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KeithAug
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Everything posted by KeithAug
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Steve - i am talking rubbish - of course your method will work - all I would need to do is work with the big end outward. I already started my alternative approach but will revert to yours if it doesn't work. -
Steve / Richard - thank you for your suggestions. Steve after seeing your technique a few weeks ago i did wonder if I could use it but decided the step in diameters would make it tricky. The issue is getting into the position shown by arrow. Getting an end mill in here is a bit of a challenge and the end mill would have to be circa 1mm or so in diameter to get a reasonably tight corner. Anyway I think I have a method of fabricating it sorted out -------- famous last words!!!!!!!
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Beautifully crisp and clean work Richard. I love the attention to detail.
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Ever since I started this build the cranse iron has been on my mind, probably because it's a bit more sophisticated than the typical ring with 4 ears. I have had a number of thoughts about how to go about it with many solutions involving uncomfortable degrees of simplification and compromise. Anyway I have decided to try and make it as realistic in appearance as I can get it. If nothing else this will give me more practice in problem solving. I will start with the photographs:- Germania's cranse iron is a bit of a nightmare of flanges and eyebolts. it has 2 "U" shaped brackets at the north position with a further 3 webs at east, south and west respectively. An additional 4 eyebolts are positioned at NE, SE, SW and NW. The rigging is a bit of a mess in the above picture but somewhat simpler in the partially rigged photo below. All this comes in a fairly small package at 1:36 scale as can be seen in the following sketch. The diameter of the hoop being .350" and the length of this section also being .350". including the smaller dimeter hoop and its associated fixing lugs the overall length is .575". I hope to start cutting metal tomorrow.
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Eberhard - Yes they will be left brass - I quite like the contrast between the aluminium and brass. Maybe I will steer clear of gunsmith dovetail cutters. They sound too expensive to break. Pat, Michael, Richard - thank you for your kind comments.
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That sounds like a good idea Steve - must try it.
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Very neatly done Eberhard. I am surprised that the designers decided they needed so many ports, do you know why?
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Thank you Steve / Richard. I'm glad the fires seem to be behind you Steve - it must be a relief. I spent some of the day in the workshop finishing the forestay anchor and watching the storm through the window. The top bracket was made from 1/2" x 1/8" bar. I stared by accurately drilling .040" holes at the centres of the 2 key diameters and then slitting the slot to create the "U" of the bracket I then made 2 sets of file buttons of .125" and .100" diameter respectively and filed the bracket to shape. I then drilled matching 1/16" holes in the bracket and the boss. I turned up a pin with a head of .070" diameter by .010" wide and a .062" shank. This was inserted from the bore of the boss and held in place by a scrap piece of dowel. The bracket was then placed over the 2 parts were soldered. I then needed to reproduce the thickened central section of the boss. As the bottom part of the boss is hidden I only needed to reproduce this feature on the top half of the hoop. I turned a piece of aluminium tube such that the bore matched the external radius of the boss. The wall thickness matched the up-stand of the thickened section i.e. .025". The tube was then mounted in the square collet block and the tapered profiles cut. These were then glued on to the boss with CA glue and .040" holes were drilled for small eyebolts. Eyebolts were made as previously covered and they were then attached.
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Steve - Beautifully done and thank you for the brass splitting idea. Did you consider end milling the top half off and if so why did you choose the slitting saw technique.
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Me too Richard - in 1969 / 1970, in my mind it's not that long ago, it's in my body that I notice the years.
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Excellent metalwork on this build, very impressive.
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Eberhard - the bracket will be in brass (to match the foot). I will inset a brass pin from inside the bore and solder it to the bracket. The slot is 1/8" wide - your dove tail cutters sound really impressive - where did you get them?
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Moving on from the bowsprit foot the next component to have a go at is the substantial block of metal which anchors the foresail stay to the deck. As you can see in the photographs this is also made from "silver" metal. The lower portion of this feature is hidden below extensions to the capping rails and only the upper half of the hoop will be visible. It also has a thickened central section but in this instance I think I am going to adopt a different approach to that followed for the foot. The hoop of this component doesn't actually touch the bowsprit, the diameter of the bore being somewhat larger than the bowsprit itself. The size of this part can be obtained by scaling the plans and this together with the photographs provide sufficient information to produce a reasonable sketch. I started by sawing off another chunk of aluminium from my 2"x1" bar - such fun. The next step was to cut off the required length and bore the 0.5" hole to allow the 0.45" bowsprit to pass through. I looked through the scrap bin and found a piece of copper tube of 0.5" diameter to use as a mandrel for forming the hoop. As previously the hoop was formed on the mill by machining a series of flats. The hoop was then finished by draw filing to remove the flats. The angles to the front and rear of the component are different and hence produce a tapered form. To machine the angles I cut wooden spacers of the correct angle on the table saw and then used these to support the component in the milling vice. The angles were then cut using the face of an end mill. finally a slot was cut axially on the top of the hoop to take the "U" shaped bracket to which the the foresail stay is attached. More fun in the workshop this weekend, weather permitting. We are importing an American storm over the weekend - lashing rain and storm force winds. Dog walking should be fun.
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Thank you all for taking the time to comment. The bullet idea looks the best bet for the lettering and I wait with anticipation for a arms manufacture called Germania to commence ammunition manufacturer. I also like Marks suggestion of using subterfuge to con the casual observer, however I'm not sure it would work on any of the shipwrights at MSW.
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Very nicely done Eberhard. Excellent detail noting the small scale that you are working at.
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Lovely work on the lock Michael - exquisite - only to be improved by making the end plate screw slots vertical.
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I too like the thimble technique - must try it some time - also must remember to build bigger scale next time.
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Today I managed to finish the bowsprit foot. The larger middle section of the foot has 5 holes for 1 large eyebolt, 2 small eyebolts and 2 oblong bosses. I glued the part to a rod and mounted it on the mill rotary table and drilled 5 holes of 1/16" diameter. I next made the large eyebolt. The outside diameter was .150" and rather than make a profile tool I decided to use my ball turning tool to create a sphere. This was then thinned to .04" wide while mounted in a hex collet bock on the mill and a 0.1" hole was drilled to form the hoop. Finally the part was moved back to the lathe where a 1/16 spigot was turned. The eyebolt was parted off using the piercing saw. The eyebolt was glued in place with CA and 2 holes were drilled in the rearmost of the 3 parts to take 2 more smaller eyebolts. The other eyebolts (4 in total) of .09" diameter were made with the profile tool covered in an earlier post. These too were glued into the relevant holes. 2 further eyebolts were made with extended spindles to take the belaying pins and these were glued into the front of the 3 body parts. The flange at the rear was then turned (from aluminium) with a 6mm hole for location. I used the ball turning tool to form the the dome of brass boss and create the raised circular features. This was then parted off with a short 6mm spigot on the opposite side to the dome. At this stage I did a bit of polishing and then glued the 3 body parts together on a 6mm steel shaft. This shaft will fit inside a bore drilled in the rear end of the bowsprit. It was at this stage I realised I had forgotten the oblong plates so these were made and installed.
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I obviously misled you Druxey. I did the machining over 2 days. Dog walking limits my performance. Michael - yes you would think that the cutting forces would break the bond but I have never experienced a failure. Modern glues are really impressive aren't they. A number of you have commented and offered suggestions on lettering. I agree that your suggestions are quite feasible. The issue for me is that the size is so small that without a magnifying glass an observer wouldn't notice the lettering. Hmmmm! Looking at your work I don't think the skills would be much of an obstacle, and machines can be bought relatively cheaply these days. Eberhard, Mark, Bedford - thank you for your feedback and suggestions.
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