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Posts posted by tlevine
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The wobbly truck has now been repaired. I have completed making the gun tackle and breeching ropes. The gun tackle is frapped and attaches with hooks to the bulwark and the gun carriage. The breeching is wrapped around the cascabel and attaches to rings on the bulwark. The end loop on the breeching is formed by splicing; the splice and the loop are served. I used a somewhat unusual tool to serve the loop...a crochet hook. And not the kind that is used to make a quilt. This is a #12 size, left over from when I used to make lace.
To prevent the carriages from moving, a #76 hole was drilled into the edge of the deck planking and the front axle. A 24 G wire was inserted and glued with CA. You can see one of the wires in the first two pictures. Three down, eleven to go!
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- KenW, GrandpaPhil, WalrusGuy and 18 others
- 21
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It has been a few weeks since the last posting, but I have been busy in the shop. The next item on the list is installing the cannon. For this, I had to make 56 blocks. There are just over 1/8" long and are made from English boxwood. That was the easy part. Next came the strops. Strops are made from served line with either one or two eyes. Serving, splicing it into a loop and making the eyes took several days. The result is nowhere as good as some of our European brethren, but it is the best I can do at this size. Now to make the gun tackle.
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Let me add my welcome to MSW. You chose a great model to replace the pirated Harvey. When you begin, please start a build log so we can follow your journey.
- Dave_E, Ryland Craze, Edwardkenway and 3 others
- 6
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"...MINIMUM required shop equipment" I presume you have the usual collection of a Dremel, clamps, forceps, pin vise, razor saw, etc.
Whatever you purchase, make it the highest quality you can afford. Crap tools beget crap results. When I started scratch building, the first power tool I purchased was a Preac saw. So a table saw is a must. The next one was a disc/belt sander, now replaced with Jim's disc sander which is whisper-quiet. Until you are ready to invest in a good scroll saw, like a DeWalt, a jeweler's saw and jeweler's pin come next. As a personal challenge, all the frames on my Echo cross section were cut by hand. Other hand tools I cannot live without are chisels and sharpening system and calipers.
As others have said, your needs will be determined by what you are building and how you are building it. For the first venture into scratch building, I would recommend sourcing wood the required thicknesses. Otherwise, you will need to add a band saw and thickness sander/planer to your list.
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The copper I bought was dead soft, so I did not need to anneal it.
- hollowneck, druxey and mtaylor
- 3
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Ian, I set up a jig similar to the one shown below. I nailed two brads into a scrap of 2x4 and wrapped the wire around them, leaving the ends along the straight part of the plate. I then used a needle-nose pliers to pinch the wire just inside the brads (dotted line). The ends of the wire were then trimmed and soldered using a silver solder paste. Some of the silver flowed along the straight part of the plate, securing everything. No drilling required.
- bruce d, GrandpaPhil, Seventynet and 6 others
- 8
- 1
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I purchased mine from Rio Grande but Amazon also has it in smaller quantities.
https://www.riogrande.com/product/copper-square-wire-dead-soft/132410GP/?code=132423
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Thank you to everyone for the likes. I have made the rope for the gun rigging. Making the blocks comes next.
Druxey, I started with sheet brass. Then I decided to clean my workroom, In doing so, I found the spool of square wire that I had used for the planking bolts. 24-gauge was the perfect size for the job. After a few "fails", the process went very quickly. I would never go back to the other way. After a Sparex soak, I used brass blackener instead of liver of sulfur and had no issues with blackening.
- mtaylor, hollowneck, JpR62 and 2 others
- 5
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I realize it has been a long time since this build log has been updated. Between finishing the Echo cross-section and the garden, there has been very little time for her. I have finally made some progress. The channels, deadeyes and chainplates have been installed. The angles for the chainplates was determined by stepping a false lower mast and running a line from the top to the chains. The deadeyes are made from English boxwood. I have not decided whether I like the color contrast of the channel moldings. These were made from apple. I tried a different approach on the preventer plate. Previously, I would cut the plate from sheet brass, drill the holes and score the middle of the plate. This time, I used 24-gauge square copper wire. I set up a jig with two brads, wrapped the wire around the brads, pinching at their bases and silver soldered the ends and center sections together. Heating the plate during the soldering process had the benefit of softening the metal so it could be bent over the middle link.
Other details have been added. Preventer eyebolts have been installed, as well as eyebolts along the two masts. Only the foremost port was fitted with a cover. This was fitted so it would hinge on its fore side. The contemporary model shows six exposed timberheads, five in the bow area and one aft. The plan only shows three in the bow and none aft. I followed the plan. Next up will be rigging the guns.
- chris watton, French Mr Bean, JpR62 and 34 others
- 34
- 3
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I agree. Please show us more of the stove.
- Keith Black, billocrates, JohnLea and 2 others
- 5
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That sums it up perfectly, Greg. If it were not for you and David, my model building would never have become what it is today. What you gentlemen create is the stuff we can only dream of achieving.
- mtaylor, WalrusGuy, Keith Black and 6 others
- 9
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The last two items to address are the gangway and the ladder going up to it. The gangway is comprised of a frame of wood, secured to the bulwark with knees (two of them are visible in this cross section). The frame is then planked. I initially misinterpreted the drawing in the practicum and installed a stanchion between the deck and gangway. The location made no sense to me as it would have been in the way of the gun. The stanchion is actually between the gangway and the rail connecting it with the quarter deck.
The rail was somewhat tricky to make; it is curved in two directions. There is a "fork" between the rail and the upper quarter deck rail stanchion and a tenon through which the gangway stanchion inserts. When I made this rail, I thought I was using castelo. After a coat of finish, it was apparent that this was pear. After these photos were taken, I removed the rail and made a new one from castelo.
The last thing to make was the ladder. Echo is officially finished. All that remains is to clean her up, and decide how I want to mount her.
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The channels were made and installed next. These were glued and pinned to the hull. The covering strip is only temporarily installed. These also have a carved edge, similar but slightly narrower than the sheer rail.
The deadeyes were turned from swiss pear. The chains are brass, The middle link was silver soldered and shaped first. The toe link and deadeye binding were then installed. These were shaped and the deadeye installed after they were soldered. The ironwork was then blackened and given a coat of matte finish. The preventer plate was cut out from sheet brass.
Next up was making the drift rail and hance. The hance is a section of rail that forms almost a ninety degree bend as it connects the drift rail with the planksheer. I tried several times to carve it from a single piece of costelo. I finally gave up and made it from three laminations, heat bent to shape. This has the same molded edge as the planksheer. Below the drift rail is the wider drift molding which terminates in a volute just behind the hance. We are now up to eight molding profiles.
I decided to paint the rails and their extensions onto the hull, the planksheer and the drift rail. To prevent getting paint on the hull, the undersurface of these would be painted off the model, the rails installed and then the upper surface and edges painted. The planksheer offered no difficulty. Because the curvature of the roughtree rail was gentler, I was able to heat bend a strip of costelo to the required shape. The photo is after a few coats of very thin artist acrylic paint. It still needs cleaning up and a coat of finish applied.
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The oar port lid has been installed. The hinge is flattened copper wire and the knuckle is brass rod. My metal skills are insufficient to build a functional hinge this tiny, so the lid is glued in place. Although the plan shows two fenders, I only had room for one. I must have made a measurement error at the beginning of the build and I refuse to start over! The outer face of the fender is carved with a scraper and bolted to the hull. I had to make five scraper shapes for the various fittings seen in the picture. The steps were made in one long strip which was cut to length and the side curves were made with a U-chisel and files. Aft of the gunport are the holes for the pins which will attach to the channel.
Swallow 1779 by tlevine - FINISHED - 1:48 scale
in - Build logs for subjects built 1751 - 1800
Posted
I have finished installing the rest of the cannon. The pumps are next.