Ryland Craze

I have been using my electric plank bender for over 20 years and would be lost without it.  I did buy a solid state soldering iron control unit to be able to adjust the temperature.  Over time i have accumulated a number of forms I use to control the shape and I have also managed to burn myself a number of times.  
 
Not only do I use it for bending, it is quite useful as an aid for setting the PVA glue quicker. For example, when planking, I will use soak the plank and use the bender and forms to approximate the shape I want.  I then coat the back of the plank with PVA as well as place some drops of CA on the frames or bulkheads where the plank will reside. Using the CA eliminates needing clamps or nails to hold it in place.  Once the plank is in place I then run the bender over it to heat up the plank and speed up the drying of the PVA and getting a good seam with the plank already in place.  Using that method there is no wait time between applying planks and if done carefully, it helps to eliminate a lot of the bulges and dips that seem to occur between planks.

Got a new toy today! Would be used for the next project
Frankly, I thought this micro band saw is smaller. It is a 8kg thing that occupies half of the table! But the quality is really good, so far I'm pretty happy. Let's see how it will manage a sawdust generation on a large scale.
 

Well, I've made a little bit of progress.
 
Got the thwarts installed.  
 
Here's the hull after the first coat of poly.  
 
It's not as "glossy" as in the images, but I'm gonna use a little steel wool, when it's finally completely dry.
I've noticed that putting enamel (testors) over the stain (minwax) extends the dry time from hours to days.  Is that common?
 
Maybe I should be using acrylics?

So back on the real topic, I sanded the planking and now I'm in the process of cutting out the gun ports. A piece of sanding paper on a stick makes the process a little easier. The sweep ports will be a different challenge....
 

 

 
Remco

I got into a couple of those days when I just couldn't stop and completed all of the internal bulwark planking for the quarterdeck, including the transom. I also did the deck margin planks and waterways. The bulwark planking and waterways are boxwood and the deck planking is holly. I followed my usual procedure on this build with pencil "caulking" and golden oak filler "treenails".
 
I'm going to do the center strip of deck planking before making a decision on how much more planking to do for gun mounting. I've narrowed it down to three choices: all of the guns on one side and none on the other; all of the guns on one side and a couple on the other side; a couple of guns on each side.
 
Bob
 

Just did my first ever seizing even though it took 5 attempts to get it halfway right.
 

A long time distracted and then rigging guns but here they are. Remaining deck furniture up next including bitts, pumps, QD barricade and the tiller housing.

Channels and chainplates under construction. The facing on the outside was 2mm walnut, the 1.5mm recommended in the kit seems too narrow.


Facing yet to be trimmed but here is a problem in the offing- one of the sweep ports on the main channel on the starboard side is too far to the rear. As a result it's partially obstructing the chain plate. It's not quite as bad as it appears on the pic as the chain will be slanted further aft but it looks a little awkward compared to the others. The port side is fine but I'm wondering how I got one positioned about 4mm off.
Tomorrow I might shave the port lid and hinge off and see if I can shift it forward a couple of millimeters without exposing the port hole.
Any other suggestions welcome.

Ah, well Bindy, if the blue planks worried you, wait until you see my artificial seaweed attempts!     BTW, if you're serious about not seeing my oops, just click on the image, and you'll get a large view, that will reveal all!
 
This was the situation approaching the final belts of planks:
 

 
 

 
 
As the practicum suggested, I next used a 1/4" plank at the keel (others were 3/16" up to now).  I was left with space for 3 rows of planks.  Because I was staggering the joins every third row, it was simple to line up this row:
 

 
 
I managed to avoid any stealers at the stern, by occasionally cheating and cutting down a 1/4" plank, instead of 3/16" ones.  Again, this resulted in a couple of skinny areas, but I got there:
 

 
 

 
 
The green bits are vinyl glove remnants that pulled off with the CA I was using.  Not seaweed.
 
Tip for Australians - Parfix CA sticks badly to vinyl gloves (don't bother with latex!!!!).  The home brand CA from Woolies is more forgiving.  And don't use the runny Reject Shop $2 packs, either.
 
Now it's time to sand and see.
 
Cheers,
 
Brett
 
5 weeks to retirement, but who's counting?

Another few items completed in the waist. I've made and installed the hatch, the barricade and the two ladders.The hatch has a boxwood coaming and uses the kit laser cut grating. The barricade is made up from boxwood posts and the laser cut cross piece from the kit. Using the kit part simplified things considerably, because it has the square holes for the posts cut in it. I chose to paint this assembly black and pinned and glued it to the deck. The ladders are boxwood. 
 
This completes the work in the waist, with the exception of the waist rails which are very fragile and will be left for a later time. I'm now working on the quarter deck area, doing the limited deck planking and the bulwark planking.
 
Bob

Windlass is going to take a while.  These parts are very small for my giant and clumsy hands. 
 

 

 
Here is the main hatch grating before final finish sanding.
 

Hi All, I have been plugging away at the port side planking. I have completed most of the first l
ayer of planking and given it a quick sanding with some 120 grit sandpaper. Once it is finished I'll
sand it down to 400 grit and then add the second layer for the wales.
Then it's over to the starboard side!
 

 

 
It's always slow going this time of year but that's ok.

New Pic.
 
Got the floors, platforms, rear bulkhead, risers, and paint done.
 
Never did like the color red, so I darkened it up a bit.  I think this is more in keeping with the service look I want for the boat.  Don't know yet if I'm gonna put the white below the water line.  Even if I do, it's gonna be scuffed looking.
 
So anyway,
 

 
Forgot to say, I cheated on the platforms.  Kept breaking them so used one piece of 3/16 and scribed the lines.  

Here is a shameful workaround for a tricky area, where false keel meets with rear frames:

 
And also not sure why I have that stealer plank there... At some point I forgot about shaping planks to reference lines at the stern, and decided that it is a good idea to practice a proper stealer plank

 
Current state of the hull, around half of planking is completed:

 
Discovered that scraping the boxwood hull is much better then sanding it. The more I plank with boxwood, the more I like it!

When I was stationed at the Submarine Base in Groton Ct. We were members of the Seaport and most weekends would find us roaming the grounds. I got to Groton as a 2nd Class Torpedoman and left as a Chief. I sorta grew up on the Morgan you might say. To see this build leaves me yearning for the days when my children were young and on cool fall days we would sit on the grass, eat clam fritters and watch the ship.
You are doing so a wonderful job my friend. I hope I learn as much as you have forgotton.
 
 
Chief

Welcome to the Brig "Fair American" circa 1780 build log,
 
Continuing with hull assembly and fairing, key points include:
 
>>> Keel reinforcing pieces were added in way of pedestal holes
>>> Keel reinforcing pieces were added in way of mast steps
>>> Deck fillers were added to support plank ends outboard
>>> Deck fillers were added to support plank ends in way of hatches
>>> Hull planking reinforcing pieces were added in way of chain plates
>>> Bow/stern filler blocks were fitted after initial hull fairing
>>> Knight heads/timberheads fwd were fitted after initial hull fairing
>>> Initial hull fairing was accomplished with #80 grit sand paper wrapped around 1 1/4" and 1 1/2" dowels
>>> Final hull fairing was accomplished with #120 & #150 sand paper wrapped around 1 1/4" and 1 1/2" dowels
>>> Hull fairing was checked with flexible battens (1/16" & 3/32" strip wood)
>>> Waterline templates were used in hull fairing fwd
>>> Buttock templates were used in hull fairing aft
>>> During fairing process; stem, keel, and stern post were protected with blue painters tape
>>> Deck surface was faired with flexible sanding sticks
 
Pete Jaquith
Shipbuilder

Welcome to the Brig "Fair American" circa 1780 build log,
 
To evaluate construction details, bulwark height, and paint collors I decided to build a test piece of the main deck and bulwark from Station 2 to 4.8 starboard.  Key points include:
 
>>> Test piece includes deck, bulwark, and hull planking Station 2 to 4.8 starboard
>>> Test piece includes (2) cannons and cannon tackle
>>> Deck planking 1/16" x 3/16" (9" planks) with hooked scarfs
>>> Deck, bulwark, and hull planking widths representative of period practice 
>>> Deck scupper 5/64" thin wall brass tubing
>>> Paint is Floquil model railroad acrylic colors
>>> Bulwark height increased ~3/32" to accomodate cannon assemblies
 
Pete Jaquith
Shipbuilder

Alan,
 
If you are near Washington DC, you should take the short trip over to Annapolis, Maryland.  On the grounds of the US Naval Academy, they have the United States Naval Academy Museum.  It has two floors loaded with ship models.  On the second floor is the Henry Huddleston Rogers Ship Model Collection.  Here are two links regarding the Museum.
 
http://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/612-the-rodgers-collection-at-annapolis/
 

I've been away from my log way to long, vacation, sickness and other projects kept me away from my Kingfisher. Time for an update, although a little off topic. I wasn't very pleased with the storage space I made under my workbench so it was time for a big upgrade. More drawers and a sliding platform to keep the power tools within practical reach. Always nice to do a full size project. Here's before, during and after.
 

 

 

 

 
Stay tuned for updates on the KF
 
Remco
 
 

I've got the oarlocks installed.
 
I made a little jig to consistently space and trim them.  Looking at the plans, they're 3/32" tall, so I glued three pieces of 1/32" stock together.
 

 
Then I drilled some holes in it at the correct spacing, per the plans.
 

 
Then I pushed some pins through the whole thing.
 

 
This allowed me to maintain the proper spacing between the two pieces of the oarlocks and line them up athwartships so they'll be symetrical.  I just pushed the pins lightly into the cap rail where I wanted the holes and then drilled them out to accept the wire used for the oarlocks.  There's not much thickness to that caprail, so a light touch is needed.  Otherwise, you'll go right through it!  (Trust me, I know...)
 
Once that was done, I just glued -- with a little CA -- lengths of wire into the holes.
 

 

 
Once they were in, I removed the pins and slipped the jig over the long wires.  That did a few things for me.  First, it allowed me to trim them all off to the same length.  Second, when you snip the wires, they look like they've been snipped off!  They don't have a nice, round cross section like a real oarlock would.  They're fragile, though, so you can't just file them without breaking them off.  With the jig, you can.  Snip them to the right length and then use a file to file them down to the final length and finish.
 

 
That's all for that little part of the project.
 
One other thing...
 
When I finished trimming all the oarlocks down, they looked longer than they should have been.  Sure enough, when I measured them, they were closer to 4/32" than 3/32".  Turns out, the sheer of the caprail raised my little jig just a tiny amount, so, even though the jig is the right thickness, it produced an oarlock slightly longer than I wanted.  I knocked one of the layers off the jig and went back through all the oarlocks and trimmed them again.  After that, they were all 3/32" long, even using a 2/32" thick jig.  Go figure.
 
 
 
Dan
 

Great idea Dan. You are teaching me alot.
David B

Little update for you,
 
Chuck - the first picture shows that I took your suggestion to heart.  You're right (course I expected that ), looks much better.  
 
Second and third simply show the frieze and the stern deco.
 
Cap rail change per Chucks suggestion  
 
Just the side frieze  
 
Just the stern (got too close)  
 
Painting tomorrow but don't expect it to look new.  As I've said I want it to look "used".

Pops
 
Looking good.  You are in a good position to take that cap rail and just thin it down considerably at the bow.   That extra piece you added will not be necessary at all.  Just carefully thin down the caprail to remove what I have shown below.   Then also thin down the frames in that area as well.  Dont be afraid to weaken the hull.  It will be quite sturdy.  Just thin it out.  It will make a huge difference.
 
Chuck
 

Hi Toni:
Just now finding this amazing build. Returning to my shop after a two year break, it just seems like the craft has been taken to a whole new level by artists such as yourself....or I was simply too busy with my own builds to browse around and see the great work of others. Either way, I am really enjoying it now, as never before.
Your joinery skills are superb. I love your work.
Dave

The spirketting and the quickwork have been installed.  The spirketting is installed top and butt fashion, just like the outer rows of deck planking.  It is 3" thick and the top edge of the upper row is champhered .  The quick work is 2" thick and extends to the edge of the sill lining.  I have not finalized the size of the hawse holes yet, so this area is not finished.  Both the quickwork and the spirketting are treenailed to every frame.  There is a single bolt at the butts and two bolts under each gun port.  I was unhappy with the appearance of the bolts and so removed as many as I could without damaging the planking.  I dyed some treenails with archival ink and used them instead of blackened brass for the bolts.  The appearance is much cleaner, as can be seen in the photos.  Compare the appearance of the brass with the dyed wood.  Unfortunately, the rest of the brass bolts are in for keeps.
 
I then applied a coat of Watco's, let it soak in for 30' and wiped everything down.  The next day I sanded it with 600 grit and put on a second very thin coat of finish.  The striations in the holly decking are in the wood and did not sand or scrape out. The lighting was poor so I did not have the opportunity to take before and after the finish pictures.