DocBlake

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.  
 
 
 

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.
 
 

I have been spending some time building the removable pit housing for the mortar pit.  This was a removable structure that protected the mortar from the weather when not in use and also provided protected storage space.  As I worked, I realized that the housing would obscure too much detail on the mortar and bed, so I decided to stop construction and move on to something else.
The boarding steps in Jeff Staudt's plans are cut from a single piece of wood, and I didn't really care much for the design, so I used my own design!
The treads are 3/64" thick boxwood and the risers are 7/64" boxwood.  The ends of the risers are cut at a 60 degree angle and the tread overhangs the riser on three sides.  Rather than try to glue the treads to the risers and get the overhangs perfect, I left the treads oversized when I glued up each step.  I then marked them to the proper length and "cut" them to size using the disk sander.  Rounding the tread corners finished the job.  There are 5 steps per side.

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.

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.  

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.  

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.  

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.  

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 5 whelps are next glued unto the recesses of the capstan barrel. The edges of the flat surfaces where the whelps contact the barrel are beveled slightly before gluing to ensure a tight, clean fit.  The upper and lower chocks are of different sizes and shapes.  I cut the oversized in two dimensions for a custom fit.  You can see the start of the process in the final photo.   
 
 
 

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.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Thanks guys. for all the "likes"!
 
I needed to figure out a way to make the hatch cover boards. I planned on using boxwood for the color contrast. The boards are about 5/64" thick with a very slight curve to them that matches the curved coamings. But bending the curve and getting the precise length right cutting strip stock was going to fail! Too hard to get consistency in the four boards. Here's what I did:

I cut up a boxwood blank the fit into the recess where the boards sit. It was thick enough so it stood just proud of the highest point on the curved coamings. Then I traced the coaming top lines onto the 4 edges of the blank. I used double sided carpet tape to tape the blank to a block of wood, keeping it perpendicular to the table of my disc sander, and parallel to the disk's face. Using my variable speed disk sander on LOW speed, I sanded the curve into the blank!

Once I was satisfied with the curve, I took the blank and simulated the four boards by scoring them in and darkening the score lines with very thin pencil lead. It worked out well!
 

Thanks, guys for the "likes"!
 
Here is where I am. I've got all the deck beams notched and have started installing them from aft forward. Because the beams sit in notches in the deck clamps, they can't move. Fitting the hanging and lodging knees is really finicky if you want a tight fit. I'll add the carlings and ledges and finish the deck up to the forward end of the mortar pit. That's where the hardest part of the deck starts: fitting the beam arms. I cut them generously and left them a bit thick. They are so long that I have to account for the deck camber.

Thanks,  Jean-Paul,  and thanks to all for the "likes"!
 A friend and collaborator, Joseph, is doing 3-D drawings of the plans and we are making changes to simplify construction for those less experienced.  This includes eliminating the rise in the frames moving aft as well as eliminating the narrowing of the hull moving aft.  He also drew up the deck such that all the beams, carlings, ledges and lodging knees were the same thickness (pictured). I decided to use stopped dadoes on the beams to seat the carlings.  Thus the carlings would be thinner than the beams.  I'll keep the ledges and knees the same thickness as the carlings, though, to simplify construction.  I think it will look fines.
Rather than use a razor saw, chisels and a hobby knife to cut the dadoes for the carlings, I looked for an easier way.  what I did was cut the dadoes all the way through the beams at a depth of 1/16".  I then milled some 1/16" pear stock to the width I needed to give me  stopped dadoes.  These were glued in place and sanded smooth.  Very easy!
 
 
 

Thanks, Jean-Paul!
 
The next step is to cut out the mortar pit beams.  These support the pit deck itself, and in turn, rest on the upper support beams of the shell room.  There are notches (really shallow dadoes) for both on each beam.
I milled up some 3/8" thick swiss pear and glued the beam templates to the wood with rubber cement.  They were then cut out using the scroll saw.  The mortar pit boundary timbers fit in the dadoes on the upper surface of each beam (red arrows).  It's important that these line up exactly so I cut the beams a little long and snuck up on the final length using the disk sander.  There should be no side-to-side play in the beams when fitted properly.  Then I cut the dadoes on the under surfaces of the beams (green arrows) after marking each one individually so the fit on the upper support beams is precise.  The beams have poly but are not yet glued in place.

Work on the shell room continues.  I made the upper support beams out of boxwood and the blocking timbers between them of pear.  They're glued into place, but not poly'ed yet.  Once that's done, I will individually fit each of the 6 mortar pit beams into their notches on the clamps.
 

Thanks, Grant!
 
I glued the six shell racks to the lower support beams.  The placement needs to be precise because two more layers of structure sit on top of the shell racks before the mortar pit floor.  The plans call for the racks to be pinned in place.  I thought this would be too difficult to do precisely so I used a couple of home made jigs to align the shell racks while the epoxy I used dried.  They're not going anywhere!

As noted above, I cut the chocks oversized and custom fit them to the notches on the whelps.  The lower chocks are larger than the upper.  Once installed, the lower chocks were sanded convex and the upper sanded concave.  Chock bolts were then installed.  A gasket was made of 1/32” plywood to raise the capstan barrel up a tiny bit above the step so the barrel doesn’t “drag” on the step when turned.  Finally a 5/8” diameter barrel bottom was added to mount the capstan barrel in the 5/8” hole in the capstan step.
 
 
 
 
 
 

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.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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.