Jack12477

Thanks for sharing your techniques Ed. It looks like this same method would work as well for a solid-hull build as well. 

Young America 1853 – POB 1:96
Part 10 – Hull Fairing – Method 1  
 
As seen in some of the previous photos, there is quite a bit of wood to be removed from the spacers used in this framing method.  It is much like working on a solid lift type hull, but the numerous bulkheads make it very easy to accurately duplicate the original shape by merely removing wood down the each of the bulkheads then finishing it off to a smooth fair surface.
 
My natural response to this work was to use available carving tools to remove wood between bulkheads, followed by rasping and sanding.  This is a good method to use if you have the tools and the ability to keep then razor-sharp.  However, although I used this method on the starboard side, I wanted to offer a simpler process, using less expensive tools on the opposite side.  That second method will be described in the next part.
 
The first picture shows shavings being pared off the hull using a shallow curved gouge with hand pressure.
 

 
A solid anchoring of the hull is essential to allow two hands for this work.  The sharp gouge easily removes thin cross-grain shavings.  In the next picture a deeper gouge is being used with a mallet to chip off larger pieces of the extreme bevels near the stern.  Again, this requires the hull to be firmly secured.
 

 
After paring with the gouges the shape was further smoothed out with fine-cut rasps.  The curved rasp in the next picture was used on the concave surfaces.
 

 
A flat rasp was used on the convex hull surfaces as shown in the next picture.
 

 
The rasps used here are fine-cut Iwasaki® carving rasps.  This is not a job for the coarse hardware-store variety.  You can pay almost anything for a rasp.  These are good quality and reasonably priced.  The last step on this side was done with 120-grit sandpaper on Softsander® pads – as shown in the next two pictures.
 

 
The rasping and sanding bevel the plywood bulkheads as necessary to leave a smooth surface.  This involves trimming only the small side of the plywood shapes.  This point is indicated by feel as well as sight.
 

 
The above picture shows the finished and unbeveled sides and gives an idea of the amounts of wood to be removed.
 
This work went pretty fast, taking less than 2 hours for this side of the hull.  A second method will be shown on the port side in the next part.
 
Ed

Here is an update as to my progress.  It has been a bit slow.  The summer weather here has been quite nice so I am taking advantage of it.  I have built all the masts and yards for the mizzen and  installed the lower mast.  I also made my first attempt at rat lines.  They came out okay for the first time.  Once I got going and figured it out it wasn't so bad... just repetitive.  About 220 knots worth so far.


 
I guess my next step is to secure the dead eyes to the top of this mast section and then more ratlines.

Thanks to everyone for stopping by and for your deepest sympathies     .
 
The best part, Grant, is that unlike Polyscale, I have an (almost) endless supply of that red in stock.

Looking great, Augie. I like the color of the woods.  Gotta be careful with those #11 blades, tho. Their as dangerous as my woodcarving knifes.

More planking over the last few weeks. One more strake on each side and I can go to work on the transom.  
I made a jig that fits over the plywood spine so when she's upside down for planking, the fashion pieces wont get broken since they stick up a bunch.  It can be held in the vise or propped up on a block of scrap wood (as shown here on pic. #3).  My spiling is getting better.  Sure it uses a bit more wood, but careful planning gets several similar pieces cut from one strip with only modest waste.  I've also given up on soaking or steaming the planks.  Pieces this thin (.0475") need bending only with a very hot blow dryer and some gentle pressure.  No more shrinkage when dried and no more raised grain nor water staining.
Maury

Mine predates yours. Have have model 212...sigh 8-(

Bob, mine is the model 220 also - has the same config shown in your picture

In Bob's 1st photo, to the right of the stand there is a black knob (horizontal - just above and behind the drill), when you loosen that knob it allows the drill to rotate - on my stand that mechanism has "detents" that "click" at different positions as you go around the arc. Never measured the resulting angle(s) but one of them is 90 degrees and one is 45 degrees. Check you model and see if it works the same way. They're like "click stops"

Looking great, Augie. I like the color of the woods.  Gotta be careful with those #11 blades, tho. Their as dangerous as my woodcarving knifes.

Thanks for the comments George, John, Druxey, Greg, Tom, Robin and Nils.
 
 
 
Druxey and Robin - That makes a whole lot of sense now - I don't know why I didn't think of that. A pity that the point wasn't mentioned in either TFFM or Lavery, or not that I could find anyway, or I'd have made it that way. The pic in Lavery is a little clearer now that you've mentioned it, but unfortunately the inner end of the davit fades into the distance and isn't visible for it's full length. I'm in two minds about whether to change it now or not, apart from making a new davit and a 2nd spanshackle ring there's not a lot else to do.
 
 
John - The build logs of people like EdT, Remco, Doris, Jim Lad and others helped to take me to where I am now - I'm sure you'll get there as well if you keep up your good work .
 
 
Not much Tom - I should finish the last of the rigging in the next couple of days, then I have some more detail work fitting the already-made swivel guns, hammock cranes and waist railings, plus a couple of other things like the flags. Then it's on to building the base .
 
 Danny

Augie.... My rule is, any wound that does not require the application of a tourniquet, or a trip to the emergency room for stitches, is nothing more than scratch that, after a few cold beverages, becomes much less painful....

Really nice Mark. I like how you set things up to be inserted later. Smart.
GLakie,
Yep, the pied du roi was 1.066 times the English equivalent. There were 12 pouces (inches) per pied, and 12 linges per pouce. Nothing below that, so the 1/24ths or 1/32nds recorded by the English dockyards are simply artifacts of the difference in measurement systems. And then you get some dockyards using metric and the equivalence matrix gets a bit 'largeur' if you know what I mean.  Woof !
 
Just a couple centimes.
 
John

Like I said, I have an older version Dremel drill stand. Nothing rotates; you have to slide the head completely off the vertical pole and re-attach it in the horizontal position using a different opening in the head. I guess that's why they made a newer version. 8-(

That looks very good.  You will be moving ahead to the fun stuff very soon.     Almost done with the planking.

Excellent work Erik. It looks like your calculations were spot-on from the start - the two remaining planks seem to have the exact gap needed to fill them .
 
 Danny

Sorry to hear about the chiseled finger Augie. The doctor in me is still trying to wrap a mind image around that...
 
...I love the stove too and hope it remains visible somewhat. Even if it doesn't the rest of your build is such beautiful work it may not be missed. 

Hey Augie,
 
Every Boat / Ship I've built carries my DNA, should have learned by now but never seem to.  
 
I hope there wasn't too much damage mate, you only got 8 pints of the red stuff you know.
 
Connie's looking real good mate.
 
Be Good
 
mobbsie

She's a splendor to look at Augie!  I hope there was not too much loss of vital bodily fluid after the mishap.   

Looking great, Augie. I like the color of the woods.  Gotta be careful with those #11 blades, tho. Their as dangerous as my woodcarving knifes.

Looking great, Augie. I like the color of the woods.  Gotta be careful with those #11 blades, tho. Their as dangerous as my woodcarving knifes.

Things have been a bit slow in the yard as the chief shipwright, deciding to use as #11 blade as a chisel, added his DNA to the build.  No major damage but a painful reminder that it's impossible to do the fiddly bits with bandaged fingers.
 
However, we did manage to get a start on the foredeck.  Here, we've added some coamings, companionways, and a second fife rail.  Note the chimney for the stove below.  I love that stove, now 80% invisible.  But we know it's down there !
 
 

It has been a few weeks since I updated the log. The ship continues to take shape. I have completed the deck beams and added the waterways. I used a modified installation slightly different from Gene's practicum. I decided to notch the bottoms of the beams, but notch the waterway for the tops. I bent the wood for most of the waterway, but shaped the bow by cutting the shape out on the bandsaw. Once the waterway was fitted and notched, I shaped the sides to match the ships sides.
I also tested cutting the cannonball cuts using small ball shaped diamond bits in the rotary tool. These seemed to work well. I will plan on adding the pins to the waterway once the cups are all cut. I still have some details on the berth deck that I need to clean up including the sail bin was a bit tall so it has been cut down. I need to redo the sails in the tops of the bin and finish up the cabins. I have been waiting to complete these until I decided how much decking to install. While I would like to leave half the ship open, I also would like to have cannon on each side. Decisions decisions...

When it comes to sanding, filing, or cutting bevels into square pieces of wood, my hand/eye coordination leaves something to be desired.  Although I was looking forward to making the windlass, I felt that I would have to come up with another way of fabricating it.  My solution amounted to what might be called a poor man's milling machine.
   It involved combining my Dremel drill press with my Preac table saw.  The drill press base was clamped to my work table, and the head was rotated 180 degrees.  The Moto tool was set at a 45 degree angle, and a sanding drum was inserted in the chuck.

   The Preac rip fence would be used for making fine adjustments.  A sheet of basswood, with a strip of wood glued to it, would be kept against the fence as it was adjusted.  In the photo, you can see a piece of stock in position, and two lengths of scrap wood that will be used as stops.  The Preac saw isn't absolutely necessary for this procedure, but it really helped.

   Once you have marked off the limits on your stock, it becomes a matter of slowly adjusting the rip fence, until you have the proper depth of cut.  For this initial step, keep your stops set well within the area you will finally want to remove.  Set the stops to their final position, only after the proper depth of cut has been achieved.  On my first effort, I overlooked this detail, and ended up with a bevel that was much too long!

   After finishing my first cuts, I noticed that the sanding drum was leaving deep scratches in the surface of the piece.  I tried sanding them out, but it pretty much defeated the purpose of this whole procedure.  So, I changed over to a Dremel High Speed Cutter, which is sold two to a package.  These worked quite well.

   Once you have beveled all three areas, you can cut off the excess, and use the piece as shown in the kit plans.

   Please note that this last photo was taken before I changed over to the high speed cutter.
 
BobF

Per, I encountered the "problem" with my kit. I searched around in my stash of wood leftover from previous kits until I found some that matched Chuck's plans and ignored MS' instructions.  Worked fine for me once I found the right wood.