shipcarpenter

Hello,
 
I am working on small details. All fittings are prepared. Some photos:

Hello,
 
I am working on small details. All fittings are prepared. Some photos:

Hello,
 
I am working on small details. All fittings are prepared. Some photos:

Update to where the shipyard is at with planking
Couple of pictures of the planking to date.
I will be glad when this is completed, as each plank takes so long to plan:
- the position to plank before
- is it laying naturally flat ?
- where to start and end it
- rebate edges for smooth fit to previous
- if a drop plank, pre-plan how next plank fits over the dropped end or maybe another dropped plank ?
- pre-bend to fit as close as possible
- mark glue line, where and how many points for the super glue(to hold the plank
- mix glue then apply to all connecting surfaces
- place and check no gaps for the new plank
Probably missed some things in the process.
 
I have had a some clinker effect of a few planks as I forced them across the natural lay line too much. Just wanted them in a certain position, the proud edge should sand flat and we won't know which ones they are.
 
Also not all planks the same thickness and width which plays havoc at the butt joints.
 
I should stop complaining, nearly there.
 
Dave R  

Hi Mobbsie,  Thanks for stopping by.  I am really looking forward to the next adventure.  Thanks to you and Grant for letting me play.   
 
Thanks also to the "likes" they are always appreciated.
 
Time for a small update.  I have been working on the fiddly bits. The kit supplied parts are plywood or plastic so they needed to be cloned into a more natural material.  The cleats, blocks, spar and oar holders were all scratched from oak.
 

 
The plywood cradle was remade out of Mahogany.
 

 
The rudder is mounted loosely until I blacken the brass pin head, The cleats and oar holders are mounted.
 

 
I milled slots into bits of left over oar handle to act as keepers for the rudder suspension leather piece.  I have not completely figured out how to terminate them.  You can see them closer up in the second picture.
 

 
The paint tests are finally over.  I had some trouble finding the correct paint that would not creep under the masking tape.  My oldest daughter paints a lot of fabric and both she and the Admiral recommended a brand named Tulip.  It is the stripe on the left and the obvious choice.
 

 
The sail painting and rigging are next but I am heading to St Louis for the NRG meeting so they must wait.  
 
Thanks for looking.

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 83 – Toptimbers/Middle Deck Framing
 
It has been almost two weeks since the last post.  In that time, work was done to prepare the toptimbers for final alignment and the framing of the middle deck was completed.
 
After aligning the toptimbers around the curved stern, all of the rest and upper futtocks – except those at the forecastle – were cut off and adjusted to their final heights.  Toptimbers on the odd numbered frame lines were cut back to the planksheer line.  The first picture shows the way the height gauge was used to set the tops of the timbers.
 

 
A strip of wood was taped to the top of the gauge arm.  The heights of the fancy rail and the planksheer were then set from the drawing for each frame and the heights on the model adjusted to match with a flat file.  Each timber was filed horizontally until the gauge arm just slid over the top.  The picture shows some of the toptimbers cut off.  The tops of the frames are now ready for final fairing and installation of rails and outer planking.
 
The clamps for the cabin deck were dubbed off and the stern hook for that deck made and installed as shown in the next picture.
 

 
This short “mezzanine” deck is the next to be framed after completion of the decking and inboard planking above the middle deck.  The next picture was taken during framing of the middle deck – specifically the installation of lodging knees and ledges.
 

 
Some of the port side lodging knees have yet to be installed.  The picture shows all of the toptimber work completed.  The next pictures show some steps in setting ledges.
 

 
In this picture a score for the ledge is being cut into the lodging knees at the side with a small chisel.  The scores in the carlings were cut earlier with a triangular file.  In the next picture a ledge has been fit into the lodging knee score and is being measured for its final fit.
 

 
The last picture shows the completed framing of the middle deck.  It will now be sanded fair.
 

 
Work on the middle deck waterways will be next.
 
 Ed

..... continued.
 
To drill the holes at an angle in the Saddle I set it up in my mill vise :
 

 
The Saddle and Gammoning Cleats fitted :
 

 
The inboard end gets a "iron" band made from thin card :
 

 
The outboard end of the Jibboom has a shoulder cut into it and a tiny sheave :
 

 
Some views of the bowsprit assembled. As with the other masts nothing has been glued yet (apart from the fittings) :
 

 

 

 

 
  Danny

Yes Ferit - a good question. It is not exactly like plans say. I am trying how it looks with two boats.
In kit was only one boat but like plans from AOTS were two boats on the Santa  Maria but who knows?
The second boat is scratchbuilt - my first one. 
I don't know what is better guns or boats?

Hello everyone and thanks to all who visited and clicked the like button.
 
This rainy morning I made a soldering jig that also functioned as a step rung guide for bending the little lips.  I also made  new rungs for the boarding ladder from 0.4 mm brass shim stock.  Now they are all the same size and fit very snugly in my little jig. 
I just clamped the side braces to the upended parts of the rungs and soldered them nice a tight.  It worked like a charm.
 
Next came the more delicate and trying job in soldering the boarding hooks and the railing holder tube fixtures.  I used a few steel office clamps as heat-sinks and was able to solder these parts on without loosening up the step rungs.  
 
A little cleaning by removing some of the exposed solder, then fitting the railing.  That worked okay as well.  I used some 5 minute epoxy cement to keep the railing rod in place on the stanchions, which make the railing more like one piece.  I can still remove it so the crew can stow the entire boarding ladder away inside the lower part of the con or below decks.
 
The ladder still needs to be cleaned with a cleaning solvent so I can paint it dark grey.  That'll be done tomorrow after I come back from the doctor's office.  (Nothing serious, just a pre-op visit for my next biopsy later in the month).  
 
Okay, here are a few pics of today's work.
 

I took a piece of poplar out of my junkbox and made it 11 mm wide in order to get a 133 mm wide ladder.  I marked the location of the rungs 5 mm apart and sawed slots to a depth of just over 2 mm.  I had to adjust this several times with a 2 mm piece of brass to get the right depth.
Now I could make all 5 of the rungs but after the ends were bend to allow enough solder-hold to the side braces I used my duckbill pliers to make the bends sharp 90 degrees by tapping on the bend with a small hammer.  
 

Here I have inserted all 5 rungs into the jig and clamped a side brace to the jig assembly.  I soldered one side at a time to prevent shifting of the side braces.  This worked real fine.  After both side braces were soldered on I removed the little of the extra solder that usually seeps out or used too much of.
 

This is a close-up of the above picture for more  detail,  You can just see one end of the side brace.
 

Here I have laid out the deck hooks and railing attaching fixtures.  I'm sorry for not having made a few pics of all the steel office clamps that functioned as heat sinks but suffice it to say that it worked great.  Nothing got desoldered and all the parts are nice and square.
Next I assembled the loose parts for the railing and while they are on the boarding ladder, nice and straight, I cemented the railing rod into the stanchion tops.  I used two of the deck railing stanchions for this, waste not want not   
 

This shows the completed boarding ladder on the cutting board looking from the left.  No photo etch here, all hand made 
 

This is looking from the right side.
 

I have made two small holes in the deck for the ladder hooks to fit in and here I have hooked the ladder to the boat.  This is on the starboard side and looking towards the bow.  I still need to make the holes on  the port side.
 

This is looking towards the stern.
 
Cheers,

Hello,
many thanks für the nice comments.
In between, I will still show you how the portholes of the ventilation hatches are constructed.
The glass body with a diameter of 1.3 mm were punched out with a specially prepared punch pliers from an acrylic glass plate.
Then they were glued with Micro Kristal Klear in a brass tube piece.
The brass tube piece has an outside diameter of 2.5 mm.

 
See you soon ..
 
 

Spent a few hours today finishing off the best bower anchor. The hoops are made from copper wire that I flattened with a hammer then shaped and soldered. For the previous two anchors I used brass rod for the pins this time I used some brass nails. I thought the heads of the nails looked too big so I filed each one smaller.
 
Cheers
Steve

The lifts and Reef tackle pendant. The lifts are attached to a loop at the mast and attached with a toggle which is abut a 3mm piece or wood with a groove in the middle. The Pendants go through the sheeve in the yard, and held by a few loops around and left to fall through with a knot. I have finally attached all the railings on the tops as the pendants are apparently belayed to the tops. Only the braces to go, so a few more blocks to go on the stays yet.

No, I exactly did this:
 
cut the planks to length
colour the edges sides and front of every plank with pencil
glue them on place and grind all deck to smooth surface
drill holes for treenails and fill them with dark putty
when the putty hardens grind it again
 
Putty remains only in holes for pins, there are no grooves in lines so there remains no putty over the caulking lines.

Test of masts after strengthening false keel. Deck planking,material - ramin 1x4mm, edges blackened with pencil hardness 7B .

Hello,
 
thanks Geoff for encouraging words. I have now more photos of how she looks currently.
The boats are still not complete - outside must get stain, coat of varnish, wood ageing wash and a final coat of varnish.

Hello,
 
thanks Pawel, I used actually small bulb lights but it can be easy done with LEDs. I will try them maybe on my next ship,
which is still  waiting on wardrobe.
Some more photos of boats and lantern.

Now with the lines belayed. I've finally finished a part of the ship after 10 years! Lots to go I know, but it is certainly a milestone. 

...

Thank you mhegazi, and a warm welcome to MSW to you Mark .
 
Forecastle Railings
 
I'm nearly at the stage of "Stepping" the Foremast, but I realised that it would be nearly impossible to fit the Forecastle Railings if the Shrouds were already fitted, so this was my next step.

The Stanchions have a wide flair at the bottom, so to simulate that I silver soldered some 1.6mm tubing (ID of 0.85mm) to the bottom of some 0.8mm brass wire. I calculated the length of each stanchion first - none are the same length.

Then I soldered a piece of 0.6mm ID tubing to the top of each stanchion for the Eye through which the rope will pass :
 

 
I made the eyes a little on the large size to make soldering easier, then filed them down to the correct size :
 

 
The top rope has an eye seized into one end, and a lashing at the fore end secures it :
 

 

 
The aft end terminates with a seizing on an eyebolt :
 

 

 

 
  Danny

25' Cutters Ver 2_5 continued
 
The next step for the cutters was to create some mast support bands to attach to the thwarts.  Each cutter has two of these.  I used some thin brass strap and bent them to shape by using a jig, the idea for which I "borrowed" from Ian Major's lovely Unicorn log.  Ian machined his in metal, however I cheated and used MDF for the pressing surfaces, with a brass rod inserted as the former.
 

 
After blackening, they were attached to the thwarts, which had been shaped for the other half of the "hole".  In this pic, the thwart hasn't been finished sanded yet.
 

 
After that, it was a simple matter of cutting the stern sheets, which I did using a paper template and cutting from a single piece of 1/32" pear stock, and then finessed to fit.  The remaining thwarts were cut to size and finish sanded, putting a slight bevel/curve on the upper outside edges.  The timber was left natural, only polished with successively finer grades of sandpaper.  I also installed mast steps under the appropriate thwarts - you can just make these out in the photos.  And here is a finished Cutter.  The macro lens is not my friend today!  I swear those blemishes on the cap rail aren't visible to the naked eye!!!
 

 
Here's a picture alongside the 28' Pinnace for comparison.  Note the very different hull shapes.
 

 
And here's both Cutters, with my usual "scaling" shot:
 

 
The Cutters (and all boats) are now FINISHED!!!!!!  Doin' the Happy Dance!      
 
To celebrate, I thought I'd take a few shots of my Lilliputian Fleet. I had to remove the Launch from it's home on the "mother ship" for these shots, and was surprised by how large it looks in comparison to the others.
 

 

 

 

 
And finally, one last "scaling shot"
 

 
That's it for ship's boats.  I do not intend to make either the Barge or the Jolly Boat.
 
Next up, fitting the Quarter Davits, finish and fit the Anchors, and install rope coils throughout.  Almost there..........
 
 

Hello,
 
thanks Pawel, I used actually small bulb lights but it can be easy done with LEDs. I will try them maybe on my next ship,
which is still  waiting on wardrobe.
Some more photos of boats and lantern.

Hello! 
a little progress done. I continue with boats - small frames were added, lantern is done - glazed with micro kristal klear, masts were turned on my home narex lathe...
Next are the channels, chain plates and deadeyes.

Hello! Thanks robox and matti.
 
some progress - upper deck and main hatch cover.

Hello,
 
thanks Geoff for encouraging words. I have now more photos of how she looks currently.
The boats are still not complete - outside must get stain, coat of varnish, wood ageing wash and a final coat of varnish.

Hello,
 
thanks Pawel, I used actually small bulb lights but it can be easy done with LEDs. I will try them maybe on my next ship,
which is still  waiting on wardrobe.
Some more photos of boats and lantern.