davec

Thank you Druxey.  All of the photos of contemporary models I had were of larger ships so the wale was not at risk from the anchor.  Ed, your thoughts are greatly appreciated.  In fact, I used your approach as shown in the Naiad books to make my cutter.  Although I did not mention it, the under surface is cut back to minimize the area which is in contact with the wood.

Very nice work, Toni.  I appreciate the issues with turning deadeyes.  I wish I could say that my turnings are exemplary, but they are not, but here are some personal thoughts about smoothly finished turned deadeyes and other small parts: 
 
I would strongly second Danny's recommendation on using genuine Euro Boxwood for its superior hardness.  It can be found online.  Since it will be stained and small pieces can be used, color imperfection common in current offerings is not an issue.  In comparison with other species, relative hardness properties according to an online Wood Database are proportionately as follows: Eurobox, 2840; Castello 1800, Swiss pear 1660, Hard Maple 1450, Cherry 950 and, for comparison only, Basswood 410.  So apart from color, cherry is not a good choice.  Pear is much better if color is paramount.
 
Some other things to consider that I have found helpful: 
 
Smooth turnings are best produced by tools that shave vs. tools that scrape.  Most contour cutters are scrapers because it is very difficult to sharpen a complex shape to take shavings.  For example, furniture turnings that are shaved require very little sanding compared to those made with the usual scraping tools - unless a burr is formed on the edge - not practical on small tools.  Also, a wide cutter will rip out more fibers that a narrow tool. Single pointed or rounded cutters with correct relief angles (about 20 deg for wood) have the best chance of shaving.  Use the calibration wheels to form the shapes.  
 
Use the very  highest turning speed and the very lightest feeds when using a machine lathe designed for metal cutting - like Unimat or Sherline - espeicially with wide contour cutters that put a lot of stress on turnings.
 
Round and polish with fine abrasive sticks - 320-400, then 1200 grit and up.
 
Use a non-fading stain, either pigmented (say Minwax) or natural water soluble dyes like walnut extract/VanDyke crystal solutions.  I am currently using the latter for these parts and more diluted solutions for hemp rigging.
 
Hope these ideas are helpful.
 
Ed
 
 
 
 
 

One caution about Dan's recommendation regarding sourcing boxwood from older folding rules....Dan lives in Australia, so it may very well be that down his way old folding rules are made from Boxwood....but here in USA the leading historical manufacturer of folding rules was Lufkin Rule.  I'm confident Lufkin started manufacturing in New England, but at some point they moved their folding rule plant to Apex, North Carolina just down the road from me.  Back in the 1980's I sold instrumentation to Lufkin, so got a good opportunity to see the operations and equipment they had been using to make rules.  For some decades prior to that point Lufkin sourced the wood for their folding rules from their company owned timber tracts in Maine...it was white pine, not boxwood.  I do not know about earlier manufacturing, but suspect at least since WWII Lufkin used white pine for their folding rules. 
 
My Grandfather's old folding rule is a USA produced Stanley looks like white pine to me...wood appears too soft to be boxwood.
 
Perhaps a UK manufactured folding rule would be boxwood...would be interesting to investigate as I believe they could be cost effectively sourced via eBay if not old enough to be a collectable.

I'd take Danny's advice on Castello or even English boxwood for those deadeyes, especially the small sizes. Dyeing is easy, if a little messy. Incidentally it's easier to solder up the chains before putting in the deadeyes. After cleaning and blackening the chains, a gentle squeeze with needle-nose pliers closes up the ring of the deadeye link around the deadeye.

The fore channel deadeyes are next.  There are seven 10" deadeyes and three 7" deadeyes.   I wanted a color contrast with the rest of the hull without wanting to stain the wood so they were made of cherry.  Next time I will use a finer grained wood and then stain them.  These were made on the lathe using a jig.  I ground the profile of each deadeye into opposite ends of a piece of sheet brass.  The pictures illustrate the process.  One of the keys to success is to have as little wood protruding from the chuck as possible to prevent deflection of the wood.
 

 

 

 

 
 
The larger deadeyes have a four-piece chain assembly: upper link, middle link, toe (or lower) link and preventer plate.  The smaller deadeyes do not have a preventer plate.  The larger deadeyes have links made of 1.25" iron and the smaller deadeyes have links of 1" iron.  The basis process was to form appropriate sized loops of brass wire and silver solder them.  These are then squeezed around the deadeye, leaving a lower loop through which the middle link will insert.  There is an inward angle on the lower loop but I did not form this until I was ready to install the entire assembly.  The toe link was made similarly, using a nail instead of the deadeye to form the upper curve.  The heights of the lower bolts of the toe links was taken directly from the plans.  The middle link was formed and threaded through the upper and toe links.  Using a heat sink on the two ends of the middle link, the middle link was also silver soldered.
 

 

 
The preventer plates were made from brass strip.  In real practice, these were forged from square bar stock.  To simulate this, I engraved a line down the middle of the plate.  You can just barely make this out in the plates shown below.  The top of the plate has a bend in it to compensate for the thickness of the toe link.  The location of the lower bolt was determined after the entire assembly was finished.
 

 
The final result after blackening and installation of the channel molding and the four preventer bolts.
 

 

 
The shankpainter chain attaches to the hull above the fore channel.  It's purpose is to secure the anchors.  I had some chain left over from a kit which had almost the correct size links (3/4" diameter).  
 

 
The spanshackle ring was made from brass rod.  The curved section was shaped first.  Then the rod was bend to form the side arms.  Finally, the length of the lower arms was determined and the ring was soldered closed after the ring bolt had been threaded on to the ring.  I chose not to add deck planking under the ring so it is installed elevated above the beam the thickness of the deck planking.
 

 

Thank you Kurt for giving me the obvious solution.  
 

 

The cat block for the falls has been fabricated and installed.  This is a snatch block, meaning that one end of the slot is left open.  The aft end of the block is mortised around a timberhead.  I have also installed the fish davit cleat with a slot inboard and a straight appearance when viewed from the side.  This is also mortised around timberheads.
 
The boomkin capsquare is located on top of the false rail.  It is secured to the rail with a hinge aft and an eyebolt and key fore.  It looks better in person than the photos suggest!
 

 

 

 
I have now reached a milestone: the woodwork has been completed on the front half of the ship.  For both protection and appearance I applied the initial coat of finish (Watco's Danish Wood Oil).  What a difference the finish makes.  Now one can see all those treenails that were installed a long, long time ago.  Unfortunately, it also shows up the flaws.  the last photo shows the difference the finish gives.  The aft half of the ship does not have finish applied.
 

 

 

The next things to tackle are the cathead supporter and eking rail.  Unfortunately, I left my camera at work so all I have are completed photos, not work in progress.  I will try and describe the process as well as I can.  The cathead supporter is just that, a knee under the cathead which then curves and blends in the lower rail via an intermediary eking rail.  My first step was to lightly draw the curve of the supporter/rail assembly onto the starboard (unplanked) side of the hull.  I made a template of this shape to duplicate the curve on the port side.  Next was to make a template of the angle between the hull and the inferior surface of the cathead.  Both templates were transferred onto an over-sized block of wood and the excess wood was sanded away with a Dremel and sanding sticks.  This is a lot harder than it sounds since the supporter must snug up against the hull as it curves inward anteriorly and outwards inferiorly.  I used the same scraper that was used on the lower rail to carve the decoration into the face of the supporter and, eventually, the eking rail.  Once this had been done, a scarf was cut into the lower aspect of the supporter.  
 
The eking rail was also cut overly thick and offered up to the hull for final shaping.  On Atalanta, the eking rail does not extend above the top of the hawse hole and so is actually one longer piece and two short ones.  I presume this is just for visual effect as there is no structural advantage to these short segments.  The other end of the scarf was cut into the eking rail before the final shaping to ensure a tight fit.  The port side was done in similar fashion, using the curve template from the starboard side to get the curve correct.  I removed the decorative rails to facilitate fabrication of the pieces and then replaced them after the supporter/rail were secured.  Like I did with the the cheeks, I offset the cathead  supporter and rail a plank's thickness from the hull on the starboard side.  The gap between the false rail and the main rail will be filled in with sawdust.  Visually, I thought it more important to have the panel edging the same thickness all around.
 

 

 

 
Now on to something a little less complicated.  I have decided that Atalanta had four seats of ease.  One is out on the carlings and the other is tucked in behind the false rail.  I did not make the ones for the starboard side so that the joinery at the base of the seat could be seen.  As one can see in the first photo, there is a straight shot down through the hole without (theoretically) soiling the rails and cheeks.
 

 

 

 
 

Tricky little beasts, aren't they? If you've never made a set of these before, you did well, Toni. There's an Admiralty Models workshop on making head timbers at the end of October. You got to the finish line a little too soon for that!

I have finally had some time to devote to the workshop.  Last weekend was spent chasing the eclipse in Kentucky and testing (tasting) the Bourbon Trail.  Time very well spent.  After all...it was educational!
 
Next up were the head timbers.  Atalanta had three; some of the Swan class ships had four.  These were a royal pain-in-the-you-know-where to fabricate.  They have to fit the stem assembly as well as meet the main rail.  They also have the same camber as the grating.  The notches at the base of the timbers are because the various components of the stem assembly did not mate perfectly way back when.  I decided I would to more damage than it was worth to make it better and so modified the head timbers to fit instead.  In the second picture, one can see how the third head timber (the largest) fits under the head beam.  Each beam is a different thickness, with the fore beam being the thinnest.  This is most readily seen in the third picture.  These photos are all taken while the timbers were being shaped and so do not fit correctly at this stage.
 

 

 

 
 
The next step is to cut an opening in the head timbers to accommodate the middle rail.  This was simply a matter of trial and error, many hours and even many more expletive deleted's.  As I mentioned in a previous post, in the first timber the slot for the middle rail needed to be cut from the bottom rather than from the outer edge.  The next  item was the head saddle which extends from the fore ends of the main rail to the tip of the stem.  I started with an oversize piece of wood and carved the underside to fit first.  Then I cut the upper face and finally finished it on the model.  Now everything is ready for assembly.
 

 

 

 

 
 
The covering boards are 1" thick and cover the outer edge of the head timbers.  They have two panels carved into them.  Looking at the next photo I now see that the third timber needs to be unglued and re-positioned to make it perpendicular to the water line.  Hopefully I can accomplish that without damaging anything else.  The holes from the brass pins also need filling.
 

 

Mark - welcome back!  I enjoyed following your build before, and am looking forward to seeing it progress.
 
Best,
 
Dave

The time for summer activities is over here and I'm back to working on the Washington. Here are some progress pictures.
I started cutting the gun port mortises off the ship but decided to do them after mounting on the keel. I could get better alignment this way.
It seemed to be getting a little helter skelter cutting them solo.
Dan

Here is a little more progress. I used some hard pink styro and some long pins to create a adjustable jig for the ever changing rib shapes.
Worked out very well, keeping the top of the Keelson rabbet as the common point.
Started to fair some and got a few copper bolts in.
Cheers
 

Moving forward with a little progress.
I assembled 4 ribs free form and found there was too many parts to get consistent shape. 2 were O.K. but the other 2 needed remaking.
I made a form to build them on as these first 20 or so are mostly the same....
Ribs A through M are formed but not 100% complete as they still need bolting and the frame work for the ports and sweeps.
Undecided at this time to cut them now or wait and cut them later.
Thanks to all who showed up for the meeting.

I decided to plank boxwood down to the waterline and holly below.  The top of the waterline is pretty close to the bottom of the wales.  I used a taper jig to taper strips of boxwood and holly, and glued them together into a single plank 10" scale in width.  I need to rip out the plank below this one that tapers from 3 1/2" to 3" thick, then can begin planking.  I think I am going to take the approach that the whitestuff would cover the treenails and not spend a week treenailing under the waterline.  I will probably treenail the boxwood below and above the wales.
 
Dave

Frame making continues with the completion of the seven aft cants.
 
While fairing the last three aft cants, AC 5-7, it occurred to me that I had no idea as to where the stop line would be for the forward most one, AC 7. My solution was to use the square body frame just forward AC 7 for marking out a reference line to fair to. I tried making a few square body test frames a while back. Needless to say, improvements have been made and are on-going. I will explain how I make them when I start to produce them in quantity.
 
With the square body frame in place, a reference line is drawn slightly above its edge onto AC 7. If you look at the port side you can see just how much wood needs to be removed, including those frames previously faired.

The square body frame has been removed and fairing can continue.

With the starboard side fairing completed I can now place a batten anywhere and get a smooth run. It's probably too much finish work at this stage however, I don't mind the extra work as I find it quite enjoyable. Fairing a few frames at a time rather than all at once gives one a lot more room to work. My hand was outside the hull most of the time. Now its on to the port side. I see that I need to cut down that too tall toptimber on the port side too, Ooops!

 

For this work I prefer using hard edge tools along with the Dremel rather than sandpaper

Mike

The first of seven fore cants was made and installed. I was careful in making sure that it was vertical and at the correct angle to the keel. Rather than using my homemade 90° plywood jig, I now find it easier to align the cants with just two machinist squares and a little hand holding. The trick is to establish the exact angle needed at the foot of the cant and hold it down securely to the stepping line while the glue quickly sets.
 
Once the cant frame was installed I started to work on the Bollard timbers and hawse pieces. I ended up making three sets before I was satisfied with the shape and fit. Luckily, they don't require using a lot of wood.

 
Mike

With the the stern framing completed, I'm ready to work on the 7 aft cant frames.
 
They are all doubled with no scarph joints or chocks. Basically sections glued together with butt joints. To be safe, all of the sections are cut slightly past the line and double checked over the drawing before gluing them together. Here I have completed the assembly of aft cant No.1 (AC 1) port side.

In order for it to line up properly, a score must be made on the aft side where it meets the wing transom. This is because it has not been faired yet and must be moved in a bit at the top. A bevel has been created where it will sit against the deadwood. My disc sander has an accurate adjustable table that makes this an easy process.

Installing the frames was done with the aid of a 90° jig that was made from plywood. Clamps and a rubber band hold it securely in place.

The score in the frame allows for the proper alignment with the drawing.



Mike

Thank you all for your comments and "Likes"
 
Continuing on with the stern framing requires that the fashion pieces be added. The feet of these pieces sit in the scores that were made earlier to the inner post. They are not the same shape since the one on the port side has a "timber loading port". A small filler piece was added to create the lower sill. Two vertical posts were added to define sides of the port. The angle where the pieces join the wing transom needed to be established and there was some beveling done on the inner face. I had fun making them!
 

 
I left a generous amount of wood outside for the fairing later.

Mike

Cliff -  It will be nice to not be the only person working on the cross section. 
 
I wouldn't worry about the fitting out kit.  I mill my own wood, too.  David and Greg were very nice and sold me cannon barrels and the instructions separate from the wood kit.  It isn't a big problem to mill as you go along, and it give you complete freedom to work in whatever wood you want, and to have your cross section be a little different than everyone elses.  If you have the tools, milling the wood is the least challenging part of the build. It also completely liberates you from worrying about running out of wood if you have to redo parts to get them the way you want.
 
The Swan books and cross section instructions are excellent.  Greg and David have provided huge amounts of help and advice along the way for me, and I expect will for you as well.  If there is anything I can help with, please feel free to PM me.  I work slowly and check the site sporadically.  I did one scratch build before this (Hahn style Hannah).  The cross section is very different - the full framing and detailed interior make it a completely different project and I'm learning a huge number of new things. 
 
I'm looking forward to seeing your progress.
 
Best,
 
Dave

Doc - Many thanks!  I'm getting back to work on the cross section.  My rhythm got thrown off by the workshop expansion, then I got down to the wire on the deadline for a book I was editing (sorry - work related - nothing to do with model ships).  I have everything set up in the new space.  Manuscript went off to the copy editor last week, and I got into the workshop the last two weekends.   
 
I made the quarterdeck breast beam, then realized I need to change my building strategy.  I have the internal and external planking done up to the quarterdeck deck clamp. I was originally going to finish the planking and rails before installing the decks and fixtures.  I think the interrelationship between parts are significant enough that it is time to go back and start installing the decks.  I finished the hinges for the shot locker yesterday.  A friend from the club had helped me photo etch them last year.  I had played with my resistance soldering unit when I made the eyebolts for the breast beam, and was finally comfortable enough that I could try to solder on the hinge pins without ruining the photo etched pieces.  It went really well. I painted and glued them on. 
 
Will post some pictures soon.
 
Dave

Doc - Many thanks!  I'm getting back to work on the cross section.  My rhythm got thrown off by the workshop expansion, then I got down to the wire on the deadline for a book I was editing (sorry - work related - nothing to do with model ships).  I have everything set up in the new space.  Manuscript went off to the copy editor last week, and I got into the workshop the last two weekends.   
 
I made the quarterdeck breast beam, then realized I need to change my building strategy.  I have the internal and external planking done up to the quarterdeck deck clamp. I was originally going to finish the planking and rails before installing the decks and fixtures.  I think the interrelationship between parts are significant enough that it is time to go back and start installing the decks.  I finished the hinges for the shot locker yesterday.  A friend from the club had helped me photo etch them last year.  I had played with my resistance soldering unit when I made the eyebolts for the breast beam, and was finally comfortable enough that I could try to solder on the hinge pins without ruining the photo etched pieces.  It went really well. I painted and glued them on. 
 
Will post some pictures soon.
 
Dave

Cliff -  It will be nice to not be the only person working on the cross section. 
 
I wouldn't worry about the fitting out kit.  I mill my own wood, too.  David and Greg were very nice and sold me cannon barrels and the instructions separate from the wood kit.  It isn't a big problem to mill as you go along, and it give you complete freedom to work in whatever wood you want, and to have your cross section be a little different than everyone elses.  If you have the tools, milling the wood is the least challenging part of the build. It also completely liberates you from worrying about running out of wood if you have to redo parts to get them the way you want.
 
The Swan books and cross section instructions are excellent.  Greg and David have provided huge amounts of help and advice along the way for me, and I expect will for you as well.  If there is anything I can help with, please feel free to PM me.  I work slowly and check the site sporadically.  I did one scratch build before this (Hahn style Hannah).  The cross section is very different - the full framing and detailed interior make it a completely different project and I'm learning a huge number of new things. 
 
I'm looking forward to seeing your progress.
 
Best,
 
Dave

Doc - Many thanks!  I'm getting back to work on the cross section.  My rhythm got thrown off by the workshop expansion, then I got down to the wire on the deadline for a book I was editing (sorry - work related - nothing to do with model ships).  I have everything set up in the new space.  Manuscript went off to the copy editor last week, and I got into the workshop the last two weekends.   
 
I made the quarterdeck breast beam, then realized I need to change my building strategy.  I have the internal and external planking done up to the quarterdeck deck clamp. I was originally going to finish the planking and rails before installing the decks and fixtures.  I think the interrelationship between parts are significant enough that it is time to go back and start installing the decks.  I finished the hinges for the shot locker yesterday.  A friend from the club had helped me photo etch them last year.  I had played with my resistance soldering unit when I made the eyebolts for the breast beam, and was finally comfortable enough that I could try to solder on the hinge pins without ruining the photo etched pieces.  It went really well. I painted and glued them on. 
 
Will post some pictures soon.
 
Dave

Cliff -  It will be nice to not be the only person working on the cross section. 
 
I wouldn't worry about the fitting out kit.  I mill my own wood, too.  David and Greg were very nice and sold me cannon barrels and the instructions separate from the wood kit.  It isn't a big problem to mill as you go along, and it give you complete freedom to work in whatever wood you want, and to have your cross section be a little different than everyone elses.  If you have the tools, milling the wood is the least challenging part of the build. It also completely liberates you from worrying about running out of wood if you have to redo parts to get them the way you want.
 
The Swan books and cross section instructions are excellent.  Greg and David have provided huge amounts of help and advice along the way for me, and I expect will for you as well.  If there is anything I can help with, please feel free to PM me.  I work slowly and check the site sporadically.  I did one scratch build before this (Hahn style Hannah).  The cross section is very different - the full framing and detailed interior make it a completely different project and I'm learning a huge number of new things. 
 
I'm looking forward to seeing your progress.
 
Best,
 
Dave