KeithAug

Very impressive winch Gary. I have to agree it looks just like the real thing.

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.

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.

Very nicely done Eberhard. Excellent detail noting the small scale that you are working at.

Lovely work on the lock Michael - exquisite - only to be improved by making the end plate screw slots vertical.

The hull cleaned up really well Javier.

I too like the thimble technique - must try it some time - also must remember to build bigger scale next time.

Lovely work Valeriy. Like others I marvel at your soldering skills.

I will be pleased to follow along Javier.

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.

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.

Yes Kevin - the dog has that effect on me as well.

For a while I have been thinking that the bowsprit foot would make an interesting project and so I decided to tackle it next. I find that solving machining problems is a lot of fun and in this case the step in the profile of the foot (Item A) caused a bit of head scratching. The oblong boss (item B ) was a lesser problem to resolve. The brass name plate at the back of the foot is quite nice but at scale size the larger letters are circa .05" high so I don't think I will be trying to reproduce them. Through a combination of plans and photographs I was able to sketch and size the foot. I decided the best way to produce the step was to make the foot from 3 parts labeled 1,2 and 3 in the sketch. The foot on Germania is made from a silver coloured metal which could be stainless steel but my guess is it may be aluminium. The colour makes it quite a pronounced feature so I decided to reproduce this by making the foot predominantly from aluminium. I started the manufacture by cutting a 0.650" wide block from a 2" x 1" piece of aluminium bar. I just love hacksawing thick metal sections like this!!!!!! Having cut the block I reduced it to .55" wide by .775" high by 2" long. I then drilled and reamed a 6mm hole through the block .5" from the narrow edge. Apologies for the mixed units my reamers are all metric. I then used the reamed hole as the location for milling the outer radius of the top. The next step was to slice off and finish to thickness the central part of the foot - item 1 in the sketch. With this removed the surface of the remaining material was reduced by .025". A further slice was then cut off and finished to size to create item 2. The next step was to start profiling the shape of item 3. To do this I needed a 1" diameter cutter. As I don't have one I used a fly-cutter instead. I set this up by positioning the centre line of the cutter spindle directly above the edge of the machine vice and then indexing across by .5". I then set the fly cutter blade against the side of the vice to give me a fly-cutter diameter of 1 inch. The kick up at the front was then removed on the mill before the curved face was finished by draw filing. Part 3 was then glued to a 6mm steel rod and transferred to the lathe. Here the face of the 6mm hole was cut back with a boring tool to form a flat seat of the bowsprit. With this done I applied a little heat to break the glue bond and then hacksawed and milled part 3 to length. Finally I removed the centre of the foot to form 2 toes and drilled the holes for attaching the belaying pins. The part finished foot was then assembled. I hope to finish it tomorrow.

I enjoyed catching up Marsal. Very fine work indeed.

Nicely done - you will find the collet blocks more and more useful. I even tried to find an octagonal one recently but with no success so I am constrained to using the square block with a "V" block.

Yes Oddball it is surprising what little you need to get started. I will be interested to see how much your tool collection has expanded in a few years time. If you are like many of us you will be looking for a bigger workshop by then.

To mirror everyone else who has commented - stunning work. Well done Michael. The most fun part is solving problems.

Nicely done Eberhard.

Pat:_ - Tough you is Bedford. John - Cold is fine - its the overcast greyness that really depresses. Fortunately today its wall to wall sun - but very cold. thankyou all for your feedback.

Thank you all for visiting and commenting. Much appreciated.

Yes Paul - its amazing what a few degrees can do. I too find 6 degrees pretty uncomfortable. The temperature seems to have been dropping throughout the day so tomorrow may be a workshop avoidance day.

Paul - Michael is correct and bobbin and button both seem to be used. Ideally they should be left loose on the shaft so they can rotate. Once you have filed down to the bobbin / button it rotates and the file rolls over it without cutting - hence you stop cutting the metal being filed.

Bedford;- I recently bought a cheap (Chinese) ER11 collet chuck an collets on eBay. Not the best quality but adequate of modelling. I find them a very useful addition for small work in my medium sized lathe. The whole lot cost about £20. Lovely work on the rudder - I forgive the rope.

It is pretty miserable outside today but at least the workshop is sitting at a comfortable 9c (48f). I made the pawl handle from a scrap bit of square section tube .250" outside and .025" wall. I cut a piece of mahogany .2" square and glued it in the tube to provide strength while I machined it. I then drilled a 1/16" hole towards one end to create the pivot point for the handle. I then drilled a second hole in the side furthest away from the pivot holes to take the eyebolt. I then parted off the handle to the required width (0.1") on the Byrnes saw fitted with a slitting saw blade. I then hand filed the end with the hole to form the radius and remove the adjacent side. I then threw it away dissatisfied with the accuracy of my filing. I repeated this whole process a second time with the same result. I was taught many years ago how to file perfect radii but I had never tried it on such small parts (.05" radius). Anyway I made myself some filing bobbins from mild steel and did the job properly. I did a test fit on the pawl body and then went on to make the eyebolts (.09" diameter) as per the method previously described. The eyebolts were then soldered in place. While I was at it I soldered a location spigot on the base of the pawl body. Finally I cut some 1/16" rod for the pivot and assembled the parts. The small chain rollers were then made - not much explanation needed as the photos say it all. I then got on with fitting the various parts to the deck. The wooden plinths were made and positioned using card templates. The positions for the chain pawls were likewise located using a template. The pawls and chain rollers were then glued in place. Finally I found a bit of chain and tested the run. The chain is a bit large really. It has 11 links per inch and I think I will try something smaller before I commit.

Yep - wives have a habit of revealing our flaws, bless em.