Jack12477

Talking about humbling ...

And to show how the port lids fit when installed.
 

 
The blank lids without hinges were positioned first and while they were in....I glued the hinges in without there little pins.   It was easier to line up the hinges visually that way.  At least for me.
 
They are actually working hinges as you can see.  I am pleased with how well the laser board worked for this application.  That is one less element I need to rely on photoetch for in the future.
 

 
Chuck

Here are some photos of the completed cockpit area and the thwart that supports the mast.  Some changes to the cockpit were based on photos of contemporary models.  Apparently, it was quite common for these craft to have additional bracing on the interior side of the transom.  Here is one such model.

If you look closely, you can see a metal plate in the notch that would have supported the anchor davit.  This makes sense since the davit probably exerted considerable stress on the transom while working with the ship's anchor.  Here's my interpretation of that photo:


No modifications to the thwart were made, other than the fact that I substituted boxwood belaying pins for those supplied with the kit.



Some of the thwarts have not been glued in place yet.  I placed them in position for these photos.  I think the additional room will help with the installation of the windlass, which is next.
BobF

Hi Chuck
 
No,you are not crazy for drilling all those holes in the Cheerful,you are just an exalted "Holely Man Builder".
 
As a tool and diemaker one of the first jobs I had as an apprentice was working on die's that punched holes into peg board. They would punch 3 rows of either 3/16" or 1/4" dia. holes on 1 " centers 48" or 72" wide for the hardboard sheets that you buy for your garage to hang tools on.
 
Each die had 102  1-1/4" dia. springs ,that I had to drill the holes for into the dieset 2-1/5" deep. So I have been drilling thousands of holes thru the 44 years that I was a diemaker plus now as a model maker. But now they are quite a bit smaller in diameter. I just sit down and listen to the TV or a CD and get into the land of drilling holes and seeing how close of a perfect pattern that I can make,and just how many holes without breaking a drill bit.
 
On my Royal Caroilne I have drilled over 8,000 holes now of .016 dia. without breaking a drill. And thats drilling into boxwood that has been coated with Testors Dullcote. Not a reacord for me,but just another week in model building.
 
From a fellow "Holely Man" retired Toolmaker
 
Keith from sunny Troutdale,Oregon-going to be 72 today here.

Thank you all for your continued encouragements, and likes
 
Igor that video is just amazing and humbling all at the same time, I don't think I have the patience for something as complex as that. 
 
Well I am back at the library as the home system is still not working, I am told I need to upgrade the service equipment that communicates with the tower!??
 
I have started the work on the valves now. first the wall of the water jacket needed to be relieved a little to clear the .100" coil springs that return the valves after the cams have lifted them.
 
I used a .125" Dremel mill after resetting the indexes so that I could follow the numbers for the drilling.
 

 

 

 
The valves are turned from some 1/8th drill rod /silver steel and the cutter reduced the diameter with a single cut I simply fed the material out of the collet and kept the cutting close to the collet. these two are the first test parts to get the dimensions correct, slide fits etc. and the machining sequences, this is the reason for all the extra bits in the scrap boxes.
 
The valves are .665 long and the stem is .062 the spring keeper section is .047" in diameter just visible on the shorter valve stem.
 

 
While I had the tool set up for cutting the bevel and reducing the diameter at the same time I used the same tool to turn the blank to make the valve seat cutter this is just a bit more complex because it needs to have the cutting faces cut in yet then will be hardened and tempered. It will be used in the drill press to cut the seats.
 

 
the next picture shows the valve pushed in and the flare is visible waiting for the body to be cut.
 

 
The last picture shows just some of the left over bits from all the work so far, in the little drawer marked Skipjack hardware.
I need to sort it all out into one of those plastic bead trays with the curved bottom compartments.
 

 
Michael
 
 

Ah yes Dave, you are taking the weathering to extremes - - - you can now tell people that a seagull flew over and dropped some happiness on the dek 
 
Cheers,

Working on the port lid hinges.
 
Same material for the straps.  The hinge part is made using a micro brass tube that is .7 mm O.D. and .5 mm I.D.  To cut these you must take care.  You just cant use a nippers because it will crush the tubing.
So as shown below,  you insert a piece of 28 gauge wire in the tube.  Then take a sharp #11 blade and just roll it over the tube and it cuts a nice crisp piece perfectly.  Be sure to bend the wire on the end and it will actually catch these little suckers.  They are cut as long as the hinge straps are wide.  Thats microscopic.
 

 
Then you use CA to glue these tube sections onto the ends of the laser cut laserboard hinge straps.  Its easiest to do this with the straps hanging over the edge of a block of wood.   You can hold the strap with your finger while just the end hangs over the block.
 

 
Dont be shy with the CA.  Use a light drop on the end to secure it.  Then add two more drops as successive coats after each dries.
 
Turn it upside down with just the tube hanging over the block and you can sand the hinge strap into the tube so it wont be seen after painting.  Holding the strap under your finger prevents the strap from bending.  Its not as strong as brass.  Once its glued to the port lid it wont matter.  It will be plenty strong as only the tiniest portion will stick out above the top edge of the port lid.  To small to bend.
 
To paint them.  place them on the wire so you can paint without having to hold them.
 

 
Then ....small "L" brackets are made from 28 gauge wire which will create the hinge pin and secure the lid into the hull.   Thats it!!!
 

 
These will be used for the stern port lids.
 

 
 
 
Chuck
 
 

Maury, Thanks,  but ....No,  not at all.  Whats the point of that?   In reality they were let into the keel by about half their thickness.   At least according to Lavery and Goodwin.  Its a detail that wont be seen at all and its a difficult task.  These are just glued right on.  They would still stand proud of the surface of the keel and stern post.
 
Goodwin states that the fish plates and horse shoe plates were about 1" thick and let into the wood by 1/2".  They were fastened with copper bolts from one side through to the other.   
 
What did they do later when hull's were plated?  There is no real source as to how it was done.  It makes sense that they would simply let them into the wood by the full thickness. But I have never found any hard and fast source about it.  They werent let in completely on the Victory and she was plated.  But I would like to add two points.  Just so folks know where my head is at with such minutia.  I get asked a lot about some of these details and this is actually one of them.
 
I have no record that Cheerful was actually plated anyway to add another complication.  I imagine at this time most ships were but I am not sure if it was reserved for larger vessels only.  I have never seen a period cutter model plated and havent read that in general they were not, saying that I would not have plated this model anyway.
 
In addition,  that is such a small detail that I am not real worried about it either way.  When I weigh the pro's and con's..even the best model builders have trouble doing this.  I have seen some attempts by the best and it still looks sloppy to me. I applaud them trying but in reality dont understand why they would even try.  I would rather bend a bit on the accuracy here if its actually the case and opt for a cleaner crisp look.  Something that was regularly done by contemporary ship modelers.  Not every detail has to be executed.  Just my thoughts as I look for another excuse not to make any more rope today.  So please excuse the longer response as I procrastinate a bit more.  Sometimes I laugh softly to myself when I see the level of detail some builders insist on trying to put on their models.  Just my opinion.
 
Having said that.  I made the mistake of adding up the number of treenails on this hull.  Its about 6500.   I drilled 6500 holes.  So although I am a bit crazy as most non-modellers tell me,  I think there are even a few others that have gone a bit further off the deep end.   I am not there yet.
 
So Maury..... long story short.  Thats a ride on the crazy train I am not willing to take just yet.   But knock yourself out and give it a try.
 
Chuck

My preferred support when planking is single malt whisky.

I just installed the "VIP" seating on the jolly boats. The rowers are next. Notice my self drawn pencil sketched plans. Constucto doesn't show boats hanging from davits, so I'm on my own. I looked at several books on ship's small boats and came up with this plan.

My little shop pal "Smokey" spends most of the time roaming around the shop floor looking for something wood to tear up.
So I leave the ship yard to do a quick run to the grocery store for the Admiral.... forgot to put him in his mansion.... and here's what I find upon my return. 
Little thanks for allowing him to hang out with me, huh?

And since I be explainin' things, I really should briefly mention the lines that I didst be using  .... 
 
Each sail doth have:
(i) a tack line (at foot)
(ii) a clew line (also at the foot of the sail)
(iii) a lift (running through upper block on each mast)
(iv) two bunt-lines (running through blocks attached to the spars)
 
These are in addition to a pair of back-stays for each mast. This gives a total of 14 lines to be tied off, with the kit supplying 20 belaying pins.

Most verily, CaptainSteve doest not get to spend-eth much time a-modellin’ throughout the week …
 
“At best, I be casting a most critical eye o’er work done thus far,” he didst begineth. “And, on occasion, I has been known to take-eth up me knife and remove-eth that which doth displease-eth me.”
However, with this build (finally) reaching its’ end-game, over these last few days Our Hero didst findeth a few minutes to work on a-fashioning his boat’s rigging lines.
 
"I didst use-eth the kit supplied belaying pins," he were to offer. "Here they be a-soakin' in vinegar to weather 'em a little." 

 
Now, many o’ ye may-est be aware that CaptainSteve be not in truth the Old Salt what ‘is name doth suggest.
“As such,” he didst plead-eth, “I wouldst be most grateful for any comments and suggestions regarding the following series o’ pictures.”
 
“Well, here they be …”

"I do-est wish to give-eth a sense o' the working rigging," Our Hero were to drone on. "Further, adding bunt-lines didst help-eth to gi' me sails a billowed look."
 

Note: Despite the way they look 'ere, there be no lines attached to the tholes.
 

By way of explanation, Our Hero forgot to mention that these lines (wi’ the exception o’ the back-stays) can be untied and moved, if the Horde doest think it necessary.

I am sure by now everyone is sitting on edge of chair for first start up, perhaps make it a live event with the "Live stream" app, beer and crisps ready, see if it runs?

I started building two jolly boats for the port and starboard davits. Even though I started with two aluminum cast shells from BlueJacket, There's a lot more work than meets the eye. The shells were a perfect size and shape with nice detail, but they required some "Dremel sculpting" to get them just right. I just finished the floor decking and will start on the seating, oars, block and tackle etc.

Michael,
 
100% agree with Patrick & Carl. I, as I'm sure many others are, am continually awestruck by your machining and manufacturing talents - not wishing to repeat myself, but if I could acquire just 10%, actually scratch that, just 1% of your skills my abilities would improve no end!!
 
This incredible creation is getting dangerously close to completion and I'm finding it increasingly difficult to contain thoughts of 'when's it going to run?'. Conversely, there'll be a part of me that'll be sad to see it finished; reading of your thoughts & processes has been hugely rewarding and educational and I'll definitely miss the ongoing instructive prose.
 
Anyway, keep up the phenomenal work!
 
Regards,
 
Row

Thanks to all for the likes and comments
 
Today I mounted the waterpump with 4 00x90 hex bolts
 

 
The other milestone was to finally get the head mounted.
 

 
and made a spark plug wrench.
 

 

 

 
Michael

You are referring to the rudder port?.......No special technique really.  I will just drill a pilot hole as large as my preferred needle file.  Then I will slowly enlarge it to shape.   Its interseting to note that the stern post should have extended through the counter as well.  I designed it so another small piece will be glued inboard to fake it.   No one will ever know.  In fact it will look like you have the tightest planking joints around the stern post to allow it to pass through so nicely.
 
Chuck
 

The planking is done.  When I made the keel I made it from two pieces of wood so they would join at the rabbet line.  The portion that was attached to the bulkheads was 1/16’ thick so that with a  1/32” plank on each side it would be the same as the 1/8” outer portion of the keel. 
 
After the planking was finished the rough edges at the keel were sanded down to the keel.

 
The keel was then fitted over the planked hull.

 
With the bulkheads removed you can see the lower portions that were left to be the floors.

 
Since I plan on painting the hull I covered it with filler and sanded it smooth.

 
Now it's ready for the deck framing.

 
Bob

The port side is done and treenailed. I also made the horse shoe plates for the stem and keel plate at the stern.  These were laser cut from laserboard.  I painted and glued them on.  They have little holes cut through them as you can see.  The beauty of that is after gluing them with yellow glue and placing them on the model....a little bit of glue seeps through the holes and forms a nail head.  But if you dont want to do that,  you can drill through the holes with a #78 bit and insert some 28 gauge wire as bolt heads.  ....Or   just leave it as is.  I will be drilling and inserting the wire as bolt heads later on.  Also all of the fancy molding is in position that I want to add at this point.   Now its time to thin down the bulwarks inboard.  FUN ....FUN!!! 
 
Chuck
 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for all the many likes and fine comments .
 
"How do you hold on to tiny round metal pieces when you are assembling? I've had a problem lately with the tips of tweezers pinching round or small metal pieces and launching them to some parallel dimension."
 
I use a variety of fine tipped tweezers like these
 

 
I started working on the pump body and decided a a different approach than the first one.
First I parted off a disc of brass from some 3/8 bar stock to make the base sheetthis was drilled for a clearance for a 2x56 allen head cap screw, this was then bolted to a piece of maple and set up in the mill to drill and tap 1x72 which is .073" in diameter. My reason for parting off some rod is that the machining qualities of the bar stock are much better that the .025" sheet, the bar stock being free machining and the sheet rather gummy.
 

 

 
The plate was then fitted with some .073" rod that had been threaded and drilled out to .047" which will let me use some 00x90 bolts to fix it to the crank case
 

 
The next picture shows the body temporarily positioned, because the tubes are threaded into the back plate and I want the whole assembly to look like a casting I will solder the lot together.
 

 
The back plate still need some final shaping, I will do that after it is one piece.
 
That's about it for today.
 
Michael

Here are a couple pictures of work in progress. The display case will have a door (with more glass) to the left and the top will also have a pane of glass. The grey background is a piece of fabric glued to a 1/4 inch piece of plywood. 
 
I still need to mount the boats, rig the braces, make a new base and generally clean things up before I can call it done.
  

Chapter 8 – coppering the hull
 
Prior to coppering the hull I need to make the stamps for the simulated nail heads in the copper plates.  I will be using the nail pattern that Chuck shows in the instructions for the port and starboard plates and after studying Dirk’s (Dubz) build I will be making two additional stamps for the port and starboard dressing belts.  The patterns were drawn to 3/16” scale using AutoCAD.
 

 
For the pins I used 26 gauge Lancets, bought at Wal-Mart, as mentioned in Richard’s (rtropp) and Thomas’s (Gahm) builds.  I went with the thicker 26 gauge lancets and not the 30 gauge as Thomas used because I wasn’t showing as many nails he did.  Extracting the needle from the plastic holder proved to be a challenge and what I finally did was; using my propane torch I heated the metal tip thus softening the plastic around the needle so it could be pulled out easier.  Disclaimer:  If you use this technique please be aware that the plastic does burn so use caution and have a cup of water on hand to place the plastic holder in.
 
 

 
I used some scrap poplar to make the stamp and cut it to the dimensions shown in the instructions.  I glued the nail pattern on it as a guide and then I got to use the Christmas present from the Admiral (Proxxon drill press with compound table).
 
 

 
 
After drilling all the holes I inserted the pins and glued them in.  Prior to inserting them I did cut about a ¼” off the needles (sharp end) so they wouldn’t stick out so much.  One modification I made to the stamp was to attach an X-Acto chisel blade to one end of the stamp at the same height as the pins.  I believe it’s a #17 blade and it fit the ¼” wide stamp perfectly.  I attached the blade to mark the copper where I would need to make the cut for the individual plates, I found however that by applying just the right amount of force the blade will cut the copper but not the paper backing.  I also made the opening in the jig a 1/16” larger to account for the blade thickness.
 
 

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 115 – Rudder, Miscellaneous
 
The first picture shows the last bit of work on the interior cabin deck detailing.
 

 
The curved seat/partition separates the cabin from the stern framing and leaves room for the rudder shaft.  All of this structural work aft of the partition will be hidden under poop decking.  As can be seen in a later picture, I decided to cover this rather austere seat with some upholstery.
 
With this in place the framing of the poop deck could be completed, including the fitting of the aft mooring bits and the boomkins shown in the next picture.
 

 
These are 12" x 12" timbers, tied together and into stout carlings that I reinforced with knees as shown.
 
The helm port was previously drilled through the framing but now had to be drilled through the bottom planking and sized for the 16" diameter rudder shaft.  After drilling a pilot hole, the center of the full hole could be set with a still wire through the gudgeons as shown below.
 

 
The hole was carefully enlarged with round files to fit the rudder.  The next picture shows the rudder hinges being fitted.
 

 
The gunstock shaped rudder rotates on the axis of the wire in the previous photo.  The top gudgeon has been added over the paint.  The hinges were fit one-at-a-time.  The masking tape is to keep the woodwork clean of metal dust.
 
The dry transfer stern lettering can be seen in this picture.  It is not yet finished.  The G, C and K need to be replaced and I am awaiting delivery of some more letters.  However, the picture below shows what it will look like.
 

 
I say what it "will" look like.  In the interest of full disclosure, I did a small amount of "photo shopping" on the three broken letters so I could use this picture.  Please excuse this.  The letters are quite small – 3/32" and 1/16".  When I get the replacement letters and successfully (hopefully) place them, the lettering will be sealed – probably with acrylic sanding sealer.  Right now they are easily scraped off.  I did a lot of that.
 
The next picture shows the fabrication of the iron rudder preventer in progress.
 

 
There are four parts – silver soldered.  It has rather long horns.  These have been rough shaped.  The strapping still has to be thinned down and drilled for bolts.
 
The blackened preventer can be seen below on the installed rudder.
 

 
The preventer was blackened with WinOx.  I have now disposed of all my remaining blue stuff in favor of this.
 
The rudder post in the next picture will be cut down later.
 

 
The mooring bits and boomkins are being shaped in this picture.  I found it easier to do this after installation – using rounded files.
 
The last picture shows the present state of the stern.
 

 
The poop deck is now ready for its two skylight coamings and decking.  Note that the portholes have been installed,   All of the work on the lower hull is now complete and it has been finished with wax.
 
Ed

Hi Mark, usually the very tip is set  the drill stated diameter and at the end of the flutes at the top of the shank the diameter is a bit smaller, at least that is what I have found. Had I wanted the hole to be exactly .25 I would have either drilled it 1/64th smaller them reamed it or bored it out and measured it with some telescoping gauges.  Measuring a drill across the tip is a bit tricky a micrometer seems to work best for me.
 
To get a good tight fit with the larger drills I usually drill them out with a smaller drill first say 1/16 or so smaller then drill with the size that I am wanting. with the smaller drills in wood I find that the wood sometimes has a tendency to form a hole that is a smidgen smaller than the drill almost as if the wood is springy and that the fibres are pushed aside a little as well as cut. This is more pronounced when using regular general purpose drill bits. the specially ground Forstner bits cut the fibres about the perimeter first befor the body of the drill removes the bulk of the material.
 
Michael