Keith Black

Eric, upside down the casual viewer might not realize it's a johnboat, tipped on edge as in the fifth photo leaves no doubt. No, just thinking about your comment regarding your future modeling activities. I've throughly enjoyed looking over your shoulders as you built the various paddlewheel craft, I'll miss that.

That's a bittersweet statement if I ever heard one, Eric.

Thank you to everyone for the likes and for following along. Thank you, Keith. At 77 I have no clue what normal is anymore. I think everybody is a tad bit off except you and me and I'm not too sure about you. Thank you, Tom. When making the sheave wheels carrier/pillow blocks these were the following constraints. !. The larger sheave wheel is the hammer sheave and the sheave line to the hammer must be exactly centered (or potential binding could occur) between the hammer slide rails. The distance between the slide rails is 0.20 inches. Someone might say 0.20 or 2 feet at 1:1 is pretty narrow. The ideal diameter for logs to be driven is no larger than 18 inches. The larger the diameter the harder to drive. Interior piling diameter only needs to be 12 inches in diameter and on the face and sides, 18 inches in diameter with dolphins at the corners. Once a row of piling on ten foot centers is driven a 20' 12" x 12" is laid on top center of one piling to the center of the next piling. There are numerous methods of attaching the 12 x 12's to one another and to the piling. 2. The sheave wheels are 0.050 inches in width. 3. The smaller sheave wheel is for the line that pulls the logs up into the top of the tower between the slides. the hole in the head log for the log line could only be 0.10 to the left from the hammer line hole. 4. The sheave wheels were not drilled through at the hubs, the have tiny protrusions that act like an axle. To be anatomically correct the two wheel hubs had to align horizontally. the small wheel = 0.175 diameter and the large wheel 0.275 5. The wheels had to have enough height so the lines would not drag on the heel of the board. 6. The head log board is 0.40 x 0.80 I didn't want the wheels engulfed in wood and not be visible. Because I could not run both wheels on a single shaft I couldn't make a traditional wheels and pillow blocks assembly. This assembly is unique out of necessity. I lost count on the number of revisions and scrapped pieces. The center piece between the the two wheels is 0.50 wide through drilled for the protrusions. The two pieces on either side of the wheels started off being 0.115 x 0.115 and filled to their final shape with holes drilled for the protrusions. The two horizontal braces were notched to receive the outside vertical pieces. The whole was assembled with CA. First, the horizontal braces were attached the the two outside vertical pieces, Then each wheel was installed with a very small dab of CA gel at the drill hole for the outer protrusions. Once the wheels where set the center piece was attached to one wheel assembly and the the outer was attached to make the whole. I hope this clearly explains how I made this piece, if not please highlight the portion not understood and i'll try to be more clear. Thank you to everyone for being part of the journey. Keith

Thank you @Knocklouder and @GrandpaPhil for the likes. I was wrapped up all week trying to get the pile driver's head log completed, it turned in to be quite the chore. The sheave wheels and blocks had to be one of the harder little pieces I've ever tried making, it was strictly jeweler's files and sandpaper. There are seven elements to this piece, five pieces of wood and the two sheave wheels. No, I'll not be building a forest of pile drivers. I've been remiss not including a ruler or a US penny in the photos, sorry. Thank you to everyone for your interest and your continued support. Keith

Thank you to all for the likes and for stopping by. Thank you, Rick. Keith, I came close to changing the title of this build log after your post, Tom, too small for rivets and I'm too old to buck em even if real rivets was an option.. Thank you, Gary. Dan, thank you and thank you for the offer but I've enough wood you gifted me to last many more projects. Chris, thank you and thank you for deleting the photo. The timber industry is tough on people and planet Earth. We need to be able to harvest trees but we need to use those methods that do the least amount damage. Photo of a one cylinder Steam Donkey that replaces the one that Chris kindly removed, Thank you again, Chris. Thank you to everyone for being part of the journey. Keith

Beautiful work, Gary. She's really taking shape, all very clean and tidy.

My apologies, Keith. I forgot that your and Ann's situation is a bit different than most in that you have a dedicated room for your models. Most men don't have that luxury and their creations are seen as rivals for space in the home. It was a poor stab at humor, again my apologies.

Wow. Has Mrs Keith seen this monster and if so did she ask THE question, "and just where do you plan on putting that thing"

Welcome to MSW. Glad to have you aboard.

That beautiful hull is a beast. Keith, what is the hull length and forgive me if that question has already been asked.

If it were a pole it would interfere with the leeboard operation and if stowed on the outside of the hull would make it likely to get separated and lost. Early artist were at times sketchy about details.

Congratulations, Bob. You did a great job.

Page 8, post #230 thru 233. Page 10, post #277. Page 13, post #372.

Robert, welcome to MSW. Glad to have you aboard.

I agree, David. They look like lines securing the leeboards.

Eric, the Peerless fits perfectly into her new home, treasures all. The 340 looks like a blast if one is physically capable, good on ya for helping out.

Have pile driver, will travel.

Great to see a project update, Brian. Beautiful work. The Lego Titanic is a kick in the pants, looks like a fun project.

Thank you for your service, Jay. The best part of bring stationed in 29 Palms was Joshua Tree and Palm Springs. Fond memories forged in a hellhole.

Semper Fi. 1967 to 1971. Paris Island, Camp Lejeune, San Diego, 29 Palms (oh what a lovey place) Cherry Point, Vietnam, and Camp Pendleton.

Thank you, Glen. I don't know where the cleats came from but they're a white metal off the shelf item from some provider. I may have gotten them from Cornwall Model Boats? I used a couple of the Tennessee bowsprit, they've been in my metal parts container for years. This seemed to be the perfect opportunity to use em up. Fat chance, I still have two left. The boiler was pretty simple when I figured out to do it the easy way. It took me all stinkin' day because I first tried turning all three elements out of a single piece of dowel. I still had to turn the hood. My old drill that I used for turning was a much better drill. This new drill is pretty sloppy. For the main boiler and stack I simply cut dowel to the correct lengths and glued them togather. The door for the firebox was the most fun to make, a small piece of card for the door, tiny, real tiny, bits of wire for the hinges and wire for the handle. It's going to be interesting to see if I can make an engine that doesn't need to be covered.

Sorry about the setback, Jay. Discovering too late that you've used a bad product takes the wind right out of your sails. Looking forward to seeing photos showing full recovery.

Thank you to everyone for the likes. No multiple pile drivers and no trains, Bob. I'm letting you take the lead on trains, I'm maxed out on rabbit holes as is, thank you very much. Pat, welcome home and thank you. I'm waiting on some pieces parts for the driver so I started on the steam donkey engine. This is the engine I'm trying to replicate' (stock photo removed by moderator) These are are the plans I'm using. I'm enlarging the dimensions some where I can try to work in the smaller details. If I make a dogs lunch out to the engine I can always house it as that seems to more in keeping with things as they were. I started with the boiler as I thought this would be the easiest part to make because it's the largest part. I see sawdust on the boiler from handling, I've got sawdust everywhere. The texture is rough, wood just isn't smooth like metal. The stack is a little wonky, I had some cleats leftover from??? so I decided to use them on the tower. Scale is a bit off but I think they're a neat detail. Thank you everyone for following along. Keith

Pack a lunch, Bob. Looks like you've booked passage on the Rabbit Hole Express.

She's a little jewel, George. Very pleasing to the eye.