Walter Biles

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 261 – Fore Topsail Yards
 
I have finally been able to break out of the ratline work to start on the next set of yards – specifically the fore lower and upper topsail yards.  These will likely be the next two to go up, but the main yard is also an option.  I want to get all the ratline work done on the lower and upper masts before staring on the yards.  I got ahead of myself with the fore yard and that made finishing the ratlines a tougher job.
 
I described the methods I am using to make spars in Parts 217-218 and Parts 247-248, so I will not go through it all again.  I will mostly stick to some things that may not have been covered earlier.
 
I generally like to drill all the holes in a spar at the first trim.  At this stage it is sized but still square and not tapered, so it is easier to hold and center the piece.  I forgot to do this on the lower topsail yard so it had to be done later as shown in the first picture.
 

 
In the picture the holes for the jackstay stanchions are being drilled.  The yard is clamped to the tooling plate at the octagonal center area and at the yardarm square section – not optimum but not too difficult.
 
In the next picture the upper topsail yard is set up for drilling while still at the first trim.
 

 
In the earlier description of this drilling I used the mill vise, but since I had the tooling plate set up I decided to use it instead.  To make the yard parallel with the plate, I used the small depth gauge described back during the deck framing.  The next picture shows the jackstay stanchion holes drilled into this yard.
 

 
The stanchion holes are the most important to do at this stage because they need to be centered on top of the yard and equally spaced.  Other holes will be drilled later.  In the picture the quarters are marked out.  In the next picture dividers are being used to mark the diameters on two opposite sides at each quarter.
 

 
These are taken directly from the drawing and serve as guides for the first roughing out only.  The final dimensions at each quarter will be measured and adjusted more accurately as shown below.  In the next picture the two marked faces are being tapered using a plane with the yard clamped in a vise.
 

 
The vise works well before the spar is tapered.  The fixture described earlier and shown below could also be used.  The taper is planed, scraped, rasped and sanded down to the divider marks.  In the next picture calipers are being used to check and refine the sizing to the dimensions specified on the drawing.
 

 
The drawings specify the diameter at each quarter in full size decimal inches, which are then divided by 72 to get the measurements to the three significant digits used in the final sizing as shown above.  The sandpaper board is used for the final sizing. 
 
With the spar tapered on two sides, the planning fixture shown below was then used to taper the remaining two faces.
 

 
For these smaller spars the top section of the stop was removed to clear the plane.  In the next picture one of the remaining two sides are being tapered.
 

 
The yard was then converted to an octagonal shape, except at the yard arms, as described in the earlier posts.  The center area on these "single-tree" spars were left octagonal, so the final rounding begins at the end of the octagonal section as shown below.
 

 
After filing off the corners of the octagon, the rounding was completed down to the square yardarm section using the sanding stick shown.
 

 
This has 220-grit paper on one side and 320-grit on the other.  The last picture shows the two topsail yards ready for their ironwork.
 
 
 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 260 – Clew Garnets, Tacks, Lazy Tacks
 
Clew garnets were used to pull the lower corners of the sail up to the bunt when furling.  Blocks for these lines were shackled together with the sheet blocks, tacks and lazy sheet/tacks.  These shackles were attached to iron clue rings or cringles on the sail.  For these lower sails, this was done on deck before the sail package was hauled aloft.  On the no-sails model the sheets, tacks and lazy tacks are suspended from the clew garnets.  The sheets will be added later.
 
Sheets were used to restrain the clews of the sail, the tacks to haul it forward when braced, and the lazy tacks to help control the sail when shifting from sheets to tacks.  On the model these lines are tensioned in a way that will position the shackled blocks and eventually allow the sheets to drape gracefully.  The first picture shows these lines rigged.
 

 
The clew garnets are shackled to an eye under the yard.  The line then passes through block on the shackle, back through the forward sheave of the double quarter block hooked under the yard, then down to the fife rail.  The lines that go directly down from the shackle to the pin rail are the 4" lazy tacks.  These would be belayed at any convenient location.  The line slanting forward to its cleat on the cathead is the 5" tack.  Both these lines had their eyes at the shackle formed in place.  The tail of one has not yet been clipped off in this picture.  The next picture shows a close-up of the shackle on the starboard side.
 

 
The larger, empty sheet block is to the left of the shackle. The next picture shows the fife rail with the clew garnet belayed on the first pin.
 

 
I finally decided to re-order the pins, moving the topping lift falls back to the third pin and the reef tackle fall to the second.  This avoids crossing lines.  The topsail sheet falls have also now been run through the outer sheaves on the sheet bitts and are temporarily belayed.  I may move these to the inner sheave.  The next picture shows the run of the tacks to the cathead cleats.
 

 
And finally, the belaying of the lazy tack on the first pin of the main pin rail.
 

 
The lines on pin 3, 4, and 5 are the two buntlines and the leechline.  
 
Ed      

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 263 – Fore Lower Topsail Yard Ironwork
 
In the first picture some of the bands fitted to the yard. 
 
 
These were made from .010" copper strips cut to size for the yard diameter at each point, and then silver-soldered.  The small diameter bands at the yardarms (not shown) were cut from copper tube.  The tapered maple mandrel shown was used to stretch the band and test the joint, to recover the round shape that is lost in setting up for soldering, and to hold the band for buffing and polishing.  The bands are then pushed over the yard into to position with a tight fit.  All the bands on this yard will be fitted with eyebolts or fairlead rings, so all were center punched and drilled for this.   The next picture shows the yard fitted with bands and jackstay stanchions
 
 
 
 
There is no finish on the yard at this stage and with some care it has been kept clean.  In the next picture the ironwork has been blackened using liver of sulfur solution.
 

 
This was all done in one step to avoid any black smudging on the yard beforehand.  The LOS solution was brushed over the yard.  As the copper work on each section blackened, within a few seconds, the yard was rinsed under running water.  It was then patted with paper towel and allowed to thoroughly dry. In the next picture the yard and ironwork have been finished with diluted Tung oil and allowed to dry overnight.
 

 
The ¾" diameter iron jackstays were made from straight brass wire.  This was treated beforehand with undiluted Brass Black®, then dried and buffed to remove residue.  In the next picture the jackstay has been threaded through the stanchions and cut to size.
 

 
The picture shows the assembled Howe truss temporarily pinned in place.  I may do some further filing of the end of the shaft.  The yard is retained with a tight fitting slit collar at the end of the shaft.  The next picture gives a better view of the jackstays and the truss.
 

 
The last picture shows the full yard on the mast.
 
 

 
There are no studding sail booms on this yard, since the topmast studding sails are hung from the upper topsail yard and the booms for the topgallant studding sails are supported from that yard.  The yard will now be removed to fit out its rigging connections and footropes.
 
Ed

Thanks John.
 
It's been a while since I've posted, but I've achieved a fair bit of mostly small fiddly stuff. My aim was to get the 2nd Aft deck finished and ready to install on the hull. Apart from two 37mm guns on the 1st deck I'm about there .
 
There were seven small boxes to make. Here are a couple of pics of the process :



 
I also had two 37mm guns and two 20mm guns as well as one more winch to make. Here's one side of the deck with all parts fitted :

 
Before fitting the whole assembly I thought it would be a lot easier later if I did as much of the rigging as I could. There are a couple more lines to fit, but that'll have to wait until tomorrow. First there are a few pics of fitting two eyebolts made from 0.2mm brass wire :





 
And here's the rigging I've done so far. The line is a fine elastic :




 
  Danny
 

OK.........we have drum roll!   90% of the sanding is done.......there are a few tiny imperfections.  I will take care of the tiny cracks and gaps at paint time,  which won't be too much longer now.   something I realized last night........there is no engine.....no prop!   I was thinking of giving 'er one.....but all I have in my inventory,  is a 34 mm two blade prop....too large for this model.  I failed to get any pictures of the finished sanding......the hull went into the paint booth too fast     the hull is still wet.



the first passes,  I had to wipe 'er down......too slow on the stroke and had runs.   then I found out that this was a gloss paint.....no matter.   by the time the hull goes for the color,  I will sand 'er with a fine paper to hopefully get a glass finish.   there's a few things I want to do before that happens....rudder,  rub rails and the outer stuff.   my usual next step at this time is to assemble the stand.

not bad for having the glue bottle land on it    .....don't ask how......even  made the admiral jump!  the use of gloss paint lengthened the drying time.....took all night to cure enough to handle.   I did manage to drill the rudder holes though and start to assemble the rudder,  but Gibbs wanted to go watch TV and wouldn't let it go until I complied.   not that the admiral hasn't voiced her opinion,  but I now have a cutting mat,  so I don't hack up the table top.  I still have the one from the AmericA build {I think}.....I'll bring that one to the table as well.  the hull was a tad bit tacky when I brought 'er to the table.



I also cut some wedges of wood to strengthen the corner joints on the stand.  I still need to paint it and put some felt in the cradle.  

I'll make a plaque badge for it too.

before I got pulled away to participate in the  "great entertainment center switcheroo"  I did manage to install the rudder and half of the deck margins.   as with most Billing boats models,  the gungeon parts are merely small pieces of mahogany glued to the sides of the rudder and shaft,  to make it look good.   I substituted this with thin brass strip.

holes were drilled in the brass strip,  to accept simulated bolts,  which I used the cut off heads from 10 mm brads.   the gungeons are not cemented to the shaft yet.

the shaft was pushed through the shoe hole,  through the gungeons,  and then cemented into the hole drilled into the underside of the stern.

this is when I realized that there was no prop in the kit........it looks like it needs something      I was itch'in to see how the margins would work out.......I got one side in place.   once I get the other side in place,  I'll trim where needed,  and add a bow and stern plate.....this will make planking even more easier    I hope to get more done today.   

I've been in the 'plastic room' also,  working on an ailing Batmobile.......the body won't fit correctly,  due to an inaccuracy of the rear deck.....it won't fit into the cockpit opening.   the instrument panel does {front},  but not the rear deck......sanding it down so it will fall into place     lov'in the new arrangement!  

Great Caesar's Ghost!  usually when that happens to me,  I forgot to hit submit.  but with the last update,  if you forgot to do that,  it would be there the next time you went to log a post    I like it......saves some headaches.  no matter......thanks for the good word OC!  I thought I felt your presence,  but wasn't sure   
 
anyway......to carry on the margins a bit further,  I got them done.   they did break in places,  but I was able to piece them back together.


next was the bow and stern plates......these just cap them off and takes away some of the planking trim work.   I did the stern first......it looks off,  but I think it's the camera angle.  I'll be doing some final tweaking once everything is in place.

then the bow.......

filler took care of the tiny gaps at the bow and stern,  and along the bulwarks.   any wavy areas along the bulwarks were evened out with a razor blade.  when all was said and done,  it was painted with pale gray.


it's still wet here and there....it should flatten out when fully dry.   the last thing tonight,  was to trace out the two structures,  prepping up for planking.

looking at the pilot house aft wall,  you'll see a bump in the tracing......I needed to fix an anti-flush issue with the back wall.  I fixed it and I'll retrace that line when it is dry.   I should be planking come Tuesday.......hull paint won't be until I add the rub rails....hoping I can fit that in too      thanks for look'in in.....much more to come   

progress report, 3 months 1 week and at least 500 hours, still many knick knacks to install,, than the boilers and steam turbines,,

against all odds and common sense it actually works, got all the 5 inchers,torpedo tubes and 2 bofors to rotate, somebody pinch me!!!

Yes, the tape is self sticking with a waxed paper backing.  As for the plating, there was two was it was done.  One was to start at the keel and lay the above panel overlapping the one below.  The other method was to lay every other row of plating (1-3-5-7), then go back and lay the other rows (2-4-6) overlapping both the row below and above.  According to the plans the Mariefred was plated by the second method.
 
Bob

Walter....I am so deeply sorry to hear of your wife's passing.  I stumbled onto your log today....I feel terrible,  since I had lost touch with your log....finding out that you had tabled Meridea,  to work on this new project.   I believe as you do,  that she is in a much better place.......she suffers no more.   I send my condolences to you my friend......my thoughts are with you.

Thank you all for your likes and concerns.  I will be back when I can.  I had the boat frames all ready to start building, and the material.  As soon as I can get myself back together with my mental capacities and readiness to build, I will be seeing you all again.  

Thank you Michael.

Thank you Mark,
I appreciate your thoughts, and thank you, and the later part of your comments are pretty much in line with what I plan to do. 
 

Mark, Thanks for the likes.  I now also have a keel built to receive all the frames.  

I have finally started on my boat.  I cut my timbers for the Keel yesterday, and got them glued and clamped.  I started back through my frames, and am doing another check and refinement, really close up this time.  I am cleaning out the bits and pieces of lines and making sure each side matches the other in all respects, but I am finally almost ready to start framing when I finish this close examination.  The framing calls for them being set into notches in the deadwood, and I am going to pin through all the separating blocks to keep them from splitting on the grain.  Each pin will go through into the keel parts proper to tie them into the keel, and also be the pins through the keel splice joints.  I may be ready for some pix soon.  I am just taking my time and working hard to meet each potential problem before it comes one.  

I finally now have 31 frames done, I think.  I am still checking them over.  I am just about ready to cut the keel so I can put the frames into it as I get each one done.  The last 5 were the hardest to get right around the aft end of the hull.  I am going to allow some spare material to the inside of each frame to make it so I will be able to sand each one to the fore-aft side taper.  I am going to use stock that is half the thickness of the frame, and cut them to fit the ends where I will overlap each with the material on the opposite side, then cut them out on the band saw according to the pasted on pattern.  I forget exactly where I saw this method done, but I remember how it was done.  I will be using wooden tooth picks for pinning the frames.  I will post some pix as I get something to show.

I have been remiss in replying to likes recently, Mark, Popeye, Omega 1234 and others.  I thank you. 
 
I have been chasing down the keel tie in on the frames.  I just can't seem to keep my drawings following through all the way with so many frames.  I keep finding things on frames I had thought I'd finished, only to find another omission on another one.  It has been wearing me down.  My last few on the aft end of the hull have been the hardest to imagine and then get down on the computer to where I can produce a glue on frame pattern to start building.  I went through my wood supplies and should have enough to go quite a ways through framing, if I don't find too many mistakes, omissions, or other flaws in my drawings.  I have really been trying to apply the many things I learned in the lofting book.  Since I'm so weak in short term memory, it makes it hard to be consistent on every frame. 

I now have a cutoff guide for my bandsaw.  I have also made a rip fence to help me keep consistent width on my cuts.  I found several knobs at the hardware store in Prescott.  They are now tightening my rip fence and another one is clamping the degree setting on my cutoff guide.  I still have to make a pointer for setting the angle.  I am now close to being able to rip my apple wood into building stock. 

It took a bit, but I finally have all my prior frames re-adjusted and corrected.  I am now starting the 22nd of 31 frames.  I have made a grid that equals normal print pages so It is now easy to print each frame on a page.  I am now over 2/3 done with the first stage of planning the frames.  When I am ready with these, I will be making a printout for the parts to fit with the grain in 7 pieces.  Then I should be able to get some building done, finally.  YEAH!!!, YAY!!!
 
I now have a nice new 1/8th inch band-saw blade on my saw.  Now that it is carefully adjusted to this blade, It cuts really well.  I have made a cut off guide for the slide track and am planning on making a small rip fence for the band saw.  I think that with the correct set on the teeth of this new blade it should be much easier to cut straight or curvy cuts.  That old blade that came on my used saw only had set on 1 side and it would not cut straight nor in a curve.  I had to herd the work in and be constantly stopping and restarting the cut to get it back to going where I wanted it to go.  The weather is pretty and nice and not too warm yet.  I have been able to get some things done in my shop in the garage to make it easier to work in there.  Still much to do, but slowly I am making progress in getting more tools accessible to work with, for the first time since we moved in here in '96.  I have new 2' shelves above my finally covered work bench so I can store some of the tool kits in Rubbermaid bins with lids up out of my way.  Each step is slowly giving me more room to move and work.  Not quite so much of a store room now.  I got some bats of used fiberglass insulation, I am hoping to get installed in my ceiling above my shop to help with heating and cooling eventually.  Someone even offered to help me get it put in, when he can get time.  I got some of the electrical work done on my work bench.  I want to add a few more access ports to reduce longer cords having to be strung out.  There is never more than one tool running at any one time, but having plug-ins within reach of more places should help a lot. 
 

I am now up to 18 of 31 frames done.  I had a few days when my CAD program wouldn't work.  It got some sort of error in the program which I finally had to remove the program and then re-install.  Now it is back up and the frames are getting better all the time, as I find things I did wrong.  I had been finding frames that I had left out some things that needed to be there for the frame to come out right.  They are getting better as I go. 

Patrick, Thank you so much. 
She was in so much pain, and she has it no more, and is, in our belief, in a much better place now.  Knowing this I can only be sad for myself, and I must go on for our family's sake.  I will recover, and be back when I catch up on putting my home back in order.  I am making a lot of adjustments to reduced income, and revising my values on day to day needs.  It will take time, but I will make it.  
Walt

Thank you all for your likes and concerns.  I will be back when I can.  I had the boat frames all ready to start building, and the material.  As soon as I can get myself back together with my mental capacities and readiness to build, I will be seeing you all again.  

Thank you all for your likes and concerns.  I will be back when I can.  I had the boat frames all ready to start building, and the material.  As soon as I can get myself back together with my mental capacities and readiness to build, I will be seeing you all again.  

Thank you Michael.