bagpiperuler

A live or dead centre allows a much easier turning operation or use a three or four jawed steady. I have an electronic control and associated motor to replace the original motor on my Myford. Speed control gives enough for wood turning on what is a metal turning lathe.

On 9/25/2023 at 9:45 PM, bagpiperuler said:

I've been given a very old Billings dragon kit that's missing various bits. Very interested in the detail you've shown. The mahogany strips and sheets for cutting out supplied are very brittle and its going to be a real challenge to make even a reasonable job. I'm doing a Yorkshire One Design model for a friend who had one. It is a smaller but similar boat to the Dragon but I've only got the plans and I'm finding it a challenge too !! One question is  about the planking. Earlier in your log you said that you were using narrower planks than those supplied. Is that the case with the photo above where the keel is red. There are two real wooden dragons here in Granton harbour and their  planking is definitely narrower. You have five strakes from gunnel to water line. I'm down tomorrow to scrub our boat's bottom so I'll have a look to count them and let you know if you are interested. A piccy is possible.

The full sized wooden dragons here in Granton have nine strakes between gunnel and waterline and they all seem to have very little taper from midships to bow and stern. One of them is a Petersen and the other is a Borresen. The former has lap joints and the other is scarphed.

I've been given a very old Billings dragon kit that's missing various bits. Very interested in the detail you've shown. The mahogany strips and sheets for cutting out supplied are very brittle and its going to be a real challenge to make even a reasonable job. I'm doing a Yorkshire One Design model for a friend who had one. It is a smaller but similar boat to the Dragon but I've only got the plans and I'm finding it a challenge too !! One question is  about the planking. Earlier in your log you said that you were using narrower planks than those supplied. Is that the case with the photo above where the keel is red. There are two real wooden dragons here in Granton harbour and their  planking is definitely narrower. You have five strakes from gunnel to water line. I'm down tomorrow to scrub our boat's bottom so I'll have a look to count them and let you know if you are interested. A piccy is possible.

• You ;guys might find the following of interest. Has anybody ever seen a fiddle block with three sheaves, the triple block on Muirneag's mainsheet sounds like it would take some hammering. I've got the boats plans referred to and started it at the drawing scale but got cold feet! Look her up if you are so inclined, she's a bonny shape.

Something like 11 knots

MacLeod the Hard Driver

MacLeod drove all his boats hard, especially the Muirneag. She could stand being hard pressed. As he once said - "I never worry about the Muirneag's hull, only the spars & gear".
Muirneag was apparently triumphant in many races home with the Scottish fleet from Yarmouth, as well as races back to Scottish ports from the fishing grounds. In consequence he did damage much gear, & in 1909, when running for Fraserburgh, wind abaft, the mizzen was snapped off above the crutch, driving her so hard that day, he was leaving the Steam Drifters behind.
Another time while running to Wick from the Stronsay fishing grounds again with wind abaft, foresail & mizzen set & two men on the wheel, Muirneag logged 22 1/4 miles in 2 hours.

The End of the Muirneag

At the age of eighty in 1945 he took her to sea for a night to say farewell, after 42 years as her sole owner. Muirneag was sold at public auction in Stornoway in 1947 for £50 & was dismantled to provide fence posts. A Stornoway dental mechanic, George MacLeod, took her measurements whilst she was being dismantled, & these became the basis for the plans drawn by renowned maritime expert & author Harold Underhill, of Glasgow, & the reference for models such as those by Gordon Williams & David P. H. Watson OBE, Connecticut, USA, on display at the Scottish Fisheries Museum at Anstruther. The model of Muirneag owned by the NMM (pic opp) was constructed by George Macleod of Stornoway, who in a letter to William McIntosh dated 1/7/1956 said
"......By the way, the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, have accepted my model of the 'Muirneag' and it is now berthed in their museum there."

Hi again,

 Took another photo of the violin/fiddle block arrangement that I've fitted but the technology's failed. You can see on the previous photo, port side aft, one of the double blocks made.  Comments even adverse would be welcome. A group of us meet once a month to chat about ship models. We take our stuff with us but the chat gets in the way of any progress. We are all in our 70s with the inevitable shaky hands. Good fun though!

I've been trying to establish an exact layout for a Burton Pendant on my model of Fly. Are you guys maybe overlooking the fact that none of these boats ever had the rigging set up in the same way. Also its been suggested that during the lifetime of the ship it would change according to current crew preference. Notwithstanding I'm very glad I never had to do a day's work on one!