Rustyj

Hi druxey, I'm hoping that by measuring at the former where there is no movement and by paying
close attention to the fit I should be able to keep a creeping error out of it. Fingers are crossed here.
 
Hi Daniel, Oops I got talking about the bulkheads and filler blocks I forgot all about adding the stem
and keel. Chuck uses a cleaver way to create the rabbet. He has you glue a 3/32" x 1/16" stripe on
the edge of the bulkhead former. It extends down the stem and continues along the bottom edge of
the bulkhead former. Once the keel and stem are added, this strip will form the rabbet. At the stern
I had to trim the former to form the bearding line. Once this was completed the stem is test fitted
against the rabbet strip and adjusted until a good snug fit is obtained. The stem is them glued to the
rabbet strip. After that the keel and false keel were glued in place too. I did not need to pin or bolt any
of this assembly in place as it was a snug fit and glued good and tight.

Hi druxey, I'm hoping that by measuring at the former where there is no movement and by paying
close attention to the fit I should be able to keep a creeping error out of it. Fingers are crossed here.
 
Hi Daniel, Oops I got talking about the bulkheads and filler blocks I forgot all about adding the stem
and keel. Chuck uses a cleaver way to create the rabbet. He has you glue a 3/32" x 1/16" stripe on
the edge of the bulkhead former. It extends down the stem and continues along the bottom edge of
the bulkhead former. Once the keel and stem are added, this strip will form the rabbet. At the stern
I had to trim the former to form the bearding line. Once this was completed the stem is test fitted
against the rabbet strip and adjusted until a good snug fit is obtained. The stem is them glued to the
rabbet strip. After that the keel and false keel were glued in place too. I did not need to pin or bolt any
of this assembly in place as it was a snug fit and glued good and tight.

I've been working my way towards the center and this is how far I've gotten.
 

 
While gluing them up I had a thought about putting some bracing between the bulkheads to
help stiffen them some more for when I have to fair them. I also thought it may help eliminate
any change of the hull twisting.  I took and measured the distance between the bulkheads at
the former and cut a piece of bracing and glued it towards the outer edge making sure not to
displace the bulkheads.
 

 

 
It seems to be working. I'll let you know when I finish with all of them.

Hi druxey, I'm hoping that by measuring at the former where there is no movement and by paying
close attention to the fit I should be able to keep a creeping error out of it. Fingers are crossed here.
 
Hi Daniel, Oops I got talking about the bulkheads and filler blocks I forgot all about adding the stem
and keel. Chuck uses a cleaver way to create the rabbet. He has you glue a 3/32" x 1/16" stripe on
the edge of the bulkhead former. It extends down the stem and continues along the bottom edge of
the bulkhead former. Once the keel and stem are added, this strip will form the rabbet. At the stern
I had to trim the former to form the bearding line. Once this was completed the stem is test fitted
against the rabbet strip and adjusted until a good snug fit is obtained. The stem is them glued to the
rabbet strip. After that the keel and false keel were glued in place too. I did not need to pin or bolt any
of this assembly in place as it was a snug fit and glued good and tight.

I've been working my way towards the center and this is how far I've gotten.
 

 
While gluing them up I had a thought about putting some bracing between the bulkheads to
help stiffen them some more for when I have to fair them. I also thought it may help eliminate
any change of the hull twisting.  I took and measured the distance between the bulkheads at
the former and cut a piece of bracing and glued it towards the outer edge making sure not to
displace the bulkheads.
 

 

 
It seems to be working. I'll let you know when I finish with all of them.

Hi druxey, I'm hoping that by measuring at the former where there is no movement and by paying
close attention to the fit I should be able to keep a creeping error out of it. Fingers are crossed here.
 
Hi Daniel, Oops I got talking about the bulkheads and filler blocks I forgot all about adding the stem
and keel. Chuck uses a cleaver way to create the rabbet. He has you glue a 3/32" x 1/16" stripe on
the edge of the bulkhead former. It extends down the stem and continues along the bottom edge of
the bulkhead former. Once the keel and stem are added, this strip will form the rabbet. At the stern
I had to trim the former to form the bearding line. Once this was completed the stem is test fitted
against the rabbet strip and adjusted until a good snug fit is obtained. The stem is them glued to the
rabbet strip. After that the keel and false keel were glued in place too. I did not need to pin or bolt any
of this assembly in place as it was a snug fit and glued good and tight.

Hi druxey, I'm hoping that by measuring at the former where there is no movement and by paying
close attention to the fit I should be able to keep a creeping error out of it. Fingers are crossed here.
 
Hi Daniel, Oops I got talking about the bulkheads and filler blocks I forgot all about adding the stem
and keel. Chuck uses a cleaver way to create the rabbet. He has you glue a 3/32" x 1/16" stripe on
the edge of the bulkhead former. It extends down the stem and continues along the bottom edge of
the bulkhead former. Once the keel and stem are added, this strip will form the rabbet. At the stern
I had to trim the former to form the bearding line. Once this was completed the stem is test fitted
against the rabbet strip and adjusted until a good snug fit is obtained. The stem is them glued to the
rabbet strip. After that the keel and false keel were glued in place too. I did not need to pin or bolt any
of this assembly in place as it was a snug fit and glued good and tight.

Hi druxey, I'm hoping that by measuring at the former where there is no movement and by paying
close attention to the fit I should be able to keep a creeping error out of it. Fingers are crossed here.
 
Hi Daniel, Oops I got talking about the bulkheads and filler blocks I forgot all about adding the stem
and keel. Chuck uses a cleaver way to create the rabbet. He has you glue a 3/32" x 1/16" stripe on
the edge of the bulkhead former. It extends down the stem and continues along the bottom edge of
the bulkhead former. Once the keel and stem are added, this strip will form the rabbet. At the stern
I had to trim the former to form the bearding line. Once this was completed the stem is test fitted
against the rabbet strip and adjusted until a good snug fit is obtained. The stem is them glued to the
rabbet strip. After that the keel and false keel were glued in place too. I did not need to pin or bolt any
of this assembly in place as it was a snug fit and glued good and tight.

Thank you for the kind words Antony.
 
Well I've pre fit all the bulkheads. Just some minor sanding of the slots was needed so it didn't
take as long as anticipated. Here is the first bulkhead in place. I clamp the angle piece in place
to hold the bulkhead square until the glue sets up. I do one bulkhead fore and one bulkhead
aft at a time and work my way to the center.
 

I've been working my way towards the center and this is how far I've gotten.
 

 
While gluing them up I had a thought about putting some bracing between the bulkheads to
help stiffen them some more for when I have to fair them. I also thought it may help eliminate
any change of the hull twisting.  I took and measured the distance between the bulkheads at
the former and cut a piece of bracing and glued it towards the outer edge making sure not to
displace the bulkheads.
 

 

 
It seems to be working. I'll let you know when I finish with all of them.

I've been working my way towards the center and this is how far I've gotten.
 

 
While gluing them up I had a thought about putting some bracing between the bulkheads to
help stiffen them some more for when I have to fair them. I also thought it may help eliminate
any change of the hull twisting.  I took and measured the distance between the bulkheads at
the former and cut a piece of bracing and glued it towards the outer edge making sure not to
displace the bulkheads.
 

 

 
It seems to be working. I'll let you know when I finish with all of them.

I've been working my way towards the center and this is how far I've gotten.
 

 
While gluing them up I had a thought about putting some bracing between the bulkheads to
help stiffen them some more for when I have to fair them. I also thought it may help eliminate
any change of the hull twisting.  I took and measured the distance between the bulkheads at
the former and cut a piece of bracing and glued it towards the outer edge making sure not to
displace the bulkheads.
 

 

 
It seems to be working. I'll let you know when I finish with all of them.

I've been working my way towards the center and this is how far I've gotten.
 

 
While gluing them up I had a thought about putting some bracing between the bulkheads to
help stiffen them some more for when I have to fair them. I also thought it may help eliminate
any change of the hull twisting.  I took and measured the distance between the bulkheads at
the former and cut a piece of bracing and glued it towards the outer edge making sure not to
displace the bulkheads.
 

 

 
It seems to be working. I'll let you know when I finish with all of them.

I've been working my way towards the center and this is how far I've gotten.
 

 
While gluing them up I had a thought about putting some bracing between the bulkheads to
help stiffen them some more for when I have to fair them. I also thought it may help eliminate
any change of the hull twisting.  I took and measured the distance between the bulkheads at
the former and cut a piece of bracing and glued it towards the outer edge making sure not to
displace the bulkheads.
 

 

 
It seems to be working. I'll let you know when I finish with all of them.

I've been working my way towards the center and this is how far I've gotten.
 

 
While gluing them up I had a thought about putting some bracing between the bulkheads to
help stiffen them some more for when I have to fair them. I also thought it may help eliminate
any change of the hull twisting.  I took and measured the distance between the bulkheads at
the former and cut a piece of bracing and glued it towards the outer edge making sure not to
displace the bulkheads.
 

 

 
It seems to be working. I'll let you know when I finish with all of them.

I've been working my way towards the center and this is how far I've gotten.
 

 
While gluing them up I had a thought about putting some bracing between the bulkheads to
help stiffen them some more for when I have to fair them. I also thought it may help eliminate
any change of the hull twisting.  I took and measured the distance between the bulkheads at
the former and cut a piece of bracing and glued it towards the outer edge making sure not to
displace the bulkheads.
 

 

 
It seems to be working. I'll let you know when I finish with all of them.

Sam, What did that pan look like, and how was the stove mounted in it? Your prototype is mounted only on a plate, but your drawings show something that looks like wooden beams below the plate. Do you have, or could you draw, a picture of what it should look like?
 
While thinking about the stove mounting, I installed and rigged the first six guns. For this I used blocks and rope from Chuck. I can say without hesitation that I am a satisfied customer. I've used Morope in the past, but I like Chuck's stuff a whole lot better and intend to do all of the rigging on Essex with it. After ordering a variety of sizes, I settled on the 1/8" blocks, the .035" line for the breeching rope and the .008" line for the tackles. 
 
I also made and mounted the main cable bitts. These were done in boxwood and are merely a larger version of the fore riding bitts, previously done. I also added the first ringbolts to the deck.
 
Since I am waiting to receive more carriage kits from the Lumberyard, I will probably do some more work in the bow area, rather than moving back along the gun deck for now.
 
Bob
 
 

I've been working my way towards the center and this is how far I've gotten.
 

 
While gluing them up I had a thought about putting some bracing between the bulkheads to
help stiffen them some more for when I have to fair them. I also thought it may help eliminate
any change of the hull twisting.  I took and measured the distance between the bulkheads at
the former and cut a piece of bracing and glued it towards the outer edge making sure not to
displace the bulkheads.
 

 

 
It seems to be working. I'll let you know when I finish with all of them.

PREPARING THE HULL FOR SANDING AND SHAPING
 
The instruction books starts off with a cautionary note that due to varying manufacturing and environmental conditions the plans may differ in size from the Mylar masters they were made from. Several reference measurements from the bow to key items like the gun mounts and the front of the superstructure are provided in case there is some discrepancy. The length of the hull on the plans should be 24 7/16”. My plans measured out only 1/32” over. Since that is well within my personal margin of error resulting from clumsy fingers, aging eyes and poor technique I think I am good to go.
 
After mounting a temporary vise block to the keel, the hull is ready to mark up. The next 2 photos show the machining plugs on the bow and stern that will have to be removed.


Once the deck has been sanded smooth the centerline is measured and marked.
 
Using the centerline as a guide, the deck template is laid along it and the outline of the deck edges are marked and the locations (stations) for checking the hull shape using templates. (Sorry but the pencil marks don’t show up very well on deck against the dark grey primer I used to check for rough spots). I told you earlier that the rough hull comes out of the box very close to its’ final dimensions. Using the deck profile template as a guide it looks as if no more than 1/16” will have to be removed from some areas of the sides, in some areas virtually none will have to come off.


Finally the hull template station marks are extended down the sides of the hull. As the hull is shaped they will be sanded off and will have to be reapplied several times.

Now the hull is ready for shaping. The bow and stern plugs will be removed first, then the sides will be sanded to match the deck edge profile. After that is done the vise block will be unscrewed from the keel, the hull inverted and the vice block attached to the deck. The shaping of the hull will continue using the templates.

Nice little stove Bob. Can't help you on what type of base you would need. But should you decide to make a brick one, I expect them to be individually laid
 
Remco

Very nice indeed Remco. By the way did you ever think of becoming a micro surgeon?

Thank you for the kind words Antony.
 
Well I've pre fit all the bulkheads. Just some minor sanding of the slots was needed so it didn't
take as long as anticipated. Here is the first bulkhead in place. I clamp the angle piece in place
to hold the bulkhead square until the glue sets up. I do one bulkhead fore and one bulkhead
aft at a time and work my way to the center.
 

Thank you for the kind words Antony.
 
Well I've pre fit all the bulkheads. Just some minor sanding of the slots was needed so it didn't
take as long as anticipated. Here is the first bulkhead in place. I clamp the angle piece in place
to hold the bulkhead square until the glue sets up. I do one bulkhead fore and one bulkhead
aft at a time and work my way to the center.
 

First and foremost my prayers and best wishes to you and your mom. Also I hope when you get back to
the Syren you get to enjoy it because it's a really fun build!

While waiting for the next installment, I bought some Holly for the decks and worked a plank into shape on the Byrnes table saw for the waterway.  The area between the beam and the ceiling plank was set earlier with a prototype waterway.  The waterway is not yet glued in place.
Maury