usedtosail

Time for an update. I have all of the topmasts installed with their associated bits & bobs on the caps and crosstrees. Many of the blocks will be installed with hooks, but I have stropped them and installed the eyebolts for them. Some blocks are installed directly on eyebolts. In order to continue the bowsprit rigging on the jibboom, I need the sprit sail yard. I made it on the lathe from some round dowel, since it is mostly round. Here I have stained it and am in the process of painting the yard arms black, which is the color scheme i am using for the lower yards. In order to install this spar with the footropes installed, I need to remove the lashing on the third bobstay, which I installed a while ago. Not a big deal, but one of those mistakes that I should have anticipated. I also need to install the sling holding this yard to the bowsprit while installing the yard, as it has seizings on both sides of the bowsprit. The other task I have been doing is getting all of the blocks ready for the rigging. I am using the kit supplied blocks and I thought I would show how I am cleaning them up. I start by using a small file to knock back the corners of the squarish blocks, so they are more oval. I do this in two dimensions so the edges are rounded too. Here you can see the kit supplied blocks on the right and a filed block to the left of those and in the cap. I then turn these in the block tumbler shown below. I got this from Model Expo a few years ago and beefed up the insides a bit. I run the tumbler on the dress press at about 1200 RPM or 1/4 of the speed of the press, for a few minutes. While it is running, I hold the container up so there is good contact of the sandpaper inside with the bottom of the cup. Here is what the blocks look like out of the tumbler. There is quite a bit of sawdust inside and I am always surprised that there is anything left in the cup when I open it. I just picture everything inside turning to dust. I then stain the blocks using a dedicated cap using an old paint brush. I dip the brush in stain and roll the brush around within the blocks until they are covered on all sides. Here the blocks are the left have been stained and the blocks on the right are waiting for their turn. I also needed some sister blocks for the lower yard rigging, so I made some out of 1/4 by 1/8 inch basswood. Unfortunately I did not take pictures during the process, but I will describe it. I first drilled two lines of evenly spaced holes along the length of the wood strip, then used a round file to make grooves on each side between the line of holes for the top and bottom sheaves. I sanded the edges round, then cut the individual blocks from the wood strip. I cut these so they were fairly thick, then thinned them down on the disk sander. I also used a file and sandpaper to get the final shape on each one. I used a triangular file to make the stropping groove around each one, then tumbled and stained them like I did the other blocks. Here they are just before staining. Next up is to finish and install the sprit sail yard, then on to the futtock shrouds on the other masts.

Very nice , David. You should be very proud of her.

Thanks Rob, and for the likes. I have finished the ratlines on both sides of the lower shrouds and tied on the futtock staves. It is nice getting to this point in the build. I next did some more bowsprit rigging. I had made this jibboom traveller a few months ago, modeling it off what Chuck made for his Syren build. Before installing it, I seized two small blocks to it for the jib downhaul and tackle, and the two inner fixed guy lines. I then slid the jibboom through the bowsprit cap from the back, and slipped the traveller onto the jibboom. The jibboom was not sitting flat into the saddle, so I filed out the hole in the cap a bit until it did, then glued it to the saddle. I had made this bracket to fit over the saddle before, so I just glued it in place. I seized eyes into the ends of two lines for the fixed inner guys and added them to the end of the jibboom, and seized two bullseyes with loops for the martingale stays and slipped them over the end of the jibboom. This is as much as I can do on the bowsprit until I make and install the bowsprit yard. Before that I am going to work on the mast caps and install the topmasts.

Not too much yet, since I am deep into the rigging phase of the Connie, but I did use them a bit when I was making the mast tops.

Another beauty Chuck. as always, your build logs/practicums are chock full of useful information, tips, and techniques. Thank you for that.

Nice work on the bowsprit rigging, Ken. As soon as I finish these !*#@! ratlines (should be tonight), I'll be working some of this bowsprit rigging also.

Sigh, I bought the Glardon-Vallorbe fiffler set a few months ago. I'll just have to augment with other files as you describe as I need them.

I hear you Jeremy. Every time he posts my wish list gets longer and my wallet gets thinner.

Nice looking deck you have there.

Looking good Mike. I like your use of rubber bands (or elastics as we say up here in New England) and clamps to hold the wales. All of the false quarter galleries I have seen are badges that fit over the planking, but I am not sure if there would be an opening into the hull under them in the real ships.

That book is a great idea and looks fabulous. It is missing your name on the cover though.

Sorry Al, its Charlestown, like the movie The Town that was filmed there. Great chase scene in that movie on those narrow streets. Charleston is one (or more) of those cities down south somewhere. I finished the ratlines on the port side, all three masts, and have tied on all the ratlines on the starboard main shrouds. I'll fix those knots tonight. No pictures as its hard to see the ratlines without anything behind them. I am using thin sewing thread for the ratlines, which helps keep the end shrouds from being pulled out of straight and the knots not too big.

Glad you got to Fenway Pahk. The game was on at the graduation party I went to on Saturday. It looked like a good one.

Here we are. Had a great visit too. You'll have to come back when she is all up and rigged again.

Thanks Michael, Vossie, and Al. I don't know about doing a guide. Maybe things not to do more than how to do it right the first time, ha ha. I met up with Sawdust Dave and his son Mike yesterday in Charlestown. We had a great visit over a couple of beers and they headed off to the North End for some good Italian food. Dave is the handsome guy on the right.

Sounds like a good plan.

Sure. Sent you a PM to work out details.

Sounds great Anthony. Will you have a separate build log for it?

Bring a warm coat Dave. It has been kind of chilly around here lately.

Thanks Michael. Your Halifax is looking so good. You will have plenty of time later to pick up on the Constitution.

Congratulations Gramps/Anthony. I am looking forward to following along with your build, as this boat has peaked my interest, being Sicilian as I am.

Nice work so far. I look forward to following along with your build. If you have any questions as you go, don't hesitate to ask questions. There are some really good Connie builders on this site.

Thank you, and you are very welcome Michael. I enjoy documenting my work and hope it will be a help for others in the future. I look forward to following along with your future build when you get to that point.

As promised, here is the jig I started doing the ratlines with. It worked pretty well, but the spacing was a bit uneven with it. I then switched to graph paper as a guide, which is how I have always done ratlines in the past. I tied all of the fore port ratlines before fixing any of the knots. I then started fixing every fifth line, which corresponds to the ratlines that start at the swifter. Once these dry I will fix the intermediate ratlines. I left one ratline off about 1 1/2" below the top for the futtock stave. I split some3/64 x 3/32 " strips to make 3/64" square strips for the futtock staves. I painted these black.

Well. my approach for the snakes between the fore and main stays worked out nicely. I basically just tied the snake lines to the stays with clove hitches, weaving the snakes back and forth. It may be hard to see in these photos, but I like the end result. So now I am adding the ratlines. Here are few to start, but I have about half of the fore port ratlines tied on this morning. I have not fixed any of the knots yet, so I can adjust as I go. I am using two 5/32" wide wood strips that I clamp at each end as guides, as well as graph paper behind the shrouds as guidelines. I get some pictures of those tomorrow.