DocBlake

The parts of the drumhead were glued together and 12 bolts were added to hold the iron ring to the structure.  

The parts of the drumhead were glued together and 12 bolts were added to hold the iron ring to the structure.  

The parts of the drumhead were glued together and 12 bolts were added to hold the iron ring to the structure.  

The parts of the drumhead were glued together and 12 bolts were added to hold the iron ring to the structure.  

Thanks, Pat and everyone for the "likes!
 
I finished up the mortar bed.  It was a complex little build that took several days, but was a fun project on it's own. The varying thicknesses of wood that needed to be milled and when stacked on each other so the top of the bed was flat called for a lot of precision and caused lots of heartburn!  But..it's done!
Mortar beds were originally stationary on deck, so to aim, the ship needed to move such that the mortar lined up with it's target.  Not very practical.  The solution was to put the bed on a revolving "lazy susan" that sits in the recess in the mortar pit.  The rotation was around an iron spindle, shown in the photos as a 5/32" brass rod. This allowed greater ease of aiming, but made it necessary to pay attention so one didn't shoot the masts, yards and rigging of one's own ship!  
When not in use, the mortar was lowered into the horizontal position resting on the transom of the bed, and the entire bed was rotated so the mortar was aligned with the long axis of the ship.  Because of the wear and tear the mortar barrel would cause resting on the top of the transom, I added a sacrificial transom board to the top that could be replaced if needed.  Sort of like billboards for the anchors.  The red arrow points this out.
The mortar is 3D printed.  I'll be using a cast mortar for the model.
Next up is the mortar housing.

Thanks, guys!
 
 It's been a busy couple of months! We're redoing the flooring in two bedrooms in the house so I had to remove carpeting and underlayment to prep for hardwood floor installations. Lots of work. Also painted the entire downstairs of the house as well as those two bedrooms. To reward ourselves, Liz and I took the family to St. Martin FWI for a well needed vacation. Our first trip back in nearly 2 years. It felt great. Now my consulting work is ramping up, keeping me busy, but I'm committed to getting back to the workbench!

I began work on the mortar bed. To look at a finished bed, it doesn't lookappear too challenging. I'm coming to discover that it is the most difficult part of this build by far! There are 19 parts comprising the bed as shown on the plans, not including the iron support and the mortar itself. The first problem is dimensions. Almost of these parts are different thicknesses, but must result in a bed that is uniform in height and width. The second problem is the scale. At 1:32 the lines comprising the plan drawings have a fair amount of thickness to them. So depending on where you measure, you possibly have variation of up to 1/32" to 3/64". The layout and cutting parts is slow, tedious, precise work that took a good number of hours.

The first step was to cut out the component parts. The rear part of the bed is made of three stacked parts, all curved. The top one has a 45 degree bevel cut into it. The photos show the plans, the component parts and the three slice stacked piece with the curved, beveled surface facing the rear.  The wood is swiss pear.
 
 

The parts of the drumhead were glued together and 12 bolts were added to hold the iron ring to the structure.  

The parts of the drumhead were glued together and 12 bolts were added to hold the iron ring to the structure.  

The parts of the drumhead were glued together and 12 bolts were added to hold the iron ring to the structure.  

The parts of the drumhead were glued together and 12 bolts were added to hold the iron ring to the structure.  

The upper part of the drumhead is made of three parts:  An upper drumhead disk made of boxwood, a cap piece made of holly and an iron ring.  The plans call for thin sheet brass for the ring if you have a mill and metalworking skills, otherwise paper is suggested.  I thought 1/64” thick aircraft grade plywood was a good option.  I had a good friend laser cut a few rings for me (Thanks Mike!) and the ring was dyed black with a marker.  Holes for bolts and bar pins etc. were positioned using the plan templates rubber cemented to the drumhead parts.  The photos show some of the steps.  
 
 
 

1)   With the barrel completed, the next step is to build the drumhead assembly.  The drumhead is a short cylindrically shaped part that has 6 holes around the circumference for the capstan bars to insert.  The bars are used to turn the capstan barrel.  The drumhead is shaped like a snare drum (duh!).  The plans and practicum call for the drumhead to be made from 4 semicircular slices of wood, with the recesses for the capstan bars cut out using a razor saw and various chisels and X-Acto blades.  There is a square hole in the lower drumhead which fits onto a square extension from the top of the capstan barrel. I gave it a try and soon realized there had to be a better way.  Or at least an EASIER way!  I cut out two pieces of boxwood for the upper and lower part of the drumhead.  I then cut some stock that was as thick as the 6 holes for the capstan bars were tall.  I cut out pie-slice shaped pieces and glued them to the lower drumhead part.  When the upper part is added, the result is a finished drumhead with 6 perfectly shaped and spaced holes.  The first photo shows Toni’s parts for the drumhead.  The second two are my initial attempt.  The rest are the sequence I used to make the part.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I haven't posted in a while.  We've had a major house remodel project underway for the last six months and are just finishing up.  Ready to start back in with the capstan!
 A photo of the barrel/whelp assembly sitting on the capstan step.  

The upper part of the drumhead is made of three parts:  An upper drumhead disk made of boxwood, a cap piece made of holly and an iron ring.  The plans call for thin sheet brass for the ring if you have a mill and metalworking skills, otherwise paper is suggested.  I thought 1/64” thick aircraft grade plywood was a good option.  I had a good friend laser cut a few rings for me (Thanks Mike!) and the ring was dyed black with a marker.  Holes for bolts and bar pins etc. were positioned using the plan templates rubber cemented to the drumhead parts.  The photos show some of the steps.  
 
 
 

The parts of the drumhead were glued together and 12 bolts were added to hold the iron ring to the structure.  

I haven't posted in a while.  We've had a major house remodel project underway for the last six months and are just finishing up.  Ready to start back in with the capstan!
 A photo of the barrel/whelp assembly sitting on the capstan step.  

The upper part of the drumhead is made of three parts:  An upper drumhead disk made of boxwood, a cap piece made of holly and an iron ring.  The plans call for thin sheet brass for the ring if you have a mill and metalworking skills, otherwise paper is suggested.  I thought 1/64” thick aircraft grade plywood was a good option.  I had a good friend laser cut a few rings for me (Thanks Mike!) and the ring was dyed black with a marker.  Holes for bolts and bar pins etc. were positioned using the plan templates rubber cemented to the drumhead parts.  The photos show some of the steps.  
 
 
 

The parts of the drumhead were glued together and 12 bolts were added to hold the iron ring to the structure.  

The upper part of the drumhead is made of three parts:  An upper drumhead disk made of boxwood, a cap piece made of holly and an iron ring.  The plans call for thin sheet brass for the ring if you have a mill and metalworking skills, otherwise paper is suggested.  I thought 1/64” thick aircraft grade plywood was a good option.  I had a good friend laser cut a few rings for me (Thanks Mike!) and the ring was dyed black with a marker.  Holes for bolts and bar pins etc. were positioned using the plan templates rubber cemented to the drumhead parts.  The photos show some of the steps.  
 
 
 

I haven't posted in a while.  We've had a major house remodel project underway for the last six months and are just finishing up.  Ready to start back in with the capstan!
 A photo of the barrel/whelp assembly sitting on the capstan step.  

The upper part of the drumhead is made of three parts:  An upper drumhead disk made of boxwood, a cap piece made of holly and an iron ring.  The plans call for thin sheet brass for the ring if you have a mill and metalworking skills, otherwise paper is suggested.  I thought 1/64” thick aircraft grade plywood was a good option.  I had a good friend laser cut a few rings for me (Thanks Mike!) and the ring was dyed black with a marker.  Holes for bolts and bar pins etc. were positioned using the plan templates rubber cemented to the drumhead parts.  The photos show some of the steps.  
 
 
 

The upper part of the drumhead is made of three parts:  An upper drumhead disk made of boxwood, a cap piece made of holly and an iron ring.  The plans call for thin sheet brass for the ring if you have a mill and metalworking skills, otherwise paper is suggested.  I thought 1/64” thick aircraft grade plywood was a good option.  I had a good friend laser cut a few rings for me (Thanks Mike!) and the ring was dyed black with a marker.  Holes for bolts and bar pins etc. were positioned using the plan templates rubber cemented to the drumhead parts.  The photos show some of the steps.  
 
 
 

I haven't posted in a while.  We've had a major house remodel project underway for the last six months and are just finishing up.  Ready to start back in with the capstan!
 A photo of the barrel/whelp assembly sitting on the capstan step.  

The upper part of the drumhead is made of three parts:  An upper drumhead disk made of boxwood, a cap piece made of holly and an iron ring.  The plans call for thin sheet brass for the ring if you have a mill and metalworking skills, otherwise paper is suggested.  I thought 1/64” thick aircraft grade plywood was a good option.  I had a good friend laser cut a few rings for me (Thanks Mike!) and the ring was dyed black with a marker.  Holes for bolts and bar pins etc. were positioned using the plan templates rubber cemented to the drumhead parts.  The photos show some of the steps.  
 
 
 

The upper part of the drumhead is made of three parts:  An upper drumhead disk made of boxwood, a cap piece made of holly and an iron ring.  The plans call for thin sheet brass for the ring if you have a mill and metalworking skills, otherwise paper is suggested.  I thought 1/64” thick aircraft grade plywood was a good option.  I had a good friend laser cut a few rings for me (Thanks Mike!) and the ring was dyed black with a marker.  Holes for bolts and bar pins etc. were positioned using the plan templates rubber cemented to the drumhead parts.  The photos show some of the steps.