Mike Y

Good morning.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Good morning.

CNC running off two sets of rudder parts.

Started to plan out how I intend to plank the main deck, this is one of the layouts I’m considering if I decide to add cannons.
 

While waiting for steaming and glue to dry, I tackled a drawing project I had long, long put aside, the pumps. I am not installing anything except the cisterns, but I was always curious about these. So I did a little digging in Lavery's Arming and Fitting of English Ships of War (pp. 66-76), Peter Goodwin's Construction and Fitting of the English Man of War (pp. 138-142), David Antscherl's Fully Framed Model (vol. II, pp. 96-102) and Dodds and Moore's Building the Wooden Fighting Ship (p. 100).
 
The year of the Bellona's completion, 1760, appears to be in a transitional period from earlier, inefficient pumps to the much improved Coles-Bentinck which was first tested in 1768 and underwent a number of improvements over the next few years. There is less information available in these printed resources for the pumps before the Coles-Bentinck, so I was left wondering what the Bellona pump more exactly might have looked like.
 
The only primary document drawing I could find closer to the launch of the Bellona is plate VIII in Falconer's Dictionary of the Marine published 1769, which I have shown here from the Guttenberg ebook project. Brian Lavery says this has features in common with the Coles pump, but with some notable differences like the cogged wheels which are not in the later Coles-Bentinck pumps. He says that "Either this is an early version of the Coles pump, or it is one of many other inventions of the period." (p. 72 footnote).
 
Falconer's clearly identifies this illustration as the "naval chain-pump, by Mr. Cole, under the direction of Capt. Bentinck", which Falconer says works much better than the earlier pumps. It must have been one of the very earliest versions, since the cogged wheel disappears in later versions. And Falconer is publishing this just a year after the initial test of the Coles-Bentinck pump.
 
Lacking detailed information on pumps before this one in Falconer, I decided that this would at least be closer to the Bellona date than the later, well illustrated Coles-Bentinck pumps. Shall we assume that the Bellona installed this improved pump when it first become available a decade after launch?
 
I quickly discovered that this drawing is not an accurately scaled drawing. The distance from top to bottom is way too short relative to the sizes of the cisterns and pump tube diameters. So I took features from this drawing and tried to accurately scale it to the actual hull.
 
Things I learned in this exercise.
1. The cogged wheels do not engage or drive the disks as they go around. There are bolts at the point of each tooth that actually engage hooks on the chain links. I see why they quickly abandoned the cogged wheel and kept the bolts and hooks.
2. The disks are of a smaller diameter than the tubes everywhere in the pump EXCEPT at the most critical part, a chamber at the outboard base of the pump where the disks have a tight fit (last illustration below). This makes sense, after thinking about it. A tight fit all along the pump would have created a great deal of friction in the machine. It only needs to pull up water within this chamber which then holds up the column of water from the chamber to the cistern. Very, very clever.
3. This drawing curiously holds the bottom chamber up from the floor, indeed, hanging off the keelson. Later pumps try to get right down to the floor or even cut into the frames so the point of pulling up water is as close to the bottom as possible. This pump will leave a good puddle in the bilge that it cannot reach. However, when one considers that the hull is usually heeled over, it is probably getting close enough to the bottom of the bilge water.
 
If anyone has come across sufficiently detailed drawings of pumps in service just before this pump, please share and I will redraw. Until then, the Bellona gets a pump refit....🙃
 
Oh well, back to the model....
 
 

 
 
 
 

Hi everyone,
 
A long, long time since I last posted. I have been working away, but the recent pieces took an exceptionally long time to work out, and there was not a lot to show in the process.
 
I realized some time ago that I would not be able to install the guns on the lower deck until I completed the outboard works, since I would not be able to turn the hull on its side for painting once the gun barrels were projecting from the side.
 
So I was planking up to the top, when I further realized that I would need to install the catheads before completing the planking at the fore end of the forecastle. And those turned out to be way, way more difficult than I had imagined.
 
I first carefully drew true size projections of the catheads in plan and elevation:
 

 
When I cut them from blanks, I assumed I could just cut straight down according to the drawn plan. Wrong! The cat tails inboard are not only shaped athwartship according to the forecastle beam round up, but also beveled fore and aft according to the sheer of the deck. But the catheads outboard are beveled according to the sheer of the hull, which is steeper. This means the cathead twists as it passes through the hull relative to its tail. I went through a number of failures before I figured this out.
 

Before I could cut the hook scarps on the tails and cut the slot into the hull on the sides, I needed to locate the cat beam underneath. Then I realized that I would need to locate the beakhead bulkhead stantions since they score onto this beam and have to align with the vertical edge of the hull in this location. But in order to install the beakhead stantions, I would need to build the substructure  for the beakhead just above the gundeck level, which meant that I had to drill the hawseholes before access is covered up here, and that meant I had to complete the cheeks outboard.
 

 
So, then onto cheeks. These also had a much more complicated geometry than I had first appreciated. They have a round-up athwartships to match the sheer of the main wales at the bow; they fay to the wales with a curve and also a slope back along the face; and they have an upward slant fore and aft to match the hull sheer. As I tried to fay these to the wales, the slightest change in holding them against the wale would change the shape needed. So I made supports at the correct angle and kept the lower edge flat, so I could reliably slide the cheek against the wale for the usual trim, test, trim, to fay it accurately. Then I could shape the lower edge of the fore and aft arm to its final form.
 

And voila, lower cheeks:
 

I don't know why this took me so long to work out these two interesting pieces, the catheads and cheeks. Perhaps because they are so prominent I took my time to get it right....
Now onto the upper cheeks and the hawse holes and bolsters.
 
Mark
 
 
 

Slow but steady progress. I have planked up to the drift rail level, and look forward to cutting those volutes in the drift rail. I started this outboard planking 5 years ago to the day, and this is what I have to show for it. In this period I did cast the guns and prefabricate the beams for the remaining decks, but still slow, slow, slow!
 
My wife is threatening to put my ashes on this ship and push it out into the lake on fire, if I don't get it done before I pass away. So I am highly motivated to keep going....
 
Mark
 

Done, all built frames pre-ground and fitted.  Spant 34-50 is still to be built, then the game starts all over again.  I wish you a nice evening.
 

 

 

 
 

My first 6 frames were unfortunately for the wood stove, I had milled them wrong.  To date, I have completed half of the frames.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 
 

A couple more pictures.  Construction of the rear end
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

I finished the work on the guns, burnishing and protective matt clear coat:
 




 
 

The main bitts:

a few steps forward:






 

After a long time, I have finally reached the end of building the galley stove:









 

With these few pictures I try to explain how I do my welding. The parts must be well cleaned and kept in contact. With a brush I spread the flux all over the part to be soldered. With a flame soldering iron I heat everything around until the flux starts to boil. Now it is time to apply some of the solder, which is a silver-based rod.
 




Care must be taken to protect soldering joints already made with a heat-insulating paste



 

some small advances. This galley stove is keeping me very busy!
 

The gratings:

 

 
I have taken a little liberty in interpreting the fore hatch gratings as far as the passage of the elbows is concerned. I was inspired by the work done by Matiz on his Euryalus, although perhaps the eras are slightly different.





 

There will be for lack of better terminology, two styles of frames.   There will be "TALL", full height frames,  and "Short" frames.  The taller frames extend up to the sheer line and beyond, terminating at the top with the cross jig piece.  The cross jig piece is crucial to the entire build concept.  It assures the frame is the correct width and shape when you build it.  There is no need to build these on top of a plan of the frame.  They will all come out the same size when finished, if you don't over sand any scarf joints.   The joints between the frame sections are precision laser cut.  BUT I left them slightly longer.  Most of the frames we will be building are of the tall variety and all need to made first and placed onto the keel.  They need to be on the keel so the "short" frames can be added in the remaining open spots for them.   More on those later.
 
But lets build our first TALL full length square frame.  We will be building them in groups.  The first group of square frames will contain about 12 or 14 frames.   
 
Here is a look at the first full length frame unbuilt.
 

I highly recommend that you remove the laser char from the outside edges and inside edges before assembling each frame.  In this case it is frame "Ba".  But dont tough or remove the chare from any of the scarf joints that connect each section.  They are precision cut and wont be the correct shape if you monkey around with the char on those.   The will almost glue up perfectly as is.   But I show circled in red the two sides on each scarf joint you will need to sand.   These were intentionally left a bit longer.   You need to test fit each segment together first and then sand a bit from one end of the scarf joint.  Test it again.  If needed tweak the circled ends only to close up the scarf joint so it fits tightly.
 
A few NOTES...
 
The floors and futtocks are different thicknesses.  See the books for details.  This creates a stepped edge on the frames.   MAKE SURE...you check the framing plan to see which side of the frame should have that stepped edge.  It could be on the fore or on the aft side.   In some cases where you have three thicknesses you might actually have to steps.  Each frame is different and some frames could even show this stepped joint on both sides of the frames.   So carefully examine the framing plan.
 
On all the square frames the floors and floor chocks are always 5/16" thick.   The square frames will always alternate with one solid floor that spans across the keel in one piece, followed by the next frame which will have the 5/16" thick floor built up with a "floor chock" in the center.   You will see this detail in the Seawatch books clearly and this proper framing structure is followed for the kit.
 
The futtocks and top timbers are 1/4" thick in most cases.   But in order to simplify the building process it was sometimes necessary to use a third thickness for the top timbers that fall next to a gun port or sweep port.   In some cases these were made using 3/16" and 5/32" thick Cedar.   Whenever this happens I have made note of it on the framing plan so you can better find those parts on the appropriate laser cut sheet.
 
Remember that no drawings of each frame are provided as built or as individual parts because we must do our very best to prevent unscrupulous Chinese manufacturers among others from copying the kit illegally.  So check the framing plan for the number of parts for each frame and their thicknesses.  
 
You should only work on one frame at a time and only remove those parts from the sheets for that frame to avoid mixing them up.  They are all labelled.  
 
So working one frame at a time, first check the plans for the number of parts in that frame.   Then look for them on the laser cut sheets.
 
Finished frame assembled...
 

Note the top cross piece which acts as a jig.   Each frame added to the keel extends the jig and keeps the whole hull its proper shape and perfectly aligned.
 
Make sure you have the cross piece facing the correct direction.  There is a laser etched arrow down the center of the cross piece which always points forward.   Double and triple check that your frame and cross piece are facing the right way before you glue this cross piece in position.  The cross piece should always be the very last segment you glue in position.  Dont sand any char from this cross piece at all.  Measurements are precise and very important.   None of it will show anyway and these jig tops will be cut free once we plank the hull.  They are basically going to end up in the trash. so no need to clean up the cross pieces.
 
When sanding the char off the other frame pieces inboard and out you will notice that I left the char above the tiny notches on each frame.  Those notches indicate the sheer of the hull.  Any surface above the notches and sheer line do not have to have any char removed at all.
 
More finished tall frames with the cross jig piece.
 

The Frame Chocks...
 
These are just simulated.  We dont have to mess around with actual tiny chocks.   The joints between frame segments are actually simple scarf joints.  There is a laser etched line to help simulate the full chock on one side of the frame.  You can if you like,  scribe the same on the other side or even just use a pencil.  But truthfully these frames are so close together you wont actually see the lines anyway.  I am not going to simulate the chock lines on the unetched side.
 
BUT...you will notice after you glue up your frame that the chocks look off....
 
The step in the frame should actually be straight across the center of the chock.  I have strategically made the chock full thickness.   This needs to be addressed on all frames.
 
It will initially look like this.  It has a full thickness chock and half of it needs to be thinned down to complete the step.

 Use a sharp #11 blade to place a stop cut down the center of the chock as if it extends across the entire frame.  Then slowly and carefully shave that thicker half of the chock down flush with the next segment (the futtock) of the frame.   See below.
 

Until it looks like this....nice and cleaned up.
 

Then the char can be removed from the inside and outside edges of the frame.  Or better yet clean those before you even glue up all the frame segments.
 
This needs to be done to every joint and really does look like it should with proper chocks.  Nobody will ever know.
 
You might have also noticed that each joint is treenailed at the chocks.  This is optional.  You can follow the framing plan for the placement of those.   This is finicky to say the least.  If they arent all uniform in distance within a group from frame to frame it wont look good at all.  I have seen wooden treenails used here.  I decided to show them but I am not using wooden treenails. If not done properly and all of the same size, again they would look really bad.   Better to leave these off the model than risk that.  So I am just using more black fishing line.  They are always the same size.  I am using 25 pound line for these.   Wooden treenails turn black anyway because of the end grain.  We shall see later after the hull is all framed up if this was a mistake.  You will have to make a decision about this for your model.
 

 
Tomorrow I start gluing frames onto the keel....
 
 
 

Happy Thanksgiving guys.
 
The deadwood is laser cut in two pieces.  These two pieces need to be tapered to 7/32" thick along the edges that sit against the keel and sternpost. To make this easier,  I cut some masking tape to a 7/32" wide strip.  In this case it was red tape.  I then centered it down the edges that needed to be tapered.  Then I proceeded to taper them gradually from the other side to the edges of the tape.
 

One that was finished I glued the larger, lower deadwood piece into position first.  This was followed by the stern post which had its laser char removed.   You must be careful when gluing both of these.  They must be centered on the keel to leave a consistent ledge all around and the sternpost needs to be perfectly vertical.  You want it vertical and in line with the stem at the forward end.
 

This only left the smaller section to be added which was then glued into position.  The aft end of the keel was intentionally left a bit longer and this was sanded flush with the aft edge of the sternpost.  
 

The only parts still remaining were the many wedges for the aft cant frames.  These are done exactly like those on the lower apron.  They are laser cut from thicker pieces of cedar so check that they were cut all the way through the sheet before removing them.  They were also cut slightly longer than needed.  Because they are so thick, you will notice the irregular cut on the forward and aft edges of each wedge after you glue the two layers together.   You must sand them flat and straight evenly on the forward and aft edges before fitting them on top of the deadwood steps.   Dont sand too much...only a bit of cleaning on both sides is needed.  Dont sand the char off of the angled sides to preserve the correct angles.  Center them atop the deadwood slots so you have a consistent notch on both sides of the deadwood for the aft cant frames.
 

That finished up the keel/stem assembly.  I only need to add the bolts along the keel scarf joints.  Then it will be time to construct the build board and start making frames.
 

 
Again ...Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Yes..to help with locking them in position and keeping all the frames aligned.  It takes the guesswork out of it.  But I could have easily gone with every other frame.  Less room for error.  
 
Since none of that will be seen anyway I figured why not give folks a little more assurance.  There is no mistaking where each frame goes this way. 
 
The frames will also be locked in position along the tops as well.  So its pretty much “build a frame and put in place..”.
 
It all worked out nicely on the test cross section.
 

 
 

Continuing with the stem/keel assembly....
 
The remaining sections of keel were added working my way aft.  The keel is actually two layers.  I added one layer at a time.  Each segment is numbered.   The numbers face inward so when the two layers are glued up you cant see them.
 

Here is the entire keel all put together.   Each segment remember is in two layers and I added them one layer at a time trying to get real nice and tight scarphs.   Its not difficult when done in layers.
 
I also added the false keel.  This is the thin strip on the bottom.  This was done with 1/8" wide strips the same depth as the keel.   I simulated the seams with a pencil.  There is still no finish on these parts so it will really look great once I add some wipe on poly.
 

On the aft section you will see a small step where the rabbet strip will end.   You will probably need to adjust where this is.  I made the parts so this was a bit forward of where it should be.  Just lay the keel assembly as it stands on top of the plan and mark the exact location for this slanted step.  Then use a sharp chisel or #11 blade to cut this step in the exact location.
 
Also note that the false keel may seem a bit wide top to bottom.  I have done this intentionally.  It is about 1/32" larger than needed.  I have found that the false keel when made of cedar will take a beating throughout the project.  It will get dented etc.   Even if you tape it to protect it.  So I made it slightly taller so I can sand the bottom of the keel down smooth much later in the project.  Just to smooth out any creases and dents.

The Rabbet...
 
The rabbet is done as I typically do on all of my projects.  I realize the rabbet is a complex organism of sorts.  It should have a "V" shape with and ever changing profile depending on how the hull planking enters it.   I usually make a mess of that if carved with a chisel.  Those of you who have the Speedwell books from Seawatch can see how Greg did this.  He is much more handy with a chisel than I am.
 
So this will be simplified and should you choose to add the garboard hull plank will mostly be covered anyway.   Using a simple strip here is neat and clean.
 
The one thing I have done differently this time is I laser cut the curved sections at the bow in two lengths.   See the photo below.  The two lengths are already glued on the stem assembly but I also show some extras on the table for clarity.   They are 1/16" thick.  The longer segment goes on first and is centered port to starboard.   This will leave a nice lip on both sides.  Then the shorter laser cut rabbet strip is added.   No need to sand the laser char off these.
 
The remaining rabbet strip that works itself aft is just made using a 7/32" x 1/16" cedar strip.  It ends at that slanted step you so carefully chiseled just a moment ago.
 

The Upper and Lower Aprons...
 
Now these pieces you have no doubt seen being made on many POF model.   The upper apron is nothing special.   Its a plain segment that is 3/8" thick.   Simple enough.  The LOWER apron is a different story all together.  It is much more complex.  You have probably seen folks hand chiseling tiny steps into both sides of the lower apron...once again take a look at Volume one of the Speedwell books.
 
I wanted to simplify this however.  Not because it could be difficult to do but because I know that most folks dont have vertical mill, or disc sanders or all the gadgets you often see when folks make the lower apron.
 
I have decided to make the lower apron using many separate parts instead.   Looking ahead to adding the forward cant frames, each set of cant frames has a different angle sanded into the heel of it.   This is so it can be "canted" forward.   This is simply not going to work to easily if you dont have a disc sander.  So I created small wedges with the angles already pre-set on them to accept straight right angled heels on the cant frames.
 
I hope that makes sense.
 
See below.  The upper apron is in front...easy peasy.  Set that one aside for now.  The lower apron is laser cut with a series of steps.  On these steps we will glue the pre-angled wedges.  But using this approach leaves the bottom of the lower apron very thin even at this scale.  It can easily break or get misshapen.  So I have laser cut the "stepped" lower apron attached to a sacrificial piece of wood.   You can use it as a handle.  DO NOT remove the lower apron from this "handle" until all of the little angled wedges are glued to it.  Those will give it enough strength...a remarkable amount of strength actually.  In the photo below I have already added two of the laser cut wedges which show the angles for the cant frames.  Check your plans as these are prominently shown.  Work from the aft side forward.
 
Each angled wedge is made on two layers.   They have laser etched numbers on them and correspond to the plan.  Gle the two layers together with the numbers facing each other.  This is important.   Glue the two halves together "number facing number".   The next to be done for me are the parts marked "7 & 6" in that photo.   I will glue them together now.

Once glued together with the numbers facing each other,  you could make life easier for yourself later by cutting them down a bit.  Once the two pieces are glued together they are too tall.  This doesnt matter at all but if you trim them to match the plans it will be so much easier to fair the inside of the hull when the time comes.   The Keelson will fit so much nicer on top of this when the time comes.  Below you can see me doing just that.  With a sharp blade I am trimming the top to match the plans.   Make sure you have the piece facing the correct way.  Place it on the plan and draw a line where the top portion can be shaved away.  Do this for every piece...I know its a pain.  But you will thank me when it comes time to add the cant frames later. 

When all of the segments are glued onto each step of the lower apron base,  you can finally cut away the bottom handle.  It was held on by just a few connectors which are easily cut with a sharp blade.  Hopefully you glued those wedges onto each step securely and didnt skimp on the glue.  Glue each onto its step and also to the wedge proceeding it.  Nice and secure.  Center them down the top of each step.   Dont mix up the numbers either.  That would be bad because the angles match each individual cant frame.  I also sanded the top of all those wedges so it looks nice and neat.  It also matched the shape for the lower apron shown on the plans.
 

Note that you should not remove any of the laser char on the angled sides of these wedges.  Not only would that screw up the angles laser cut into each of them, but it would also reduce their size.   That should be avoided.
 
A dry test fit of the upper and lower aprons on the keel assembly below.  trying my best to match the curve.   Use the plan to find the exact location for the aft edge of the lower apron along the keel.  You dont want it too forward or even too aft.   Place the keel assembly on the plan and mark where the exact locations are for the upper and lower aprons.  Note how the upper apron extends above the rabbet strip.
 
Note how the aprons are wider than the keel.   The aprons should be centered on the rabbet strip leaving a nice over hang on both sides.
 


 
Still no finish applied to these parts yet.  I will do that once the entire keel/stem assembly is completed.  Thats it for today!!!
 

 
Any questions?