gjdale

Thanks again for the kind comments and all the "likes". And welcome to the log Don - you'll find cold refreshments at the bar with Mark, and Sjors is around somewhere wit the popcorn. Some success and some spectacular failure this week! I'll spread this over two posts. Channels and Deadeyes First up, I decided that I wasn’t very happy with the cut-out in the Channels for the Swivel Gun pedestals - so I remade them, taking greater care with the cut-outs this time around. I also made up the Retaining Paunches. The drawings show these held in place with pins, so I drilled a series of 0.5mm holes and inserted copper pins into these, blackening in-situ with Liver of Sulphur on completion. Next up, a gratifying success story – the deadeyes. Two sizes of deadeyes are required – 6mm and 4.5mm diameter respectively. After turning down some 1/4" square Castello Boxwood to the appropriate outer diameter, I used a 60-degree Carbide-tip threading bit to delineate between individual deadeyes. By cutting only to about 1/4 of the diameter deep, this enabled me to cut a chamfer on both faces of each deadeye. Once all the individual deadeyes were marked out, I went back and, with the same bit, cut a small stropping groove. This groove was then widened slightly with a hand file while still on the lathe. This picture shows the initial cutting in progress. All individual deadeyes have been marked out, and the stropping grooves are now being cut. The work was supported during this process by a live centre at the tailstock end. When it came to parting off the individual deadeyes, the live centre was removed and a Steady Rest was placed close to the unsupported end of the stock. A razor saw was then used to complete the parting off process. I again decided I wasn’t happy with the first batch of deadeye blanks as neither the chamfer, nor the stropping groove were deep enough. So I re-did them. Here is a shot of the second attempt in progress. To drill the holes in the deadeyes, they were mounted one at a time in a three-jaw self-centring chuck, which itself was mounted on the Rotary Table on the Mill. The sensitive drilling attachment was used to drill a 1 mm hole in the larger (6mm) deadeyes, while a 0.7 mm hole was drilled in the smaller (4.5mm) deadeyes. The Rotary Table made short work of this task. After centring the drill bit over the lathe, it was then offset in the X-axis by one-quarter of the diameter (ie half-way between the centre and the outside of the deadeye). The first hole was drilled and the Rotary Table was turned 120-degrees for the second hole, and again for the third hole. It sounds long and tedious, but this turned out to be a lot quicker than one might at first imagine. Here is the Mill set-up: And here are the resulting deadeyes after a coat of Wipe-on Poly had been applied: Continued next post....

I'll join the "Wow"-sers, Glenn! Just superb.

Great work Bob!

Very nice start Jack. I look forward to seeing the new building board.

Ed, I too learn many valuable tips and techniques from your explanations of your machining methods and set-ups. They make perfect sense when you explain them, but nevertheless fit firmly in the category of, "ahhhh!, Now why couldn't I think of doing something that way?" Thank you for sharing your knowledge, skills and techniques so freely.

Looks like you've been giving this a lot of thought Jack. Think I'll follow along to see your solutions to all of the problems you've identified.

Wow John! That's a very impressive display. I love the extra details with the whale and whale boat, as well as the background and display board itself. Well done my friend!

Very nicely done Maury.

And then you can add the currency exchange rate as well. When I bought my Byrnes tools a couple of years ago, the Australian dollar was at parity or slightly better against the Greenback - in fact it was about US $1.05. I knew that situation wouldn't last so I went ahead and bought a LOT of stuff from O/S at the time (including my Sherline stuff as well). I'm so glad I did as the Australian dollar is now trading at around US $0.70 - that actually represents a further 50% to the price for us, including on the already exorbitant postage rates!!! The worst part is, I can't see any change in the exchange rate coming in the near future - at least not in a favourable direction for us. Okay, rant over. I'll get my coat and leave now.....

Thanks again for all the kind words and "likes". Some more progress to report.... Swivel Guns and Channels The Swivel Guns were made from 1/4” square Ebony stock, turned on the lathe and once again using the compound slide to achieve the taper. The only difficulty encountered was due to the very small size (19mm long and 3.8mm in diameter at the widest point, narrowing to 2mm at the narrowest). I copied the plan into my CAD program and painstakingly took off measurements for all the re-inforce rings............and then cut them by eye! The mounting yoke is a “U-shape” atop a central pedestal. To manufacture these, I hammered flat some 1.5mm diameter brass wire and then formed it around a 5/32” (4mm) brass rod. It was then transferred to a wooden dowel of the same diameter, squeezed tight, and then a 0.8mm hole was drilled right through the brass and dowel to take the subsequent “axle” pin for the guns. The piece was then removed from the dowel, the ends trimmed as close as possible to the cross-holes, and a 1.5mm diameter brass rod “handle” was then silver soldered to the base of the “U-shape”. The “handle” was left extra long for ease of handling. The swivel gun handle was formed by bending a piece of 0.8mm diameter copper wire to 90-degrees and then placing a “blob” of silver solder on the end. Again, the part was left extra long for ease of handling. Here is a photo of all the manufactured parts of the swivel gun prior to blackening of the metal components. The pedestals for the Swivel guns were made from3/16” square Pear stock. First the corners were chamfered with a miniature plane to create an octagonal section, and then the end was drilled to receive the mounting yoke stem. The pedestals were then notched to fit over the cap rails, and finally a strip of black paper was added to simulate an iron band around the top. The channels were cut from 1/16” thick Castello Boxwood, with 1/16” wide notches cut on the mill. A cut-out was also shaped to fit around the Swivel gun pedestals. The Swivel guns were then assembled by epoxying the handle into a pre-drilled hole in the base of the gun, and inserting a 0.8mm copper wire through the yoke and the gun. This was epoxied in place, and once dry, the ends of the copper wire were snipped close and filed back to the just proud of the yoke surface. Some of the blackening had by this stage rubbed off, so I tried an experiment of blackening "in-situ" with Jax Pewter Black. I have become a big fan of this product, ever since I discovered (read somewhere, can't remember where) that it is best used undiluted and applied with a paint brush (after the usual cleaning routine). It is then rinsed with distilled water. On this occasion, I washed (ie with a paintbrush) all of the metal parts again with vinegar, washed again with water, then painted on the Pewter Black again, and washed with water. It seems to have worked well and had no adverse effect on the Ebony timber. Here is a shot of all of these components, including the now assembled swivel guns. These will not be mounted in their pedestals until the build is finished, in order to protect them from clumsy hands! Finally, here is a close-up “zoom and crop” of a completed Swivel gun – complete with scarred iron-work! Next up, Deadeyes and Chain Plates…..

Fabulous work Dan. She looks terrific. I'm sure your customer will be delighted.

Great results Mobbsie. Looks like a very practical and easy to use method.

John, Ultimately it's your decision to make. But I would ask myself, just how much is this going to bother me down the track? If the answer is, "not at all", then leave it as is. However, I suspect that this is not the case, else you wouldn't have asked the question...... In my experience, taking a few extra days now to fix something to your own satisfaction, and while it is still accessible, is well worth the extra time and effort. Your call my friend.......

Thanks for all the kind comments and encouraging words folks, and for all the "likes". First up, a confession.... I've been holding off on updating for a little while, as I've been in a bit of a quandary about what to do about the guns. On the one hand, Danny was kind enough to give me two of his Russian-made guns, which are quite exquisite and match the scale pretty nicely. On the other hand, I was very pleased with my own attempts at turning the guns. So which to use..... The Admiral was consulted and she was quite firm that my own guns would be more in keeping with the rest of the project. So, I dropped Danny a quick note and of course he was cool with that decision. Happy days! On with the show.... 4lb Guns (continued) The cap squares were made from slices of 0.05mm Brass strip, bent around a brass rod former, then drilled to accept the pin on the forward edge. An elongated hole was drilled for this purpose. The pins were made from some left over “dog bone” shroud fasteners from a previous kit. These had the advantage of being flat rather than round, and I simply cut them in half and inserted them in the elongated holes. Hinges at the aft end were simulated by gluing in place a tiny section of brass tube. The cap square pieces were all chemically blackened prior to final assembly. To rig the guns, eye bolts and hooks were made from brass wire, and then chemically blackened. Although 2.5mm blocks would have been more correct for scale, I opted to use 3mm blocks to save my sanity. I used Chuck’s rigging line for all ropes. 0.3mm diameter was used for side tackles and the train tackle, and 0.88mm for the breaching rope, these being the closest I had to hand for the correct scale. I opted to simulate a cut (or “cont”) splice in the breaching rope to go over the button on the cascable. I also decided to show the extra line from side and train tackles in a Flemish coil, which I realise is not authentic, but I decided that as the Admiral would be visiting, then we’d make an effort to look pretty! I failed to take any “in-progress” shots for this sequence, so here are a few showing the guns rigged and in place. Upper Deck Finals Once the guns were in place, all that was left to complete the upper decks (internally) were a few cleats and a ladder. The cleats presented no problem and were simply shaped from appropriate sized stock. Two of the cleats on each side were made from Red Heart, while one on each side, and the funny-shaped cleat atop the cap rail were made from Ebony. All cleats were fixed with copper pins, chemically blackened in place. For the ladder, I decided to use my mill to create some accurate dados in the ladder sides, which are 3/16” wide and made from 1/16” thick Pear stock. The hardest part about this was setting up an appropriate holding method in the mill. Once firmly held in place, the dados were cut with a 1/16” end mill, to a depth of 0.8mm. Here is a shot of the mill set-up: The steps of the ladder were also cut from the same Pear stock. When assembling the ladder, the fronts of the steps were allowed to protrude somewhat, so that once the glue was dry, they could be sanded back flush with the ladder sides, creating a bevelled front edge of the step. Finally, here a few shots of the Upper Decks now complete as far as internal fittings go. Next up, Channels, Dead-eyes and Swivel guns…….

Very nice set of teeth there Bob. I empathise regards working with tiny blocks. I just made the same decision, opting to use 3mm blocks rather than 2.5mm on my cross section.

Wow Ian! That's just brilliant. I love the "optical illusion" approach.

I have a 21" Excalibur and love it too!

Outstanding Bob!

Sorry to hear you've been under the knife Robbyn, but glad that you're on the mend now. I look forward to further updates on your Syren in the near future. Hope you have a great year.

Beautifully done Remco - a year well invested!

Ronald, Try Crown Timberyard for replacement wood - they are a sponsor of this site and appear to have taken over the mantle from HobbyMill. All reports I've read here have been very positive. Jason (the owner) also appears to be developing an excellent reputation for customer service, just at Jeff at HobbyMill had. Sorry for butting in Robbyn - back to your build.

Have you had a look at the Sergal kit? Here's a link to Cornwall Model Boats (just one supplier). I haven't built it, but it looks to be a very nice model. http://www.cornwallmodelboats.co.uk/acatalog/mantua_mississippi.html

A plane is a fast and efficient way of tapering, converting square stock to octagonal prior to final shaping (eg masts), or creating a bevel on one edge. As Mike notes above, one of the additional advantages is that a plane creates shavings rather than saw dust, which is both easier to clean up and less of a health hazard. Miniature planes simply allow you to use these advantages on smaller pieces of stock. And as Bob Blarney notes above, I too have become a devotee of Paul Sellers' YouTube videos. If you haven't already checked them out, do yourself a favour.....

This looks to be a very interesting project Peter, so I think I'll pull up a seat in the front row to follow your progress. Looking forward to see how she develops.

Wonderful work on the rudder Bob.