KeithAug

Incredible work on the chain guard Gary. It is impossible to tell it isn't real.

Yet another one that turned out really well Javier

She is coming along rather quickly Paul. Your shed is clearly warmer than mine.

Thank you Shipman, Druxey, Keith, John, Richard and Pat for your much appreciated comments, and thank you to everyone who has visited and or liked my log. Shed work has been severely disrupted recently by a influx of house guests, fortunately they have now gone and I can get back to work. I did manage to do a bit of investigation during their stay and also a minuscule amount of manufacturing. So here are the results:- I did a bit of a review of the bowsprit detail as shown on various photographs. I still needed to make the mast band as per the next photo:- This band anchors the turnbuckle which tensions the forestay:- The anchoring lug leans forward. The turnbuckle detail can be seen in the next photo:- The stay runs out along the bowsprit and a number of features seem to be interposed between the stay and bowsprit:- It took some time to understand what these were but eventually I dug up the following photo:- I think what I am looking at is odd bits of strapping/sailcloth wedged in place to prevent damage to the bowsprit. If anyone has a better interpretation please let me know. The forestay itself is also a bit of an enigma. In the following photo you can see the stay rounding a sheave before heading skyward:- In another (I think more recent) photo the forestay seems to be looped around the cranse iron and presumably the turnbuckle has become redundant????? Anyway I think I am going with the earlier arrangement. As for the bowsprit hoop it was tuned from 1/2" rod and then drilled with 3 holes before being cut in half and parted it off. I decided that the lower half of the ring could be omitted (as it can not be seen). This makes assembly simpler. The forward leaning anchoring lug (mentioned earlier) was turned as a mushroom before being shaved flat on the mill. The off centre hole for attaching the turnbuckle was then drilled. The lug was then freehand filed to shape and a stem turned for mounting through the bowsprit hoop. Hopeful this weekend will be more productive but I must take some time to catch up with all your builds.

Having made the bowsprit it was time to sort out the bow rails, in particular the the infill between the rail and the bowsprit. From the photo it can be seen that the rails are cut off square at the bow end and that the space between the rail and the bowsprit is filled by an insert. This insert masks the lower half of the bowsprit hoop and the previously made staysail bracket. I started by shaping and inserting a strengthening piece immediately below the level of the rail. The middle section of this needs to be removed so I partly cut it through with a razor saw to make the later removal easier. I made a former to ease the creation of the rail infills. The previously installed capping rails were cut back and the infills were then glued on to the strengthening piece / rails and the middle of the strengthening piece was removed. I then test fitted the bowsprit. Then took a couple of general shots:-

Greg - sometimes I am an idiot.

Druxey - 50rpm - no splash - but brush not heavily loaded.

Having made the cranse iron the next logical step was to make the bowsprit. The bowsprit is some 14 inches long with the first third parallel at .450" diameter. The second 2/3 tapers gradually down to a diameter of .320". I had a piece of .5" diameter sapele left over from my previous build and I turned this on the lathe as a series of cylinders of reducing diameters (see top right hand corner of sketch below). With a slender turning of this type it is often necessary to use a fixed steady (a moving steady can't be used when taper turning). Anyway I decided to improvise by using my cupped hand as a steady and this worked remarkably well but but the friction made my hand quite hot - in reality too hot. Having turned the series of parallel diameters I smoothes out the steps with sandpaper to get a smooth taper. The large end was then bored to take the shaft on the foot and the narrow end was turned to match the bore of the cranse. I painted the bowsprit with poly while rotating it at low speed on the lathe.

Lovely paint job Javier. Very nice detail for something so small.

Nice to see more progress Pawel.

Eberhard - very fine work as usual. I will be interested in your perspex polishing technique when the time comes.

Thank you Richard. I had a good look round the internet but they don't seem to be available over this side of the pond - pity really.

Richard, nice diamond file set. Where did you get them please?

You are a glutton for punishment Phil. So many small and detailed guns, I admire your dedication.

Superb work on the mouldings Richard. Have you considered scratch building?

Yes Steve that's how I work. "Only a few to do so I will short cut it". When I am done I usually look back and think it would have been simpler and quicker to do it by the approved method. I actually break more micro dills by dropping them a few inches on to the milling table than by drilling with them - I am an expert at it. I now buy every size in multiples of 10 - one of each size just doesn't cut it.

The feeling is mutual Michael. I must have an open day. Eberhard - I do have a rotary table which can be mounted vertically but it is a bit of a bind to set up and my mill table isn't quite big enough to have the mill vice and rotary table usable at the same time. I think I may have to fashion something simpler as you have done.

Druxey, Noel, ZBip, Dan, Gary. Thank you for you kid comments. Also thanks to everyone who has visited and or liked my work.

Steve, thank you your comments, and yes this is the sort of thing that prompted me to look. Most people seem to end up using the square block in conjunction with a "V" block but this seems a bit messy and a lot less satisfactory then an octagonal block. I may have to make one some time.

Greg. Smallest size depends on what you are cutting, how big a cut you take and how quick you traverse the table. On hard brass I routinely use end mills as small as 2mm (.080") but I do tend to limit the cut to about .015" and the traverse to about 1" per minute. Soft brass and aluminium both tend to be a bit sticky and grab the cutter making it more likely to break, I tend to use cutters of 4mm (.160") and above when machining these materials but I do find I can increase the depth of cut to around .020". I tend not to use cutters of less than 6mm on steel. I have used cutters from many sources over the years including cheap Chinese high speed steel end mills from Amazon. These are not necessary as hard as the best cutters but for light modelling work on hard brass they are fine. Until recently I have bought my better end mills from a local stockist however on advice I purchased a set of Drillpro Blue Naco tungsten carbide end mills from Bangood and found them to be good.

Thank you Hubert.

Thank you Richard. Thank you Eberhard. This photo would suggest that it is fabricated

You missed you vocation Geert, you should have been a seamstress. Beautifully neat sail making.

Thank you Pat. I continued with the cranse Iron as the storm developed outside. 70mph winds and 4 inches of rain over the next 24 hours. I next made the east / west flanges as one piece. Much bigger file buttons this time - 0.1" diameter. The south flange was similarly made. With all 3 components made it was time for assembly. with the hub vertical I put the east west flange in place followed by the north and south flanges. I used a steel clothes peg to stop the latter falling out, Flux and solder were then placed on the top surface and heat was applied using as blow torch. After cleaning with a wire brush I had this:- .The next step was to bore through the boss. Because of the discontinuities created by the flanges I was expecting the drill to wander off centre and it didn't disappoint me. I purposely drilled the pilot hole at 0.1" diameter and finished the bore with a 0.2" (5mm) end mill to pull the hole back into alignment. The next step was over to the mill where the .040" diameter eyebolt holes were drilled using the rotary table mounted vertically. 2 further holes were also drilled to take the fixing bolts for the cranse fixing lugs While on the mill 2 flats were milled at the front of the cranse to form the 2 axial fixing lugs. 4 more eyebolts were made. These were glued in place with CA. Then back to the lathe for parting off and finally a decent in focus photograph. It looks much better when the photography turns out right. Once parted off another file button was used to finish off the axial lugs. And that is it - job done.

Eberhard - yes much easier and quite accurate. For larger diameters I would generally use the mill and a rotary table but for anything less than about 0.2" diameter buttons are my preferred choice. I will thank you - but the bed will take 6 weeks to arrive.