Chasseur

Lovely job, Michael!

Wefalck, A Myford ML7 which I purchased new in 1970. the spindle hole  is a #2 Morse taper with a 1 1/8 x 12 threads for the chucks. In the pictures I am using one of the Little Machine Shop's set of 7 #2 Morse taper collets. I had to make a draw bar for them, The Myford Collets have a special spindle cap which pushes their collets into the spindle.  
 
Michael

Jeff I am glad that this was useful for you.
 
I finished the turning of the stanchions this morning, here is a Step by step of the process.
 
The form tool was used to create 6 bulbs The bulb diameter is .065" and the shaft diameter is .045"  the bulbs are on .085 centres. The top bulb was trimmed to its center on the top side to accept the handrail.
 

 

 

 

 
the form tool was switched for the narrow tool to finish off the bottom, the lowest bulb was trimmed on both sides to create the foot.
 

 

 
Next a #4 file was used to create the small taper at the bottom
 

 
next the stanchion was separated with the jewelers the lathe was stopped for this operation
 

 
The finished stanchions, a few of the first ones had some minor variations so a few extras were turned up to replace them. I will leave the set up on the lathe until I have made sure that I do not need to make any more.
 

 
Next comes the drilling.
 
Michael
 

Michael,
Thanks for posting the PDF. This information will help me drill some 0.2mm holes on the yard arms I need to drill .... later on for my build. You just solved my problem.
Thank-you! Two thumbs Up*
 
Jeff

Thanks Carl it's really not that bad. One thing though at this scale any imperfections really show up with the camera but as Rob W. says paint hides a multitude of sins.
 
Jeff

A little work on the Forecastle/deck area. Got some decking on and railings installed. Fiddly work just the same. First shot below is a dime to show scale. I still have to scrap some paint off of the port holes. Amazing what the camera picks up!
 

 
Next two shots are just for kicks ... Jeff
 

 

 
 
 

Michael,
Thanks for posting the PDF. This information will help me drill some 0.2mm holes on the yard arms I need to drill .... later on for my build. You just solved my problem.
Thank-you! Two thumbs Up*
 
Jeff

Michael, some are only 25' (7.6m) about the size of your Maria sloop.  But knowing you I don't have to tempt you, you can do that well enough on your own.  And you do have a nice lake to put her on.  I'm sorry.  don't tempt,... don't tempt. 
 
Welcome aboard, Ron, hope you enjoy the rest of the show.
 
Lawrence, yes the scroll set the first one off now I need to figure what to do with number two. " I like Michael may even consider to build one of these when I ever complete the HMS Bounty."  I'm building 1:48, Michael would build at 1:1, what scale do you want? 
 
Bob

You can still register those ?... i.e. imperfections. It is hard enough to see the item, let alone its finish, or one of the subparts. Still I'm glad you are at it again!
 
P.s. love the workbench

Thanks Carl it's really not that bad. One thing though at this scale any imperfections really show up with the camera but as Rob W. says paint hides a multitude of sins.
 
Jeff

Thanks Carl it's really not that bad. One thing though at this scale any imperfections really show up with the camera but as Rob W. says paint hides a multitude of sins.
 
Jeff

I believe a lot of the standard iron-work, such as thimbles, shackles etc., that would have been factory-made would have been zinc-plated at that time already, rather than painted black. If you use brass for the parts, they can be chucked into self-tinning solution, which looks quite convincing like zinc afterwards. If you desire such look, you can slightly 'weather' it by rubbing a soft lead-pencil over it.
 
I gather brass tubing is available down to 0.3 mm I.D. with a wall thickness of 0.1 mm. You may need to anneal the tubing before forming the thimble. Bernard Fröhlich shows in his book a tool similar to the one you are using, but with a punch and an anvil. One can use this on a pillar-drill with a depth stop, or the best choice would be a so-called jeweling-press as watchmakers use it:

 
They have a micro-meter depth-stop and are quite cheap to obtain, when they don't have the tooling with it anymore. In our case, we would make the tooling ourselves anyway.

Thanks for the input, Frank.  I will look into the Aluminum tubing.  There is a small amount of wire cable on the model, but it is a long way off and I have not begun to play with that yet.  I think the hooks will be OK black.
 
Ed 

Hi Ed:
 
I've been doing some experimenting with rigging for a future Skipjack build, and have a few thoughts to contribute:
 
Wire shrouds can be made from nichrome wire, which comes in very small sizes.  I've made cable using 32 gauge wire, and the cable measures out at .015", which is slightly smaller than 1/2" at the 1:32 scale I'll be working at.  The final cable is somewhat shiny but does give the impression of a steel cable.  I was able to tone down the shine by using some ebony Rub'n'Buff.
 
As for thimbles that won't be blackened, I was able to find some very small tubing made from aluminum - this may work for you.
 
I've read (in Ken Foran's book on Model Building with Brass) that copper can be electroplated  to a nickel finish - this may work for hooks, etc that should not be blackened.

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 193 – First Rigging Work
 
It has been quite a long time, relatively speaking, since the last posted update.  I have been very busy, but with little progress that is visible on the model.  Decisions and documentation for the rigging have been major, time consuming efforts.  Because rigging was undergoing a transition at the time – from rope to wire or chain, to the use of iron fittings like shackles, and many other things, there are choices to be made.  Some require a modeling solution before they can be adopted.  The idea of arbitrary choices may seem odd, but I am using more than half a dozen sources, old and new, they all differ and few are date based or specific as to merchant vs. navy.
 
It may seem surprising, but the first rigging to be done will be the topmast futtock shrouds.  I plan to install these on the masts after the tops have been fixed and before the masts are stepped.  I have sidelined that work pending resolution of the futtock shroud design.
 
I number of issues have to be decided.  The first was rope vs. iron bar.  I have decided on rope.  Then there is material – linen vs. cotton.  I would like to use linen on the standing rigging that will be modeled taut.  I have been making a lot of sample rope using the six sizes of thread in my inventory to decide how to make each size.  Then there are questions on fastenings: hooks, shackles or lashed eyes.  I have tentatively decided on hooks with thimbles at the deadeye straps and lashed eyes at the mast eyebolts.
 
I have just a few pictures illustrating some of the test work.  None of this is finished product.  The first picture shows a blackened hook and thimble, an unblackened thimble made from thin-wall, 1mm, brass tube, and the tool used to shape the thimble flares.
 

 
The flaring tool was turned from a bit of drill rod, then hardened.  It will probably be replaced with a better shape.  I may or may not pre-fabricate the hooks and thimbles.  
 
Thimbles at this time were becoming more heart shaped and open at the throat.  Although Longridge describes a method, I could not do it at this size.  Also, thimbles were not black – another issue.  I also have to decide how far down in rope size to use thimbles.
 
 There are some advantages, to pre-fabbing the hooked thimbles but more test work is needed.  The next picture shows an alternate approach where the eye is formed first, the thimble inserted, flared in place, the area over the splice served and the serving used to tighten the throat.
 

 
The picture shows two sizes of thimble 1mm and 1.5mm – another decision.  A length of rope, ~6" in this case, was served first. 
 
The eye splice was made by looping the served line and gluing it below the throat.  When dry, the excess was trimmed off the splice and the thimble inserted.  The splice was then served with thinned glue to strengthen the joint and tighten the throat.  The hooks were then formed in the eye.
 
The last picture shows a closer view.
 

 
I like this method but the metal parts will need to be blackened first and that raises issues in forming the hooks.  The shapes of the splices will get better.  These test pieces were made in the space of about an hour, so I had to be careful with the unhardened glue joints.
 
And so it goes…
 
Ed

Wefalck thanks for the picture, it looks like a tricky bit of slitting, and one needs a good indexing chuck to do that, or a collet block.
 
Keith This is how I accomplished drilling the holes and will use this method for all 28 stanchions I used a #4 flat file to create a small circular flat a little bigger than the diameter of the drill. The boxwood jaws are easy to cut a small rabbet on one of the blocks the distance between the bulbs is a constant .085" I index that with the table travel.
 

 
stanchion drill.pdf
 
Michael

Michael - re drilling the holes in the stanchions. I find that getting the drill on the centre line can be a challenge. The best way I have found to do it is to lock one axis of the mill and cut a slot in hard wood using a single pass of a cutter a coupe of thou smaller in diameter than the part to be drilled. I then press the part into the slot and drill without changing the locked setting. This works pretty well and if I want to have repeatability on the lengthways dimensions I put a nail in the slot to act as an end stop. How did you cope with centring the hole in the stanchions?

I made a rough-'n'-ready sketch of what I meant:
 

 
I have made a set of speciality collets myself from blanks purchased from Schaublin some 15 years ago. The difficult step is the slotting one, as you have to hold the collet at its very end and concentric with its axis of rotation. For round collets this is not so terribly critical, as it is mainly the bore that centres the material. However, that is different for the square collets, where the cuts have been absolutely parallel to the axis of rotation.

Actually, making collets with four slots, instead of the usual three for high-quality ones, was one of the easier routes for holding square stock or parts I have been thinking about. The other possibility with more holding power would be to make four slots that off-centre by the thickness of the targeted stock minus the thickness of the saw blade. The challenge for both variants is to have the slots absolutely symmetric, otherwise the collet runs off-centre.

Thank you Wefalck for your detailed comments, The issue of very small collets for square stock is one that I have overcome to some degree using a round hole that has been cut with a slitting saw similar to the Dremel collets. this works well enough to put a round on the end of the small square stock. The comment about the type of brass is an important one, not all brass is equal when it comes to machining. I have found that some of the hobby brass rounds in the propriety hobby metal stands has been gummy to machine and the swarf comes off in long flexible curls instead of the crisp shavings of the free machining brass from the metal suppliers. That said the 3/16 and 1/4 brass that is in the Home Depot local store does machine very nicely.
 
Ed thanks for your kind words, you have not missed the paint restoration I have been letting the paint mature for a while before doing the final sanding and polishing. your suggestion of replacing all the stanchions on that damaged section is in fact the method that i am now pursuing. Just like everything else we do in this hobby it takes a while to get competent at doing a repetitive task. It took about 4 or five stanchions to get the system sorted for making consistent ones, this is now underway. I will be setting them into the deck after getting the colour right then threading the rail wire in situ after it is colored.
 
Druxey, questions such as yours are great because they give rise to considering all the alternatives as to why we choose the options that we do, which often sparks those "why didn't I think of that idea moment"
 
Thanks to everyone who have been quietly visiting as well.
 
Michael

Thank you Michael and Wefalck, for the comprehensive and logical responses to my question. I assumed that there was good reason for using round rather than square stock, but now you've convinced me! I also hadn't thought through the fact that square collets are not available at those sizes.

Nice work, Micheal.  The stanchions look fantastic.  Why not replace them all!  It never occurred to me to use old drill bits to make milling cutters.  Great idea.  I am still eagerly awaiting the results of that paint job on the side.  Did I miss it?
 
Ed
 
ps.  I had another thought on a tailstock center when there is interference with the tool holder.  As you may have seen I use tube in a tailstock chuck for supporting square wood turnings, but for brass wire perhaps a length of drill rod with a hole bored in the end could be used.  Its diameter would have to be large enough to keep it rigid.

Very nice Jeff, by the way I have about 25 miles of some AWG 42 copper wire if you need a foot or two
 
Michael

Hey Jeff
 
Now, that's almost microscopic!  Tiny in size, but huge in achievement!
 
What's more, it's great to see you getting back to the building process, again.
 
I'm looking forward to more updates.
 
All the best.
 
Cheers
 
Patrick.

Jeff,
 
Marvelous work, I'm glad you build at a scale you can still get something on screen with the aid of a camera.
 
Cheers