Jack12477

Superlative job of machining, Mike. Looks really good. I'm really enjoying your build.

You can also use the cardboard from a paper tablet (the real tablet not the computer type) to hone a knife blade. Works even better with some sharpening compound dusted onto the cardboard.

Steve, Carl thanks for your thoughts , and thanks you to all who added a like.
 
Carl the real engine is actually quite a small one.
 
 
Steve, My plan is to have it as a slow running engine am thinking that I will weight the flywheel with some lead in the outer area to give it more mass.
 
My silver soldering was a great success..... not so with the clean up
 

 
look at the upper right hand con rod bearing!
 

 
Yup made the classic mistake of beginning to cut out the wrong piece
 
I went ahead and cleaned it up because after letting the universe know what a silly move it was with a little colourful language, I wanted to see how the shaft fit and can also use it as a placeholder to test fit the con-rods and pistons knowing that I do have to build a new one.
 

 
I was pleased that it did not warp and and my method of setting up the parts and pre-placing the solder by wrapping very fine strips around the shafts outside of the actual bearing surfaces worked very well. I turned up some sacrificial pins that were the same diameter as the spaces between the plates to hold things in line. after cleaning it up and placing it into the bearings the shaft spun nicely between my fingers.
 

 

 
Next on to the con rods and Pistons.
 
Michael
 
 

Phil,
 
As has been said many times before.... go buy your own curling iron.  The Admirals don't appreciate us messing with their "tools".  Better yet, find the one of the Admiral's you want and go buy her the new one and swap.  Small price to pay for "peace in our time". 
 
Ulises is correct.  For hardwoods, they need soaking.  Exceptionally hardwoods like ebony will need repeated soakings and bendings.

Soak them, the wrap in a wet (not dripping) paper towel. It will depend upon the power level of the microwave for the amount of time needed.   Test on some scrap if at all possible, first.   The basic problem though, is the length of the planks and I suggest using the turntable to evenly distribute the microwave energy.
 
Oh.. and get the Admiral's okie-dokie lest you be consigned to picking oakum and eating bread and water. 

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 98 – Planksheer / Main Rail continued
 
The planksheer rail around the stern was made from hard maple.  Although the remainder of the rail is Castelo, my stock was too old and dry to bend around to the required curve.  No problem with the maple.  All the maple will be painted.  In the first picture the section around the stern has been formed and is being beveled to fit against the slanting frame timbers.
 

 
In the next picture the rail is being positioned and pinned at the proper heights using the height gauge.
 

 
This fitting took some time.  The bevel of the rail is most pronounced at the very stern and is vertical at the forward ends of the piece.  With the pins setting the heights, the rail was glued into place as shown below.
 

 
Lots of clamps required for this.
 
There was a lot of waiting during the forming and gluing of the stern rail, so work continued concurrently at the bow.  In the next picture, planking above the main rail is proceeding.
 

 
Space has been left for the main rail itself.  This will be installed after it and the surrounding planking are painted – as described earlier.  In the next picture all of this planking has been treenailed.
 

 
Once the planksheer rail around the stern was installed, the rail was continued forward on the port side.  In the next picture it is held in position with pins and is being glued.
 

 
Planking of the upper sides will now continue up to the top rail – the fancy rail.
  
Ed

The reason most modelers ask how you do something is because it looks good and it might be easier then the way they are doing it.
 
Bob

Michael, you will have heard the expression "to sleep on it" it works and a good sleep has helped solve some of the trickier issues with my schooner.
 
A note on polishing the internal metalwork, I'm reminded of the story of a car maker in the UK that prides itself on quality, they needed to start making auto gearboxes and bought one with a good reputation and reverse engineered it but being the fastidious types they are they machined the entire inside of the cast housing which the original maker omitted doing. Gearbox after gearbox failed until they sought the help of the original manufacturer who told them simply, "don't machine the inside of the case. The rough casting stops oil running quickly down and causes it to drip onto the mechanisms which helps lubricate it all".
 
Now the truth of this story, I can't be sure of, but I would imagine you might be better off not polishing surfaces that don't need to be.

Machining like that is something I only dream about.
 
Bob

Michael,
 
From my hot rodding days, it might... maybe... hope... be easier to fabricate it.  As I recall, on the machined ones the billet had to be ground on a special crankshaft lathe.  No matter what you decide, I can't wait to see what you do and how you do it.  This is some beautiful mill work.

Thanks for all the likes today.
 
I reached a milestone today and got the main bearings roughed in.
 
First I machined up the keeper blocks. and some studs.
 

 

 
Assembled them in order to ream them for the 1/8th shaft.
 

 
I thought it best to use the hand reamer rather than setting it up in the mill for the machine reamer.
 

 
After thinning down the area on the upper crankcase it all went together quite nicely. and the shaft rotates easily.
 

 
I am still deciding whether to fabricate the crankshaft or machine it from solid bar, either way it will be tricky.
 
Michael
 
 

Journeyman???  I'm just a mere apprentice still. 
 
After singing a chorus of "Alice's Restaurant" yesterday and a Thanksgiving meal that couldn't be beat... I got to spend time in the shipyard.. yippiee.
 
I've cut, shaped, and installed two more timbers.  Seems that all the curved timbers from port to starboard have different curves and one is canted at about 45 degree angle from the waterline.  I'm not sure why.   The two finally fitted are for the upper and lower sills for the lights. The top sill timber is also the last deck beam for the quarterdeck.  The lower sill is hidden behind the planking.  
 
I still need to fair these two before I go much further.   There's two more sets of timbers, one is for the counter and the other is for the taffrail to sit on.
 
Anyway, here's the picture I took for my checking as the camera shows more than the human eye (to me anyway).  I'm pleased with these two timbers and well turn to on fairing them in and trimming down the lower sill timber.

 

Thanks to all the builders who pushed the like button.
 
Denis, I am learning a lot about engines myself at the moment.
 
Steve yes I am going to make the reverse mechanism as well.
 
Today this morning I was drawing up the feed-water pump, I ended up finding a good internal design in one of my old Model Engineer mags page 1265 October 1981 for a 3 1`/2 inch gauge Stanier 8F. I will need to make it smaller but the design will fit into the pipes that are on the prototype buffalo which pumps off the camshaft like this one on the Old Marine engine site
 
I worked on the pan today and roughed out the half round bottoms for the crankshaft and drilled and tapped all the 0x80 holes for the studs.
 

 
I looked at all my stashes of steel wire and rods looking for some .060 to make the steel 0x80 studs from. I could not find any that was exactly .060"
I then came across a most unlikely source, the re-bar ties left over from building the house just happened to be .060 the stuff threaded up a treat. had to make a small open ended wrench to get to the valve side because of the overhang.
 

 
Did a test fit of the crankcase and pan and water-jacket, it all slipped together nicely. It has really helped with the accuracy of cutting and drilling to set up the dial calipers on the mill, and working from  a 0 centre 
 
Michael
 
 
 

A few more pics.
 
 Bob R.

Nothing left but the oars.
 
   Bob R.

Jack excellent recovery!  I'm glad you were able to sort out wetting them with the sponge and bending them back one at a time.  I hope for your sake either the admiral agreed to giving you the cosmetic sponge or she never finds out 

Floyd, thanks for the encouragement. Yes, I was pretty tempted to just pitch the thing in the trash can.  But slow progress is being made.
 
As I said in an earlier post, I took one of my admiral's cosmetic sponges and cut it into narrow strips of varying lengths. I then soak then in water and lay them along the length of the plank(s) I need to re-bend and re-attach, let then soak for hours before attempting to bend them back into place.
 
The attached photos show the current progress:
 
First set re-attached and held by clamps

 
After removing the clamps:
 

 
Now soaking the remaining planks:
 

 
The last plank on the left side in photo will be either re-attached (I saved it) or a new one fashioned to fill the gap.
Then I can hopefully pick up where I left off without any more stupid mistakes.
 
Happy Thanksgiving to all my American modellers. It's time to get out of the shipyard and go "get stuffed"

Jack - Before I found this forum and the local club I now belong too. I had several frustrating events. Three times this led to a Viking burial. Having other modelers to share you failures and triumphs with has kept me from another "burial".

Ed hopefully the next set of pictures will clarify my description. Mark well it is not a complete machine job there is some soldering however I did not want to anneal the brass that has the bearings braces so opted for soft solder which will be more than adequate for the oil pan.
 
The first picture shows the material being removes that will become the hollow areas'some parts were machined by the numbers and the bulk was just milled away by eyeballing it.
 

 
Next the 1/32 thick sheet was annealed and curved over a steel bar.
 

 
It took a while to get it fitted cleanly, the flat area on the middle bearing wall is to allow the oil to pass through to equalize both chambers.
 

 
The next picture shows the assembled parts cleaned up a bit getting ready to do the soldering.
 

 
Resting the upper part of the crankcase to see the overall scope of the whole engine.
 

 
In the next picture you can see the central cross member.
 

 

 
There is still a fair bit of cleaning up to do but I am generally pleased with the progress.
 
Again thanks to all who have looked in and pressed the like button.
 
Michael
 
 

Floyd, thanks for the encouragement. Yes, I was pretty tempted to just pitch the thing in the trash can.  But slow progress is being made.
 
As I said in an earlier post, I took one of my admiral's cosmetic sponges and cut it into narrow strips of varying lengths. I then soak then in water and lay them along the length of the plank(s) I need to re-bend and re-attach, let then soak for hours before attempting to bend them back into place.
 
The attached photos show the current progress:
 
First set re-attached and held by clamps

 
After removing the clamps:
 

 
Now soaking the remaining planks:
 

 
The last plank on the left side in photo will be either re-attached (I saved it) or a new one fashioned to fill the gap.
Then I can hopefully pick up where I left off without any more stupid mistakes.
 
Happy Thanksgiving to all my American modellers. It's time to get out of the shipyard and go "get stuffed"

Jack, that is looking so much better. I am glad you didn't give up. Enjoy your Thanksgiving, don't eat to much bird. We are having Alaskan fresh water salmon instead of the bird.

Floyd, thanks for the encouragement. Yes, I was pretty tempted to just pitch the thing in the trash can.  But slow progress is being made.
 
As I said in an earlier post, I took one of my admiral's cosmetic sponges and cut it into narrow strips of varying lengths. I then soak then in water and lay them along the length of the plank(s) I need to re-bend and re-attach, let then soak for hours before attempting to bend them back into place.
 
The attached photos show the current progress:
 
First set re-attached and held by clamps

 
After removing the clamps:
 

 
Now soaking the remaining planks:
 

 
The last plank on the left side in photo will be either re-attached (I saved it) or a new one fashioned to fill the gap.
Then I can hopefully pick up where I left off without any more stupid mistakes.
 
Happy Thanksgiving to all my American modellers. It's time to get out of the shipyard and go "get stuffed"

Floyd, thanks for the encouragement. Yes, I was pretty tempted to just pitch the thing in the trash can.  But slow progress is being made.
 
As I said in an earlier post, I took one of my admiral's cosmetic sponges and cut it into narrow strips of varying lengths. I then soak then in water and lay them along the length of the plank(s) I need to re-bend and re-attach, let then soak for hours before attempting to bend them back into place.
 
The attached photos show the current progress:
 
First set re-attached and held by clamps

 
After removing the clamps:
 

 
Now soaking the remaining planks:
 

 
The last plank on the left side in photo will be either re-attached (I saved it) or a new one fashioned to fill the gap.
Then I can hopefully pick up where I left off without any more stupid mistakes.
 
Happy Thanksgiving to all my American modellers. It's time to get out of the shipyard and go "get stuffed"

Ryan, thanks for taking the time to post your photos. I'll have to recheck my garboard plank measurements and compare them to your photos.Your planking looks much better than mine. 
 
Right now I'm on hold waiting for a response from Model Expo on my email request for parts replacement. While I'm waiting, I am looking at alternative solutions.
 
Trying to disassemble this mess will probably break the false keel and/or frames. I've already had to completely reattach the stern and get all the planks reattached to it. I installed cross-braces between each frame to keep the frames from breaking but in the process broke the tip off the bow stem (the bow filler block delaminated and in reclamping it broke the stem tip). There is a "spare" bow stem included in the kit so I can use that but I'm afraid unglueing the installed one will totally destroy it. I may do a cut/paste splice from the spare to the attached one.
 
One solution I'm going to try is to take some cut up strips of sponge (from wife's make-up kit) and soak them in water and them lay them on the planks to see if I can "soften" the planks and  get them reattached.  Or maybe I can just detach the planks entirely and install new ones. If not I guess I'll have to start over. I'm trying to use the CA as little as possible and stick with the Carpenters yellow wood glue, which is my preferred glue.
 
Either way I'm going to be in the shipyard for a while figuring out a solution.
 
Here's photos of the "mess":




 
Thanks for your advice, it is much appreciated.
 

Thanks, everyone - on Thanksgiving morning - that means I have chores to do.
 
Druxey, I will not hide the fact that it was only a lot of checking.  There was some remedial rework - and as always with rework, some lessons learned.  One is that (if I do this again)  I will always leave generous excess in the lengths of the top timbers - as they did in the shipyards.
 
Thanks, Maury.  The only thing I know about patience is that I haven't got a lot of it.
 
Again, Happy Thanksgiving, all.