usedtosail

I am happy to report that the patient has had a full recovery. I had pre-bent all of the planks I needed yesterday so today I was able to trim them and glue them in place. I used medium CA for this so that let me do all the planks in a few hours. Here is how the stern ends of the planks now look. If you look carefully you can see that there is a horizontal frame just under the plank ends that the planks need to cover vertically. Keep that in mind if you build this model in the future. And here is the counter piece just taped across the stern. I have not bent it to fit the frames yet. You can see that I could have extended one more plank on each side, but I'll just use some wood filler in those holes since this is just the first planking. I think the bottom of the counter piece stands proud of the plank ends and acts as a rabbet for the second planking.

Thanks Mark. I really can't think of another way to show the rope. BTW, in the last pictures I posted of the dry fit parts the wheel is reversed on the beams. The actual wheel should be at the bow end, next to the mast hole.

A little elective surgery today on the planks at the stern. As I was test fitting the stern post I had to trim the plank ends back more so it would fit between them. In the process I could see that I did not curl the planks up far enough to the counter and there would be a big gap between the plank ends and the counter piece. To fix this I removed the ends of the too short planks and bent new planks to replace the ends. I put a more severe bend into these planks using the center of my electric plank bender, which is a smaller diameter than the end of the bender. This burnt the inside of the planks at the bend but this won't be seen. I had a feeling I was going to have to do this as I was planking because I really couldn't figure out how far up to bend the planks and where they should end. I may have a small gap between the counter and the remaining planks but I can fill that with wood filler. I will be replacing these plank ends over the next few days.

Thanks Roger. I really appreciate the comments. And thanks for the likes too. I am starting to put the pieces together. I glued the wheel to the barrel and the stanchions to the beams. I added a small square piece of boxwood to each of the stanchions so I had a supports to hold the plank I will fit between the stanchions. I also made a new piece that I decided to add under the barrel. From the beginning of this project I have wanted to add the tiller rope to the barrel. The only problem is that on the Swan class ships the tiller rope did not go through the quarterdeck, but instead lead to blocks along the inner bulwarks. Well since I have no bulwarks I had nowhere for the rope to go. I knew I didn't want to leave the ends just hanging from the barrel. Recently, on Chuck's Winchelsea build log, he shows a piece of wood under the wheel with two slots for the tiller rope. I liked the look of this piece so much I decided to take some artistic license and make one for this display. This will allow me to have the tiller rope go through the the deck, where I can tie the ends off. This may not be all that realistic but it does solver a problem for me. Is this too much of a stretch? Thoughts? Here is a dry fit of the parts so far. The planks need to be cut to length and I will glue black construction paper to one edge for the caulking. I made treenails from toothpicks that I will add after the planks are installed. I also have the tiller rope made and added a nail to the barrel to hold the rope when I install it. It is just set in the hole for now.

I have done a rough sanding of the first planks, then added wood filler a couple of times with more rough sanding in between. I then did some finer sanding of the whole hull. It is getting there but I used more wood filler than I would have liked. It is the first planking so I am not too concerned but I have got to do a better job on the second planking.

I am almost finished with adding the first layer of planks. For the last two on each side I decided to add a drop plank at the stern as it was pretty narrow there. I first cut a plank to fill the gap then added a notch for the last plank. I had also glued a support behind the upper and lower planks so I had a place to land the end of the last plank. I then cut the last two planks and bent them to the frames to dry. I'll finish trimming the ends when I glue them into the gap. Then it's the so fun sanding, filling, sanding loop until I have a nice smooth surface for the second planking.

I gave all the pieces made so far a coat of wipe on poly. I then glued the two brass rings to the rim using thin CA. I chucked the assembly board into the three jaw chuck and mounted the chuck on the rotary table in the mill. I clamped the wheel to the board and drilled the holes through the brass rings into the spokes and rim. I used a starter bit first and used the sensitive drill attachment for all the drilling operations. I then cut the heads off brass nails and glued them into the holes with medium CA. Here is one side with the nails. I will add the nails to the other side after these dry. I am going to leave the brass rings and nail heads bright as this is more of a display piece than a truly realistic representation. Its almost time to start putting the pieces together.

I have also been using the Masters brush cleaner with great results. I use it for every cleaning and highly recommend it.

I finished adding the spokes to the rim and hub. I also milled two brass rings that will go on each side of the rim and will cover the slots with the spokes. The slots are much deeper on the hub so I cut small pieces of pear to fit over the spokes and fill the rest of the slot. I sanded these down so they are flush with the hub, then cleaned out the hole in the hub so the wheel fit nicely on the barrel. Here it is dry fit to the barrel and stanchions without any finish on these pieces yet. You can also see the brass rings in the background with the material for the planks. Here is a close up of those filler pieces in the hub. And a shot of the other side of the wheel. I still have some cleaning up to do on these pieces then I will apply a coat or two of wipe on poly. I'll add the rings and pins to hold them later. I have cut the planks to width and can start putting the beams together after I apply some finish to those pieces as well.

I finished making the 10 spokes for the wheel then made one to experiment on. The plans in David's book show more detail on the spokes so I used the extra spoke to try adding detail with various small chisels. I found that using the tip of an X_Acto blade, resting on the steady rest, made a nice small groove so I added two grooves at each transition from round to square. While the spokes were in the lathe I also sanded the round sections with 400 grit sandpaper. I ended up remaking two of the spokes because I didn't like how they compared to the others. Here are the 10 spokes ready for fitting to the rim and hub. I started fitting the spokes to the rim and hub by first making sure the notches were wide and deep enough to fit the square sections of the spokes. I then filed a flat onto the back of the outer square section to fit around the rim. I then marked where the spoke met the hub and filed a flat from there to the end of the spoke. Here are the first 6 spokes dry fit. I will have to wait until tomorrow to finish the other four. You can also see the mast coat I made in the last picture. Just a simple ring really.

Nice work so far Grant. The gratings were a challenge for sure for me too. Yours look great.

I made the mast coat on the lathe but forgot to take pictures of the process and result. I did turn five of the 10 spokes today using the four jaw chuck in the lathe. I made one by marking off the square sections, then rounding and shaping the round sections using files and sandpaper. I used that first spoke as a guide for the others. I think these will work OK.

I extended the stanchions to fit between the beams, then used them and the barrel to measure the distance between beams. I made the mizzen mast partners by drilling the mast hole with a large drill bit and milling the slots in two beams so the partners were flush with the tops of the beams. Here you can get an idea of how this will be displayed, similar to the capstan project, although I will have a few planks to hold the beams together. I cut the 2" square blanks for the spokes and a 2" square for the mast coat, so these will be made next.

So I ended up going a few more planks down from the bulwarks, then I cut and glued on the garboard planks. I made sure they were not too far up the bow and where shaped at the front so I can sit the next plank up tight to them. Next I will measure the gaps at the bulkheads and plan the planks to fill them.

I made the stanchions today using blanks of pear wood that were cut to the correct dimensions. I first rounded the tops again using the rotary table on the mill, with a large end mill bit. I cut both blanks at the same time, then cleaned up the cuts with a sanding block. I then clamped the blanks to the cross slide and milled the inset area on the faces. I cleaned up the corners with an X-Acto knife and files. I then milled the holes for the barrel on the rotary table with a smaller end mill bit. I couldn't drill these holes because they are not all the way through and I wanted a flat bottom to the holes. Here is the barrel in the stanchions. Thanks all.

Thanks Grant. I saw this method in a video I think. I finished cutting the slots for the spokes in the hub then parted the rim from the blank. I used a razor saw up against the extra material I left, then clamped the rim with the cut side up so I could mill it to its final thickness. I milled up to the clamps then rotated the rim in the clamps to get the parts that were under the clamps. I used a wide enough end mill bit so I didn't have to have the rim exactly centered but the hole pattern on the work plate made it easy to get it close. Here is how the rim and hub turned out, with some temporary spokes of 1/8" basswood holding them together at the correct distance apart. I am going to use the rim blank as the assembly board, so I milled out the center so the thicker hub will lay at the correct height to the rim. I will be making the mizzen mast partners and the stanchions next.

It has been a while but I am about half way finished with the first planking. I am going to stop here and add the garboard strakes, then plank up from them. I really like using the brass pins to hold those parts of the planks against the frames that need a little extra clamping, mostly at the bow and stern.

I started turning the rim on the lathe but didn't like how it was cutting so I converted the lathe to the mill and chucked the rim blank on the rotary table, then turned the outside edge of the rim using a large end mill bit. It cut much better and left a nice surface on the edge. I then used the same end mill bit to cut the inner edge. You can see the big screw I put through the blank and the round holder that is in the chuck because I did not want these to separate during the cutting process. I left a bit of material on the back side to use as a guide when I cut the rim from the blank. I then changed to a smaller end mill for the slots for the spokes. I cut these at 36 degree increments half way in between the joints. I am in the process of cutting the slots in the hub using the same method.

Yes Jim it would have been better that way. but I didn't have a chunk of pear wide enough to cut them that way. I'll try this one as is and see how it turns out. At least it will be practice for the real one.

Welcome Bob. I glued the wedges together and was deeply saddened to see that they fit together nicely near the outer edges, so I can use it for the outer rim, but there were too many cracks near the center to use it for the hub. I will use a square piece of pear instead for the hub. The wedges are also just small enough to fit on the lathe, but I can also use the mill and the rotary table to cut the rim instead. I haven't decided yet. I now have a dimensioned set of plans for most of the various pieces, so I won't have to work off hand drawings.

Confession time. While looking at the capstan yesterday I realized I had installed the end beam under the grating the wrong way, i.e. the wider dimension was up and down not cross wise like the other two beams. If you look closely at the last pictures of the capstan you can just see it. I was able to gently remove the end beam, turn it 90 degrees, clean up the slots so the carlings would fit, and glue it back together. Whew! I feel better now.

Thank you Eric and Bob.

Grant that sounds like the way to go. I just ordered a sliding bevel and will try it out. I also ordered a Digital protractor since I had no protractors in the shop or house.

Welcome Grant and thank you for the likes. I guess I better get to it. I turned the barrel from a square length of boxwood on the lathe. Nothing too difficult here. I used a combination of the lathe cutting tool when I could fit it and files of various widths to get the final result. The middle part of the barrel is still too long in this shot but I turned it down to the correct length after I took it. Today I cut 10 wedges of pear wood that I will glue together to make the blank for the hub and rim. I had some trouble getting the 36 degree angle right on these pieces. I need to find a good tool for setting the angle of the bar on the Byrnes saw sliding table. Any suggestions would be welcome. Here they are along with the finished barrel. I think the hardest part of this project is going to be making the 10 identical spokes. I am working through the best way to turn them. There is a thread on this site that discusses lathe duplicators but it seems people haven't had much success with them. I will have to do some experimenting to see if I can get satisfactory results using a brass template.

Thanks Justin. So I am planking the Duchess of Kingston but I find I have more time in the day between planks, so I have decided to try something along the lines of this capstan project. Have a look here. I hope this works out.