rtropp

Sal,
Really nice work and great explanations.  These are a big help to me.
 
FYI, hobby lobby has a 40% off one item coupon on their website.  You can use a new one each day. That's good for me because I have one just down the road.
 
Richard

Sal,
Really nice work and great explanations.  These are a big help to me.
 
FYI, hobby lobby has a 40% off one item coupon on their website.  You can use a new one each day. That's good for me because I have one just down the road.
 
Richard

Sal,
Really nice work and great explanations.  These are a big help to me.
 
FYI, hobby lobby has a 40% off one item coupon on their website.  You can use a new one each day. That's good for me because I have one just down the road.
 
Richard

Sal,
Really nice work and great explanations.  These are a big help to me.
 
FYI, hobby lobby has a 40% off one item coupon on their website.  You can use a new one each day. That's good for me because I have one just down the road.
 
Richard

Work on the Hawse pieces progresses, albeit at a slow pace.  Please note that there is a lot of finishing work to be done.  At this stage, its all chisel, rasp, 60-grit sandpaper... But I thought I would show the worts and all...   Shown here is the Bollard Timber fayed to the stem with the roughed in detail of the knighthead.  Also shown are hawse pieces 1-3.  Note the air gaps.  These should be 2” wide and still need to be worked.  The template is for the first full cant frame (ZA).  Once that is installed, I can go back and fit hawse pieces 4 and 5.
 

 
I had great difficulty getting the hawse pieces right.  I found that field fitting them was the best approach for me, paying close attention to the templates as well as the base drawing. I have now found myself obsessing over a couple of hundredths of an inch when it comes to the drawings.
 

 
Here is the inside view of the hawse pieces.  Note the second full under timber (really a short cant frame).  This needs to be perpendicular to the base of the keel.  Again, this is all roughed in, using a rasp and chisels.  Polishing work will come once the full shape of the bow has been established.
 

 
THERE IS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY HERE TO RUIN THE SHAPE OF THE HULL AND MAKE THE ENTRY TOO FINE BY UNDERCUT THE ENTIRE BOW STRUCTURE IF YOU GO TOO FAR…. DON’T BE TEMPTED TO FINISH IT TOO MUCH.  (This is a temptation for us perfectionists – which by definition is exactly who we are as scale ship builders…)
 

 
Here is the framing jig that Ed Tosti wrote of in the book.  I just love this jig! I made mine a double jig and have tapped all the holes in the cross bars.  They are set one inch appart.  I have blank bars in the storage tray above that I will tap as I move along.  I plan to use this for future builds as well.  Now that I have started this style of ship build, I dont think I will build another ship any other way.  
 
Its not enough to simply cut out the frame pieces and place chocks between them.  The jig allows you to clamp each piece down and then orient them so they match the template.  I think you can get into trouble here if you don’t use a jig like this.  The cumulative misalignment of a few frames can spell disaster.
 
Above the jig in the photo is a small binder that I made for the cant frames.  I have a similar binder for the square frames, scantlings, etc.  Keeping things organized is a must for a build like this.  There are literally hundreds, of frame pieces to make and each one is an opportunity for misalignment…
 

 
A close up of the jig in action.  The cross bars hold the piece down, while the small clamps hold the chock to the frame at the proper angle.  The other side of the chock was glued to its frame in a previous step.  Did I mention that I just love this jig?  The time it took to build is paying off handsomely. 
 
Down below are the first two full cant frames for the bow.  Detailing work still needs to be done here.  The foot of each needs to be fine tuned.  I have found that using a chisel works better for me than the grinder in establishing the foot angle.  I have a far too heavy hand at the grinder and this step requires delicacy.  I also attach the pattern to both sides of at the footing.  This helps me visualize the angle better.  The chocks are made from Boxwood, while the frames are pear.
 
Next is to attach the first full cant frame, then to place hawse timbers 4 and 5.  I will then place a few more cant frames before doing a semi-final shaping and clean up of the structure.
 
Best, Gary 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Hello Bob.
 
I hope I did not leave the impression that CNC was used to make the guide.  The milling cuts were made by hand turning the calibration wheels on the mill from reference surfaces on the piece.  Pretty standard milling practice. I'd be glad to explain further.  I would like to hear more n your idea for mass producing knees.  It sounds not unlike the solution presented in the book and in the Naiad books.  Any new twist that you have would be of interest.
 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 135 – Capstans 3
 
With the capstan upper works mounted on their spindles, the next task was to make the baseplates and underlying timber supports.  Lacking cross-sectional details for these, I decided to mount them on an iron baseplate that would incorporate the anti-reversing pawl ring.  The appearance would be as shown in pictures of this type of capstan.
 
The iron baseplates with a groove around the outer edge were made first.  Stops for the pawls would later be soldered into the groove.  The first picture shows a baseplate being turned in brass.
 

 
A hole was first center marked and bored to fit the spindle diameter.  After turning to the final outside diameter of 44”, a 3” x 3” grove was then face turned as shown in the above picture.  The inside of this groove will be flush with the o.d. of the capstan bottom disk with its ½” thick iron rim installed.  In the picture this baseplate is being parted off.  The baseplates will be used to gauge the fit into the wood bases that were made next.
 
In the next picture, a pear block has been turned to the outer 54” diameter of the round wood base and the seat for the iron base plate is being face turned.
 

 
The grain digestion of these wood bases is fore and aft.  The next picture shows one of the baseplates being test fitted.
 

 
In the next picture the wood base is being parted off.
 

 
The main deck capstan has been temporarily set on these base parts in the next picture.
 

 
The iron band around the lower ring has been fitted and cemented to the disk with CA.  It was made from a leftover bit of hull strapping, measured to the circumference and silver soldered at the ends.
 
The main deck at the capstan location is virtually horizontal, so the issue of capstan rake did not have to be addressed.  This is not the case for the forward capstan that is mounted on the forecastle decking.  There is a lot of sheer on this deck, so the rake question had to be addressed.  I find this to be an interesting issue.  If the capstan is mounted vertically on a deck with considerable sheer the men will be forced to bend and raise their backs as the work their way around.  Making the capstan perpendicular to the deck seems a logical solution.  Being vertical offers no practical advantage that I can see.  However, capstans are shown vertical on many drawings, including Bill Crothers’ drawings that I have as a reference.  On the other hand, one of the Young America photos seems to show the forecastle capstan canted somewhat aft.  To try and resolve this, I looked through every clipper ship drawing and photo in the dozens of references that I have on these ships (Crothers, Chapelle, MacGregor, Campbell and others).  This left me exhausted and not completely satisfied.  I concluded that capstans were generally shown vertical on most drawings, but might be canted aft somewhat on decks with substantial sheer.  I decided to make the forecastle capstan essentially, but perhaps not precisely, vertical.
 
To do this, the wood base must be thicker at the aft end.  To accomplish this, the wood block was canted in the four jaw chuck after face turning the baseplate recess – as shown in the next picture.
 

 
In the picture the base is being parted off in the angled position.  The next picture shows the capstan temporarily fitted on its base.
 

 
It has a slight rake aft that I thought was appropriate given the appearance of the actual capstan in the photo of the ship.
 
In the next part, the pawl stops and ratchet arms will be added and the capstans permanently mounted.
 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 137 – Bilge Pumps 1
 
You may recall from an early post that suction pipes were installed from the limber channel at the garboard strake up to the main deck just aft of the main mast.  There, the two pipes were terminated at an iron plate on the deck.  Unlike earlier chain pumps that could only pick up water from above the floor frames, reciprocating suction pumps that came into use in the md 19th century could lower their intakes to the underside of the floor frames. This was discussed in earlier posts.  The first step in constructing the pumps was to make the two cast iron casings.  The completed casings are shown mounted in the first picture.
 

 
Casings typical of the times – these being only typical of the type and not based on a specific specification – usually consisted of a cylinder to house the piston and a second chamber or reservoir to collect the water and discharge it from the pump.  The integral assembly was cast iron.  There were two options that I considered for making these.  They could be machined from a block or they could be fabricated.  I chose the latter approach, using telescoping brass tubes.  The first fabrication step is shown below.
 

 
The main cylinder consists of a brass tube and the secondary reservoir is made from a similar tube that has had a portion sliced off on the circular saw.  In the picture the two pieces are shown ready to be soldered together.  The next picture shows steps after soldering the two tubes shown above.
 

 
The soldered pieces were first cut to final height.  Rectangular shapes were then soldered top and bottom.  The assembly on the right, shown upside down, has had its flanged discharge pipe installed the top rectangle shaped and drilled as shown to be open at the top.  The next picture shows the first soldering step with the cylinder assembly held in place on the top plate for soldering.
 

 
The device and surface shown in this picture is a new tool acquisition that I will discuss in a later post.  After the top plate was soldered on, the two top holes were drilled as shown in the next picture.
 

 
After drilling through from the bottom and soldering on the bottom plate, that plate was then drilled to fit a spigot that would fit into the suction pipes at deck level.
 

 
In the above picture the top figure eight flange has been roughly shaped.  The two finished casings are shown in the next picture prior to final pickling and blackening.
 

 
Also shown in this picture is the piston/crankshaft assembly.  A supporting iron standard with a mounted bearing is shown at the center of the shaft.  Work on this assembly will be covered in the next part.
 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 140 – Bilge Pumps 4
 
In the last part the basic geometry of the pump flywheels was machined into one of the wheels.  With the symmetric geometry of that wheel established, the remaining work on the wheel was done by hand with small files (serrated and diamond grit) and polishing sticks.  To take advantage of the wheel being chucked, one wheel was completed at a time.  In the first picture the machined and still chucked wheel have been removed from the mill together so the chuck could be used to hold the wheel for the hand filing – as shown in the first picture.
 

 
Starting off with this was a bit confusing until one filed out spoke set the pattern. The basic shape of the spokes was first filed out without doing any rounding.   The next picture shows this still incomplete step.  There is still some material to remove between the spokes. 
 

 
Once the parallel curved lines of the spokes were established, each was rounded.  The wheel was flipped in the chuck to file from the other side.  The polished wheel is shown below.
 

 
The second wheel was then made by the same process.  Each rim was then drilled to fit a crank handle. The inside end of each of these was peened over to hold it in place – avoiding soldering.  I had originally intended to blacken and perhaps paint the  flywheels but once made I decided that their shape could best be appreciated by leaving them as polished brass – call it artistic license.  The next two pictures show the finished wheels mounted on the crankshaft.
 

 

 
Small sleeves between each wheel and its bearing keep the wheel clear of the fife rails.  The wheels were finally glued to the shafts with epoxy.  The last picture was taken after cutting off the excess shaft material and after the fife rails were fitted out with their complement of belaying pins.
 

 
All the work of the last few months has involved a series of discreet tasks –cabins, companions, windlass, capstans, and now the pumps – that need to be completed before I can get “off the deck” with the masts and rigging.  I am impatient to get to that, but there are several more “deckbound” tasks to complete yet.
 
Ed

Ed,
I don't remember seeing much, if any, metal work on the Naiad.  Is that correct?
Richard

Ed,
I don't remember seeing much, if any, metal work on the Naiad.  Is that correct?
Richard

Ed,
I don't remember seeing much, if any, metal work on the Naiad.  Is that correct?
Richard

Ed,
I don't remember seeing much, if any, metal work on the Naiad.  Is that correct?
Richard

Gahm,
beautiful, makes me want to try it myself,
I do not fully understand what I am seeing in 1a.  (never used a lathe before.)  I see two brass pieces but not sure how they are related. Cannot make out the set up.
If you have time, I would appreciate some help in understanding.
 
Richard

I use Elmers wood filler for a number of purposes and find it to work fine.  Only problem is that sanding it makes a mess of find white power that gets everywhere.  Today I tried a different method.  I used a single sided razor blade as a scraper over the area that had been filled and it worked great.  No dust and I got a very smooth finish.  Just need to sand in a few areas that I couldn't get the blade into and a little finish shaping.   End result is a good surface and far less cleanup.

Work continues on the keel detail.  I have to admit that I was a bit concerned about scrapping the rabbet into the keel.  I have always done this with a #11 blade and some files.  But no more!  It took about ten minutes to fashion a scraper using the pattern from the book and in another 20 minutes, I had perfect a perfect keel rabbet on both sides!  I just started with very light scrapes, never getting gready and it all worked out fine.
 
  The scraper in the photo was made by using an old saw blade for an exacto knife.
 
I ordered some copper wire for $7.  The info is on the photo. I then installed the wire, pulling it first to anneal it and dipped in CA.  I think the 22ga wire used a #71 drill bit.  I drilled the holes using my new Microlux press that Santa brought.  Yes, the bolts are too close together, not sure where my head was at the time, so if  you are copying my work, please refer to the book for proper spacing.  I will live with this error...
 


 
Now for the fun stuff! 
Below are the Bollard timbers as well as the hawse pieces.  I have made four sets of Bollard timbers as a result of not being able to get the proper angle at the foot.  I have scratched my head about this for many hours.  And have come up with a plan that I will execute this weekend. 
 

 
Here are the short timbers that attach to the Bollards. It is absolutely essential to get the right angle in all directions here.  Small variations will translate into bigger headaches down the road.
 

 
In efforts to get the angles right, I have done the following:
Ensure the bollard timber foot angle is 34.5 degrees. Dont just rely on your grinder for this angle.  Prefit the bollard along with the short under timber and work with the shipway drawing to see that everything lines up. Ensure the bollard foot is perpendicular to the keel - this should be intuitive, but was not for me!  This will allow the first short timber (as noted above) to lay up against it and remain perpendicular to the keel.  Otherwise, this timber will lay over slightly and every piece thereafter will do the same. I made a template jig that clamps the template square so that I can prefit all these pieces.  I really like this jig.  I am going to put removable arms on it that will clamp to the t-track so that it wont move when I fit pieces.  This build makes great use of templates, so the investment in time is well worth it, and its also fun to make new tools.  I will take a few more pictures of the jig and post more detail in my next post. Once the angle is correct, I will glue the bollard and then finish scraping the stem rabbet.  There is some further detail work to be done on the keel before I start attaching the frames.    The foot of the template should be lined up with that on the shipway.  It is not in this photo...
 
Refelction:
 
As I build this ship, I am really changing the way I look at modeling.  While not a fast modeler in the past, I was always looking forward to the next build or piece.  Now that I am five ships in, I have decided to strive for higher quality and fewer ships.  I keep all my work (my kids will get them some day...). This build incorporates modeling skill, perserverance, education, math, puzzle building, ship building, ship design and obsession all into one. 
 
I hope to share the bollard timber results after the weekend.
Best, Gary

Jessie,
tough break.  It happens to me all the time but no cat... just clumsy.  So, I bought some fine mesh window screen repair patches (4" squares) and clamped them to the end of my 1 1/4 inch vacuum hose.  It is now permanently mounted so I can use the vacuum to collect saw dust at my work table.  I actually have a car kit extension over the mesh.  If I pick up something I need, i just take off the car kit and the the object is caught in the screen.
 
Richard

I have reworked the rails a number of times.  I decided to use boxwood, which was a lot better than the supplied basswood. Even so, with my inexperience, i have remade, reinstalled and remove the rails a number of times.  I think, after a number of weeks, that I may be ready to get it right.  I will try your paper clip idea as I am not have a lot of success with the razor blade shaping approach.
Richard

Jessie,
tough break.  It happens to me all the time but no cat... just clumsy.  So, I bought some fine mesh window screen repair patches (4" squares) and clamped them to the end of my 1 1/4 inch vacuum hose.  It is now permanently mounted so I can use the vacuum to collect saw dust at my work table.  I actually have a car kit extension over the mesh.  If I pick up something I need, i just take off the car kit and the the object is caught in the screen.
 
Richard

Bagged it!!!   Still needs a bit of work to strengthen, probably some knees as this is pretty flimsy.  I suspect the planking will help but I'd rather keep Murphy away....
 
First.. the deconstruction... cleaned out the debris and shaped it a bit better.
 

 
Then attached the framing.   This is where the problems hit... not that flexible and didn't get the shape of the existing frames just right.  Also, the mortises on the existing frames crumbled.. could be the wood, could be me.  And broke several frames filing and cutting them in.  Gave it up, cleared off the damaged areas and glued it in place.
 

 
Clamps removed and tarffrail set into position.  It'll need a bit of fitting shaping and all the char removed but I'll hold off until this is completely planked.
 

 
Looking a lot farther ahead in this area, will be the carvings.  Still sorting out what the NMM plans really show and also what was common in the French frigates of the time.  I suspect there will be some trade-offs because what Hahn shows would be really tiny.   Not sure if they eyeball are up to it even with magnification.   We'll see.
 
I'm going to let this sit overnight and cure out completely while looking at other things needed and maybe making the knees.  I think where the stern is now looks 100% better than where I started.   Every step is a learning step or so it seems and this way is a darn sight easier than the way Hahn did it.

Thanks again for all the kind comments, thoughtful suggestions, and of course all of the "likes".
 
Chainplates – again!
 
After pondering the problem of the chainplate failure for a few days, and after receiving a few suggestions from my MSW friends, I concluded two things:
 
Firstly, I had been a little too zealous with the clean up of my silver-soldering when I attached the tube to the flat-bar. The result was that the joint had too small an area of bond, and hence a weak joint. After considering alternative approaches, I resolved to give this another crack.  So I used exactly the same method as previously described, only this time taking care to leave a fillet of solder on the “shoulders” of the joint.  Here is a picture after drilling, bending and blackening. If you look closely you can see the slight thickening at the joint line.
 

 
The second conclusion I came to was that I was using wire of too great a thickness for the chain strops.  I had been attempting to use 0.75mm diameter brass wire for this.  After checking with both Mobbsie and Rusty, I decided that 0.5mm diameter would be better suited (Mobbsie successfully used 0.5mm diameter on his build at this scale, and Rusty used 0.78mm diameter for his build in 1:24 scale). The only problem I ran into here was that I was unable to silver solder the joints of the thinner wire. If it’s possible, it’s beyond my current skill set!  Instead, I copied the method used by both Mobbise and Rusty on their builds, and that was to twist the wire one complete turn under the deadeyes, and then tuck the ends into the tube section of the chainplate. This at last produced an acceptable result.  I secured the bottom ends of the chainplates with small brass nails left over from previous kits various (though I had to shorten them), and then blackened the heads in-situ by painting on Jax Pewter Black, and washing with distilled water afterwards to halt the reaction. This worked very well and did not have any impact on the surrounding timber (which I was careful to avoid).  Finally, I used a dab of C/A glue to encourage the deadeyes to “stand up”.  Here is the result:
 

 
All in all, I’m quite happy with the results.  All that remains now is to make the external entry ladder, and perhaps the Mortar Pit Housing, as well as the final stand.

Hi,
 
The planking has been completed and the hull has been removed from the mold.   
The frames are now being inserted.
 
Walter
 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

Jessie,
tough break.  It happens to me all the time but no cat... just clumsy.  So, I bought some fine mesh window screen repair patches (4" squares) and clamped them to the end of my 1 1/4 inch vacuum hose.  It is now permanently mounted so I can use the vacuum to collect saw dust at my work table.  I actually have a car kit extension over the mesh.  If I pick up something I need, i just take off the car kit and the the object is caught in the screen.
 
Richard

Thanks for the posting.
Richard

Sorry, hit send too soon.
 
I had looked at the decals but did not like the flat look.  The brass miniature rivet heads had dimension and I may try those again.  In my attempts with it, I did not have the problem with glue interfering with the blackening.  Either I was able to use really small drops of CA or I was just lucky.
 
Richard