GLakie

Sjors, what a nice rope. Like the others said, stays were served just to a point a bit further where the mouse is.

I thought that they have to be served from beginning till end.....
Thanks Jason and George for your input.
I will wait what others have to say.
I still have no time to start the rigging....  
 
Sjors

That's some good-looking rope. Like Jason, I don't think the entire stay would be served, like the shrouds are. 

Looks like you did a fine job on the rudder Mark! 

Thanks Al and Nenad. Nenad - you were the one that inspired me to try make new wheels. Yours came out great.
 
Well, here is my weekly update for the build log. I figure I should at least let you know where I am. I have been doing a lot of work but nothing real to show for it yet. First of all I have made all of the flat rope coils I need to finish the spar deck guns, but haven't installed them yet. I have the Conny set aside under an old T-Shirt to keep the dust from making the wheels out of it for now.
 
For the wheels, I read up on ways others have made these , including Nenad, EdT, David A., and others. I have come up with (I think) a process that works for me given my limited abilities and lack of precise machine tools.  I started out with some basswood sheet, mostly to practice on. As I expected, the basswood doesn't work real well for this application. I glued up some square pieces of 1/16" basswood to make a 1/4" thick piece, with each layer turned 90 degrees to alternate the grain. I then glued this stack to the end of a longer piece of basswood and put it in the 4 jaw chuck i have on the Proxxon lathe. I was able to turn a rim of sorts with this set up, but the 4 jaw chuck is not very good at holding this kind of item very securely, so I was getting some wobble in the turning. I also tried to turn the inner hub at the same time with bad results. For one, I tried to drill the center hole using the drill chuck in the tail stock, but this holds the drill near the end and it was sticking out very far, so I was getting deflection which caused the center hole to be off. That would have been bad except that while turning it I managed to break it off because the basswood is so soft and my skills with a chisel are pretty bad. No pictures of these failures but I will leave it up to your imagination.
 
I was tempted to give up at that point but I had to tell myself that was just practice. I had bought a piece of 1/4" boxwood a few years ago and I thought to give it a try. I was not going to use the 4 jaw chuck again so I had to come up with another way to hold the wood. In my box of lathe stuff I found a spindle with a small plate and some holes. I think it came with the lathe. I was able to hold the wood on this spindle with a couple of brass screws and it seemed very secure. I used brass screws because they were the only screws small enough that I had and I knew they would be very close to the tools so if I hit one it wouldn't do too much damage. So here is the set up in the lathe after I turned the two rims:
 

 
I again tried to use the drill chuck on the tailstock, but I still had the same result, as you can see. I also had to remove a lot of material around the outside of the outer rim so that I could drill the holes for the spokes before removing the rims from the rest of the board. I first marked the spoke locations as best I could by copying the plans and cutting out the outer rim with the locations of the spokes. I copied those locations to the area surrounding the outer rim. This was not as precise as I would like it to be. I then put the whole thing into the vise on the drill press and lined up the drill bit as best I could with the center of the hub and drilled the holes:
 

 
This also was not as precise as I wanted it to be as some of the holes were not centered on the rim and I was still having problems with drill bit deflection. But, I was able to cut the rim off the backing without any problems, so I was happy about that.
 
So at this point I was confident I could do the cutting but needed a better method for drilling the holes for the spokes. I took one of the basswood rims I had made earlier and glued it to a piece of plywood. On the plywood I had glued the plans for the wheel, but only from the rim into the center, so the edges were loose. I took a piece of dowel for the center hub and carefully found the center and drilled the center hold by hand. I glued this piece to the plans too. The next day I used a pin vise and drilled the holes for the spokes by hand. I was able to line the drill bit up to the whole spoke image on the plans so I was able to drill these all nice and straight into the hub. As I drilled each hole I put a piece of wire in to substitute for a spoke:
 

 
When all the holes were drill, I gently pried the rim and hub away from the plywood using a flat X-Acto chisel under the paper. I couldn't soak it in alcohol first because the rim was a sandwich of thin layers and might have come apart. With the solid boxwood rims, I will be able to soak them first. In any case, the rim and hub came away clean, and I just had to sand the paper off the back:
 

 
So then the question was what to use for spokes. I didn't like the wire because I would have to make separate handles anyway and I want the wheels to be all wood, which I way I am not using the supplied metal wheels if I can help it. I tried something that I have seen on this site before for making treenails, which was to take a piece of 1/32" square stock and chuck it in a Dremel tool, then with the Dremel running, push the wood through smaller and smaller holes in a draw plate. This turned nice round tiny dowels and the ends that were in the Dremel chuck can be shaped into the spoke handles. At this point I have made exactly one of these, which you can see in a picture further down, but I am pretty confident this will work for the spokes. I will still use the wire as I drill the holes, but then I will replace each wire with a spoke one at a time after I spearate it from the backing so the whole thing will stay together.
 
OK, so now I have the process somewhat down, so it is time to execute it. I turned a new outer rim and this time I tried to go deep enough to get both rims off the same turning.
 

 

 
Let's just say that didn't work. I did get two rims but I by the time I sanded off the saw marks they were too thin in spots to drill the spoke holes. So, I turned two new rims, this time not bothering to make the center hub at the same time. Since I was going to be cutting these off the backing right away, using dowels for the center hub was a better option. I managed to get two nice rims, thinner than the basswood rims but not as thin as the last two, so I have enough meat left to clean these up before drilling the holes. I also cut these off using the lathe by just lightly holding a razor saw to the pieces as they turned until I cut through them. The widths are much more consistent this way and less sanding to remove saw marks was needed. In this picture you can see one of these still on the spindle and compare it to the basswood rims (with the spokes and directly to the left) and the too thin boxwood rim to the bottom left. You can also see the spoke prototype to the bottom right.
 

 
Here are the two set ups glued up ready for drilling the spoke holes.
 

 
Well if you have read all this expecting to see finished wheels, I apologize. I was pretty long winded. I am hoping to have finished wheels by the end of next week, probably without the stand yet. I may have another problem though in that the space for these to fit between the mizzen mast coat and the hatch coaming is pretty tight, so I can't let these wheels get too thick if I want room for the drum between them. If I end up getting nice wheel but they are too thick, I may end up using them as decorations on the ends of the cradle. At least I will know how to make these for future builds.
 
 
 
 
 

I have been meaning to do a progress report on the four boats of experiment #2.    this came on the heels of experiment #1,  which was a big success.   the admiral won big on that one........she got her M&M Fun Ship,  and I got my trawler {which is still in the works}.   it still has a way to go,  but is the closest of all my projects toward being finished
 
....and to think........the whole concept of experiment #2 was an expansion of the initial thoughts I had,  when I was building the hull frame of the Boulogne Etaples.   this particular hull design is common for many versions of short range fishing vessels,  not much fuel capacity, but big on payload.   long range vessels are much larger and longer,  having the fuel capacity to reach fishing areas further out,  and able to stay out for longer periods of time.  I could have based all three on fishing vessels,  but I came up with an even bigger picture....Christmas.   the concepts were simple,  but it didn't take long for the subject to blossom the way it has.  it's all I can do to keep the scope narrow......new ideas are coming up all the time.
 
it began 5-13-2013.......and by 12-13-2013,  I had these........
 

 
by 11-6-2014........the four hulls looked like this.........
 

 

 
{left to right}
 
The Boulogne Etaples...the mother ship
The Tree Boat...............this one needs a name......still need to finish planking the hull
The Andrea Gail............was to be the Skater's boat "the Silver Blade",  but logic took over and I nixed it.  it fell victim to my initial thoughts.
The Jungle Belle...........this one is the Caroler's boat...I find this one very hard to keep the 'fishing boat aura' about it
 
3-25-2016
 
quite a bit of time has passed,  since I showed them all together.  I was hoping I had more to show.......but it wouldn't matter when I take the pictures.......the progress of the moment is just that.......progress.  so,  here they are as of 'today'
 

 
they're in the same order.......
 
The boulogne Etaples..................no progress.......just in the sub assembly dept.
The Tree Boat..............................it still doesn't have a name......but the hull is planked,  and a fore deck has been added
The Andrea Gail..........................done and off the table
The jingle Belle............................a lot of work has been done,  in regards to paint and upper deck
 
now....I shouldn't show these........while I call them 'experiment #3',   they actually are no more than an expansion of a popular Billing's kit.   Billing Boats sells all three,  but they are at different scales....these will all be at 1:65.   I tend to think of them now,  as an 'expos'e of sails'......all three, even though the hulls are similar,  sport a different configuration of sails,  which should prove to be quite interesting.   at the moment,  they are in the closet,  waiting for the day when I clear up some of my back log.   there is a story.......but it can wait till they begin their real journey.   I shouldn't show them,  because of the history........there's no time like the present,  I suppose.   this went on from 12/14 to 12/15.
 

 

 
enjoy  

awesome progress Patrick.........the kitchen looks really sweet!  very cool layout  

Sjors, I'm not too sure those stays would have been served, only the end where it loops around the mast where the end loop goes over the mouse to prevent chafing.  So think you can proceed with confidence  Very nice rope by the way.

Today I received my last rope that I needed for the rigging.
Nope, I'm not starting right away !!!!!!!!
I have a question for all of you.
At the end of the post you will see a picture of the rope that I'm gonna use for the fore and preventer stay.
I know that those stay's has to be served.
But........it's almost a shame to hide that nice figure rope under n other ,thinner rope.
So my question is.....can I just leave it as it is ?
No served stays.
Or is that the same as starting an ice company at the North pole.......
I will served the shrouds what is needed.
I will wait for all your fine answers.......
 
Sjors

What shall I say about the rudder.........
Netjes gedaan !!!!! ( very nice job , translation for all the members who not can read Dutch      )
 
Sjors

Hi everyone and thanks for all of your comments and Likes!
 
Just a quick update.  The fit-out of Magellan's main deck's accommodation continues.  However, this time, I've jumped around again and started work on fitting out the main saloon.  Whilst it's still very early days, the galley now has some more cupboards added as well as a fridge.  Nothing's glued down yet, so it still looks pretty rough, but you've gotta start somewhere.
 
Sadly, I still haven't found the TV remote...
 
Cheers and Happy Easter, everyone!
 
Patrick

Super job on the rudder Mark!
 
Jesse

Looks like you did a fine job on the rudder Mark! 

now your talking....that's my music taste.....but I tended to follow Sabbath more     I play bass........wish I has started that earlier in life too    

Hello Nenad,
 
 
What a fight against the Green beast!
 
We also had three of this monsters in our garden. Of course in the northern Part of Germany it groths up very slowly. But after some years it started to Lift up the garden way. And I must say that it was a hard fight to kill her and to get out the roots.

Nice, Mark

Well done Mark, fiddly indeed.
i am envious, you only have one wall side, i have five!!
Sam

wonderful that the rudder is finally where it should be      super job my friend!  as a side note......your running out of reasons why she should be upside down     a suitable stand would be the ticket by now.....unless your going for the pedestals.

Well hung Mark............er, the rudder that is..................

Just lovely work Mark.  The whole stern has come together beautifully.
 
Cheers,
 
Nigel.

Mark,
 
When it's right side up, you will hardly notice my friend ... besides it's a lot easier on this side, giving comments ... I couldn't match your prowes!!!
 
Cheers

Not an illusion, Carl.  It's off a tad....         I think I found the "wall side".... It looks better on the other side. 

Mark,
 
Looks like fiddly work to me, quite nice ... is it an optical illusion due to the angle of of the ship in the photo, or is the angle from that left (Ishould say top) bottom strip smaller towards the top ...
 
Cheers

Hi Mark
 
Well done, Mark.  She hangs absolutely straight and proper!
 
Nice.  
 
Cheers
 
Patrick