AnobiumPunctatum

The second year of my build is almost over. Not much progress this year, but I hope that I can post a last update at New Year's Eve.
 
It's time to say Thank You to all who followed my log, to all who wrote their own log I where I found so much hints and inspiration and to the crew of this wonderful forum for their great job..
 

Also Merry Christmas, Pawel

Merry Christmas, Albert

I wish you also the best, Maury

Wow, stunning work

It's looking really nice, Tony

I think a combination of both timbers must look great. Frames in pear or cherry and the planking in cedar

Thanks David.
 
So the new framing squares and overhead gantry are completed.
Next job will be to do some work on the old stern section before mounting it to the new keel.
 
Ben

Merry Christmas, Albert

I think a combination of both timbers must look great. Frames in pear or cherry and the planking in cedar

It's looking really nice, Tony

19. Anchor Stock Planking
 
I decided to give anchor stock planking for my wales a go instead of the four basic strakes in the plans. I used Peter Goodwin't book on the English Man of War for most of the information. There was a fantastic write up on lengths and just general information on them. So far I've found this book a great investment and a good sidekick to the cross section. 
The very fist thing I learned is that just winging it on a tablesaw will just give you a heap of ebony scrap and leave you a couple bucks short from having to replace it.  So once I got rolling I started by drawing out a template to get sizes and angles. I figured that each plank will have to be pretty exact for them all to fit together nicely, so this was a good starting point. Unfortunately I'm a computer idiot so yes- that is an  actual picture of a drawing .      Next I cut up some ebony making sure all the planks were exactly the same size, specifically 4.5 inches long- which is really important. Then I went about making a jig for the tablesaw that would slide against the fence and cut at the correct angle. I find pictures better than trying to describe- so here's what I came up with. I will not that keeping all the planks the exact size was important to make sure they fit snugly in the jig and didn't bounce around while cutting.        From here everything was pretty simple. The only other note would be that I found ebony is some nasty stuff. It gets all over the place and chips easily, so I tried to give everything a once over to make sure the cuts didn't take any extra. Also, since everything is enclosed in the jig when making the initial cut the triangular piece left over tries to shoot down between the blade and the table, which caused some problems the first few times. I aleviated the situation by using a footpedal to stop and start the saw and stop right before cutting all the way through and just breaking the little triangle off...      I would then just pop it back in the jig and finish that side. Afterward, I just turned it around, made sure it was seated in the jig against the left side and repeated. This was when a footpedal came in handy since I used a pushstick to hold the piece in place.      From there it was just repeating until I had enough (about double whats in the photo for both sides)      After this, fitting them to the frames was simple. Since each side only has 1 full anchor stock and the rest were partial, it was just cutting most up to fit them here and there, but because of the exactness in making  them they all fit well. This can be seen in the photo. which needed some glare to actually see where all of them join!      So once the wales were done and I was contemplating the deck beams, I gave wales, hold and frames that will be seen a coat of wipe on poly. On a separate note- I didn't realize how bad the photos of the hold were (I think my camera is on the way out) until I went back and looked, so here's where I stand now.. -Chad          

I think a combination of both timbers must look great. Frames in pear or cherry and the planking in cedar

Another photo and Merry Christmas
 

 

 

The second year of my build is almost over. Not much progress this year, but I hope that I can post a last update at New Year's Eve.
 
It's time to say Thank You to all who followed my log, to all who wrote their own log I where I found so much hints and inspiration and to the crew of this wonderful forum for their great job..
 

It's looking really nice, Tony

All the spars have been shaped to 8-sided.  I worked on the main some more, taking it to 16 sides, then down to round.  The cheeks blended in well.  They stick out only on the sides to catch the shrouds.   The doubling is square and will be tapered very slightly and the tenon at the heel will be cut later.  After planing, it was sanded with 150, then 220 grit.
 

 

 
Merry Christmas and  Happy Holidays to all.
 
Maury

So some new frame squares are in the process of being made so as to be able to utilize the t-tracks for securing them in position, Also new fore/aft holders were constructed out of Poplar just like the squares.
 
While doing these small jobs the build board layout drawings were split into 3 using autocad so as be able to be printed on regular printer paper, great pains were made for accuracy and alignment of these.
 
Now I'm making the overhead gantry which I hope to have done in the next few days.
 
Happy Holidays to all on MSW.
 
Ben

I redid the front of the cannon and some other decoration:

 

 

 

 

 

Wanted a featherboard for the table saw. Magswitch looked really good: https://www.amazon.com/Magswitch-Table-Feather-Universal-Model/dp/B001DSZ7EC
But I forgot that my table top is aluminum, not iron. So magnets are not working on it
So I bought this attachment, because I really liked the material (and it also includes all the hardware, bolts and knobs)
https://www.amazon.com/Magswitch-Vertical-Featherboard-Attachment/dp/B006SJH0SW
 
It was, obviously, too large for my saw, so I shortened it a bit, cutting off a long middle section and gluing the remaining parts with epoxy, reinforced with a wooden block inside the featherboard:

 
After squaring and shortening the bolts, it was a perfect fit and it works like a charm:

So I started plotting and planning the lower gun deck and put in the beams.  I am laying out the deck on a piece of cardboard to see where the timbers will be seen and what will be planked.  I plan on planking the entire port side and center and leaving the starboard side open similar to the orlop deck.  I would like to put the cannons in place on both sides (plank just enough underneath them on the starboard side).  My thoughts are that this would allow enough light through the top to better illuminate the orlop and hold.  The plan is to also eliminate the frames from the side hole in the hull once this deck is in place.  The upper gun deck will be above the cutout.  It is also planned to have some planking removed similar to the other decks... at least that is the plan right now.


 
Thanks for all the support I am getting from MSW.
 
Tom

I haven't posted in a bit but I have been picking away at her as well as playing around with a homemade ropewalk with some success but that is a story for another time.  I put in the Orlop decking.  The rooms are just placed (dry fit) for now.  I need to start working on the columns and maybe a bit of furniture for the rooms that you can see directly into near the cut out.  I also need to locate at least the lower gun ports to make sure the lower deck goes in at the right height so the cannon will stick out of the gun port.. I will probably also build a test cannon carriage and use that for a location gage.  With this being my first scratch build I can really see how important it is to think several steps ahead of what you are actually working on.  That is the part that really slows visual progress... but what's the hurry!?


 
Thanks to all for the likes and support!
Tom

Thanks to various comments (notably Dirk's -- thank you Dirk!), I decided to experiment a bit with oils. I decided in the end to make up my own Danish oil, seeing that I already had the ingredients. I followed the advice given by Bob Flexner at http://www.popularwoodworking.com/techniques/finishing/oil-finishes-their-history-and-use The recommended dosage to start with is one-third of each, so that’s what I mixed.
 

 
I liked the results, so that’s what I’ll stick with for the rest of the build.
 
I planked just over half the gun deck, along with the lower strakes of the gun deck walls. I then oiled the inside of the lower walls and the two decks -- leaving the outside of the frames and the wall planking above the gun deck.
 

 

 
I need to finish the planking of the gun deck walls, sand down the fore and aft section faces, and then I’ll be working on installing the eyebolts for the cannon and making up the gangway brackets.
 
Tony

Wow, that looks like a very interesting project. I will follow with interest.

The second year of my build is almost over. Not much progress this year, but I hope that I can post a last update at New Year's Eve.
 
It's time to say Thank You to all who followed my log, to all who wrote their own log I where I found so much hints and inspiration and to the crew of this wonderful forum for their great job..