Capt.Bob

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 313 – Mizzen Lower Topsail Truss
 
I mentioned in the last post my plan to complete all the remaining spars at one go.  That work has been progressing with minimal diversion to other tasks.  Shaping all the remaining yards was described in the last post.  That work passes quickly – unlike fitting of all the ironwork that is the most time-consuming part of the work on the yards.  This post describes an interesting piece of that ironwork found on all three masts - the Howe bracket truss for the lower topsail yard - in this case the last of these, for the mizzen.
 
The truss bracket pivots on a pin through a boss on the lower topmast cap.  A horizontal bolt on this bracket engages ears fixed to the central yard band.  The truss allows the yard to be rotated around the mast and "topped" to raise one side or the other.  Since it is fixed to the mast cap, the yard cannot be raised or lowered, so the lower topsail is set at fixed size and not able to be reefed.
 
The first picture shows copper plates cut for the parts of the sling band – and also the drawing detail for the truss assembly.
 

The larger piece will become the ¾" thick band.  The smaller, thicker piece will form the two ears for the bracket bolt.  The band was first fitted around the yard, silver-soldered and stretched to fit tightly around the octagonal center of the yard.  The method I use for making these copper bands was described in earlier posts and will probably be repeated in one of the next posts.  A single U-shaped piece was formed, fit and soldered to the band as shown replaced on the yard in the next picture.
 

Making the ears as a single piece facilitates drilling and alignment of the through-bolt holes.  The next picture shows the assembly fitted to a wood strip that will support it for drilling.
 

The diameter of the (5") bracket bolt is being measured in the picture for sizing of the drill bit. This bracket was made earlier with its fore and main counterparts.  In the next picture the piece is held in the vise by the wood strip and a smaller pilot hole has been drilled through both sides of the U-bracket.  The drill bit has been replaced with the larger final bit.
 

After drilling, the top part of the U-bracket was sawed off with top section joining the two ears held in the vise.
 

The wood strip steadies the work for this step and prevents bending of the ears.  The next picture shows the rough truss assembly after removing the excess top piece.
 

  In the next picture the ears have been rounded and the truss test fit on the mast.
 

The last step was to add a tight-fitting retaining ring to the end of the bolt and remove the excess length.  The final assembly is shown below.
 

After this piece is blackened after the rest of the "ironwork" is added to the yard, a drop of CA will keep the retaining ring from slipping off.  The picture also shows the first of the other yard bands added.
 
 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 301 – Fore Topgallant Yard 1
 
Since I have made a number of posts on yards and their rigging, I will try not to be too repetitive in describing those that remain.  The first picture shows the fore topgallant yard after attaching the parral yoke over the central sling band.
 

 
The yard was made as described earlier.  One exception for this and other smaller yards is that the yardarms have through sheaves rather than the iron cheek blocks fitted on the larger yards.  These were drilled, along with the jackstay stanchion holes, before any tapering of the spar.  The sheave is merely carved into the wood as was done on the upper mast sheaves.   In the next picture the iron (copper) bands have been fitted and the studding sail gear fabricated.
 

 
The inner bands are soldered strips.  The yardarm band is an expanded bit of copper tube.  Brass was used on the outer boom irons because it is stiffer than copper.  The next picture shows the yard with the inner boom irons fitted.
 

 
These are blackened with Brass Black, so unlike the copper they had to be blackened before fitting.  The picture also shows the booms as well as the reinforcing ironwork over the yardarm.  The next picture shows a closer view of this.
 

 
The outer boom irons will need to be bent and cut to length before insertion into the ends of the yard.  The next picture shows how holes for these were drilled.
 

 
After securing the end strap with two fitted rings, the enlarged end of the strap was center-marked and drill as shown, with pliers holding the sides of the strap to prevent it from spinning and destroying itself.  The square section inside the yardarm was held in the vise with wood battens.  The last picture shows the still wet yard just before insertion of the outer boom irons and the jackstays.
 

 
As with other yards, one coat of Wipe-on poly was applied before adding the iron bands. All holes for eyebolts or other hardware were then drilled through the bands into the yard.  The bare copper was then blackened on the yards by brushing with liver of sulfur solution then rinsing under running water.  The yard and ironwork were then given a second protective coating of poly, wiped dry.  The picture also shows the "hinged" bracket that closes the parral to the mast.  I will return to the remaining work on this yard in a later post.
 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 297 – Crojack Yard 2
 
The first picture shows the crojack yard set up in the fixture used for rigging.
 

 
The footropes, topsail yard sheet chains, topping lift pendants, and reef tackle yardarm blocks have been installed.  The blocks for this yard that remain to be installed have been strapped and are shown on the fixture base ready to be lashed on.  Altogether, there are 30 blocks associated with this yard – not the most or least for a yard but perhaps an average for the 18 yards.  The next picture shows a closer view of these blocks.
 

 
From left to right, these are: 2 assemblies of shackled sheet and clew garnet blocks, 4 triple blocks for the topsail sheet tackles, 2 iron-strapped, hooked, double quarter blocks, 4 + 2 spare bunt line blocks that will be lashed to the jackstays, 4 + 2 spare of these to be hooked under the crosstrees, and 2 reef tackle blocks that will be tied off to the jackstays.  Except for the two 11" sheet blocks, all are 8".
 
The next picture shows the method I use for the simplest strapping configuration – a strap with a single eye.
 
 
 
Strapping line, about 1/3 in size to the size of the block, is first tied in a double overhand knot around a pin to form the eye.  With the block held in a surgical clamp, the splice at the base of the block is formed with a single overhand knot.  The pin left in the eye is helpful in centering the eye on the top of the block when tying the splice.  The splice and the top knot are then brushed with diluted dark glue.  This simple method works well for small blocks – and is easy – especially helpful if you have 100's to do.
 
The next picture shows the sheet/clew garnet block assemblies before cutting off the excess strapping.  For these, the eyes were first tied around the shackles then spliced below as described above.
 

 
The shackles are large enough to handle the eyes of the sheet, tack and lazy tack – to be shown later.  In the next picture all the lashed blocks have been installed.
 

 
The last picture shows the attached blocks on one side. 
 

 
Below the yardarm is the reef tackle block lashed to the lower collar eye.  The topping lift pendant is shackled to the top eye and dangles behind the yard. The brace pendant, will later be shackled to the forward eye on the collar.  From the left, just inside the clamp, the first block fixed to the jackstay is the other reef tackle block – tied with hemp since this is cut free and fixed the sail when it is set.  The next two on the jackstay are the permanently lashed bunt line blocks.  Next, hanging below the yard, is the hooked iron strapped quarter block.  The loop of chain below the iron sheet block will have the triple tackle blocks shackled and the chain separated into two falls later.
 
 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 296 – Crojack Yard 1
 
The lower mizzen sail was a late development, but common on the fast clippers.  Its unique name, crossjack, more commonly "crojack", pronounced "crojick", was devised to distinguish it from the lateen yard of earlier days, previously called the mizzen yard.  The term crossjack may have derived from the run of its braces.  These ran forward toward the center in a V to pendants on the mainmast – rather than aft to belay at the sides.  Other than that, the yard is much like the other two lower yards.  The first picture shows the yard with its bare copper banding and part of the truss assembly installed.
 

 
Since the mizzen carried no studding sails, this yard had no boom irons – a welcome omission to the modeler weary of making these complex metal fittings.  The next picture shows the yard temporarily mounted by its truss.
 

 
Once returned to the bench, the jackstay stanchions, 28 gauge copper wire eyebolts, were pushed into the holes atop the yard.  Before blackening all this copper, holes for the various eye bolts were center-marked and drilled.
 

 
Drilling the small yardarm bands requires care, since each has three holes.  In the next picture the ironwork has been blacked, the jackstays slipped in and the yard again mounted temporarily.
 

 
Blackening of the ironwork, using liver of sulfur solution while rinsing the yard under running water was discussed earlier.  The next picture gives a better view of the truss.
 

 
With the mounting shown above, the length of the length of the chain sling assembly may be measured and the hole for the mast eyebolt drilled.  The sling assembly consists of a yard eyebolt, a shackle, chain and a mast eyebolt.  In the next picture, this assembly plus other rigging has been added to the yard.
 

 
The standing rigging on these lower yards consists of the chain sling and the 4½" footropes with their 4" stirrups.  The topping lift pendants and one of the reef tackle blocks suspended from the yardarms may be seen in this picture.  Less visible, but also present, are the chain sheets for the lower topsail yard and the central iron sheet block.  Before setting this yard, blocks for all the running rigging will be added – next post.
 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 295 – Topgallant Backstays
 
Progress continues to be sporadic as the summer wanes and other unfinished items on the season's household do-list demand attention.  I am down to an average of an hour or so a day on the model this month, so there have been fewer posts.  This one is short, showing only the fore topgallant backstays mentioned in the last post.  The first picture shows the two lines installed with white arrows pointing them out in an increasingly dense array of rigging.
 

 
The two 7" stays go over the masthead after the shrouds - as is normal.  They are guided through cleats on the iron spreaders that extend aft from the topmast crosstrees.  The next picture shows the spreaders with the backstays threaded through.
 

 
The stays were leathered in the way of the spreader cleats to reduce wear.  The next picture shows this simulated with brown acrylic paint.
 

 
I expect to finally straighten the metal spreaders as the three sets of backstays are rigged.  The stays should help prevent bending, which up to now has been a problem.  Note that the topgallant shroud lanyards remain loose pending final tensioning of all the topgallant standing rigging.  This is also apparent in the last photo showing the deadeye/lanyard arrangement on the starboard channel.
 

 
The two remaining smaller deadeyes on this channel will support the royal and skysail backstays. 
 
Other current work includes some upper yard fabrication as well as fitting out and rigging of the mizzen lower yard – the crojack.  That will be described in the next post.
 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 294 – Flying Jib Stay
 
In the last post, I mentioned that I had gotten out of sequence by installing the fore topgallant shrouds before the forward stay – also known as the flying jib stay – so this had to be slipped under the two pairs of shrouds.  In the first picture the seizing on the stay collar have been put on but not yet trimmed. 
 
 
 
 
Both the upper and lower ends of this 5" stay are served.  When the diluted glue on the seizings and short served end has dried, the excess rope will be clipped off.  At the lower end the stay passes through a sheave in the flying jibboom as shown in the next picture.
 

 
 The serving extends from above the boom over the entire remainder of the stay.  The stay then passes through the lower cleat on the port side of the martingale as shown in the next picture.
 

Finally the end is secured with seizings to a shackled eyebolt in the hull – just below the flag in the next picture. 
 

 
Again, the loose ends will be clipped off later.
 
As its name implies, the stay supports the flying jib.  The next picture shows running rigging for this sail tied off to the lower end of the stay.
 

 
The jib halyard passes through the block shackled and tied to the stay in this picture.  The downhauler is attached to the shackle, passes through a block hooked to an eyebolt on the spar and then runs back to belay on the forecastle pin rail.
 
The shackle shown in the picture is tied off temporarily to the stay.  When the flying jib is bent, this shackle, with both lines, would be connected to the head cringle on the jib.  The tack cringle at the lower end would be made fast to the lower stay.  Hanks would be placed along the luff of the sail, connecting it to the stay.  The jib could then be hauled up with the halyard and back down by the downhauler.  At the upper end of the stay the halyard passes through a block lashed to the stay as shown in the next picture.
 

 
The standing part of the halyard may be seen tied off to the stay below the serving in this picture.  From the block shown, the line runs down along the mast to the foremast fife rail, most likely making this 2½" rope the longest in the ship.
 
The last picture shows the model with the stay and flying jib rigging installed.
 

 
The topgallant backstays may also be seen in the picture.  I will describe those in the next post.
 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 292 – Mizzen Topmast Standing rigging
 
It has been a few weeks since the last post.  Busy summer, but work has been proceeding to the tune of one or two hours a day.  The work in this post was completed in early July.  The first picture shows the mizzen topmast set in position with some of its standing rigging fitted.
 

 
The futtock shrouds for the topgallant mast shrouds were put on before the mast was set – as described for other masts in earlier posts.  In this picture the six topmast shrouds were temporarily put over the masthead to allow the glue on the parceling to dry.  The seizings were then tied.  The serving ends have still not been clipped off.  The deadeyes have been turned in on the starboard side.  The next picture shows further work on the shrouds.
 

 
The parceling has been "tarred" with black acrylic paint, the deadeyes have been threaded and given an initial tension, and staves have been lashed on top and bottom.  These were made from stiff blackened brass wire.  Drawn boxwood staves that were used on some of the earlier rigging have proved too fragile and most of these have been replaced with wire.  The next picture shows the backstays rigged and the mizzen topmast stay seized at the top collar and loosely fitted.
 

 
On all the masts the topmast backstays are the same size rope as the lower shrouds.  This was discussed in an earlier post.  These seemingly large sizes were mandated by the underwriters at the time, probably due to mishaps caused by overly aggressive captains.  The backstays go over the masthead after the shrouds and before the forward stay.  In the picture the starboard backstays have been secured.  The next picture shows the lower ends.
 

 
The lengths of the backstay lanyards are longer than those on the lower shrouds to allow for more tightening of these longer, structurally important lines.  The excess seizing ends will need to be clipped off.  The lanyards are left loose to allow additional later tensioning.  This progressive tensioning has been necessary on all standing rigging. 
 
The next three pictures show the method used to secure the lower end of the mizzen topmast stay.
 

 
This stay cannot be secured before at least the initial tension is set on the backstays.  The top end of the stay has the typical collar – served, parceled, leathered and the seized below the crosstrees.  The forward connection shown above is made with a seizing through a shackled eyebolt on the main mast top.  In the picture the stay is being pulled through the shackle and hauled tight.  The lower end of this stay is served.
 
In the next step the stay is clamped as shown in the next picture before applying the seizings.
 

 
In the next picture the seizings have been applied.
 

 
I am using a rule-of-thumb of one seizing for every 3" of rope size – rounded up – so there are three seizings on the 8" stay.  Rope size is circumference.  After tying, the seizings as well as the served short end, are soaked with thinned, darkened glue.  The excess ends are then clipped off when the glue dries.  The final tension of this stay is set by hauling on the four backstays and the topmast shrouds.
 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 291 – Upper Mast Fids
 
Young America's upper masts would have been supported on iron fids that passed through a rectangular mortise near the base of the upper mast.  The fid then rested on the trestletrees.  Masts were hauled up through the forward opening in the top or crosstrees, the fid slipped in, and the mast lowered into place.   Fids on the topgallant and royal mast sections had horizontal holes bored in the ends for shackles that held the standing lifts for the upper topsail and topgallant yards respectively.  The base of one of the topgallant masts with its fid shackles is shown in the first picture.
 

 
Most shackles like this would be shaped and the bolts soldered to the yokes off the model – an impractical solution on these fids that had to slide through the tight mast mortise.  My initial idea was to solder the shackles then cut the fid in the center and insert it from both ends – using CA glue to anchor the two pieces.  However, other situations arose where shackles had to be formed in place on the mode, so a different method was adapted for those and for the fid shackles. The next picture shows a finished fid – on the left - with shackles fitted. 
 

 
Because the model masts are inserted from above, the fids may be inserted before setting the mast.  The mast at the right in the picture shows a shackle in the process of being formed.  To make the shackle, ends of a length of wire were inserted through the fid eye from opposite ends.  An overhand knot was then tied in the wire as shown.  The wire was then pulled tight as shown in the next picture.
 

 
The overhand knot becomes hidden in the fid hole. The pin was used to maintain an opening in the yoke of the shackle.  Once the wire was pulled tight, the ends were clipped off to form the final shackle shown in the last picture.
 

 
This method has also been used on a number of in situ chain connections and wherever a shackle is required but not able to be pre-soldered.  Shackles made in this way look realistic at this scale and are quite strong – more than strong enough for the tightest rigging.
 
Shackles on these fids and at the yardarms allowed standing lifts to be made with spliced eyes at each end.  Later.
 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 290 – Upper Mast Caps
 
Part 287 described making basic pieces for mast caps and parral yokes that had correctly sized holes for the upper mast sections bored on the milling machine.  In the first picture one of those basic pieces has been mortised to fit its square masthead tenon – in this case on the foremast.
 

 
Cutting and trimming the square mortise with a piece of this length helps to visually align the cap on the ships centerline as the square mortise is finished.   The spacing between the lower and upper mast sections was also carefully marked and cut to ensure the total mast assembly was straight.  In the next picture the forward end of the cap has been cut to its round shape.
 

 
The circle template in the picture was used to mark the rounded ends, allowing the curves to be cut and sanded to the final shape.  These curves could have been drawn with a compass before boring or mortising the holes, but this would require precise centering of the hole for boring in the rotary table and reliance on measured marking to correctly locate the square mortise in relation to the bore.  Using the template to mark the non-critical shape of the ends was much easier and more efficient.  The next picture shows the final cap shape.
 

 
The next picture shows the main topmast cap and topgallant mast fitted temporarily.
 

 
The next picture shows the fore topmast cap with its ironwork in a test fit.
 

 
The topgallant mast fid mortise has been sized in this picture but the diagonal rigging sheave above the lower square has not yet been drilled and cut.  The next picture shows the model with the fore and main topgallant masts temporarily fitted.
 

 
The last picture shows the ironwork mounted on the main topmast cap.
 

 
The ironwork on both these caps includes the reinforcing band, four eyebolts for mast rigging tackles on the underside, an aft rigging eyebolt, and side eyebolts with shackles for the upper topsail yard standing lifts.
 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 289 – Mizzen Topmast 2
 
I have been focusing recently on completing the remaining upper mast assemblies.  Making the upper masts and boring caps to fit was described in earlier posts.  There is benefit in making many of these parts together.  Boring the caps and parral yokes using one milling set up was one example.  Making the remaining, small crosstree assemblies will be described later.  Ideally, the masts should be fitted into the crosstrees before cutting the square masthead mortises in the caps – so the masts will be straight.  Installing the mizzen topmast with its crosstrees, the last of the three, will allow the topgallant masts and caps to be fitted.  The first picture shows that mast, its assembled crosstrees and the parts for its iron spreader.
 

 
Shaping and soldering the spreaders was described in an earlier post.  The next picture shows the mast temporarily fitted.
 

 
The crosstrees were glued to the mast in this position so they could be leveled in place.  This levelling and side-to-side alignment was done before gluing by adjusting the angle at the hounds and the square masthead base.  Final adjustment was checked and refined right after gluing.  The next picture is a closer view.
 

 
This picture shows the fastenings of the spreader.  These are copper wire rivets through the cross tree members.  An alternative to this method would be to solder in the wire bolts then glue the whole assembly into the bolt holes later – as was done with the whisker booms.  This would avoid accidental bending of the assembly during rigging work.  The method I used will require straightening of these before rigging the backstays that pass through the cleats.  These are so vulnerable that I suspect that final straightening would be required in any case.
 
In the next picture the ironwork has been blackened.  The served futtock shrouds and deadeyes have been installed at the workbench as described in an earlier post.  The picture shows the mast gripped in the vise for sizing of the masthead tenon.
 

 
The mast is set in the vise with the jaws set at the base of the tenon.  This allows the jaws to be used as a guide for filing all four sides of the masthead to produce the finished 8" square tenon.  In the next picture the mast is set up for installing the bolsters and the eight masthead battens.
 

 
The bolsters are rounded squares that prevent chafing of the shrouds.  When the glue had set on the tiny battens, the tops were chamfered at an angle.  The last picture shows the mizzen topmast permanently installed by gluing the lower cap to its masthead and the topmast square into the lower mast top.
 

 
As with the other topmasts, gaps between the square at the base and the crosstree opening were filled with wood shim pieces.  The caps for all three topmasts may now be fitted up and their square mortises marked and cut.  Next time.
 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 288 –Main Topsail Yards
 
In the first picture the main lower topsail yard has been permanently installed and rigging work is in progress. 
 

 
The triple tackles for the upper topsail sheets have been rigged between the sheet block and eyebolts on the main top rim.  With no sails and no clew lines on the upper sail, the other ends of these chains pas through the cheek blocks and are lashed to the jackstays slightly inside the yardarm at a convenient location for shackling to the upper sail when it is bent.  The length of this chain above the yard is limited to less than the working length of its tackle.  The starboard lower topsail sheet and clew line has also been rigged in the picture.  The next picture shows the completed rigging for this yard – except for its braces.
 
 
 
 
The rigging added in this picture includes the four bunt lines and the port lower topsail sheet.  The buntlines pass through double blocks lashed to the #1 top mast shrouds, then down through fairleads in the top, through fairleads on a lower shroud, to their belaying points on the main pin rails.
 
In the next picture, the parral for the upper yard has been roughed out and is being test fit to the upper yard.
 

 
After gluing and bolting to the yard, it is being test fit to the topmast in the next picture.
 

 
In the next picture the hinged clasp and its strapping have been fitted and the yard again tested in position.
 

 
The last picture shows the after side of the parral.
 

 
The hinge and pin connections were modeled using short lengths of 18 gauge copper wire.  These are fitted with pins that slide into the wood yoke.  This method was described in an earlier post.  The yard was then removed for further ironwork and rigging to be added.
 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 287 –Mast Caps and Parral Yokes
 
As was mentioned in the last post, making all the upper masts allowed the bores for both the caps and parral yokes to be made and fitted efficiently using one basic milling machine set up.  Holes were bored using the rotary table with the milling bit offset to produce each required bore diameter to fit its appropriate mast.
 
The first step was to create the necessary blanks of proper thickness for each required piece.  The first picture shows the collection of blanks for all the remaining caps and parrals.
 

 
To make these efficiently, a list of thicknesses was tabulated from the drawings.  Long (12") wood blanks were then reduced to size on the thickness sender starting with the thickest, then cutting off a roughly 3" blank, then reducing the thickness, cutting off the next blank, and so on. 
 
The next step on each of these was to cut it to the required width.  The next picture shows a correct-width blank for a cap with its center being marked using a center point in the mill chuck that has been precisely centered on the rotary table.
 

 
This mark – on the center of the bore - permitted a center line to be drawn on the piece that will later be used to mark out the shape of the cap and the square mortise for the masthead tenon.  This line was only needed on cap pieces.  The four-jaw centering chuck is a convenient way to hold these pieces, but a check should be made to determine which pair of jaws centers the work most precisely. 
 
The next picture shows a centerline being drawn with a compass.
 

 
To set the bore, the actual mast diameter was used, although this differed from the drawing diameter by at most a few thousandths of an inch. 
 

 
I did not leave an allowance for a simulated leather lining on either the caps or the parrals, but this could be done by increasing the offset by the thickness of the expected lining.  The milling bit diameter – smaller than the final bore - was subtracted from the mast diameter measurement and the remainder divided by 2 to determine the radial offset of the bit.  The table is rotated to make the hole.   The next picture shows the offset bit boring a hole in a cap piece.
 

 
These blanks were made long enough to produce at least two final pieces as insurance against later finishing errors.  Also, each setup was checked for fit after initial boring – usually on a scrap piece – so any necessary offset adjustments could be made before making the final bores.  The next picture shows a cap piece after boring and fitting to the mast.
 

 
This piece will later be marked out for final length, shape, and cutting of the square mortise.  After boring each cap hole, the same mill setup and offset was used to bore the parral yoke for the yard above.
 
Each parral blank was first ripped to double width based on measurements taken from the drawings as shown in the next picture.
 

 
The calipers were used to measure the parral width, which was then doubled to set the blank width for boring.  This method is accurate enough for the purpose.  After boring, the piece was ripped to the width measured above leaving a half-circle.  No centerlines were not needed on the parral pieces.  The next picture shows the main upper topsail parral piece being checked on the mast.
 

 
The parrals will be cut to length and shaped later when the yards are made. 
 
The last picture shows all the basic bored pieces – masts, caps and parrals - with some duplicates, ready for the next steps.
 

 
The mizzen topmast was included here since it has not yet been permanently installed.
 
This process worked well and saved a lot of machine setup time vs. making these parts one at a time as needed, although re-centering of the milling chuck was required a few times.  With the smaller bores, offsets were adjusted based on the previous bore then checked by trial and error, rather than returning to center each time.  Scrap pieces were used for trial and error fitting of the bored holes.
 
It took about four hours to make all these cap and parral pieces – pre-work thinking time not included.
 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 286 – Upper Masts
 
I decided to make the six upper masts at one go.  This will allow me to use one basic set up of the milling machine to bore the holes in each of the six remaining caps and for the yard parral yokes.  It will also permit the actual finished mast diameters to be used to set the bore diameters.  This should ensure a tight but smooth fit on the caps.
 
The six masts include the three topgallant masts and the three single-stick royal/skysail/pole masts.  The topgallants were made by the process described in the last post.  In making the combined masts I started with the upper pole sections first and worked down.  The first picture shows one of the very slender poles being rounded.
 

 
After rounding the pole one of the skysails sections has been stepped is being tapered in the next picture.
 

 
Each section was converted to an octagon as shown in the next picture.
 

 
On these small pieces the octagons are too small to be marked as was done on the lower masts, sothey were formed by eye with frequent measurement checks.  The next picture shows one of the small poles being sanded to its final size.
 
 
 
 
The pole and royal sections on one of these are shown completed in the next picture.
 
 

 
In the next picture the fillet at the foot of a royal section has been filed and work on the octagon is in progress.
 

 
Finally, the six completed masts.
 

 
Trucks need to be added to the tops of the poles, the fid openings need to be squared, and all the sheave openings need to be formed.  The next step will be to make the caps and parral yokes based on these finished pieces.
 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 285 – Mizzen Topmast
 
At this stage in the model I am feeling like most of the modeling methods are well developed, with kinks worked out and reduced to standard practice.  With a lot of repetitive work ahead, I believe efficiency and time saving will benefit by "mass producing" or at least grouping similar work.  So far, work has been mostly sequential – to avoid tedium as well as "systemic" process problems affecting a lot of parts.. 
 
Making all the remaining masts – the mizzen topmast, the topgallants, and the royal/skysail/pole integral masts are described in this and the next part.  Having these all made will allow me to reduce repeated setup time on the mill for boring matched, sized holes for the caps and the parral trusses.  This work will be described later.  This part describes the mizzen topmast, a repeat of earlier spar-making descriptions with some additional detail and at least one process improvement.
 
In the first picture the sized square of the "first trim" is held in the vise to file the square of the mast head.
 

 
The remaining square was then tapered - again by filing - using the fixture described in an earlier post to grip the tapered sides.
 

 
Tapering these smaller spars uses more filing and less of the planing and scraping that was used on the larger pieces.  Breadth of the spar was checked at each quarter frequently throughout all this shaping to conform to the specified dimensions.
 
The next steps create a regular octagonal shape over most of the spar.  Each surface is first marked with the lines of the apices of the octagonal shape.  The next picture shows two tools used for this marking.
 

 
The tool on the left – and its use - was described earlier.  It consists of a scriber point located 7/24 of the distance between the insides of two guide pins.  The tool marks a line at this proportional distance on tapered spars by holding the guides against the sides while marking.  The newer tool to the right has the same configuration, but substitutes a sharp drafting lead for the scriber.  This has the advantage of being easier to use, especially on small spars, but the disadvantage of having to frequently replace the lead.  It is also important that the point on the lead be sharpened on center.  The next picture shows this tool being used to mark lines on a small spar.
 

 
These lines serve for initial roughing out of the octagonal shape.  Final dimensions along the spar are refined by trial and error measurement with digital calipers.
 
The next picture shows the fillets being filed out at the square-to-round transition at the base of the mast.
 

 
This is done as the first step in creating the octagonal shape.  The next picture shows the octagon being filed on to the spar.
 

 
As described in an earlier post, the v-groove fixture is used to hold the piece for this work.  After completing and final dimension checking, the spar is rounded as shown in the next picture.
 

 
The last picture shows the finished topmast spar.
 

 
Note that the hounds area is left octagonal and that the fid opening at the base has been squared and sized.  The lower mast cap shown in the picture has the hole for this mast sized to fit the actual final diameter of the mast.  More on that later.
 
 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 284 – Last Post on Ratlines
 
While there is still some further ratline work ahead, that will await further mast erection.  For now, I have reached a stopping point after a few weeks work on this.  Other work has been progressing and I will describe that in later posts.  For now, I will just show the present status of the ratlines – and the overall model.  The first picture shows the ratlines completed to this stage.
 

 
Some minor replacement/rework is still needed – revealed in part on some of these pictures, but what is shown here is essentially finished.  The next picture shows work below the foretop that I should have done much earlier to avoid having to tie ratlines in the congested rigging shown.
 

 
The next picture shows the same work around the main top – much easier.
 

 
The topmast ratlines extend across the topmast backstays under the crosstrees as shown in the next picture.
 

 
The futtock ratlines here will be installed later.  Finally, another view from above.
 
 
 
 
The way is now open to work on the main topsail yards and other things.
 
 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 283 – More on Ratlines
 
There have been some questions on splicing and lashing ratlines at this scale, so the process I use is outlined below in more detail than I usually put in these posts.
 
There are perhaps about 500 individual ratlines on the model.  For the past ten days or so, I have been working diligently to get caught up with these.  It is fairly easy, dull work but it can be a nightmare in the presence of other rigging - as I have learned while installing some on the fore mast after much of the surrounding rigging was in place.  Not a good idea.  At this stage I have settled on a process for this work that is described below.
 
The ratlines are 1½" rope, about .007" diameter at 1:72 scale.  I used No. 80 crocheting cotton for these, dyed with dilute India ink and de-fuzzed by passing twice through the flame of an alcohol burner.  The ends of each ratline have eye splices that are lashed to the outer shrouds, with clove hitches on the intermediate shrouds.  I used No. 100 mercerized cotton polyester thread for the lashings. 
 
One of the eye splices is put on each ratline at the workbench in batches of about 15 lines.  The first step is shown below.
 

 
A needle is passed through the ratline, then threaded and pulled through to form a loop.  This is then placed over a pin on the splicing fixture, pulled taut and touched with slightly dilute, darkened wood glue as shown in the next picture.
 

 
Both ends are held taut by pressing on two-faced carpet tape on the fixture.  When the glue has completely dried, the short end is cut off as shown below.
 

 
Small, sharp scissors seem to be best for this, cutting off the loose end and part of the hardened glue to simulate the shape of a splice.   Finished splices are shown in the next picture from an earlier post.
 

 
The spliced end is lashed to the outer shroud as shown in the next pictures.
 

 
The lashing is passed through the eye and around the shroud twice, then secured with an overhand knot.  When pulled tight the height may be adjusted by eye to set the correct uniform spacing.  Clove hitches are then used on the intermediate shrouds.
 
The next picture shows ratlines on the port lower mizzen shrouds.  The left lashing has been secured and the center clove hitch tied.  The remaining pictures show the method for forming and lashing the second eye splice.
 

 
In this picture the first of two passes of lashing thread is being looped over the ratline and around the right hand shroud.  An overhand knot is then tied, positioned and the ratline pulled through as shown in the next picture.
 

 
The ratline is then threaded on a needle that is passed through the ratline just inside the shroud as shown next.
 

 
The last picture shows the formed eye and the lashing being pulled tight.
 

 
The knots are wetted with dilute glue to keep them from loosening. The ends are clipped off short to avoid entanglements with following work.  When the glue has dried these ends are clipped off as close to the knot as possible.
 
Ed

Thank you for these comments.
 
Scott, the clipper drawings by Bill Crothers were made, as I recall, in the 1970's.  When I met with him a few years ago he was finishing up his book on masting.  There are various differences from information he researched in between - mostly minor changes.  Drawings and his books are still great references.
 
Greg, I have been working on ratlines steadily over the past week  It seems an endless job - and pretty tedious.  I will probably be showing some of this recent work in upcoming posts, but here are three pictures from post 213 that sort of illustrate the process.  The splicing fixture has been improved since then.  The 2 1/2" rope for these is No. 80 crocheting cotton dyed black with dilute India Ink.  One splice is made on the fixture then lashed to the shroud using finer black thread.  Intermediate knots are clove hitches.  The second eye splice is made in place after lashing that end by passing a needle through the rope inside the shroud.  All is then sealed using diluted darkened wood glue.  
 
Although the work is repetitive, it is fairly easy to do with some practice and goes quickly.
 
First a simple eye splice made by passing the thread through itself, pulling taut and gluing:
 

 
Finished splices - one end:

Removing excess fron glued second splice:

 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 282 – Main Yard Rigging 3
 
Bowlines were used to control the leeches on large sails.  When the sails were bent, bowline bridles were lashed to cringles on the sides (leeches) of the sails.  On the model without sails, the bridles are tied off to the jackstays where they would be accessible to topmen when rigging the sail.  The first picture shows the bowline gear.
 

 
The bowline bridles, in this case two-legged, have eyes spliced in each end and pass through bullseyes at one end of each "lizard".  The bowlines, themselves, pass through the bullseyes at the opposite ends.  The standing ends of the bowlines are made fast to the lower ends of the topmast stays, pass through the lizard eyes, and are belayed on the foremast fife rail.  To avoid the falls rubbing on the roof of the main cabin, the two lead blocks shown in the picture were secured to the stay below the standing end fastening.  The attachment of the bridles and the upper ends of the lizards are shown in the next picture.
 

 
These lines serve well to square the model main yard and assist in holding it down.  The bridles are tied off at locations on the yard near where the cringles on the sail would be when it was raised as a rolled up package.  These and the other lines would then be fastened before the sail was loosed.
 
I have expected that belaying lines in the confined space between the cabin and fife rail would be one of the major rigging challenges on the model. I wasn't disappointed.  The next three pictures showing this work and the belaying of the main topmast staysail downhauler illustrate the problem.
 

 
First, the staysail halyard and downhauler were rigged.  The halyard may be seen running parallel and below the topmast stay.  Its lower block is shackled to the downhauler that passes through a smaller lead block on the stay and belays on the athwartship fife rail just forward of the cabin.  The two bowline lead blocks are also fastened to the stay legs below the downhauler block.  These are then also belayed on the fife rail. The next picture shows the tangle of lines involved and the small working space.
 

 
Apart from the difficulties of belaying lines in this small space with interferences from the shrouds and other obstacles, the two bowlines had to be tensioned together to hold the yard square.  Both were looped under their pins, adjusted to square the yard, then each belayed on top.  Finally, another view of the work in progress.
 

 
This job took special tools, quite a few hours, and a number of expletives.  The last picture shows this stage of the main yard rigging completed.
 
 

 
You may note in this picture that the shroud lanyards that have been seen loose in previous pictures have now been wrapped and secured.  Some rope coils have begun to be fitted forward where belaying is complete.  There is still much of this to do and also quite a bit of ratline work on the upper main mast and mizzen.
 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 281 – Main Yard Rigging 2
 
The first picture shows the main yard ready for the next rigging steps.  The taut chain sling may be seen in this picture.
 

 
The topsail sheet chains are hanging from the cloverleaf sheet block under the center of the yard.  As described before, these chains are linked over the central pin within the block to allow them to pull down on the yard using the two tackles soon to be added.  This also permits the chains to hang somewhat slack under the yard on their way to the cheek blocks at the ends.  The two triple tackles for the sheets are shown rigged in the next picture.
 

 
The lower blocks of these tackles are hooked to deck eyebolts just forward of the mast and the falls are belayed on the topsail sheet bits using the long horizontal belaying pins.  The next items to be installed are the clue garnets with the main sheet blocks, tacks and lazy tacks attached to a single large shackle.  The next picture shows the prefabricated gear for one side.
 

 
 
The large line is the tack that was used to haul the weather side of the sail taut.  The smaller line is the lazy tack, used to control the sail as it was switched from tacks to sheets while the yard was being braced when the ship tacked.  The large block is the sheet block.  The sheet will be added later.   At this stage outboard rigging – mainly braces and lower course sheets – would be an obstacle to the work and subject to damage.  The smaller attached block is for the clue garnet.  The standing end of that line is shackled under the yard, passes through this block, back through one sheave of the quarter block and belays on the main fife rail. The hooked double block in the picture is a quarter block.  The second sheave on this block takes the fall of the reef tackle.  The next picture shows these lines rigged. 
 

 
The tacks are belayed on cleats on the bulwark rails and the lazy tacks to the first pins on the main pin rails.  These remain unglued so they may be adjusted when the sheets are added later.  In the next picture the topping lifts, buntlines, leechlines and reef tackle have been added. 
 

 
The next picture shows a closer view of these lines.
 

 
The bunt and leech lines pass through single blocks hooked under the rim of the top, down through shroud fairleads and belay on the main pin rails.  The reef tackle falls pass under the yard, through the aft sheaves on the double quarter blocks, and belay on the fife rail below next to the clue garnets.  Next the bowlines.
 
 
 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 280 – Main Yard Rigging 1
 
With the studding sail booms mounted, the next step was to attach much of the rigging at the workbench.  The first picture shows this bench work in progress.
 

 
The yard is mounted in a simple holding fixture for this work.   After some experimenting, the holding clamps are now lined with molded epoxy resin jaws.  The first step was to hang the footropes and stirrups.  The topping lift pendants may be seen dangling from the ends.  Also, most of the blocks have been lashed on in this picture.  The next picture shows a closer view.
 

 
The lashing of the footropes to stanchions on the opposite side of the yard near the center is shown in the next picture.
 

 
In the last picture, the lower topsail sheet chains have been threaded through the sheet block under the center of the yard and out through the fairlead irons and the cheek blocks at the ends.
 

 
The last item to be fitted after this picture was taken was the center sling chain.  This may be seen in the last picture that shows the yard connected to the mast.
 

 
The sling chain was pre-measured and shackled to eyebolts at each end.  One was pre-fit to the central yard band.  After hanging the yard, the mast was then marked and drilled for the other eyebolt so the truss would be horizontal.
 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 279 – Main Yard Stuns'l Booms
 
The main yard was fitted with the two topmast studdingsail booms.  These supporedt the clews of the topmast studdingsails as well as the lower studdingsail yards that weresuspended from the ends of each when these sails were set.  The booms were 42 feet long and 8 3/8" in diameter over their center sections.  They taper to about 5 ¾" at the ends.  All the drawing dimensions are expressed in full size decimals to permit easy conversion based on scale.  The 1/72 converted sizes may be seen penciled on the drawing in the first picture.
 

 
The picture shows a finished boom and the "first trim" of the second – a squared length of Castello marked with centerlines and the two points at the ends pf the straight section.  The boom is grooved for jewel blocks at the outboard end and drilled for a lashing at the inboard end.  The inner hole was also used to fix a temporary tackle for hauling out the boom.  The next picture shows a finished boom set in the boom irons in the retracted position.
 

 
The booms were shaped by the process described in earlier posts, then polished and finished with wipe-on polyurethane as described earlier.   The next picture shows both booms lashed to jackstay stanchions at the inboard ends.
 

 
The next picture shows a close-up of a lashing.
 

 
I used untarred hemp for these and all lashings or fixings that would have been temporary.  Because of the offset of the booms from the yard centerlines and the gradual taper of the yard, the booms are actually deflected somewhat to pull them fast to the stanchion.  The last picture shows the end of the starboard boom after lashing on the two 9" jewel blocks.
 

 
The upper block handled the sheet for the topmast studding sail, the lower block the halyard for the lower stuns'l yard.  The outer iron is sized for the diameter of the boom's center section.
 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 278 – Completing the Main Yard
 
The first picture shows the main yard temporarily connected to the mast.  Most of the ironwork has been fitted.
 

 
At his stage the yard was ready for the copper ironwork to be blackened.  The brass-containing boom irons were pre-blackened before fitting.  The next picture shows the removed yard and the ironwork being cleaned with isopropyl alcohol using a cotton swab.
 

 
The wipe-on poly base coat resists the alcohol and allows any smudges to be removed and the copper to be degreased.  The next picture shows the yard after the liver of sulfur blackening process.
 

 
The blackening was done at the kitchen sink with tap water running.  The yard and its fittings were liberally brushed with liver of sulfur solution and immediately rinsed under the tap. Any unblackened spots were re-brushed while wet and again rinsed.  The yard was then allowed to dry.  The next picture shows a closer view of the dried yard, taken the next day.
 

 
The straight, black wire shown in the last two pictures, is the jackstay rod.  This was next slipped through the stanchions as shown in the next picture.
 

 
Straight .020" brass wire was used for this for its relative rigidity.  It was pre-blackened using full strength Brass Black®.  The eyebolts were spun from 28 gage copper wire.  The fit is tight enough to keep the wire in place.  In the last picture the jackstays have been inserted and clipped off.
 

 
The outer boom irons have also been fitted and a finish coat of satin wipe-on polyurethane applied, using a foam swab shown in the picture.  The finish was "wiped" using a dry foam swab.  The finish was applied to wood and iron alike.
 
 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 277 – Main Yard Boom Irons
 
The ironwork on the main yard continued with the fabrication and fitting of the boom irons, the supports for the topmast studdingsail booms.  The first picture shows two steps in the fabrication of the inner boom irons.
 

 
The large circular bands were first made to fit tightly in their positions on the yard.  The smaller bands were sized to be about 1" larger in diameter that the 8 ½" diameter of the boom center sections.  I used brass for the short arms between the rings – mainly because I had hard brass in that thickness.  Making these of copper would have simplified the blackening process later.  Because of the brass, these were blackened before installing on the yard, as will be seen below.
 
The next picture shows a yardarm with its banding and pieces for the end cap and strap that support the outer iron.
 

 
The straps were drilled first, then shaped as shown - in a vise with files, and then bent and clipped to the shape shown below.
 

 
The straps are secured with tight-fitting, stretched rings pressed over the ends of the yard as shown in the next picture.
 

 
The next picture shows the yard with the inner irons installed.
 

 
Only the brass-containing inner irons are black.  These were also fixed in place with a wire "bolt" – really a small wire nail in a drilled hole – riveted to hold the band on the underside of the yard.  The last items to be made were the outer irons – sometimes called "Pacific irons".  These consist of rings at the ends of bent iron bars.  The picture below shows the rings – same size as the inner rings – soldered to lengths of brass bar stock. 
 

 
The rings were fitted with a roller on the underside to ease the movement of the boom.  These were simulated by soldering a small bit of wire under each ring.  The lower assembly shows the soldering configuration before clipping off the excess.  A small round section was first filed out of the wire to help it fit to the band.  Again, making these of copper would allow the yard to be completely assembled before blackening, which would then be done using liver of sulfur solution.
 
The last picture shows the finished yard arm after blackening and installation of the outer iron.
 

 
Final assembly of the yard and finishing will be described in the next part.
 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 276 – Main Yard Truss
 
The main yard truss described here, and the mizzen version, are identical to the fore yard truss.  The basic shapes shown in the first picture were cut out using a band saw with a 1/8" metal-cutting blade with a pasted-on pattern scrap as a guide. 
 

 
I cut both main and mizzen at this stage to avoid another band saw blade change later.  I used the band saw to save time vs. the jewelers saw.  The basic profile of the truss was then filed out as shown below in the next two pictures.
 


 
The eyes at the ends were marked with dividers set from the band brackets on the yard, then drilled to accept 20 gauge copper wire.  The unfinished yoke is shown in a test fit in the next picture.
 

 
In the next picture the yoke has been rounded, polished, and again fitted to the yard band brackets.
 

 
The center hole for the truss arm bolt is shown in this picture with a straight length of 20 gauge wire inserted.  The next picture shows the fabricated truss arm.
 

 
The arm was made using sections of telescoping tube.  The eye that will fit into the mast band bracket was fitted into a slot at one end and silver-soldered.  A short length of 20 gauge wire was soldered into the other end.  In the next picture a flange has been soldered to the wire to hold the arm on the yoke, but allowing it to rotate.
 

 
The assembly is set up, upside down, for bolting to the yard band brackets.  Heads were first formed on one end of the copper bolts.  They were then inserted from the top side o be clipped off just above the bracket surface and peened like the right-hand bolt in the picture.  A square ended punch was tapped with a hammer in the position shown to enlarge the bolt head like a rivet.  The left hand bolt is not yet clipped.  The last picture shows the truss installed on the yard.
 

 
This picture shows the top of the yard.  All soldered band joints, though not very visible, were positioned out-of-sight under the yard.
 
 
Ed

While battened down on a rainy/snowy afternoon, found 49 minutes of great clippers on YouTube.
Enjoy -