DocBlake

Grant:  Gorgeous work!  You continue to set a very high bar.
 
Dave

All of the frames are glued to the rising wood and the deadwood except the last two, P and Q.  I had to remake the two pair of forward cant frames, because I didn't like the way they fit.  They are much better now, and the fairing of the hull will be easier.  I did rum into trouble with frame P, the next to the last one.  Basically the kit pieces made for a  set of frames that tended to "curl in" rather than line up with the upper futtocks of the frames that come before.  The size of the finished frame doesn't leave enough excess wood to fair frame P into the same plane as the frames before.  So I used the beveling template to make a new pair of frames, and beveled them to fit the hull curves at that station.  Cutting out the futtocks and gluing them together is easy...fitting the frame in place without an accurate beveling template is hard.  It took me a couple of hours to fit the new frames, but I like the end result.
 
The first photo shows the old frame P.  It is the first one.  Notice how the upper futtock is rotated inward.  The second and third photos shows the new frame P before beveling. The forward edge of the frame is high compared to the frame in front, and the uppermost  parts need to be shaped.  The last three photos are of the final pair of frames P in position in the jig.  The uppermost part flows more smoothly and the inside and outside surfaces are fair compared with the frame before.  A great improvement.  Once the poly is dry I'll glue this frame in place, fair the upper hull and install temporary ribbands to the frame tops.  The model will be ready to come out of the jig,

Grant:  Gorgeous work!  You continue to set a very high bar.
 
Dave

Grant:  Gorgeous work!  You continue to set a very high bar.
 
Dave

Grant:  Gorgeous work!  You continue to set a very high bar.
 
Dave

Thank you so much one and all for the very kind comments and all the "likes".  The next job is construction of the Mortar Bed.
 
The Mortar Bed
 
The Mortar Bed is an interesting model in itself, although it is quite straightforward thanks to Jeff’s excellent drawings.  All of the components are made from Swiss Pear of varying thicknesses.
 
The side pieces are each comprised of three ‘strakes’ and after cutting stock to the appropriate sizes, these were made as a pair by spot-gluing the over-length stock together and completing all drilling and milling operations together to ensure symmetry. The groove for the trunnion was cut on the mill, and holes of various diameters for bolts and eyebolts were completed on the mini drill press.
 
Three pieces in the base have a 1/8” hole to take a brass spigot which goes through into the deck below to allow the turntable to turn.  Centring these holes was probably the trickiest part of the operation.
 
Here are all the components overlaid on the drawings (a few of these ended up with a re-do):
 

 
The rear of the mortar bed is rounded and a bevel is added to the top edge just to add a slight degree of difficulty.  The rounding was done on each component piece individually using the Byrnes disc sander, and then the whole piece was touched up once assembled.  The bevel was achieved by first marking the inner edge of the bevel by tracing around the edge of both top and side with a compass point set to the appropriate distance and then carefully filing to shape before finishing with a sanding stick.
 
Eyebolts and Ringbolts were then added according to the drawings.  I will leave the cap squares until the mortar and its trunnions have been fashioned.
 

 
Finally, here’s a few shots of the mortar bed in position:
 

 

 

 

 
 

All of the frames are glued to the rising wood and the deadwood except the last two, P and Q.  I had to remake the two pair of forward cant frames, because I didn't like the way they fit.  They are much better now, and the fairing of the hull will be easier.  I did rum into trouble with frame P, the next to the last one.  Basically the kit pieces made for a  set of frames that tended to "curl in" rather than line up with the upper futtocks of the frames that come before.  The size of the finished frame doesn't leave enough excess wood to fair frame P into the same plane as the frames before.  So I used the beveling template to make a new pair of frames, and beveled them to fit the hull curves at that station.  Cutting out the futtocks and gluing them together is easy...fitting the frame in place without an accurate beveling template is hard.  It took me a couple of hours to fit the new frames, but I like the end result.
 
The first photo shows the old frame P.  It is the first one.  Notice how the upper futtock is rotated inward.  The second and third photos shows the new frame P before beveling. The forward edge of the frame is high compared to the frame in front, and the uppermost  parts need to be shaped.  The last three photos are of the final pair of frames P in position in the jig.  The uppermost part flows more smoothly and the inside and outside surfaces are fair compared with the frame before.  A great improvement.  Once the poly is dry I'll glue this frame in place, fair the upper hull and install temporary ribbands to the frame tops.  The model will be ready to come out of the jig,

All of the frames are glued to the rising wood and the deadwood except the last two, P and Q.  I had to remake the two pair of forward cant frames, because I didn't like the way they fit.  They are much better now, and the fairing of the hull will be easier.  I did rum into trouble with frame P, the next to the last one.  Basically the kit pieces made for a  set of frames that tended to "curl in" rather than line up with the upper futtocks of the frames that come before.  The size of the finished frame doesn't leave enough excess wood to fair frame P into the same plane as the frames before.  So I used the beveling template to make a new pair of frames, and beveled them to fit the hull curves at that station.  Cutting out the futtocks and gluing them together is easy...fitting the frame in place without an accurate beveling template is hard.  It took me a couple of hours to fit the new frames, but I like the end result.
 
The first photo shows the old frame P.  It is the first one.  Notice how the upper futtock is rotated inward.  The second and third photos shows the new frame P before beveling. The forward edge of the frame is high compared to the frame in front, and the uppermost  parts need to be shaped.  The last three photos are of the final pair of frames P in position in the jig.  The uppermost part flows more smoothly and the inside and outside surfaces are fair compared with the frame before.  A great improvement.  Once the poly is dry I'll glue this frame in place, fair the upper hull and install temporary ribbands to the frame tops.  The model will be ready to come out of the jig,

All of the frames are glued to the rising wood and the deadwood except the last two, P and Q.  I had to remake the two pair of forward cant frames, because I didn't like the way they fit.  They are much better now, and the fairing of the hull will be easier.  I did rum into trouble with frame P, the next to the last one.  Basically the kit pieces made for a  set of frames that tended to "curl in" rather than line up with the upper futtocks of the frames that come before.  The size of the finished frame doesn't leave enough excess wood to fair frame P into the same plane as the frames before.  So I used the beveling template to make a new pair of frames, and beveled them to fit the hull curves at that station.  Cutting out the futtocks and gluing them together is easy...fitting the frame in place without an accurate beveling template is hard.  It took me a couple of hours to fit the new frames, but I like the end result.
 
The first photo shows the old frame P.  It is the first one.  Notice how the upper futtock is rotated inward.  The second and third photos shows the new frame P before beveling. The forward edge of the frame is high compared to the frame in front, and the uppermost  parts need to be shaped.  The last three photos are of the final pair of frames P in position in the jig.  The uppermost part flows more smoothly and the inside and outside surfaces are fair compared with the frame before.  A great improvement.  Once the poly is dry I'll glue this frame in place, fair the upper hull and install temporary ribbands to the frame tops.  The model will be ready to come out of the jig,

All of the frames are glued to the rising wood and the deadwood except the last two, P and Q.  I had to remake the two pair of forward cant frames, because I didn't like the way they fit.  They are much better now, and the fairing of the hull will be easier.  I did rum into trouble with frame P, the next to the last one.  Basically the kit pieces made for a  set of frames that tended to "curl in" rather than line up with the upper futtocks of the frames that come before.  The size of the finished frame doesn't leave enough excess wood to fair frame P into the same plane as the frames before.  So I used the beveling template to make a new pair of frames, and beveled them to fit the hull curves at that station.  Cutting out the futtocks and gluing them together is easy...fitting the frame in place without an accurate beveling template is hard.  It took me a couple of hours to fit the new frames, but I like the end result.
 
The first photo shows the old frame P.  It is the first one.  Notice how the upper futtock is rotated inward.  The second and third photos shows the new frame P before beveling. The forward edge of the frame is high compared to the frame in front, and the uppermost  parts need to be shaped.  The last three photos are of the final pair of frames P in position in the jig.  The uppermost part flows more smoothly and the inside and outside surfaces are fair compared with the frame before.  A great improvement.  Once the poly is dry I'll glue this frame in place, fair the upper hull and install temporary ribbands to the frame tops.  The model will be ready to come out of the jig,

I'm ready to do a little more ship modeling now that we're into September.  I completed the frames and treenailed every futtock.  Over 800 treenails on the frames alone!   I used birch toothpicks and a #57 drill for them,  making them a scale 1-1/2" in diameter.  Maybe slightly large, but I like the effect anyway.   Each frame was then trimmed and sanded to fit the jig.  The 8 filler pieces (which define the sweep ports and the scuppers were beveled and sanded to fit between the frames.  You can see the paper templates glued to the most forward filler pieces.  these were used to accurately sand the rather acute bevel needed to fit these parts where the bow curves the most.  The others I did by hand, without using the templates provided.  Next is the glue-up.  Notice the compound angles that have to be formed to fit the forward cant frames

I'm ready to do a little more ship modeling now that we're into September.  I completed the frames and treenailed every futtock.  Over 800 treenails on the frames alone!   I used birch toothpicks and a #57 drill for them,  making them a scale 1-1/2" in diameter.  Maybe slightly large, but I like the effect anyway.   Each frame was then trimmed and sanded to fit the jig.  The 8 filler pieces (which define the sweep ports and the scuppers were beveled and sanded to fit between the frames.  You can see the paper templates glued to the most forward filler pieces.  these were used to accurately sand the rather acute bevel needed to fit these parts where the bow curves the most.  The others I did by hand, without using the templates provided.  Next is the glue-up.  Notice the compound angles that have to be formed to fit the forward cant frames

I'm ready to do a little more ship modeling now that we're into September.  I completed the frames and treenailed every futtock.  Over 800 treenails on the frames alone!   I used birch toothpicks and a #57 drill for them,  making them a scale 1-1/2" in diameter.  Maybe slightly large, but I like the effect anyway.   Each frame was then trimmed and sanded to fit the jig.  The 8 filler pieces (which define the sweep ports and the scuppers were beveled and sanded to fit between the frames.  You can see the paper templates glued to the most forward filler pieces.  these were used to accurately sand the rather acute bevel needed to fit these parts where the bow curves the most.  The others I did by hand, without using the templates provided.  Next is the glue-up.  Notice the compound angles that have to be formed to fit the forward cant frames

I'm ready to do a little more ship modeling now that we're into September.  I completed the frames and treenailed every futtock.  Over 800 treenails on the frames alone!   I used birch toothpicks and a #57 drill for them,  making them a scale 1-1/2" in diameter.  Maybe slightly large, but I like the effect anyway.   Each frame was then trimmed and sanded to fit the jig.  The 8 filler pieces (which define the sweep ports and the scuppers were beveled and sanded to fit between the frames.  You can see the paper templates glued to the most forward filler pieces.  these were used to accurately sand the rather acute bevel needed to fit these parts where the bow curves the most.  The others I did by hand, without using the templates provided.  Next is the glue-up.  Notice the compound angles that have to be formed to fit the forward cant frames

Not a lot going on in the shipyard recently.  The Admiral and I just got back from 5 days up in the Door peninsula of Wisconsin.  There's a nice collection of quaint waterside towns that remind me of New England seaside fishing villages, only these are in the Midwest!  We really enjoyed the little excursion. 
 
All the full frames for the sloop have been beveled and fit in place.  I laid a plank across the framing both inboard and outboard and it looks like there will be very little fairing to be done because of the pre-beveling of the frames before installation.  That's a relief!
 
The only mistake so far:  I installed frame H backwards, with the floor facing forward instead of aft.  The beveling is all correct...I just got a little confused when laying out the bevel pattern. I'm not rebuilding the frame, because I'm neither entering this ship in a contest, nor expecting my build to be examined by an expert in historic naval architecture. 

Not a lot going on in the shipyard recently.  The Admiral and I just got back from 5 days up in the Door peninsula of Wisconsin.  There's a nice collection of quaint waterside towns that remind me of New England seaside fishing villages, only these are in the Midwest!  We really enjoyed the little excursion. 
 
All the full frames for the sloop have been beveled and fit in place.  I laid a plank across the framing both inboard and outboard and it looks like there will be very little fairing to be done because of the pre-beveling of the frames before installation.  That's a relief!
 
The only mistake so far:  I installed frame H backwards, with the floor facing forward instead of aft.  The beveling is all correct...I just got a little confused when laying out the bevel pattern. I'm not rebuilding the frame, because I'm neither entering this ship in a contest, nor expecting my build to be examined by an expert in historic naval architecture. 

All my frames are glued up.  The first 8 have been sanded and beveled as needed and are sitting on the keel assembly in the building jig.  My frames are hard maple, the keel assembly is cherry.  Final fairing of the maple by hand is not going to be too easy!
 
Dave

I finally finished the keel.  The first step was to glue the stern deadwood in place.  The rosewood false keel was fitted and glued.  Next I cut the rabbet by adding a bevel to the top of the  keel and the bottom of the rising wood.  Then the rising wood was glued in place and the notches squared. Finally came the stem and the stem deadwood.  Once I finish beveling the frames, it'll be time to start framing the hull.
 
Dave

The rising wood was carefully removed from the billet and all the appropriate frames were fitted to the slots.  The slots were squared up and the keel is ready to be glued up.  I went a little out of sequence here by fitting the frames to the rising wood before beveling them, but I don't think it makes any difference.  The strip of dark wood in the picture is rosewood, which I will use for the false keel

I used the same rigging spec sheet for my AVS.  The MS rigging line is junk.  Throw it away!  The blocks are oversized junk...throw them away also.  Buy blocks from Chuck Passaro at Syren.  I used Amati line, which was pretty good, but Chuck's is far better.

Not a lot going on in the shipyard recently.  The Admiral and I just got back from 5 days up in the Door peninsula of Wisconsin.  There's a nice collection of quaint waterside towns that remind me of New England seaside fishing villages, only these are in the Midwest!  We really enjoyed the little excursion. 
 
All the full frames for the sloop have been beveled and fit in place.  I laid a plank across the framing both inboard and outboard and it looks like there will be very little fairing to be done because of the pre-beveling of the frames before installation.  That's a relief!
 
The only mistake so far:  I installed frame H backwards, with the floor facing forward instead of aft.  The beveling is all correct...I just got a little confused when laying out the bevel pattern. I'm not rebuilding the frame, because I'm neither entering this ship in a contest, nor expecting my build to be examined by an expert in historic naval architecture. 

Not a lot going on in the shipyard recently.  The Admiral and I just got back from 5 days up in the Door peninsula of Wisconsin.  There's a nice collection of quaint waterside towns that remind me of New England seaside fishing villages, only these are in the Midwest!  We really enjoyed the little excursion. 
 
All the full frames for the sloop have been beveled and fit in place.  I laid a plank across the framing both inboard and outboard and it looks like there will be very little fairing to be done because of the pre-beveling of the frames before installation.  That's a relief!
 
The only mistake so far:  I installed frame H backwards, with the floor facing forward instead of aft.  The beveling is all correct...I just got a little confused when laying out the bevel pattern. I'm not rebuilding the frame, because I'm neither entering this ship in a contest, nor expecting my build to be examined by an expert in historic naval architecture. 

Not a lot going on in the shipyard recently.  The Admiral and I just got back from 5 days up in the Door peninsula of Wisconsin.  There's a nice collection of quaint waterside towns that remind me of New England seaside fishing villages, only these are in the Midwest!  We really enjoyed the little excursion. 
 
All the full frames for the sloop have been beveled and fit in place.  I laid a plank across the framing both inboard and outboard and it looks like there will be very little fairing to be done because of the pre-beveling of the frames before installation.  That's a relief!
 
The only mistake so far:  I installed frame H backwards, with the floor facing forward instead of aft.  The beveling is all correct...I just got a little confused when laying out the bevel pattern. I'm not rebuilding the frame, because I'm neither entering this ship in a contest, nor expecting my build to be examined by an expert in historic naval architecture. 

Not a lot going on in the shipyard recently.  The Admiral and I just got back from 5 days up in the Door peninsula of Wisconsin.  There's a nice collection of quaint waterside towns that remind me of New England seaside fishing villages, only these are in the Midwest!  We really enjoyed the little excursion. 
 
All the full frames for the sloop have been beveled and fit in place.  I laid a plank across the framing both inboard and outboard and it looks like there will be very little fairing to be done because of the pre-beveling of the frames before installation.  That's a relief!
 
The only mistake so far:  I installed frame H backwards, with the floor facing forward instead of aft.  The beveling is all correct...I just got a little confused when laying out the bevel pattern. I'm not rebuilding the frame, because I'm neither entering this ship in a contest, nor expecting my build to be examined by an expert in historic naval architecture. 

I used the same rigging spec sheet for my AVS.  The MS rigging line is junk.  Throw it away!  The blocks are oversized junk...throw them away also.  Buy blocks from Chuck Passaro at Syren.  I used Amati line, which was pretty good, but Chuck's is far better.