jdbondy

Mike, perhaps you are one of those aliens that has multiple appendages from the Men In Black series of movies?

I am going to be referencing this build log for many years to come! Thanks Johann for all these clever rigging insights!

It is good to hear that they were responsive to your request, Johann!

Very impressive! I may have to duplicate your jig.

Since the last post, the deck planking has been finished. Here are some overviews of how things look. The open areas along the centerline will be covered by cabinhouses. Plus an opening for the foremast and the foc's'le hatch. The aft end of the planking will be covered by the lazarette. Details of this process included leveling of the interface between the deck planking and the margin plank. There is a little stepoff in this area. Here this has been cleaned up. Another detail includes little gaps where some of the planks terminate in a fine point. These areas were filled with wood glue. Then the excess was scraped away. Still a little gap, but at distance it looks very clean. Not detailed in these pictures is the process of first sanding the deck planking with sandpaper up to 220 grit, then scraping the deck with the edge of a scalpel. After doing so, the deck feels wonderfully smooth! The area between the fore and main cabinhouses needed planking, which includes an area of planking that extends forward in the area of the companionway for the fore cabinhouse. Here the planking has been put in place. Then the edges were pared off using this very sharp chisel. One consequence of the finshing process for the deck is scrape marks on the paint on the bulwark stanchions. Fortunately this was really only present in the bow area. Everything is masked off, ready for touch up painting. After several coats, things are looking better. Here is a preview of upcoming work, in which I am working on a form that will be used to construct the fore cabinhouse. I don't plan on making this from a solid block of wood, but rather 3/64" thickness sheets. I also need to do touch up painting of the exposed deck framing. More to come!

Update: Both batches have sold.

Congratulations, Ben!

Update to this post: The wider pieces have been claimed. The narrower pieces remain on offer! JD

Attached are pictures of 2 batches of about 10 pounds of boxwood (Buxus sempervirens) that was milled in quartersawn fashion from larger pieces I obtained about 5 years ago. One picture shows sheets that are about 2" in width. They range in thickness but are around 1/4" in thickness (no thicker). They do contain various imperfections but there is lots of usable straight grain wood. Length range is 12-18". The other picture from the same batch shows additional sheets that are 1/4" in thickness but not as wide as these, averaging 1"-1.5". This is again a batch weighing about 10 lb, again with various imperfections but plenty of usable straight grain wood. In the case of either batch, there is plenty of wood for working out frames for your admiralty-style model. Let me know if you are interested by private message, and we can start a conversation offline! I would accept PayPal. I am located in Dallas, Texas. I do not have a specific price in mind yet.

Thank you Mark, I will hit the "Mark" as solution button in your honor! JD

Attached are pictures of 2 batches of about 10 pounds of boxwood (Buxus sempervirens) that was milled in quartersawn fashion from larger pieces I obtained about 5 years ago. One picture shows sheets that are about 2" in width. They range in thickness but are around 1/4" in thickness (no thicker). They do contain various imperfections but there is lots of usable straight grain wood. Length range is 12-18". The other picture from the same batch shows additional sheets that are 1/4" in thickness but not as wide as these, averaging 1"-1.5". This is again a batch weighing about 10 lb, again with various imperfections but plenty of usable straight grain wood. In the case of either batch, there is plenty of wood for working out frames for your admiralty-style model. Let me know if you are interested, and we can start a conversation offline!

Oh, I also created apertures in the foredeck for the foremast and the foc's'le hatch.

As I suggested in my last post, maybe I need to make more frequent posts, even if there is a little less content in each one. The planking of the port side after deck is completed; it ends abruptly at the frame reveal at the deck level. Now the port side foredeck planking is complete, again ending in the end of the deck framing reveal. This is the starboard side, where the planking forward and aft are coming together and the accuracy of the linearity of the planking will be determined. Of course, where the two came together, there was about ½ plank width difference in the location of the planks. As it turns out, there is appreciable angle difference between the layout of the forward and aft planks, which is difficult to appreciate on a fore-and-aft photo. This photo was even taken with maximum depth of field, and it is difficult to get all the planking in focus. So, the next step was to compensate for the step-off between the fore and aft planking, as well as for the angle difference between them. Fortunately, when viewed from abeam, I think it is difficult to tell that anything is off. Here is how things look after merging the fore planking with the aft planking. There is one plank that demonstrates a somewhat hourglass shape, wider at either end and narrower in the center. But overall things seem to be pretty well concealed. In addition, some very subtle bending of planking was necessary due to the change in angulation. But again, hard to find if you don’t know it’s there. So now the planking is almost finished. The final plank had to be very specifically tapered, of course. The final plank in place. Next task: the margin plank is flush with the covering board, but where the remainder of the deck planking meets the margin plank, there is a small amount of step-off. Directing the lighting in the proper direction really accentuates the step-off. Under the microscope, I used various shapes of X-Acto blades to bring the edge of the deck planking flush with the margin plank. This also helped to eliminate areas of glue squeeze-out where the fore-and-aft planking met the margin plank. Much better. Next issue is deck camber. Making corrections at the hull-deck joint led to changes in the shapes of the deck beams, with overly steep deck camber at the edge of the deck. The index card shown above has proper deck camber cut along its edge. The card sat appropriately against the planking where it meets the cabintop, but there was as much as 1/32” dropoff where the planking meets the margin plank. Additional cards with deck camber were set up along this area of the deck. These two cards show triangles of light where the bottom edge of the card meets the deck planking edge. A close-up shows how much of a gap there is. This great palm plane from Lee Valley has been waiting for jobs for which it is well-suited. Turns out it works very well for working down the surface of the deck planking to the appropriate camber. That is what I am working on now. After that, attention will turn to finishing of the deck as well as the hull surface. Plus the bulwarks planking needs to be installed.

How are you parting the discs off of the brass rod? Is that a wire of some kind I am seeing in that image? Thanks in advance.

Wow, what a beautifully executed fine detail of the rigging! Just another piece of the puzzle that is adding up to a fantastic masterpiece.