can't wait to dig into all the details.

Ed, I can't thank you enough for all the hard work that obviously went into the publication.  This is just the encouragement I need to get back to work in the shop.

 

[EdT]

Thank you, Bob - and all others who have purchased the book.  Still waiting for my copies.  Customers first.

 

Ed

[Mowse]

Hi Ed,

I'm a new member and was advised to find your Young America build, which I did. It's a magnificent piece of work, and truly does justice to its subject and her designer.

You may have the information already, but Carl Cutler in his Five Hundred Sailing Records of American-Built Ships reports that Young America made a passage of 96 days from Liverpool to San Francisco, 10.12.1872 to 01.20.1873. He notes that "But for unusual calms in South Pacific and 100 miles from port, her passage would have set a remarkable record."

Remarkable in any case for a ship that by then had seen almost 20 years of hard sailing.

[EdT]

Thank you, Mowse.  I have read Cutler's Greyhounds of the Sea - a standard reference for clipper ships that includes the sailing records that you describe.  There was tremendous attention paid to these sailing times and records.  They were the subject of wagers, newspaper headlines, and did much to promote the fast passages that these ships were capable of.  Young America was fast and reliable.  Her performance is often eclipsed by the some of the very fastest record runs by other ships - but her near record performance for over thirty years and her 50 passages of the horn are a  remarkable record.

 

Ed

[EdT]

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 214 – Hearts and Fairleads 1

 

Happy July 4^th everyone – in America its Independence Day – my British friends used to say Thanksgiving Day.

 

The first picture shows some work on the bowsprit that was made earlier. I didn't get far with the bands before realizing that the shackled hearts would have to be soldered and attached to the bands before fitting then to the spar.

 

 

So the shackled hearts had to be made first, beginning with the 12" hearts shown in the next picture.  Actually this sequence fit well with the next step on the shrouds, since the shroud fairleads are made with the same setups as the hearts.

 

 

Heart-shaped hearts had given way to round ones by the 1850's, at least in America.  These were turned like deadeyes on the lathe then cut off by hand as shown below.  (This is actually a 10" fairlead being cut.)

 

 

The D-shaped openings in the hearts were cut with a small milling cutter using the mill's rotary table – first boring down through the disk at the correct offset, then rotating the table 180 degrees.  The small cusp left in the center was then cut out with a small chisel.

 

The next picture shows one of the 10" fairleads being drilled with ~2" (.026") holes, using the rotary table and the method used earlier on the deadeyes.

 

 

 

After drilling, each of the hearts requires a semi-circular notch to be cut so it will fit around the shroud.  The next picture shows a notch being filed out.

 

 

The next picture shows two of the 40+ fairleads (I made 50) getting ready to be lashed to their shrouds.

 

 

A lashing thread has been glued to the backside of the one on the left.  This pre-step makes lashing the piece to the inside of the shroud much easier.  In fact a touch of glue on the outer overhand knot makes tying the second one on the inside much more manageable as well.  This last part of the lashing is being tied in the next picture.

 

 

The last picture shows three of the six fairleads fitted to the fore starboard gang of shrouds.

 

 

The excess lashing thread has been sliced off after the glue has dried.

 

More on the hearts in the next post.

 

Ed

[druxey]

Very adroitly done, Ed! I like that lashing technique.

[BANYAN]

Hi Ed, thanks for this update; very nice work.   I need to do these at some point in the future also and this is a very good technique for making and fitting the shroud fairleads.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[DaveRow]

Hi Ed,

Just found your build log of the "Young America - extreme clipper 1853"

What a superb build and example of workmanship.

Love your details which you share to the community.

 

Dave R

[EdT]

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 215 – Bowsprit Hearts 2

 

Making hearts for the bowsprit rigging was discussed in the last post.  Eight of these are required to lash the chain bobstays and bowsprit shrouds near the end of the bowsprit.  Bands for these connections and for the martingale are shown in the first picture.

 

 

I expect to use eyes on all spar bands vs. lugs.  Maneuvering shackles over lugs is a problem and contemporary documents show both.  Lugs shown on this drawing will be corrected.  The numbers on the drawing are the rigging line numbers at connection points.  The inner bobstay is the number 1 line on the list and its eye is shown on the third band.  The picture also shows a shackled heart assembly.  In the next picture the bands have been drilled for the shackle eyebolts.

 

 

My plan is to screw these twisted-wire eyebolts into the holes and if possible eliminate glue.  This allows the full assembly to be blackened after installation without fear of unblackened glue spots. More on this below. 

 

The next picture shows a shackle bolt being soldered on with the eyebolt pre-fitted.

 

 

After soldering and trimming of the bolt, the eyebolt must be slid around the ring to fit over the short bolt at the bottom.  This can be a tight squeeze.

 

The next picture shows the four shackled hearts mounted on the bowsprit.

 

 

These were all twisted (screwed) into the drilled holes. They are very secure without glue, but any loose bolts can always be reinforced with glue later if necessary.  This really simplifies the blackening process.  The blackened assembly is shown below.

 

 

This spar is unfinished at this stage so the wood has no protection yet.  The ironwork was blackened by brushing with liver of sulfur solution and rinsing immediately under a faucet, repeating the steps until all the copper was black.  This keeps excess black from being deposited on the wood.  The spar is still damp in this picture.

 

The last picture shows the finished assembly on the temporarily mounted bowsprit.

 

 

Other work on the bowsprit may now proceed.

 

 

Ed

[Mahuna]

Beautiful work, Ed.  The level of detail is outstanding.

[Tigersteve]

A privilege to watch this project come together, Ed.

Steve

[EdT]

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 216 – Bowsprit Cap

 

The bowsprit cap is a heavy balk of timber that is mortised on to the end of the bowsprit to support the jibboom.  It sits vertically, so the mortise for the bowsprit tenon and the round opening for the jibboom must be cut through the cap at a 20 degree angle corresponding to the angle of the bowsprit.  But first the cap must be cut out and the angles of the top and bottom faces shaped.  In the first picture, the outer lines of the shape and the centers of the openings have been laid out on a Castello plank,

 

 

Some additional work, permanent center lines for the openings, for example, is required on the drawing shown in the picture.  Once the overall piece was cut and the rounded ends shaped square on the sander, the beveled ends were sanded off as shown in the next picture.

 

 

This was done with the sander table angled at 20 degrees.  Some hand shaping is required where the straight side meets the curve of the ends to avoid under cutting the straight sides.  The angle of the bevel varies from 20 degrees at the apex to 90 at the side.

 

The cap is surrounded by an iron reinforcing band.  To fit the shape, this must be curved as shown below, so it will lay tightly on the cap when fitted.

 

 

The band may be seen on the drawing.  The copper strip shown in the picture was bent progressively with pliers to the shape shown.  It was then test fitted as shown below, curved for the other end of the cap, and further adjusted until a good fit was achieved.

 

 

After fitting, the band was soldered to form a ring and fit over the cap as shown below.

 

 

The band was then set aside so openings in the cap could be bored using a milling bit.  The mill setup I used is shown in the next picture.

 

 

A dead center has been mounted in the drill chuck to center it over one of the center marks on the piece. This was done before boring each of the two holes.  Two 18" holes were then bored as shown in the next picture.

 

 

The ¼" milling bit scales to 18" at 1:72.  A 3/16" bit would be used at the 1:96 scale.  After boring, the lower hole was filed to a square mortise to fit the bowsprit tenon.  After fitting the tenon, the cap was set up for gluing as shown below.

 

 

The square was used to check the vertical face and the side of the cap when it was glued.  The last picture shows the iron band fitted to the cap and blackened.

 

 

The band was secured using some thin CA, but will be well anchored in position when the rigging eyebolts are added through drilled holes into the cap.

 

Ed

[wefalck]

Excellent work, as always. Like the 'iron'-work. Using an end-mill to drill obliquely into surfaces or into curved surfaces is a good practice I am also using often. One has to be sure, however, that it is an end-mill that cuts across the centre.