DocBlake

I need to install the elm tree pumps before I finish framing the main deck. I'll need access to the lower deck to pin and glue the pumps down.

The first step is to cut a piece of 5/16" square boxwood into an octagon on the table saw. This isn't necessarily historically accurate, but I like the look. I found the center of the octagon on the ends and starting with a 1/16" bit, started drilling out the ends with successively larger bits until I got the size I wanted. The inside of the hole will be painted flat black. Then I made the handles and the brackets for the handles. I cut the handle brackets to size then used a razor saw to cut the groove where the handles fit. I enlarged the cut with first a single thickness of sandpaper, folded it to double and sanded some more then tripled it and finally finished with a 1/16" emery board. The handles are 1/16" stock. II still have to make the spigots. The pumps will be cut so they have a 5 degree "lean" from vertical so they can enter the well.

The decking over the aft chain pump cranks is finished. Wiped with mineral spirits to show color, no final sanding yet.

Blackened cranks. The cranks are completely blackened using Birchwood Casey Brass Black. The light areas on the last photo are from the sun's glare.
 
One word of caution: When you fabricate the crank handles, make sure the "offset" (where the seaman grabs the crank to operate it) isn't so large that it can't clear the two carlings that frame the hatch above. The plans show this to be a pretty close fit, so pay attention: smaller, rather than larger for the "offset"! I didn't want to anneal the brass for fear it would be too "floppy". It's hard to accurately bend 1/16" brass that's not annealed...it can result in an oversized crank. How do I know this???...………LOL!!

I pinned and glued the main jeer bitt to the lower deck as well as to the aft surface of beam 2. I then pinned and glued the support columns to the lower deck and used clamps to hold beam 1 in place, so the support beams underneath beam 1 stay where they are supposed to. I made the chain pump cranks of 1/16" brass rod. They need to be blackened.
 

Thanks, guys!
 
I finally trimmed the top of the bulwarks to their finished length. I also used a little wood putty (I used a Dremel sanding drum for rough shaping) to fill in a few boo-boos, then sanded everything smooth. I just epoxied beam 2 of the main deck in place. Main deck framing along with finishing up the chain pump crank handles are next.

Thanks, Yves!
 
This is a complicated part of the build because several things are happening at once. This is how I plan to approach it:
1) Measure and fit the two pillars supporting main deck beam 1 and install the support pieces and bearings.
2) Pin and glue the pillars to the deck and glue them to the underside of beam 1 while gluing beam 1 to the deck clamps (use epoxy)
3) Fit and glue the two carlings that support the aft hatch.
4) Pin and glue the main jeer bit to the lower deck and glue it to the two aft hatch carlings. Also epoxy.
5) Fit the cranks
Here is the bitt sitting in place, with the support beams in place, but  bearing support pieces not yet attached.  I fit two pieces of 1/16" brass (not blackened) to check the fit.
 

Thanks, J P!
 
I trimmed each frame so they flowed nicely into the rabbet. I then gave the frames a couple of coats of poly. I also cut out the sweep ports on the inboard bulwarks.
Slow going as I line up and measure the supports and the bearings for the chain pump cranks and attach them to the bitts and pillars. The last photo shows the main jeer bitt with the supports and bearings in place.

Upper deck hatches and gratings.

I'm laying out and gluing together the main deck beams with their assorted knees. I'll fix these in place before fitting carlings and ledges, as I did with the lower deck. The problem is that this is a very complicated part of the build because simultaneously with building the main deck, you must complete the chain pump crank mechanisms and their supports, which are attached to the mean jeer bitt, the topsail bitt and 4 columns between the lower and the main deck. I started with the bitts. Here are 4 vertical timbers that will make up the two bitts, with their simulated sheaves and rabbets for the cross pieces. Here they are before trimming, and without poly.

I cut out the four beams for the main deck. The 3/8" wide and 1/4" thick. There is a discrepancy in the plans regarding the main deck beams, so I had to lengthen them to fit. I took my time fitting them in place on the main deck clamp. To make that easier, I modified the ends of the beams. According to the plans, there is a little notch that fits over the top and the face of the clamp. I eliminated the notch, leaving a "flat" - much easier to fit in place.

I glued the hatches and the dales in place. I also made two mast wedge rings out of ebony, and glued one in place. The waterways and inboard planking (spirketing) are also installed and treenailed.  The stub mast isn't glued down. The crank handles will be fitted when the bitts are added a little later. There is one coat of poly on the model.

I finished up the chain pumps, except for the pump dales (conduits for the bilge water to leave the pumps for outside the ship). Once the lower deck central planking is in, I'll fit the dales.
I didn't spend much time super detailing the crank bearings, as they will be only marginally visible under the main deck planking. I did add some trim to the two back cases and 2 return cases at the point where they pass through the lower deck on their way to the bilge in the well. This was done for visual interest, not historical accuracy. As mentioned before, I didn't bother simulating bolts in the wooden slats that form the wheel covers. The four cases under the reservoirs extend down into the bilge and are the "tracks" in which the actual chain driven mechanism runs.  The outermost ones are SUPPOSED to be at an angle!  😀

I had some discussions about the construction of the chain pumps.  Some wanted the pump housing and pump dales (the conduit for water from the cistern to the outside of the ship) painted black.  This would suggest they were made of metal.  Goodwin's book pretty much concedes the pump housing etc. were made of wood...elm specifically. I decided to build the pumps out of boxwood. I cut a blank to shape, added the boxwood supports and planked it with boxwood. The wheel covers were cut from some 5/8" dowel and sanded flat to create the half-cylinder shape. These were then planked with 1/16" thick boxwood. 
I was going to add black treenails to simulate bolts holding the structure together, but I realized that the holes would only be about 1/32" diameter (1" in scale). At this size it wasn't really worth it. I just drilled holes for the bolt locations and darkened the holes with a lead pencil. I didn't bother to simulate bolts on the slats on the wheel  
As mentioned, in the AOTS book, the cistern and sprocket wheel covers were clearly made of wood - the legend specifies they were elm. I don't think it would be wrong to leave the chain pumps and pump dales natural wood color. I may add some reinforcement banding to the dales for visual interest, but they weren't subject to a lot of internal pressure as elm tree pumps would have been, so they really weren't needed.
 
 

Except for the mast partners the lower deck framing is complete. I wiped it down with mineral spirits to give you an idea of how the finished product will look. I'm planning holly for the decking and bloodwood for the spirketing. The hatch coamings will be bloodwood and the grating boxwood. Next is the waterways and spirketing, then the chain pumps and hatches.
 

Here's how it looks sitting in place. The blank with the two other visible columns is in the foreground. 

Beam 1 and 2 are glued in place. Before I can go any further, I need to glue the well and shot locker in place. The support column for beam 2 passes through the shot locker directly aft of the aft wall of the well. A weird design, for sure. Here's how I simulated it. I just turned a partial column, drilled a hole in the shot locker that fit the shaft, and glued the partial column in place.
 

I started construction of the lower deck with beam #2. I made the arm beams a little thicker than necessary to allow for the camber of the deck. Because they are so long, stretching from the center of the beam to the clamps, they have to have some camber, and can't be flat. I'll sand that camber in when the deck is fully installed. I started adding carlings and ledges, and shaped the hanging knees for this part of the deck. For the sake of simplicity, I made the ledges just as thick as the carlings so I didn't have to cut those half-mortises in the carlings.
The spots of green tape mark the location of the "legs" of the well and shot locker.  Tryinmg to keep the poly off those areas so glue will stick properly.

All the lower deck beams have been fitted into place and trimmed to size. I laid out and then cut out the mortises for the carlings. The lodging knees and arm beams were cut out and mortises made for the ledges. The hanging knees will be custom made as the deck is installed. The next task is to cut out the carlings. All the parts are swiss pear.

Thanks, guys!
 
The well and shot locker are modified from Mike's plans which were modified from Goodwin's drawing in his book.  This build was not going to be 100% historically accurate!

The well and shot locker have a close relationship to the two middle lower deck beams, so it's important to fit those beams first.  The well just barely fits under the beams, and there are two pillars, one inside the well, and the second passing through the shot locker between the locker lids.  Once the beams were fit, I started work on the well.
 
  The wood is swiss pear. I did opt for an access door which was framed in. The door measure 32" wide by 56" high in scale. I still need to add an additional coat of poly, then remove the sheen from the black hardware using Dull-Cote lacquer. The well and locker fit perfectly under the deck beams. I also need to make accommodation for the support column that passes through the shot locker between the scuttles and against the well wall.

Thanks Elijah!  Glad you looked in!
 
As you can see in the above post, the beams have a rabbet on the ends that sits on the shelf that is the upper surface of the clamps. It's important to get the depth right and consistent on all 4 beams so the framing/decking sits flat, with no high spots or low spots. It's also critical that the beams fit between the clamps with no side-to-side play so that the centerline of each beam stays truly at the centerline. All the mortises for the carlings, ledges arm beams etc. are referenced off the centerlines of the beams. It took me well over 2 hours to custom fit the 4 lower deck beams! I think it will pay off during the remaining deck framing.
I wanted to say that some might be tempted to use beams with no camber, creating a flat deck. If you have access to a scroll saw, by all means try cutting the camber on it. It was much easier than I expected, and it cleaned up quickly with sanding blocks. Just leave a "sliver" of white paper around the pattern to allow for the sanding.
You can see a difference in the color of the model due to lighting. The photo below was taken in my basement shop, equipped for full sized woodworking and has all florescent lighting with halogen work lights in some places.
 
Note the mast step in place.  I also plan to leave off the limber boards inside the well to accommodate the pumps.  Even though this detail won't be visible, I know it's there, and that was how it was on the real ship

I decided to use black treenails simulating bolts to fasten the deck clamps and one strake on either side of the hold floor. All the other strakes and footwaling treenails are birch toothpicks. I don't think the effect is over done at all. The deck clamps are swiss pear, as will be the deck framing. The lighting makes the beech look reddish.

Thanks, Hamilton, and thanks to everyone for the "likes"!
 
 After careful sanding and fitting, I glued the keelson to the frame floors using epoxy. I'll add some reinforcing bolts a little later. I cut the rabbet for the limber boards into the first strake using my Byrnes saw. The limber boards are one continuous board, with separations simulated with a X-Acto blade, a narrow needle file and pencil marks. I drilled 5/64" holes (2-1/2" in scale) for the finger holes. I then started laying the floorwaling. The last photo is a detail of the limber board-keelson anatomy. None of the wood has poly yet. All the hold planking is European beech.
 
 

I finished the keel and used brass tubing, glued to holes in the keel to fit into holes drilled in the build board to mount the keel. It's removable.
I sanded the inboard side of all the frames with my spindle sander and I marked the location of both the upper and lower deck clamps on each frame from the plans. Then I scored each line with an X-Acto knife so the location marks would remain, even after final sanding. I carefully plumbed each frame and centered them on the keel using a squaring jig and line level. the first 5 frames are virtually identical and are glued in place. Frames 6-9 taper inward moving aft and begin rising on the keel also. That's next.
 

Hamilton:  The idea was to keep the framing relatively simple, so a novice builder would be comfortable.  I have no earthly idea why I chose copper for the bolts!
David:  The Beech is really nice to work with!
 
After I realized my mistake in using copper for the keel scarf, I figured out a strange way to blacken the copper.  Normally to simulate black bolts I would cut of the ends of toothpicks and let them sit in a bath of Solar-Lux Jet Black wood dye.  The dye penetrates the full thickness of the toothpick so no white core.  Just put the tip in some CA glue and push them into place. Clip and sand.
 
This is kind of crazy but let me explain what I did to "blacken" the copper bolts in the keel. I first tried "painting" the exposed copper with Jax Black and Brass Black. The black residue that formed bled into the surrounding wood and made a mess. I sanded back to bare wood and metal and tried again. I tried painting the copper flat black, but the results were not uniformly round, and the paint looked terrible. Sanded to bare wood and copper again. The I saw something on the internet! 
Hard boil, cool and peel 2 eggs. Chop up the eggs and break up the shells and layer them on the bottom of a plastic container with a tight fitting top. Secure the keel to the top with bread bag ties so the part isn't sitting on the eggs. Wait over night. You can see the results in the photo. I did put a coat of poly over the blackening so that I don't damage it or rub it off somehow. The bolts still look like metal - but used and oxidized metal! It's the sulfur in the eggs!