Chuck

Its bot braided line. The brand is sunset Amnesia. I am not sure about the material. I dont think it matters. Just has to be smooth and consistently colored.

Not yet…I want to get well ahead before releasing this this. Nothing worse than having folks waiting on me for their next chapter.

A number 78 drill bit. Although one could use a 79 as well. Its more fragile and more prone to breaking and tougher to insert the fishing line because its a super tight fit requiring no glue at all. So I started using the 78 now. Still no glue needed though. Stick the line i nto each hole…i use a straight razor to slice off flush. Sand the surface lightly with 400 grit paper after a few rows are done. Apply wipe on poly which eventually acts as a glue if ever it needed it to secure the fishing line. I almost used a dark brown fishing line but couldnt see that much difference on my tests so I decided to stick with the black. Chuck

It has been a little while since I have posted an update. But I have indeed been working on Speedwell. I have finished planking up to the molding level and not the sheer. I have stopped to treenail the hull planking which takes a while to do neatly and precisely. I am using 10lb black fishing line. Work has been slow because I am taking my time to line everything up with the frames and keep it all neat and tidy. The starboard side is complete, and the port side is underway. Once I am finished with this I will complete the outboard planking up to the shear. Then I will add the second layer of wales and the fancy molding. Its getting there. Treenailing is optional of course but it does make a difference when not overdone and if the treenails are not too large. Even though only a few strakes need treenails, it still takes a bloody long time to do!!!

Looking very nice.

That is looking very good Michael...so nice to see this model progressing. 😀

Just beautiful!! Wonderful execution of those head details.

Looks great…adding the treenails now is fine and a good idea.

Absolutely beautiful. The cherry looks stunning. That is some precise and careful craftsmanship. Bravo!!!!

Wishing you the best with that move Ben. You will miss the snow!!!

Just an FYI I am headed on a short roadtrip tomorrow. Nothing fancy…headed to Niagara Falls with the Mrs. Never been there so why not take a ride and scartch it off the bucket list. I will be closing the online store in the morning…but it will be back open on Wednesday. I should be back in my shop a few days later.

Just a quick test of the frames in position. This is all just dry fit. Everything looks great so far. I am headed away tomorrow morning on a short road trip so no shop time. But when I get back work will resume on the SOPHIA ROSE and SPEEDWELL. These boats were meant to be beached as a fun fact when room at the wharf was not plentiful. Anywhere from 2 to 5 fisherman were on these small boats. Chuck

The margin plank will cover all of that even if you leave the deck unplanked on one side. Without the margin plank it would look very sloppy. I dont see what the issue is. Chuck

Thankyou…yes I should have them also.

I am getting closer .....mass production of CNC blocks...I apologize for my lack of inventory for so long but we are perfecting the process. I havent had blocks in stock for months. It shouldnt be long now. I want to be able to bring you the best CNC blocks possible at a ridiculously low price. A lot lower than you might even imagine. My rope is the cheapest available for the quality and lengths available. I am hoping to do the same with some superior blocks in Boxwood and Swiss pear. Automated so I can concentrate on my ship model projects like Speedwell. I cant tell you how long and hard this R&D process has been. So many experiments and so many failures. Successes are few but we learn from every failed batch made. I wish I could explain what goes into figuring this stuff out. Lots of time and lots of money. Hot out of the oven before polishing and tumbling. Sorry for the lack of inventory but it will be so worth the wait it I promise.

Yes I love these small workboats as well but I am really partial to smaller open wooden craft. I will rig her with furled sails but there are two other options. Here is an Alfred Brownell model of another "Block Island Cowhorn". It is rigged without sails. And also without a topping lift. Many if not most of these small boats did NOT have a topping lift. I have developed plans with a topping lift but it would be very easy to omit it but more difficult to model and show the boom in position without gluing it or pinning it. Normally it would be just left on deck as it was a workboat and they were sloppy unlike disciplined navy sailors. This model also shows the leeboards which I may also include. See how sloppy the decks were on these. The boom was removed from the mast so it could be brought in and left on top of the thwarts. The wharfs were very crowded and this made it easier to cram more fishing boats in there. Notice how they were stacked two deep in the wharf. Plans will include rigging and masting with and without sails... Including a separate sheet with sails drawn with patterns for full size sails AND furled options which are made shorter so they look in scale when furled. Another very interesting way to display these models is rigged without sails but with the bolt ropes for the sails. It creates a nice outline where the sail would be. This enables you to model it without the topping lift. Just like on the actual boat, the bolt rope on the sail raises the boom to its proper height when the sail is set. This model is from around 1900 and is in the Mystic Seaport collection. Although the twelve boxwood kits in 3/8" scale will be given away for FREE at the show and here at MSW, if there is enough interest I will certainly make more but only out of Yellow Cedar.....This may even allow me because of the personal expense to me on those 12 boxwood kits; to increase the scale to 1/2" on the any production runs, but they wont be part of the limited edition of 12 signed kits. But I am aware that there is not as much interest in these as your usual warships...but I can sometimes tire of those and this is a refreshing project for me to fill those gaps in-between while working on Speedwell. A nice painting of a block island boat showing them in use... AND an early photo of the same type but used as a pleasure boat or yacht. No topping lift on the photo. Note why they needed a leeboard....which there were typically 3 lengths from bow to stern on each side.

Thanks guys... Here is a look at one of the plan sheets. To show the boat and what it would look like with sails. This is the rigging plan.

That looks so good. My you have been busy. It looks great.

Looking very good!!

The project has actually begun.... It will be built much like the Medway longboat kit and Queen Anne Barge kits.. More to follow but this is the keel. All finished up in Boxwood. As I mentioned this will proceed very slowly. I actually have over a year to complete it. Dry fit after removing char. Basically just on the outside of the keel and inside of the notched pieces. These parts are precision laser cut so no need to sand or remove the char from the scarf joints. On the stem, there is a sheave for hauling in various lines like the anchor cable. So a slot was filed into it which was centered. I followed the plans for its depth and shape. Then a laser cut sheave was added which is actually a working sheave. Slide it into the slot and stick a length of wire or in my case some 20lb black fishing line. Thats it for now... I hope you will follow with interest. Chuck

Many of you know that I am building the POF Speedwell currently. I also have several other projects underway but none of those are ready for a build log yet. These extra projects will not be updated very often and I plan on taking my time with them. This particular project is a commission of sorts. It will be made entirely of Boxwood because its a tiny open boat even at this scale. There are few models of these graceful common fishing boats out there. Thats a shame. But one I have seen and admired was made by Spencer Delrin. I have seen it many times and always said that I would build one. Now comes my chance. No two Block Island Cowhorns were alike. These were not built to a plan at all. They were made over and over again locally and each time they were slightly different. There are plans available which were made by who else but Howard Chapelle. These are the plans I am using. I have been researching them for months now. I have chosen to name this the Sophia Rose which was an actual cowhorn on block Island that was lost at sea in 1853. All hands were lost in a gail and the crew died trying to swim back to shore. There is an account of this in the Rhode Island Gazette Obituary from that time period...it was the local paper. It was owned by Barker Burnell and his brother Jonathan. My daughter's name is Sophia so I figured why not, although I wont tell her that the two brothers drowned and were lost at sea. This will actually become a limited edition all boxwood kit which will be raffled off at a future Joint Clubs conference. I will make just 10 of these boxwood kits. Five for the Conference, and 3 for MSW members.....and 2 I will keep. Although I may also release it later in Yellow cedar. The all-boxwood versions will only be made into 10 kits fully rigged. A replica which is actually very accurate.... Chapelle's Plans Spencer's Model...really beautiful...also at 3/8" scale. And some old photos as these Cowhorn double enders were used right up until the 1900's There were dozens on the Island every season (anywhere from 50 - 70) fishing. A common site from the 1820's through their prime in the 1850's and 60's.

Excellent work JJ....and I am so happy you are moving forward with this. I have been following his progress on this and it is shaping up to be a wonderful project. Let me know how I can help as always. Chuck

Thank you for the kind words.

Planking continues. I have been busy carefully cutting the planks so they fit around the sweep ports and gun ports. Its really important to go slow. The last thing I want to have happen is me cutting all of these opening perfectly after about 30 minutes only to screw up on the last one. That would mean tossing in the scrap bin and starting over. Here a look at one of the longer planks that need to be made. I am just using a sharp #11 blade and a small file to neaten up my openings. I have managed to get the starboard side done up to a 3/32" strake. This is actually the first layer of fancy molding that will be added much later. I will pause here on the starboard side and not go any higher for the moment. Above this molding the outboard planking is covered with a frieze or painted. There will not be any treenails visible above this point. So this is the optimal time to pause and add treenails to all the planking I have done so far. This is optimal now for two reasons. - First, I can still see where the hull framing is above and below this planked area. This will make it super easy to run some tape down the hull to define exactly where the treenails should go. I will post an update on that soon. - In addition, the second layer of wales has not been added yet. On the Speedwell, there is an upper and lower wale strake. These stand proud of a planking strake between them and it will be so much easier to treenail that strake without worrying I would damage the edges of the wales above it and below it. I also want to point out that for the quarter badge window, a laser etched square is on the framing piece. You must trim each plank around this so you can insert the laser cut window later. Here is a picture of that opening with the laser cut window inserted. There will be acetate placed in the opening first and then this window. Then the quarter bade will be added over this making for a very neat and tidy presentation. This will be done later and these are only temporarily positioned. I will complete the planking to this point on the port side next and begin treenailing the hull.

Thank you for saying…Enjoy the project.