MEDDO

Very elegant framing.

First attempt.  Need to work on stop cuts a bit more.  One thing I found is that the blades I have get dull pretty fast.  Blades were super cheep so not too much a problem.
 

The original Ship Modeler’s Shop Notes first published by the NRG in 1979 and out of print for several years is being reprinted and will be ready for sale by early April.

The original Ship Modeler’s Shop Notes contains “Shop Notes” and some longer articles from the first 25 years, Volume 1 to Volume 25, (1980) of the quarterly Nautical Research Journal.  This book has been described as a book that ship modeler’s must have. 

This is a completely separate book from Ship Modeler’s Shop Notes II published in 2009 – SN2 covers Volumes 26 – 50 (1981-2005).  If you have Shop Notes II we are sure you will want to add the original to your library and if you don’t have either, now is the time to get both.  

Be sure to contact the office for the member’s discount code that will save you $5.00 off the list price.  Save on shipping when you order both Shop Notes (1 & 2).  Place your order through the NRG office and pay only one shipping fee of $6 for shipping both copies (US only & to the same address only!).

When the books are in stock we will announce they are available for purchase.

Very elegant framing.

First attempt.  Need to work on stop cuts a bit more.  One thing I found is that the blades I have get dull pretty fast.  Blades were super cheep so not too much a problem.
 

Part 9 – Frames, cont’d
 
There is no mention of cant frames in the HAER documentation, but in the drawings the forward most 11 frames on Kathryn appear to be canted.  I’ve decided to construct those 11 frames as cant frames.
 
The framing jig for the cant frames is essentially the same as for square frames, except that only one side of the drawing is used at a time, due to the angle the jig must be held at, as in the following photos.
 
 


It is also necessary to angle the base of the frame floor timber so that it sits flush against the keelson.  Each of the eleven frames will sit against the keelson at a different angle, so these angles were measured from the half-breadth plan and recorded.  Templates were created so these angles could be accurately created on the frames, as shown in the following photo.
 


The following photo shows a template being checked against the drawing on the shipway.
 

 
The templates were printed on card stock and are used to adjust the miter gauge on the disk sander to the appropriate angle.
 


A temporary batten – held by clamps – is used to double-check the fairness of the frames.
 


The cant frames were installed in the same way as the square half-frames.  A stiffening brace was added between frames while the new cant frame was still in the installation jig.
 
 


The aftmost square frames – 22 through 26 – need to be faired to conform to the rising shape of the keelson in that area.  The drawings for these frames indicate the fairing needed.
 

In this drawing the color and configuration of the lines indicates the shaping required:
·      The red lines indicate the aftmost face of the frame, while the green lines indicate the forward face.
·      The frame is cut out along the solid lines, whether red or green, and then the dashed lines indicate the edge of the frame that that needs to be reduced (the cutting line).
 
Since the drawing is pasted to the front face of the frame, the first task is to draw a line corresponding to the red dashed line on the aft face of the frame.  A compass is used to measure the distance of the dashed line from the edge of the frame, and this compass setting is used to draw a corresponding line on the aft edge of the frame.
 

 
The frame is then shaped using a stump cutter in a rotary tool.  First, the cutter is used to cut the aft edge of the frame down to the drawn line.  It is then used to flatten the entire outer edge of the frame at the appropriate angle.
 

 
The forward face of the frame is shaped by cutting to the green dashed line. 

The braces used for the cant frames and for the aftmost square frames need to be angled to fit securely against the frames they support, as shown in the following photo.
 


Cant frames 7 through 11 have been installed at this point.
 



The square frames have been installed to frame 23.
 


So this leaves 6 cant frames and the aftmost 3 square frames to be installed.  I hope to have these frames completed sometime next week.
 
 

There are a couple of frames in the midship area that concern me, and I may need to remove and re-install them.  But I won’t think about that until all of the frames have been installed.
 
Thanks everyone for following, for the ‘LIKES’, and for the encouraging comments.

Thanks Popeye and Vossie. Hopefully we'll see some warmth soon.
 
Dave, I am sure your gun rigging will turn out great. My first attempts are now buried in the gun deck so they won't be seen.
 
I have started on the shroud rigging. i am using rope from Syren for these, as I was having trouble making rope this large that looked good for long lengths. The Syren rope is a joy to work with, but I have found that with lot of handling it starts to unwind, so I keep a piece of tape on all the loose ends now. I started with the fore mast pendents, which need a thimble in the loops. I made these from some brass tubing, cutting off small lengths. I used the pliers in the picture to flare the tube and they worked great. Chuck recommended this tool and I am glad that I bought it, as I had tried other ways with little success. After blackening the thimbles, I seized them into some served line to make the pendants.


Since I took this picture, I removed them and turned another seizing around the cut part of the line, making it look more like a splice.
 
I made the swifter and all of the shroud pairs for the fore mast and added them to the mast. The swifter is served the whole length and I seized a double block into the ends and stropped triple blocks with hooks to go on the rings on the channels. The gang of lines at the mast head is pretty thick and just fits under the chock for the jeers on the mast. I think as i tighten up the shrouds I can get them to sit down more too.


I also started seizing the deadeyes to the shrouds. I'm using a throat seizing just above the deadeye and regular seizings above that. This is the first time I have tried doing the throat seizings and I am happy with the look, but I find tightening them can be a challenge. I make them loose, then pull on the loose end of the shroud while pushing on the seizing with tweezers eventually gets them tight. At that point I clamp the loose end to the shroud and add the middle seizing to hold it in place. I made a crude jig from some manila folder and straight pins, to hold the deadeyes at the right height while I seize the shroud to them, as you can see in this picture.

I did have to reattach a couple of pin rails, as the force of the clothes pin on them was too much. They were still attached to the bulwarks by the locating pins i had in them, but they could move enough that I didn't trust it, so I removed them, drilled out the locator holes and glued them back in. It was a little tricky but not as bad as it would be after the shrouds are finished. I now hold the jig to the channel with two pins through bottom deadeyes into the card.
 
Finally, here is the 2.0 version of the crank for the Syren serving machine. My first version didn't hold up to the use I have been giving it lately and was coming loose, so I removed it and made this one. I used a piece of threaded rod in a hole in the wood crank that I tapped for it. The cherry held the threads very well, but I decided to add nuts to hold it too. There are two pieces of tubing on the rod. The inner one allows me to tighten the nut tight to it, and the outer one is a little shorter so it can rotate easily. I super glued the rod into the hole and the nuts to the rod so they wouldn't loosen.

Lots more rigging to come...

Thanks so much Don, Denis, John, Carl, Michael and the "likes".
 
Don, I have to admit that it was less a matter of pre-planning than some trial and error on the first couple of frames that led to the seemingly organized sequence. 
 
Carl, the keel will be glued in place after the full frames are completed. This is how Hahn shows it in his book.
 
Michael, since the keel is used to insure proper positioning after every couple of frames, the effect is the same, but without having to maneuver the frames between the jig and keel to get them mounted. BTW, judging from your results on Halifax, you wouldn't have had any problem, however you went about it.
 
Bob

Time to get started on the frames. I've settled on the following procedure for doing them: 
1) Remove the 9 parts for a frame from the laser sheet
2) Remove the laser char from the joints between futtocks
3) Using double sided clear tape, attach one layer of parts to the plan sheet for that frame, with the joints glued
4) Glue the second layer of futtocks on top of the first
5) Sand the faces of the frame until there is a fit to both the keel and the jig
6) Fill any joints, as necessary, with filler made of sanding sawdust and glue
7) Use strip wood to make any adjustment necessary to the keel notch on the frame
8) do some preliminary fairing to both the outside and inside edges of the frame
9) Treenail the futtock joints using the "drill and fill" method
10) Apply Wipe-on poly to the faces of the frame
11) Glue the frame into the appropriate jig notch using clamps to hold it in place and a straight edge to keep it square
12) Use the keel to insure proper fit and spacing after each pair is set at opposite ends
 
I've completed two pairs of frames now and so far, so good. The good news has been that using the laser cut pieces is a whole lot easier than cutting them all out by hand. The parts also fit the drawings fairly well. The not so good news is the amount of work necessary to get a snug fit  to the keel. Also, as I feared, the frame drawings and parts don't match up to the jig exactly, causing some need for further tweaks. All in all, I'm pretty satisfied with how it's going to this point.
 
Bob
 
 

Michael, thanks! I just finished up the lower ratlines for all three masts after tying nearly 2,000 clove hitches with #50 black thread. I now have tying clove hitches down pat in any direction.
 
Just a few observations I have made: working black thread on black shrouds requires keen eyesight and great depth perception working at times with a pair of tweezers in each hand. If you have trouble with chopsticks don't even start. I found that wetting the thread before tying really helped to reduce the spring effect and sizing in the thread as well as friction when tying knots. File the ends of the tweezers down to a point and file the ends square; then file the inside gripping surfaces flat so they match each other when squeezed. Test by picking a thread off a flat surface. Do this before even starting. Tie the extended lines first and once all the knots on one row are tied glue each knot and ends of thread to be cut off with watered down white glue. Watering down allows the mix to penetrate the tiny thread and bond to the shrouds. When seizing the clove hitch to the shroud tighten slowly and the final pull to the right to set the knot in the right location and then hold the shroud with the tweezers at the knot and tighten to the left. (opposite if you are left handed) As you are tightening the knot pay attention to the lines above and below to avoid over tightening and causing them to sag. Work from the bottom (dead eyes) to the top (fighting top) when adding lines; this allows the excess ends to hang down out of the way of the next one to be tied. Cut off excess lines after the knots once the glue has set with the tip of sharp scissors cutting only the line. Once at the shroud seizing near the top the use of magnification will really help.
 
Once completed and all glue set if you have any sections that are not pleasing or have sag cut them away and add a new section making sure the clove hitches straddle the existing knots, this will align the new section with the existing lines. OK sorry more than just a few observations.
 
Here are the results of it all.
 

 

 

Now to add so more mast details before moving on.
 
 

Thank you, Don, Lawrence, Joe, and Mike for your most generous comments, much appreciated.
@ Lawrence, served brass wire comes in very handy for a number of tricky little rigging requirements, and Catharpins are one of the best examples.
@ Mike, I didn't repost the log twice,  just in two halves. Fortunately the first half was a straight copy and paste from another forum, and the second half (Masting and Rigging) from my word/photo files, which were in a reasonable order but still took several day to complete and proved the most tiresome. Otherwise I doubt I would have had the heart or inclination to start again.
I now live in fear of the 'delete' button
ps: Have you changed your tag name from 'Landlubber Mike?
  B.E.  
 

Out of breath reading the last installment, so much to consider, the only think missing from this rip roaring tale are a couple of gypsies thrown in for spice.  I was devastated to see the issues with the log (seems to be every time that there is an upgrade) and want to say again how appreciative of your time and effort I, and I'm sure everyone, is to keep this jewel of a log alive and kicking.  So much great information, tips and tricks...I love the shot of the great cabin deck, I'm assuming its not accessible at this point though?

BE, let me add my voice to the loud chorus of people that appreciate all the time you have put into not only posting your very detailed build log -- one of the very best logs ever on MSW -- but also for reposting it twice!  I have to say, you are a saint in being so patient and good hearted about all this.  I have to confess that I don't think that I would do the same one time, let alone twice.

I have some progress to report.  I got the hull faired, but not without breaking one bulkhead.  The repair was easy though, it was a clean break and easily glued back on.  I even have trouble finding the one that broke off.  I also got the transom piece installed and the bow fillers.  Those will be faired once the glue has had ample time to cure.  Anyways, here are the pictures.  As always, any and all comments are welcome.

Not a "little progress", Giampiero but a great progress.   Looking superb.

little progress:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before mounting the longboat permanently, a decision had to be made about final placement of the oars and mast. I decided to keep the oars closer to the boat so the mast details would not be obscured. I also updated the photo in my previous post. Nothing is glued yet, but soon. Lots of planning for this type of presentation. Very enjoyable process. 
Steve

I thought I'd share a couple of photos of the framing in the actual Kathryn.
 
The first is from the HAER drawings.  The frame pointed to by the number 15 is one of the original frames.  They don't look like the joint was held together by much more than a few bolts, and I would love to know how they built Kathryn.  They must have used a lot of temporary ribbands to hold her together before she was planked.  The mortising of the frames into the keelson also looks very flimsy.
 

 
The following photo is from the recent rebuild that was completed in early fall 2015.  As can be seen in the photo there is a fairly complex (and strong) knee arrangement holding the frames to the keelson, and there are knees installed in the joints of the frames.  I don't think ceiling planking was installed during this rebuild, so these knees didn't interfere with anything.  Since I'm building Kathryn as she was originally built, I can't use any similar structures that might interfere with the internal planking.
 

 
 
 

Another photo 
 

I wanted to try this for some time.  I found this section of the site and decided to try my hand.  I only have a crude non-variable speed dremel so will be only using scalpel blades and maybe chisels as I carve.  Recently Bob (username rafine) started up a build of the same ship I am building but using the Lumberyards framing package.  I saw the pieces that were included in the package and was comparing them to my resin castings.  The LSS did a good job but I "may" be able to do better if I practice a bunch.  
 
Here we go...
 
As I wait for the glue to dry I started messing around with the blank
 

 
Oops, not following the grain...
 

 
Decided to try a stop cut and thinning
 

How about a railing post???
 

 
Here is the LSS Halifax resin castings... Maybe just maybe...
 

 
More to come once crown is dry...

I wanted to try this for some time.  I found this section of the site and decided to try my hand.  I only have a crude non-variable speed dremel so will be only using scalpel blades and maybe chisels as I carve.  Recently Bob (username rafine) started up a build of the same ship I am building but using the Lumberyards framing package.  I saw the pieces that were included in the package and was comparing them to my resin castings.  The LSS did a good job but I "may" be able to do better if I practice a bunch.  
 
Here we go...
 
As I wait for the glue to dry I started messing around with the blank
 

 
Oops, not following the grain...
 

 
Decided to try a stop cut and thinning
 

How about a railing post???
 

 
Here is the LSS Halifax resin castings... Maybe just maybe...
 

 
More to come once crown is dry...

Looks somewhat familiar. I love it. I like the look of the transom and window pieces. Mine has some resin castings which I may try to improve. 

Hello,
 
The deck framing is now complete. Here are some pictures.
 
Alexandru

Some interesting updates to report. In what I call another placement reference photo, the gaff is rigged and the rope coil where the beads are threaded was made from black thread included with the kit. One additional tan rope coil needs to be added for the throat halyard before its final placement. 
 
The photo with the gaff in the vise shows the method I used for the seizing. I place a drop of CA where the knot will be located and then tighten the knot over the CA. Snip off the excess when the glue dries. 
 
The shroud pairs were seized around the mast using the method shown in the following photo. Final adjustments will be made before it's mounted permanently. 
Steve

Looks somewhat familiar. I love it. I like the look of the transom and window pieces. Mine has some resin castings which I may try to improve.