Don Quixote

Okay, what the heck is a dumb sheave? Supposed to be on the jib boom and the spanker boom. Plans just show a dashed line on page 4 of the plans and I see nothing of the sort on any of the other builds I'm following.

Oddly, here in the valley, we get mold on the stucco of our houses. In the summer it sometimes hits 115 with only 7 percent humidity. In the winter, our wettest month is January with only 2.6" on average. Average temp is 55.

This hand held steamer for clothes, curtains...etc. will make a bow tie from a plank. By Shark.

Hi, Mike. Just found your log. Keep up the great work. Regarding the bugs... I too work in my garage. Check this out. http://www.lifestylescreens.com/

A screen for the garage door. No idea what they cost, my neighbor has one. You can also get some from your local DIY store like Menards or Home Depot. Also you can get some from Amazon. $50 +/-. Not as fancy as the one in the link, that one goes up and down like a regular garage door so you could probably put it in the center door.

I have a 2 stall that I insulated. I put some cheap 3/8" dry wall in the bottoms of the rafters and rented a blower so I have the "attic" insulated too. I installed some of that pink Owens Corning extruded polystyrene foam in the door of my garage, too. I installed a 24000 BTU window A/C and can set it at 72 degrees and it hardly breaks a sweat even when it's 110 degrees here in central California. I too use a ceiling fan to distribute the air.

Then I found a "blue flame heater" on Amazon for $220. Works on propane or natural gas with the flip of a switch. Not that it gets below 50 here in the winter, but it's nice. Thermostat and all.

Next issue:

looking at the caps. I find 3 sets of 2. The set that matches the plans is .65" tall, but has an oblong hole, not round. The other 2 sets are either too big, or too small. Is it safe to assume I'm to use the .65" pcs and round out that hole? They're with other parts involved in the bowsprit, jib boom...etc. The plans show the jib boom as round.

Onward and forward. Working on the bowsprit. Got that done. Hmph. The last 2 pictures are upside down. I can either use a picture editor and fix it or... Go stand on your head! Since the bowsprit tapers, I clamped a hunk of straight wood next to it so I could use a square to mark off where the foot treads go.

After making the bobstay from brass, I cut a small slit in the bowsprit where the ends of the bobstay meet and inserted the "iron" bar with the hole and soldered it. So I burned it! I gets painted black anyway, right?

See, the way I do this is, I type out what I want to say but leave spaces where the techno babble goes. Then I go back to the plans and see, OH. That's a bobstay, or OH, that's a foot tread or a cap! This way you think I have a clew. Like how I spelled that?

No matter how I tried, I cannot get any slack so that the anchor hangs down at all. Well, it's better than it was. Now my serving is fraying, so I think I'll leave well enough alone.

Thanks, jbshan!

 

Psychic.  I looked in my crystal ball

Must have some big balls. I'm surprised more than his belly fit.

Just catching up on your build and watching a few videos at a time. Doesn't even begin to describe my feelings. I'm watching a master! There are no words. There has never been, there is not now, nor will there ever be a poet that can put into words how amazed I am. Thank your parents for me for conceiving you:)

 

You were lucky, Brian. Used up a lot of good karma there.

Today I broke a mirror.

How did you know we have a cat?

25 pound Mancoon. 32" nose to tail.

OUCH! NOOOOO!!!!   This'll go in the "What did you do today" topic as well. Last week I got a Yamaha amplifier/receiver from a neighbor for $100. 2 years old, normally sells for around $550. 7.1 surround, multi-zone, lot's 'o watts... I do all my work here in the garage (MAN-cave). I bought 7 Polk Audio shelf speakers and a massive bass speaker, mounted them on the walls, got an optical cable (fiber optics) and a new sound card for my computer. Optical out from the computer, into the amp...

It comes with a microphone you setup where you listen from and using program built into the amp, going through the TV, the speakers send sounds to the microphone and automatically adjusts itself to the ambiance of the room. The music program I use, Clementine has a built in EQ... Spent 2 FULL days tweaking the sound. Got it PERFECT. JUST what I like. Rebooted the computer and... Nothing. Not a sound. I'm a computer geek first, restore old cars second and touch anything made of wood and distant last. So I use this system called Linux, not Windows. It's not for the faint of heart. Could NOT remember what I did to get the music working in the fist place.

Spent the next 2 days screwing up my computer and fixing it again getting seriously frustrated. This is how I made a living! Finally got it all working again. I can reboot the PC and the music still works, I'm happy so... I think I'll clean the garage, right? I need to smoke a few cigars, have a few drinks and relax.

Moved the ship off the bench onto a small stand that's out of the way and did a bang up job, garage looked great. Then I bumped the little stand with my butt. Heard a crash. Felt the adrenaline hit the stomach. Sure enough, there's my little ship upside down, 32" below the stand where it was before I swung my butt around...

Tears in my eyes, slowly I picked it up, tenderly I turned it upright, eyes closed, worked up the courage to open my eyes... One of the catheads was busted off and 2 cannon's barrels were loose. That's it. Must have done something right in another life. Sure wasn't this one.

I have to admit I just barely know the difference between a bull frog and the bulwark... It looks to me like your wood stock and anchor are at more of a 45 degree angle than a 90? I also noticed that my cleat was way too close to the cat-head and should have been closer to the gun port. (I had to refer to the plans to recall the names of that "stuff").

I've been looking over a lot of other Niagara builds and it looks like most of us have chosen to simply drop the line from the end of the anchor down the forecastle hatchway. Given my skill level (Or lack there-of) I'll follow that example.

I SURE do appreciate all the knowledge I'm gaining from this site! I don't know what I like more, the camaraderie or the ship building:)

Don't suppose you have a picture of that. Or a diagram?

Thanks for the input. Please don't think I don't appreciate it, but I now have some 27 months into this. I'm not doing anything over that I don't absolutely need to.

That anchor was a TUFFY! How much rigging is there?

I got the real poop people! This from the captain of the Niagara, Timothy P.  McLaughlin. He actually went out and measured her for me!

I found a web site,

http://www.flagshipniagara.org

They have an info@flagshipniagara.org that I emailed. Curious to see if they respond and with what. I have a niece that lives within 100 miles. I'm obsessed now, if I have to I'll ask her to drive down with a tape measurer.

*SIGH!*

If I didn't love this hobby so much I'd get another one. Like drinking too much. Which I may just start as a result of this hobby!

So, per the article I got from Joel, most stanchions for the hammocks are 3'. Saw that a few other places just to be sure. My scale is 1:64 so 3/16" = 1'. According to the box and the plans. 3' X .1875 = .5625 (9/16") which is what I had. Comparing to other models, that looked way too tall. Finally I measured the plans themselves (DUH!) and it's 9/32"???

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot? That's exactly half. Somehow I doubt the hammocks are only 1.5' tall.

Suggestions?

 

'parent' scale

It's a"parent" you're right on that scale:)

Thanks, Joel. I'm feeling silly. I saw on the prints that the stanchions were 3/8" = 1'. So, 1.125" right? Dote! It's a 1:64 scale model! 3/16" = 1' I was looking at an enlargement that said 3/8" = 1'.

Sigh. Won't be the last time I took things apart and started over. It WILL be far from the last, I'm sure. Won't be the last time I contact the parts department at ME either.

I'm going to stick with the 1/16" wide though, I feel I need the added support of the brad. I have a terrible habit of not watching where my left hand is and breaking things.

To that end, I've broken the quarter boat davits of a number of times. I'm not seeing any reason they can't be installed last. Anyone?

Hi, John, thanks for looking in. I'm sure I'll be following your log before I'm done. 2 years into this so far. This shipwright is slow, but as someone else said, the wood is patient. Nice photo's by the way.

Hammock Stanchions too tall?

Back at it! After wasting a dozen nails, I finally got a "jig" I can accept. Then using a tap hammer, I squared the hammock transoms up, and used the needle nose to hold the horizontal part at the length I wanted and again using the hammer, I tapped the end vertically against the side of the pliers. Then, thinking the depth of the cutting edge of the pliers sufficient to create the height I wanted, I did it 50 times. I had to get more strips of brass because it took me too many tries to get it right.

I used the 1/16" strips because I wanted to put a small brad in the center. I was having a hard time getting the brass black to work well. I soaked it in acetone thinking THAT should remove any dirt and oil... After letting it dray a couple hours, I placed the parts in a small bath of brass black for a couple minutes, wiped them off as best I could - given all the tight spots and angles and did it again. Each time I wiped it off, brass showed up again. Not as much, but annoying as h***.

Time to go to bed I thought, let's see what an overnight soaking does. Good thing I tried only 1 part, next morning it was like a tender pot roast that you can't even pull from the pan. So, I did the original process 3 more times and it mostly stays.

Took a lot longer than it needed to. I spent a lot of my time removing "stuff" from the puppy's mouth that I didn't even know was on the garage floor. Some kind of Australian Cattle leader/Shepard. The leader is bred to move cattle long distances. They nip at the heels of the cattle to encourage them to move along. They also seem to like human flesh.

Thanks for the kind words, y'all. I guess I'm my own worst critique.

Heck of a jump from steel to wood

'69 Pontiac Le Mans will be a GTO "clone" when I'm done. 455 C.I., Edelbrock Performance Plus cam, intake, manifold and 650 Carb. 
I have the title showing me as the 2nd owner. Had a 350 with a 3 speed. Bought it for $400 from a man whose family took his license. Found the engine in a field and got it for free. Engine was full of water. Should be around 600 HP.

Just ordered a 6 speed granny tranny. She already has a 373 duel possy rear end. As I understand it, it'll get 20 MPG on the highway with that setup. Probably 20 GPM in the city. There’s a bolt on anti-lock disc break system and McPherson Strut suspension for it.  I'll have my Rattlesnake done by the time I save the $$$ for that stuff!