Capt.Bob

Turned?? Masts and spares weren't turned.  Try to imagine a lathe big enough to do it and powered by what?  They were fashioned as Ed described.  I made a 16' mast for my sailboat by hand, its really quite easy.
 
Bob

They may not have been turned in the past, but they can turn them in Grays Harbor WA
 
http://www.thesparshop.org/

Rob,
 
I intend to simulate, not duplicate mast assembly and have not decided on the exact process yet.  I believe spars were adzed/shaved/planed rather than turned - first squared to the diameters at each quarter, then shaved octagonal, then rounded.  I expect to follow that method.  Still some weeks off, I'm afraid.
 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 172 – Stay Bullseyes/Eyebolts
 
There are six "heavy duty" eyebolts with shackled bullseyes that secure the two legs of the fore, main, and main topmast stays.  Those of the main mast are anchored in the deck and the forestay is secured to the knightheads.  I'm including these and all deck and hull eyebolts as part of the "pre-rigging" and intend to install all those connections before starting on the masts.  The process for making the bullseyes and fitting the iron shackles is very similar to that used on the channel deadeyes described earlier.  The process starts with the bullseyes.
 
There are two sizes of these bullseyes, 11" for the fore and main stays and 8" for the main topmast stay.
 
After turning a cherry cylinder the small bullseyes were shaped in the lathe and parted off first, followed by the larger size.  This allows them to be turned "overhanging" without end support and without deflection.  The first picture shows one of the 11" bullseyes being turned.
 

 
The edges were rounded with a file before the parting step shown in the photo.  The pieces were then filed/sanded to remove stubs from the parting.  They were then set up in chuck in the rotating table as described earlier for the deadeyes.  The rotating table is not really required for this, but it is easy to center with a dial indicator on the center hole.  I believe this was shown earlier.  The center holes in the bullseyes were then drilled as shown below.
 

 
I did this in the mill as described so the holes would be precisely centered.  Although lathe drilling can be very convenient, sometimes (at least in my aging Unimat) it is more likely to produce off center holes, especially on the smaller pieces.  In fact, for the small bullseyes I started the hole with a center drill before changing to the final small drill bit.  The larger bit shown on the 11" bullseye above was stiff enough to stay on center without that time consuming step.
 
The edges of the bores in all of the bullseyes were then rounded by twirling diamond bits by hand in a pin vise as shown below.
 

 
The bullseyes were then polished up and dyed with a non-fading walnut stain made from VanDyke crystals.  These will later be waxed. 
 
The next picture shows the first step in making the shackle.
 

 
The shackle bolts were silver- soldered to the ends of the shackle with the eyebolts slipped on but away from the solder.  These were then maneuvered over the bolt end of the shackle.  The six shackles with their eyebolts are shown below.
 

 
These were then slipped over the bullseyes, crimped and each whole assembly washed with liver of sulfur to blacken the copper.  The blackened assemblies are shown drying on a paper towel in the next picture.
 

 
The next picture shows two large bullseyes for the forestay bolted through the knightheads.  
 

 
These are often shown bolted into the tops of the knightheads, but this makes no sense to me because the strain could easily split open the top of the knighthead.  I bolted these through the aft side just below the top. (Engineering license.)
 
The connections for the main and main topmast stays are shown below.  Iron reinforcing plates were fitted at the base of these.
 

 
Location of these required some consideration (and again some license was exercised).  The larger mainstay eyebolts are anchored through the deck beam.  The position was plotted using a dummy lower mast and a full sized line to check for interferences with the bitts, the cabin roof, the foremast, and the anchor chain openings. The smaller main topmast stay eyebolts are likewise anchored on the deck and not to a cross member between the bitts as is often shown.  I omitted this member on both fore and main masts because rigging for the double topsail rig greatly increases congestion of ropes in this area, especially in front of the mast.  The location shown seemed logical, and as with the larger stay, will avoid interferences – I hope. 
 
 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 171 – Rigging Cleats 2
 
There are ten larger 12" cleats.  These will be used to belay the sheets and tacks for the lower sails on each mast.  They could have been made by the method used on the 9" cleats described in the last part, but the larger size and the lower required number suggested a fabricated approach.  One of the shaped cleats is shown in the next picture with the remaining unfinished silver-soldered fabrications.
 

 
After soldering, each cleat was shaped by filing as shown in the next pictures.
 

 
The hand vise shown above was helpful but most of the work was done with the piece in the vise as shown below.
 

 
In this picture the single bolt is being filed to size.  Nine of the required ten are shown below.
 

 
The tenth sailed off to parts unknown while being buffed with the rotary tool, so another had to be made.  Murphy's rule corollary:  If you fail to make spares, they will later be required.
 
The next picture shows two of these installed.
 

 
Cleats on the rail like the one shown are for the tacks.  Those on the deck will belay the sheets that pass through the bulwark sheaves like the one under the pin rail in the picture.  The next picture shows one of these cleats mounted on each of the catheads.
 

 
These will belay the fore course tacks.  The eight small cleats for the jib sheets may also be seen on the breast beam in this picture.
 
 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 170 – Rigging Cleats 1
 
Most of the work to be done before embarking on masts and rigging is to install a variety of rigging connection points to the decks and hull.  There are two sizes of cleats on the model.  They are being made by two different methods.  I will start first with the smaller 9" long cleats.
 
There are a few dozen of these, too many and too small for me to consider fabricating them in pieces, so they were sliced off the milled brass section shown in the first photo.
 

 
In the next picture a 9" square rod (1/8" actual) has been aligned on the milling plate, clamped, and is having a shallow, concave groove milled in the top.
 

 
Next, the piece was inverted and the sides milled to form the rough fina,l stepped, "T" shape.
 

 
The piece was then rounded and refined by filing before slicing off the cleats.  The slicing is being done as shown below using a thin slotting saw blade and a sacrificial wood fence.
 

 
This method allows the small pieces to be cut to a precise thickness – in this case about 3" (.030" actual).  The individual cleats were then rounded by filing and polished as shown below.
 

 
The brass cleats were then blackened and finally inserted in drilled holes with a small drop of CA to keep them in place – shown below.
 

 
The next picture shows the small cleats installed on the poop deck.  These will eventually secure some of the lighter mizzen rigging.
 

 
The next picture shows cleats on the forecastle.  These are duplicated on the port side and will belay the jib sheets.
 

 
In the next part, the larger 12" cleats for the lower sails' sheets and tacks will be described.
 
 
Ed

Further to my lamentations on shackle problems:  Sorry to dwell on this but is has become an issue in the rigging sequence and therefore a puzzle as to how much of this to include in the "pre-rigging" content of Vol II vs. Vol III.  Some may find this interesting.  My plan has been to get all these connections installed in the hull and deck in Vol II then start Vol III with mastmaking.  So....
 
Here is a picture of two eyebolts with shackles. These were made by fitting the horseshoe of the shackle through the eyebolt then silver-soldering wire across the  ends of the horseshoe to simulate a screwed bolt.  This may also be done by making the shackle then spinning the eyebolt over it.  In either case the work must be done before installing the eyebolt in the deck or whatever.   Ideally all the deck eyebolts and the drilling involved should be done before other rigging gets in the way and perhaps blocks should be strapped to the shackle before installing.  Rigging specifications, drafting and planning needed. 
 
This is how I'm spending my summer.
 

 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 169 – Rudder Pendants
 
Another small item of work completed today – the rudder chain pendants.  But first, I made a small modification to the binnacle to give it a larger base and to improve its overall proportions.  The additional base was added as a brass bottom disk as shown in the first picture.
 

 
The rudder pendants, sometimes called preventers, were provided to prevent loss of an unshipped rudder or as a means to operate the rudder from the deck in the rare event of a steering gear failure.  They consisted of chains on either side of the stern, bolted to the hull.
 
I used 30 link per inch copper chain for the rudder pendants.  At 1:72 this equates to 30 links per fathom.  After cutting the chains to length, eyebolts were fitted to the chain.  I am making all eyebolts for the model by spinning copper wire.  The wire is looped over a bent pin hook in a hand drill and the two ends held in a vise.  The drill then spins up the shaft of the eyebolt.  In this case the end link of the chain was first slipped over the wire.  In the next picture the wire (and chain) has been spun and the shaft is being clipped off.
 

 
The wire in this case was 26 gauge.  Most eyebolts on the ship will be made from 22, 24, or 26 gauge wire.  The eyebolt and chain are shown in the next picture.
 

 
Each pendant is anchored to the hull just below the sheer rail at two points, so a second eyebolt was fitted part way along the chain by the same process.  Some 26 gauge wire was then threaded at the other end to make a shackle to the rudder horns.  This is shown in the next picture.
 

 
The pendants were then hung from the stern as shown below.
 

 
The next picture shows some copper-phosphorus solder applied to the shackles.  Silver soldering these this way is a bit risky, but this is what happens when you do not plan ahead.  It would have been much better to have done these shackle connections before the horns were mounted, but this will do.
 

 
The torch flame was kept well away from the wood and at just enough gas to flux the solder on the thin wire shackles.  The next picture shows the finished pendants after blackening with liver of sulfur solution.
 

 
In the picture the rudder is turned hard to port to check that sufficient chain has been provided and rudder movement is not hindered.  Ideally the chain stays above the load waterline at all rudder positions.
 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 168 – Binnacle
 
"Odds and ends" seems to be the order of the day for the past month or so.  Not the best prescription for a lazy, hot summer.  Too easy to procrastinate.   Big consuming tasks are better.    On these little projects it is first research, then the drawing, then the modeling and photos – one step at a time.  The binnacle is one such piece.  A small part, but to judge by the mess left in the shop, one would think it had been the entireTitanic.
 
It started out as a cherry cylinder, turned to the ID of a brass tube from which two decorative rings were turned.  The next picture shows stage 1.
 

 
The four-paned glazed top was next.  It too, was made from a section of the same tube with the glass mullions filed out on the end as shown in the next picture.
 

 
The solid rod in the tube helps establish a constant depth and prevents the vise from squashing it.  The next larger size tube was used to make a ring to fit around the bottom of the top – shown below.
 

 
Telescoping tube is very handy for making a variety of assemblies.  I try to keep a stock on hand.  The mullions were then bent to the center and the assembly silver soldered.  The parts at this stage are shown below.
 

 
The cap was then sawed off the tube.  I did not want to leave the top without glass but making and fitting small panes like this is well beyond my ability, so I decided to make a small Plexiglas® prism to fit inside the brass top.  In the next picture a rod is being turned to the diameter of the wood cylinder.
 

 
A four sided prism was filed at the end of this until it fit well in the brass top.  It was then polished using Micromesh® sticks, followed by buffing – shown below.
 

 
The assembly was finally glued together using small droplets of thin CA.  The final piece is shown positioned on deck in the next picture.
 
 
 
I guess the two rudder pendant chains will be next.
 
Ed

Concerning the application of CA in very small quantities, I use the ink pen from an old drafting set.  For those of you who aren't old enough to remember, imagine making ink drawing by hand.  I have some drawings that my grandfather made in 1898 while in tech school.  The ink pen is infinitely adjustable and allows you to control the gap and provide extremely small applications of either thin or medium CA.  It doesn't work very well for thick CA.
 
Roger, they do make a vapor free CA that eliminates the nose/throat problem.  It acts more slowly and avoids the flash cure and associated vapors.
 
Bob

Addendum 4 to Volume I
 
Attached are Forecastle Pattern pdfs that correct the carrick bitt patterns and add dimensional information for these.  The purpose of this modification is to clarify windlass axle bore sizes for both 1:72 and 1:96 scales and to help ensure that the windlass drive gears clear both the deck and the underside of the forecastle breast beam.
 
Also attached is pdf for frame Xa, corrected to add toptimber bolt holes.
1to72 Forecastle Patterns.pdf
1to96 Forecastle Patterns.pdf
Xa.pdf

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 166 – Bulwark Sheaves
 
Well. I finally got some time in the workshop for a couple hours today for the first work on the model in over a month.  Only a small task today – making and fitting the four bulwark sheaves that lead the fore and lower course sheets through the sides.  I toyed with fitting sheaves in the frames for these but the assemblies are quite small and after rigging, the sheaves will be completely hidden by the lines.  So I used the simple method of drilling holes, spaced at the sheave diameter into a strip of 8" x 8" stock as shown in the first picture.
 

 
The sheaves were then carved into the strip.  The first step was to outline the sides of the sheave with a sharp knife as shown below.
 

 
A small chisel was then used to give the sheaves a round shape.
 

 
The strips were then cut into the 20" long sheave assemblies that would be mounted in the bulwarks.
 
In the next picture the position of one of the sheaves is being marked up from the base drawing station lines using a triangle..
 

 
One end of each of the assemblies butts against one of the top timbers with its lower face laid on the planksheer.  In the picture one of two holes has been started within the outline of the sheave assembly.  These were then drilled through the planking.  The next picture shows a rectangular opening being filed out to fit the sheave assembly. 
 

 
In the next picture the assembly has been glued in flush with the outside of the planking.
 

 
After installing, these were painted black on the outside and white on the inside to match surrounding woodwork.
 

 
A small task, but one of a few that remain to get the model ready for masts and rigging.
 
Ed

Hello, everyone.  I have been away on vacation for the past couple weeks and have not been keeping up with the postings.  Thanks for the recent comments. I hope to be back in the shop soon.
 
Bob, using the drawings pens for CA is interesting - perhaps a good use for these unused tools.
 
Ed

W2YSM,
Yes, it will take a little while to soften.  There are "debond" solutions available from CA suppliers.  Try Tower Hobbies.com
Bob

Hi Learner,
Acetone
Bob

Concerning the application of CA in very small quantities, I use the ink pen from an old drafting set.  For those of you who aren't old enough to remember, imagine making ink drawing by hand.  I have some drawings that my grandfather made in 1898 while in tech school.  The ink pen is infinitely adjustable and allows you to control the gap and provide extremely small applications of either thin or medium CA.  It doesn't work very well for thick CA.
 
Roger, they do make a vapor free CA that eliminates the nose/throat problem.  It acts more slowly and avoids the flash cure and associated vapors.
 
Bob

W2YSM,
Yes, it will take a little while to soften.  There are "debond" solutions available from CA suppliers.  Try Tower Hobbies.com
Bob

Hi Learner,
Acetone
Bob

Concerning the application of CA in very small quantities, I use the ink pen from an old drafting set.  For those of you who aren't old enough to remember, imagine making ink drawing by hand.  I have some drawings that my grandfather made in 1898 while in tech school.  The ink pen is infinitely adjustable and allows you to control the gap and provide extremely small applications of either thin or medium CA.  It doesn't work very well for thick CA.
 
Roger, they do make a vapor free CA that eliminates the nose/throat problem.  It acts more slowly and avoids the flash cure and associated vapors.
 
Bob

Concerning the application of CA in very small quantities, I use the ink pen from an old drafting set.  For those of you who aren't old enough to remember, imagine making ink drawing by hand.  I have some drawings that my grandfather made in 1898 while in tech school.  The ink pen is infinitely adjustable and allows you to control the gap and provide extremely small applications of either thin or medium CA.  It doesn't work very well for thick CA.
 
Roger, they do make a vapor free CA that eliminates the nose/throat problem.  It acts more slowly and avoids the flash cure and associated vapors.
 
Bob

Concerning the application of CA in very small quantities, I use the ink pen from an old drafting set.  For those of you who aren't old enough to remember, imagine making ink drawing by hand.  I have some drawings that my grandfather made in 1898 while in tech school.  The ink pen is infinitely adjustable and allows you to control the gap and provide extremely small applications of either thin or medium CA.  It doesn't work very well for thick CA.
 
Roger, they do make a vapor free CA that eliminates the nose/throat problem.  It acts more slowly and avoids the flash cure and associated vapors.
 
Bob

Concerning the application of CA in very small quantities, I use the ink pen from an old drafting set.  For those of you who aren't old enough to remember, imagine making ink drawing by hand.  I have some drawings that my grandfather made in 1898 while in tech school.  The ink pen is infinitely adjustable and allows you to control the gap and provide extremely small applications of either thin or medium CA.  It doesn't work very well for thick CA.
 
Roger, they do make a vapor free CA that eliminates the nose/throat problem.  It acts more slowly and avoids the flash cure and associated vapors.
 
Bob

Concerning the application of CA in very small quantities, I use the ink pen from an old drafting set.  For those of you who aren't old enough to remember, imagine making ink drawing by hand.  I have some drawings that my grandfather made in 1898 while in tech school.  The ink pen is infinitely adjustable and allows you to control the gap and provide extremely small applications of either thin or medium CA.  It doesn't work very well for thick CA.
 
Roger, they do make a vapor free CA that eliminates the nose/throat problem.  It acts more slowly and avoids the flash cure and associated vapors.
 
Bob

Concerning the application of CA in very small quantities, I use the ink pen from an old drafting set.  For those of you who aren't old enough to remember, imagine making ink drawing by hand.  I have some drawings that my grandfather made in 1898 while in tech school.  The ink pen is infinitely adjustable and allows you to control the gap and provide extremely small applications of either thin or medium CA.  It doesn't work very well for thick CA.
 
Roger, they do make a vapor free CA that eliminates the nose/throat problem.  It acts more slowly and avoids the flash cure and associated vapors.
 
Bob

Concerning the application of CA in very small quantities, I use the ink pen from an old drafting set.  For those of you who aren't old enough to remember, imagine making ink drawing by hand.  I have some drawings that my grandfather made in 1898 while in tech school.  The ink pen is infinitely adjustable and allows you to control the gap and provide extremely small applications of either thin or medium CA.  It doesn't work very well for thick CA.
 
Roger, they do make a vapor free CA that eliminates the nose/throat problem.  It acts more slowly and avoids the flash cure and associated vapors.
 
Bob