SJSoane

I just posted some images of building gratings on a mill, at my Bellona scratch build site. Very interesting challenges, these gratings! Mark

Hi everyone, Scary is right. The little birdie on my shoulder was talking to me, and I wasn't quite listening. But you all reminded me. I put much additional safety into the setup by taking my Sherline guard from the lathe and putting it on the mill. Much, much better. I took a great deal of time today, setting up a spreadsheet of the sizes of everything so they fit the openings of the coamings. I also worked out the menu for dialing in moves on the mill. I have shown an example for the fore hatch, which summarizes dimensions and dialing moves. I also arranged to screw the wooden block down to the plate on the table. With a little fence on it, it allows me to repeat locations of workpieces so as to make sure I have enough leeway to make the full cuts. The Sherline is very restrictive in the length of cuts set up like this. And the clamps sometimes get in the way. I need to keep working on this idea for the future. I have also shown the first effort at putting battens in; nothing glued or sanded, obviously. But I am also showing next to it the original grating, which in hindsight I realize had big enough holes in the gratings to trap the captain's heel just as he would have been running to something important. Good thing I caught the mistake....;-) I have run out of time today, to finish gluing battens, and then to see how sanding away the bottom will reveal the ledges or not. But I do like the self-jigging of this process; last time I really struggled with spacers between ledges moving around while gluing battens. The bottom below the ledges is paper thin and I can see light through it. We'll see tomorrow. Greg, thanks I knew I had seen the idea of sanding away the bottom somewhere; Clay Feldman! Mark

Beautiful, Alexandru!

Thanks Frankie, I have Harland's book, and I will look that up. I keep meaning to read that cover to cover, to learn more about how they really used all of the equipment we build, in all sailing situations. My personal knowledge of sailing is limited to small dinghies in the lakes at the base of the Rocky Mountains a number of years ago. It takes a lot of imagination to scale that up to a 74 gun ship...;-) Mark

Hi Jeff, Other than burning starting, which is always nice to avoid, how do you decide when a blade is dull and time to change? And how long does a sharp blade last you before changing? Mark

Michael, Nice serving device. Along with that micro adjusting table saw fence you showed in another forum, you are the maestro jig maker! I have an idea for an adjustable stop for cutting small strips on the Byrnes table saw I might try out on you and see if you have ideas.... Great work. Looks fantastic. Mark

Hi everyone, Remco, you are so right. The rush is definitely to get into the shop! Last night's photos weren't great. Here is one in the daylight. (my photos seem to be smaller than usual; I'll look into that.) In setting up for the mainmast partners, I discovered that my original hatches and gratings were not sized correctly. So in the spirit of re-doing, I am working on a more systematic way of doing gratings. Each one needs to be adjusted just ever so slightly in the spacing both ways in order to fit exactly in the correct coaming size. So rather than the usual method of cutting on the table saw, which does not easily allow minute adjustment for each grating, I decided to try it on the mill. Here is my first experiment. The spacing came out perfectly in the test. It is fairly scary turning that big sawblade on the mill without any kind of saw guard. But I needed the diameter to clear the housing of the motor when it indexes over. And I needed to build up a block to get the work at a height that the mill can reach when the Z dimension is cranked all the way down. I wear a big face mask, and stand well to the side... The idea is to cut the spaces between the ledges so that the ledges do not quite fall off the blank. Then I can glue in the battens with the ledges already automatically spaced. Once dry, I will sand the bottom of the grating until the ledges reveal themselves, and then the grating is opened up. At least in principle.... We'll see tomorrow if I can make this work. Mark

Hi Guy, I would be interested if you don't mind looking into it. And thank you Runner63, I appreciate your comment. I spend a day putting in more carlings and ledges. I had to re-do one space between beams, because I originally put in two rows of ledges and they were too close together to match the texture of the rest of the deck. So out they came, and a single row went in. Good thing I am in no rush.... Best wishes, Mark

"In the next picture a #0 flat silversmith’s riffler is being used to level out the strakes." Ed, I missed this the first time around. That looks like a very handy riffler. Do you remember where you got it? Mark

Hi Jeff, these are exceptionally helpful comments. Would you mind posting a photo of the block you use for holding the wood down? I have discovered that keeping the leading edge of the wood flat on the table really helps stabilize things. Your block sounds like just the thing. It also helps, I have discovered, to cut off the strips on the side of the blade opposite the fence. But the trick is how to make a repeatable cut when the fence has to be moved in every time. I use a basic jig shown here, which clamps a stop in the right spot. Then just move the fence and wood up to the stop and cut again. It works, but it is fiddly for mounting and adjusting. I am thinking about better jig that can clamp onto the table, and have a sliding arm to accommodate different wides of cutoffs. And a little micro-adjuster in the end would allow perfect sneaking up the exact right dimension. Has anyone built something like this? Best wishes, Mark

. But I am still not 'scared' and will react cautiously if something is not quite right. This is really important advice. I remember reading many years ago in Fine Woodworking Magazine some advice that I have always tried to heed. When the little birdie on your shoulder says "this doesn't feel right", always, always listen to it. Before I read that, the few times I got impatient and thought just this time I'll risk it, it will be OK, my intuition had turned out to be right. It wasn't OK. Nothing irreparable, but close. Mark

Michael, Words escape me. The metal work is exquisite, and it is exceptionally helpful to see how you did it. Are you using a small jeweler's torch? Mark

Hi Gaetan, As usual for your exceptional work, the photos look like real ships. You are an inspiration. Mark

Hi Doris, I just came across your build. Fabulous work! I see in your pictures how you built this from card, but it looks exactly like a wooden model in the end. Exceptional craftsmanship. Mark

Michael, Beautiful work! Can I borrow your scaled down shipwright? ;-) The metalwork is exquisite. Can you say a little more about how you are fabricating those pieces? Best wishes, Mark

Hi Toni, What gas are you using for the Little Torch? I have been contemplating getting a small torch like this, but have read different things about propane, acetylene, etc. Any advice? Also, I missed somewhere, what finish are you applying to the wood? the ship is looking great! Best wishes, Mark

Thanks, B.E. and thanks for your help on the backstay question I posted in the rigging forum. Mark

I forgot to ask, perhaps druxey. Are they the same size on all masts? I don't think I have seen anything specifying their sizes.

Remco, Nice, nice, nice. It is a pleasure to see your work! Mark

I second druxey's observation. Your work continues to inspire me. Mark

Thanks, B.E., it does sound like the Lees' running backstay is the same as Steel's breast backstay with a tackle rather than deadeyes. I read somewhere that the tackle on a backstay was used to bring the upper masts rather more upright in certain points of sailing. I need to re-read Harlands' Seamanship in the Age of Sail to see if he has anything to say about that. Best wishes, Mark

Cole. Definitely look up pushsticks and feather boards as well as cutting small pieces on a table saw with Google. There used to be a link to a great video from the old site on how to deal with small pieces. I am showing a pushstick that is now well used, to fit the higher Byrnes rip fence. It rides along the fence, and has an adjustable hook at the back that pulls the piece along the fence while your hand is safely up above. It also has sandpaper on the bottom edge, so it grips the wood all along its length. You can see it has been chewed up with a lot of close cuts. the hook is adjustable up and down for a precise fit with whatever thickness of wood you are cutting. Best wishes, Mark

Hi Floyd, The die size makes a big difference and is a challenge to thread tightly. I have drilled a .025" and .035" to add to the .04" that came. I struggle to get all threads through when it is 6 or 9 threads. I tried supergluing the group in order to thread it all through, but that is larger than the combined threads by far. I suspect that I am still using too large a die opening, mainly because of the threading issue. Anyone have good ideas about how to thread it when it is tight? I haven't figured out why I would ever let go of the large knob. letting it spin a bit doesn't do anything for adjusting while making rope. Still much to learn! Best wishes, Mark

Thanks, Mark and Grant. My wife asked me if we would ever see this when the model is done. I explained that the modelmaker of the original 1760 Bellona model is likely looking over my shoulder, making sure I keep standards up... Guy, it is probably late for me at this point. I lofted all of the frames back in the 90s before I started using CAD. And the details are now half a lifetime of research based on dozens of sources. It would be interesting to see someone else's reconstruction of the ship. Are the drawings published anywhere? I am taking a break from the hull for a short time, while I sort out the Byrnes ropewalk and set up a rigging table based on Steel. I have posted a few questions over in Tools and in Rigging. I thought it better to keep these off the build log. Best wishes, Mark

In setting up a rigging table for my 1760 English 74 HMS Bellona, I came across some ambiguities regarding backstays for the topmasts. Can someone help me figure this out? Steel's tables for a 74 ca. 1800 list 3 pairs of standing backstays on the fore topmast set up with deadeyes, and also 1 pair of breast backstays set up with tackles. Lee's Masting and Rigging book confirms 3 pair of standing backstays for ca 1760, but says that there were no breast backstays between 1733 and 1839; the foremost backstay likely served as a breast backstay. Lees also refers to a running breast backstay set up with tackles, which sounds like Steel's breast backstays. Are Steel and Lees referring to the same thing with different names? Best wishes, Mark