oakheart

Over my coffee this morning I went though all of the pages and counted up the blocks etc. that are required for the cutter rigging. This will help when ordering parts. From Fore and Aft book by Lennarth Pettersson ( note I have the Kindle version of the book so page numbering may be different from the print version ) page name single single double triple Fiddle sheave deadeyes 4mm 5mm 16 Channels 16 5mm 17 Shrouds 4 18 Toprope 4 2 19 Topmast shrouds 4 20 Forestay 1 21 Forestay 1 9.5mm 22 Backstay 1 3 1 1 23 bowsprit guys 24 Jib in/out 1 1 25 jib halliard 3 26 Lower yard sling 2 4 27 TS yard Halliard 2 1 28 Lifts 2 2 29 Clueline & sheets 4 30 lower yard braces 2 31 ts yard braces 2 32 throat halliard 2 33 Peak Halliard 6 1 34 topping lift 2 2 35 mainsheet 2 36 Jib 37 foresail 2 38 Hoists 1 1 totals 20 19 11 2 3 11 17 Tim

On page 11 of his book he say's his drawings are based on the fully rigged model in the London Science Museum, which is the one featured on their website. So I guess we can use the photos of the Science Museum model in conjunction with the drawings in the book to get a better understanding of the overall rigging. Tim

Hi Gregory @Gregory, thanks for sharing the link I just took another look at those images and they do show a lot of details that are hard to find elsewhere. I just noticed the model has 5 shrouds and deadeyes, my Speedy and chucks Cheerful only have 4 ? tim

wow @Gregory, that is going to be really helpful, thanks so much. Not clutter just good research and explanation. I will keep plodding away until I get to that point, then I'm sure there will be a few questions. @vossiewulf I am happy to host the discussion here if you like, but it might be better over in the other discussion as it would save that from becoming fragmented. Having printed out Bill's rigging diagram full scale ( I did 12 A4 sheets and taped them together ), one thing is very apparent already, I will have to extend my rope walk, I can only do about a 950mm, which for some of the 'lines' is too short. Tim

Thanks @vossiewulf I will look out for those errors and take a look at Chucks Cheerful log, I have seen the Science Museum photos online of the Model that Petersson used for his book, I did not know we had other photos in the gallery. Tim

No, It was your model and log that inspired me in the first place, thank you. Tim

Hi Adrian Thanks for the compliment, I am please with the way it's going. You may be in for a bit of a wait for completion, I really should finish the deck fittings before moving on to the rigging but as usual I get side-tracked.... Tim

Bowsprit shaped from square and placed on model, shown in front of Bill Shoulders rigging plan with main mast and bowsprit It all begins to take shape. I have now got a copy of Lennarth Petersson's book rigging period fore and aft craft, which has all the details for rigging a cutter of this period so I will follow his drawings to do the rigging instead of Bills instructions / drawings. Tim

Thanks for all of the likes, it really helps to keep a body motivated. Tim

and here it is cleaned up. I would like to thank all those builders whose logs helped me along the way, of course Thunder @Thunder who without his help, I would not have even started this build. There are too many others to mention them all. The Cutter cheerful, which is pretty close to this cutter 'Speedy' was one of the designs that helped me a lot, so I must give a special thanks to Chuck and his very clean design and his prototype build log. Thanks @Chuck your design and build log have been an inspiration to me, and will continue to be so for the rest of my build. Then of course there is Crazy Craig @iMustBeCrazy who is a constant help with his wisdom and know-how. This forum / website is such a brilliant resource to have found. Tim

I found some close grained timber in the workshop, the wood carver who gave it to me said it was Lime. So some hours later this is what I got. I did a quick test yard from cedar as well. It was not quite long enough so I had to add a bit to the top. The join will be hidden under the metal strap here is a close up now I can see the detail, there still a few marks to get rid of Tim

OK Craig @iMustBeCrazy you set me off now. I found another cutter painting from 1810 with a boat dangling, this time off the stern. https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-12595 The boat looks very small compared to the crew on deck, which suggests we should probably not take these paintings as accurate, the overall image may be correct in that the artist saw a boat hanging off the stern but did not draw it in proportion. Tim

thank for reminding me @georgeband I have a copy on my kindle, I must read it. I got my copy from : - https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6629 Tim

Nice find craig @iMustBeCrazy , there is so much to find out there and on this site alone. Tim

I just found this thread, here is another painting of a cutter with boats on. It shows cutter 'Kite' in action off Beachy Head on the south coast of Britain by Montague Dawson This discussion has made me realise that I may need to revise my thoughts on the size a boat on my build of Speedy. Tim

Thanks craig. I have some ash logs that we have as firewood, unfortunately none are long enough. There are a few wood turners locally that I will have words with. Picking up on what @Gregory said I will also look in the local BnQ, Wickes stores in town as well they may have some ramin dowel. Tim

Thanks Gregory, that is a really good suggestion. I am in the big city over the weekend so will have a look at what they have in the model shop. The big problem with online stuff is you never know what you will get. Tim

made a new full height mast from a piece of pine I had, really just to see what it's like to turn down the taper. Not sure about using it, the grain is a bit over size and makes look a bit toy like. I do have a piece of boxwood that would do, but that goes to the opposite extreme and can look very bland. Really I would like to use Cedar but I don't have any 9.5mm thick. I could try gluing a couple of 5mm strips together? Tim

I apologise, It was very rude of me not to mention Fred's wonderful build here, I will certainly be using some of the ideas here on my own cutter. For anyone who's interested I found the article. By Malcolm Darch in his book Modelling Maritime History Chapter 3: MARGUERITE-A Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter. "A pilot's life was a dangerous one as ships had to be boarded day and night in all weather conditions. This was usually achieved by the cutter hailing the incoming vessel and asking the master to stop his ship and create a lee from the weather. The apprentice would make the dinghy or 'punt' as they were known, ready to be hauled over the port rail of the cutter (the Bristol cutters having higher rails used a gate). This was done by removing the ropes or 'gripes' securing it to the chocks on deck and most important of all, tying the bow line or painter forward of the rigging. The helm was lashed momentarily after the cutter had been sailed into the sheltered water behind the ship, though keeping a good distance away, as the vessel was being blown sideways towards them. The man who had been at the helm would assist in launching the punt stern first and then return to his station, while the pilot and apprentice clambered aboard the 12 or 13 foot clinker boat and the one oar carried was skilfully used over the transom by the apprentice to scull them to the waiting ship. A ship's ladder would normally be hanging down the vast wall of wood or steel which rolled menacingly above. The pilot waited for the right moment and would grab the ladder as the ship finished her roll towards him and before she started back up again. The punt would then be sculled away to be retrieved by the one man left in the cutter who would be attempting to heave his vessel to in the same position as before, enabling the apprentice and himself to haul the punt aboard. Some punts carried a strop secured fore and aft to which a burton was tied which travelled from the mast head, and this helped recovery. The job of the man left in the cutter was made a little easier by having most of the sail controls led back to the self-draining cockpit which was situated aft of the companion hatch. These vessels really helped to pioneer the way toward designs used by today's single-handed sailors. The whole operation was extremely dangerous on a wild winter's night, with often the added menace of snow squalls." Tim

The revenue cutters on the south coast of England did indeed carry boats, they are used for boarding suspect boats for searching. I did read a very interesting article about how on a pilot cutter the boat could be launched single handed. I will see if I can find it again. Tim

Hi Phil @Dr PR thanks for the feedback, I did try doing that splice but it looked really messy, see post 316 above. I think it may be because I am using a 3 thread rope? There are examples of the wrap around method on contemporary models, but they may have been altered at a later date here is SLR0673 a 16 gun brig ( 1810 ) that I photographed during my visit to Chatham Dockyards. It shows yet a different style. here is one I have done with a simple wrap that I have seen done on full size cannons. I have a problem with unruly ropes and I think the hooks are much too big. I also need to do some fettling on the carriage. Tim

managed a bit of work on the cannons With this build I was going to leave it un-rigged, but I am now considering using this as a vehicle for learning for when I build the HMAT Supply. Can any one recommend books, logs on here to help with this? The booklet by Bill Shoulder is not bad but a bit lacking in detail. Thanks Tim

Thanks Allan.

I think I have decided to go with the wrap around breeching rope. Next question is do I seize it or not? here it is just super glued in place here is my attempt at seizing it. maybe it looks neater without. Tim

Hi Allan @alpayed. That is a very useful image, thanks for posting it. Do we know when it was drawn? Tim