FriedClams

Again, thank you everyone.
 
Rob, its really not so much a question of inaccuracy as it is of drawing status, especially when the model work is catching up with the drawing availability as it is right now.  "Approved for Construction" drawings go through several phases from initial sketches to final as-built.  For example, on the mast drawings, when the final shape of the mast was "approved"  the drawing went into the shop for that work only, while drafting continued on the next phases - banding, hounds and bibbs, top structure, top details and rigging conections - with each going into the shop when ready for the particular work.  Construction sometimes initiates revisions.  If so, these get put on the drawing until the final complete "as-built" and checked revision is ready for the book.  Some, usually minor, errors will escape in the 100's of drawings.
 
As to what is known about mast and spar making on American 1850's merchant craft, it is true, as Crothers states in his book, that specific documentation is on American practice is scarce - and I am taking his word for it rather than retrace his exhaustive research steps.  However, there is little to indicate that basic American practice differed from British practice - pre-Steel through the 19th Century - until steel began to replace wood.  So, much of what is needed for modeling is well-founded and available.  I have Webb's original spar plan and a list published independently at the time that agrees with the plan.  Crothers relied on various sources for geometry - all in basic agreement - from Steel through Fincham's 1843 work.  The data is there, but wading through it takes time.  I spent an entire day last week confirming the way caps were made and fitted, and by the way, proving to myself that Crothers cap drawings were, in fact, quite correct.
 
One must also remember, that on these world-circling ships, spars were lost and replaced at ports and shipyard everywhere.
 
Hello, Allan.  Yes, the rim in the photo is upside down.  I started by laying out the holes on each initially oversized xtree by taking off the hole spacing on each xtree with dividers and transferring it to the centerline of each xtree timber.  The shape of the curved rim was transferred to the xtree assembly from the template.  The half-laps in the xtrees were then cut and the ends roughly trimmed.  The curved rim was fitted to the laps and through-drilled from the holes in the xtrees.  Half-laps were then cut in the rim.  Pins were used to align the pieces for gluing.  The process was made easy by using a laminated rim.  After drying the pieces against the template after boiling, they were glued using the template.  There was virtually zero springback as may be seen in the photo.
 
Cheers, everyone.  I will try to put out the second post on the tops this week.
 
Ed

Hi Ed
 
Did you make the lap, then pre-assemble, then drill the holes so they are perfectly aligned.   I see the cut in the top of both the rim and the cross trees.  May I assume the rim is upside down for the photo?  
 
Thanks once more for sharing.  Gorgeous stuff!
 
Allan

Wonderfully constructed Ed.  I too had noticed some minor discrepancies with the final product and the drawings...but assumed what you had described.  so much more goes into construction beyond what version of the drawing you are working to.  My drawings have several inaccuracies...I have to work over.  Besides......some these drawings are nearly only suggestive of what was typical...not what was actual.  Leaving much builders artistic license, for sure.
 
Crothers in his masting book mentions that mast builders of the time left limited documents for us to study over and the specific mast design used on our favorite clipper may not even be available.  Love the work....you're doing magnificent.
 
Rob 

Very beautiful work Ed.

Brilliant

Beautifully done, Ed! The half-laps in particular are excellent.

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 190 – Framing the Fore Top
 
It was nice to get back to some pure – well almost pure – woodworking on the tops.  There will be ironwork involved, but not in this post.  The first picture shows the first step, pinning the 9" x 9" crosstrees to the drawing.
 

 
Pins were placed in holes that are centered on the slots that will pass the deadeye straps for the topmast shrouds.  They are conveniently located to index the pieces.  In the next picture the 9" x 18" trestletrees have been mortised and fitted.
 

 
The port trestletree is being glued, held down by pin clamps.  The next picture shows the basic framework positioned on the hounds.
 

 
The spacing of the members provides just sufficient clearance to go over the masthead bands.  The top framing is temporarily wedged forward of the mast to check and adjust the level on the top face of the hounds.  The top is aft-heavy.  The next picture shows the rim being formed.
 

 
This was made in a two piece laminate to facilitate bending and minimize spring-back after the two dried pieces were glued.  The rim is shown on the drawing in the next picture.
 

 
The lap joints in the trees have been cut in this picture.  In the next picture the laps have been cut in the rim.
 

 
Indexing holes were drilled in the rim before the joinery was done.  Finally, the assembled framing.
 

 
Next, planking and triming out the top.
 
Ed
 

Thank you, everyone for the comments and likes.  As always, I am most appreciative.
 
Bob, as always, you are correct.  I am very surprised that this is the first discrepancy to be noticed in drawings that often appear in the pictures.  Perhaps its a bad habit to work atop preliminary drawings, or any drawings for that matter, but these sheets are so expendable that I often work with them on the bench.  I might also add that I almost always work from unfinished versions of these.  I am probably up to more than a dozen revisions - at least - to the mast detail drawings.  The missing detail was added to the mizzen dwg after the photo - and the work.  If you look at the first picture in the last post you will see that the stool is missing.  There's no rigid sequence in this shipyard - especially when the construction is hard on the heels of the drafting - like now.  I appreciate your keeping an eye on me.
 
The fore top is just about complete.  I expect a couple posts on it before Christmas.
 
Cheers,
 
Ed

Always a joy to look in to the next installment Ed I am always learning new tips about the various fittings and the sequencing of construction of these elements.
 
Michael

Thanks Steve, Russ, CH, HH and to everyone who hit the like button.
 
Hubac's Historian, I picked up a set of ten diamond needle files at Harbor Freight for under $10. They seem to be holding pretty well.
 
Finished up the fore companion way. And yes, both companionways have removable panels.

 
During my installation of all of the cleats and eyebolts, I snagged and broke my wheel, so this is wheel 2.0.

She looks really sharp Mark.
 
Michael

She's really coming together, Mark.  You'd better get a move on or she won't be ready to go to Hobart!  
 
John

The hatches have progressed & are almost complete. They are just sitting in place & no finish as yet. I'd like to show a more teak colour than the other timber is, so I'll try putting a touch of black ink into the shellac - or perhaps a light watercolour wash on the timber before the shellac. 
 

 

 
The companionway hatch is a simplified version of a simple mechanism & not much detail is shown, it is intended to be a very simple system anyway, similar to some that I have seen. I may show a brass flat bar on the top of the timber rails, but my metalwork has yet to be tested so we'll have to see about that. The decision will partly depend on the balance of detail on the model -
 
The curved beading at the ends was heated with a heat gun while I gently bent them with my fingers. A few cracked beads & lightly smoking fingertips, but when it worked they took only a few minutes. The timber is fairly brittle.
 

 

 
The main hatch might get some lights set into it, I'll decide that later, but fixed round lights would be a nice touch.
 

 

 
The fore hatch is ventilating, it's not quite completed, I will probably put a simple beading to the edge, similar to the others but probably a bit finer to suit the smaller size. The implied dovetails are just cut square & not bevelled, I felt that in this case showing some construction detail was important to give a sense of how the timberwork would be put together.
 

 

 
thanks,
 
good wishes for the Christmas season everyone.

Hi Mark
 
Wow. That's some seriously nice work, there. Pretty darn hard to find fault with anything that you've done.
 
Nice!!!
 
Cheers
 
Patrick

Absolutely first class, Mark.  It's always a joy to see an update of your lovely little yacht.
 
John

If the wood is well seasoned, it should not warp. I let my foursquare sticks sit a few days after sawing them, just to be sure. If a blank develops a slight curve, it is taken care of when I mark out the centerline and the tapers before forming the foursquare taper.

Maury,
Try to get some square pine, warps less than boxwood. But boxwood shouldn't warp unless under extreme conditions.

After an hour of planing, the boom is now (almost) a perfect octagon.

 
Then I read the latest NRG journal where I learn that Box wood is Bad for masts (it warps?).  Anyone else have this experience before I shape four more spars.
Maury

I am without power tools for a while so I'm working on the spars.  I cut and sanded several pieces to the extreme width of each spar.  Next comes tapering them and then cutting them down to 8-sided.
 

 
that involves using the 7-10- 7 fan and planing down the four corners to 8.  You can see the lines as the stick lies in the jig (thank you Admiralty Models) ready for planing.
 

 
Maury

Thanks Dave. There are some great Constitution build logs on MSW that I have used a lot, including the current build by XKen. I can't wait to see your approach to this ship.
 
I finished the collars for the bow sprit using three different sizes of served line. It got easier working with the served line as I went along. The lashing lines are on so they are all ready to install on the bow sprit. But before I do that, I want to install the gammoning.
 

 
Since I am building an 1812-ish version of the ship, I am using rope gammoning instead of chains, as on the modern version. I had made the holes for these in the stem very early in the build, and I have pretty good access to this area under the bow gratings. I made two gammoning lines with the rope walk and installed them last night. I was not happy with them, though, because there are no stops on the bow sprit to keep them from sliding down toward the bow. The steps that go over the gammon have cut outs that act as stops, but I am going to install them after the gammoning is on. The forward line was really bent toward the bow. Anyway, I removed what I did and after making more rope, I will try installing them with temporary pins installed to act as stops until I get the steps put on.
 

 
These have since been removed. they look good from the top, but if you looked inside you would see they are bent. The gammoning should be straight up and down when seen from the side, according to the TFFM Vol 4 Rigging book, which I am finding very valuable for general rigging information.

Hi Martin,
Thanks so much for your kind comments,
 
I am delighted by all the positive feedback received from fellow builders, and its very encouraging for me to deliver my best in this phase of the build....
 
Nils

Hi Nils -- I have to share in the chorus of delight over each step of your progress.  I also want to add my thanks for your diligence in keeping us posted on your work.  Your images and your narrative are always a delight.
 
And of course I have to label myself one of the most desultory posters around!
 
Cheers,
 
Martin

many thanks to - Oystein - Steve - Greg - Gary - Patrick - Albert -  Jase -  Bob,
for your much appreciated words and comments.....
 
Oystein,
thanks so much for dropping in regulary, and also a merry Christmas to you and Norway...
 
Steve,
It was my aim to try and build a bit of that nostalgic ocean liner charme, which I also love, into the build, am glad you like it..
 
Greg,
a great compliment, thanks a lot and also best regards to your freind
 
Gary,
thanks very much for your kind words
 
Patrick,
am very happy that you are liking the growth of the KWdG liner
 
Albert,
thank you so much for your kind words.....
 
Jase,
Thank you very much for your kind compliments and for joining in and watching the build..
 
Bob,
Thank you so much for your your kind compliment, I`m happy that you and many others are liking the build....
 
 
My thanks also to all the "likes" who clicked in and are watching regulary...
 
Nils

Everyone agrees, your build is fantastic.
 
Bob

simply stunning.  I have just read the full topic and both the subject and the build are fantastic
 
wish I had these skills, total joy to watch the build
 
Jase