EdT

The frames are labelled DF for dead flat. These are the midship frames. Files names do not have the dead flat symbol. Ed

Rob, YA was fitted with double topsail yards in 1854 about a year after her launch. Based on the date and the two photographs, I believe that she had the Howes Patent type. These were first adopted in 1853 and the Howes patent was granted in 1854. The other type in use at that time was the Forbes rig, in which the yard was held by an iron fitting that slid up and down the lower mast head. The Howes version, also using an iron fitting was bolted in a fixed position to the lower mast cap with a supporting strut to the lower mast head. In both YA photos the yard is clearly fixed to the mast cap, so at this stage, that is my basis. Ed

Thank you, Frank. Most appreciated. Progress reports on YA may be sparse for awhile. Work on Volume II is beginning to suck up all the oxygen. Ed

I believe Frank's interpretation of the knee design for the ship in question is very probably correct given the practice at the time and the availability of strong riveted iron bolts that were not available to earlier ship structures. I say "very probably" because most of my investigation involved American ships. With the knees beside the beam the top fastenings would be in shear. While this offers no advantage when considering the strength of the fastening itself, it would have be of advantage with early fastenings in tension because of their lower extraction resistance. However, even with the knees side-bolted at the top, they were still bolted from the inside through the frames, raising the question of the reason for the side bolting at the top. Perhaps it required less fitting of the knee (only one face vs. two.) or was better for headroom with the low deck heights of the time. Anyway, I researched this issue when drafting the structure for Young America. Bill Crothers was quite clear on the arrangement - see p 240 of American Clipper Ships and/or p 209 in his book on packets. These knees are clearly on the beam center line - ie bottom mounted. Although I had great confidence in Bill's conclusions, I looked for further primary source data. This can be found in the following diagrams extracted from the American Lloyds Registers of 1857 and 1867 respectively. These documents defined acceptable shipbuidling practices at the time. Although titled "American" I believe they were consistent with British standards. The third image is a photo from Desmond on Wooden Shipbuilding showing knees in the beam centerlines. Ed

Fantastic work, Frank. The precision is extraordinary. Ed

Yes, a clean joint at the feet of the cant frames requires a squared off rabbet along the bearding line and tight fitting square ends on the frames so when they are sanded fair the line remains a smooth clean one. Easier said than done but yours look fine from the photos. This single curved bearding line vs. the stepped versions on earlier ships has its pluses and minuses from a modeling standpoint. Ed

Very nice work, Gary - and only a couple hundred hours work? Amazing. By the way, I keep meaning to mention - Naiad's launch date was 1797, not the 1787 in your title. the difference is that the correct date places her in the building program that supported the French wars that began in 1793, a period when British frigate design was desperately trying to compete with their French adversaries - at a time when French designs were being adopted in small degrees to address the (at least perceived) deficiencies. Naiad, with a gun deck length of 147', represents one design version of several (each increasing in length) between the first British 38's (Minerva Class, 141', 1787) to the final development of the British 38's, represented by the very successful 150' Leda Class (1800), of which some 39 ships were built into the 1830's. This very gradual, progressive increase in length to overcome sailing problems with the battery of 28 18-pounders on the gun deck has seemed to me a monument to penny-pinching, conservative, incrementalism - a futile rear guard action against the increased costs of longer ships to effectively carry the larger armament. Contrast this to the American leap from nowhere to the 175', 24 pounder, 44's with Constitution, President and United States in 1796. Different navies, different missions, but certainly a more progressive advancement in design - as the War of 1812 battles attest. Ed

Beautiful as always, Gaetan. I am behind in following the work. The camera setup just caught my eye. I have more than enough trouble avoiding tipping over just one tripod! Ed

Hello, everyone. I have been away on vacation for the past couple weeks and have not been keeping up with the postings. Thanks for the recent comments. I hope to be back in the shop soon. Bob, using the drawings pens for CA is interesting - perhaps a good use for these unused tools. Ed

E&T, I love the wheel. Beautiful piece and a great lesson for those without machine tools. Ed

Lovely clean work, Paul. Ed

Decisions, decisions. Isn't it great to keep the brain working. I would certainly leave some of that beautiful framing work and bolting exposed. Also, I found that deck clamps spanning the viewing ports were more than strong enough to support the deck beams without leaving those frames in place - blocking the view inside. Ed

Thanks, again, everyone. Nils, the twisted wire is very easy to do. I have made several sizes of eyebolts by this method some with shackles or chain pre-fitted. I will be experimenting with very small gauge wire to make wire rope and possibly simulate the very smallest rigging chain that is much smaller (~100 links/") than can be purchased. Joe, CA glue is soluble in acetone before and after curing, so it can be used to clean up excess and break cured joints. It may take some time to dissolve cured CA. CA manufacturers also sell solvent but I have not tried it. For the joints shown, I soaked up excess first with a bit of paper towel right after applying it, then swabbed off the surface excess with a Q-tip dipped in acetone - not too much that would soak the joint. I have had no problem with the actual joints, since the acetone is just wiped over the surface and evaporates very quickly. If a lot of un-wiped glue is present, a white residue may be left. The area was filed off smooth after curing. You may be aware of this, but I will mention that caution is needed with cotton around CA. While there is not a problem with cotton dampened with acetone for small clean up, dipping cotton into CA can be very hazardous. The very high cellulose surface area of cotton can cause rapid polymerization of the CA and the heat of polymerization can/will ignite the cotton - and possibly the bottle of CA. If you have ever spilled a bottle of this stuff you will know what I mean about rapid polymerization I usually dispense a drop or two of CA on to a plastic can lid then pick up some with the applicator or sometimes dip the applicator into the open bottle - but with the bottle always contained in a wood base to prevent it tipping. Once upon a time I did tip over a bottle and do not want to do it again. I use as little of this stuff as necessary. Ed

A new tool, Maury. I used to make CA applicators by sawing a small slit in the end of a brass wire that would hold a small droplet. The applicator shown was made by the method I am using on eyebolts - taking a length of brass wire, bending in in half, securing the ends in a vise, hooking the loop in a hook (pin or brass wire) in a hand drill then twisting it up. Either the loop end or the small fork clipped off at the vise end can be used to hold a glue drop. The loop end needs to be cleaned in solvent; the fork end can be clipped back and a new fork formed. Different sized wires can be used. I believe the wire in the picture is 24 gauge from a spool.

Young America - extreme clipper 1853 Part 165 – Forecastle/Poop Pin Rails Another small task was slipped in to break the monotony of deadeye chains and belaying pin turning. In the first picture the forecastle pin rail has been made and is being used as a template to spot the centers of the posts on the deck. The location is over a beam. The posts will be set into square mortises cut into the deck to provide more strength to this type of rail. In the next picture one of the mortises is being started with perimeter cuts using a small chisel. The turned posts are 5” (.07”) square, turned as was done for the fife rail posts earlier. In the next picture the two posts have been set and fitted with pins in the top to secure the rail. In the next picture the rail has been installed and the six pins added. This is a light duty rail, used to belay the four jib and fore staysail downhauls as well as the two foresail bowlines. Providing belaying points for the running rigging of the mizzen mast proved to be a puzzle. There are some two dozen light lines associated with the mizzen sails that need to be belayed aft of the mast, below the shroud fairleads through which they run, but with the lack of a raised bulwark on the poop there is no clear place for belaying pins. The poop deck perimeter will be packed with cleats and lead blocks for heavier lines and the spider band around the mast is fully allocated. The photo of the ship from the starboard quarter is not very helpful. Time for some historical interpretation – not the first or the last. I believe there are four possibilities. First, that the poop monkey rail itself was fitted with pins – unlikely given the small section of this brass rail. Second, using shroud cleats, but these would be visible in the photo. Third, using deck cleats as with the heavier lines, but the sheer number of these and the resulting mass of line piled on the deck argue against this. I finally decided on the fourth option, pin rails similar to the forecastle rail along each side of the forward poop rails. This was a common method. The next picture shows one of these rails positioned on the deck to spot mortises for the three posts. In the next picture the rail has been set as with the forecastle rail and a drop of CA is being applied to each of the vertical wire bolts. The posts of all these rails were glued into the deck with wood glue and the tops with CA. After applying the drops to the top of the rails it was washed off with acetone. The bolts were later clipped off and the tops sanded. The last picture shows the two rails installed with the rail on the near side already being fitted with pins. The complement of belaying pins is almost complete – a few dozen to go. Ed

Looking great, Frank. I can relate to your comments on intentional grain-raising as part of the finishing process. I think this is good practice on all woods where a water-based finish - water stains, dyes, acrylic paints, inks, etc. - are used - or even in general for uniformity if glue has been washed off with water. I do this routinely on model wood and did it for years on furniture work before final sanding - all hardwoods. I used clean water. I have not tried alcohol. If the grain is not raised before finishing, the water in the finish will do it, often requiring more sanding. Those planking clamps really come in handy on that internal bilge planking. Keep in mind that over-tightening these in these positions can distort the frames outwards. I did not find that to be a problem, but I believe it could be, depending on the molded breadth of the frames and the amount of stress - probably not a problem with the toothpicks(?) you are using, but with the nails I used, you can put a lot of stress on the frames. Worth a check. Ed

Good question, Frank. I cannot remember this being too much of a problem. Is the epoxy fully hardened when you file it. If so and the file still loads up with resin, all I can suggest is frequent use of the file card. I don't use any solvent on the epoxy, but just let the blobs harden, clip them and the protruding wire off with cutters, then file off the remainder. Any solvent used to dissolve off glue will cause it to penetrate into the wood. Perhaps the alcohol is inhibiting the hardening of the epoxy? Ed

Great work, Frank. As you probably know, I used epoxy rather than CA to fix the functional copper bolts, partly because of the glue stains on the wood that you experienced. The CA penetrates the wood so is hard to remove, even if you wash it off right away with acetone. This method, of course, involves a lot of solvent use. Epoxy, even though it is time consuming to mix batches as you work, seems to come off the wood a lot easier. I would use files. Files seem to do a better job on both glue types than sandpaper. Sandpaper rides over hard areas, so I save it for the final wood finish. The neat regular spacing of your bolting is really nice. Ed

Jan, an interesting question. The anchors were handled primarily by two triple purchase tackles - one was reeved, when needed, through the sheaves on the cathead, the other, the fish tackle, was suspended on these ships by a pendant seized with a collar around the fore topmast head. Other tackles and tools were used depending on the stowage position of the anchor. Both purchase falls were fitted with large hooks to grasp the shaft or bills of the anchors. With the stowage position and release gear shown in the pictures above, I suspect that the pinned release chain and the main chain cable was secured before the lashings, aka shank painters, were loosened. A smaller tackle was probably secured to the upper end of the stock to keep it upright and prevent anchor from rotating into the side of the hull. The lower end anchor would then be somehow pried or jacked outboard and lowered by the fish tackle to the release position, where all the tackles would be removed. With the extreme outward flare of the bow on these ships the lower end of the anchor did not have to be moved to far outside the rail to be clear of the side below. As a non-seaman, based upon some almost undecipherable texts, this is my best guess. Recovery would be roughly the reverse of this process. When not in use, the fish tackle hook was usually secured to the lower end of the fore stay and the cat tackle removed and stowed under the forecastle or in one of the forward lockers. Ed

Thanks, everyone. Carl, the third and fourth pictures may be causing some confusion. In the third picture the chain shackle is about to be soldered on upside down and in the fourth picture the incorrect assembly is shown in place with the pin support upside down. I should probably put these pictures in the "reworked" file and not have used them. This error was corrected before blacking and installation. If you focus on the drawing shown in the second picture and understand that the light colored pin on the drawing lies loosely in the spoon at the end of the lever, you can see that when the lever is raised and its shaft rotated that the light colored pin will no longer be supported and will drop, releasing the chain that was shackled to it. On the model the parts are soldered together - a non-working model. Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853 Part 164 – Anchor Release Gear/Mounting Like many specific details, the gear used to release Young America’s anchors is not known. However, I wanted to include it in the model since it does seem to be a pretty important part of the gear. The type used is typical of the period and is shown in the first picture. George Campbell’s work, China Tea Clippers, is a great source of deck detail for ships of the period and was the source for the design of anchor release gear used. The gear consists of a levered arm that has a spoon-like half cylinder at its outboard end. In the normal position this device supports a pin from which one end of a short chain is suspended. The other end of this chain is bolted to the opposite side of the cathead. When the anchor is suspended before release, this chain holds the anchor’s main shackle which at this stage would be secured to the anchor chain cable. To release the anchor, the lever inside the bulkhead is raised, allowing the pin at the end to fall free, releasing the short chain and the anchor. The next picture shows the lever with the tubular support at the end soldered on. Another rod for the release pin has been positioned on the end of the lever. On the model it will be soldered in place, cut off, and a bolt eye soldered to it. The three eyebolts that hold the lever to the cathead were threaded on to the shaft before any soldering. The next picture shows the short length of chain with a shackle about to be soldered to the release pin. Obviously this will not be a working model. The next picture shows the assembly in position so holes for the eyebolts and the pin bolt can be spotted. An opening was cut under the topgallant rail to just pass the inboard end of the lever and the inside eyebolt. The next picture shows the assembly blackened, installed and temporarily suspending the wooden stock bower anchor. The next picture shows the iron bar stock anchor blackened and placed on its eventual resting place on the other side – again temporarily. Three wood chocks were installed to support each anchor in their stored positions. These can be seen in the last picture. Eyebolts with restraining lashings will eventually be fitted to each of the chocks, but that will await final installation along with the chain that will be run over the winch and out the hawse hole on the starboard side. For now the anchors will go into storage. Ed

It just keeps getting better, Albert! Beautiful work. Ed

Outstanding and lovely work, Frank. I will be interested to see how your lighter version of the clamps work out. I often had to put a lot of stress on these, but better preforming of the planks - especially the curved, twisted, heavy ceiling planks - may alleviate this. Of course, with only the mid-section to worry about, you will avoid many of the problems found at the curved ends of the hull. I used 6d nails instead of toothpicks. If you do that I recommend coating them first (I used shellac) to avoid staining the wood if you wash glue off with water. Ed

Thank you all very much for all these comments, questions, and likes. Let me respond to some: Bob, the wooden stock is made in two pieces. Richard is correct. The two sides were usually fitted over a boss on the shaft that kept it is place, even in the occasional presence of a boss below the stock as I have shown. The two pieces were cut so there would be a gap toward the center, allowing the iron bands that were shrunk on to tighten the grip on the shaft. There were many styles of stocks used in the "non-standard" early period of American merchant sail. The copper bands were blackened after pressing into place on the stock. The stock was finish sanded first. I have found that liver of sulfur solution has no effect on surrounding wood - unless there are metal filings or dust on the wood. LOS quickly neutralizes to an inert white slurry, so there is no active material left on the wood, as there would be with the blue selenium salt solutions used on brass. Rinsing the LOS solution as soon as blackening is achieved is a precaution. This is the reason I use copper for many parts. LOS does not blacken brass. All the iron knees on Naiad were blackened after being installed and the wood is still clean. Rinsing was not very practical for these. I emphasize that the wood needs to be free of metal dust, one reason to use a sacrificial forming piece for shaping and and polishing of the bands - another is razor blade cuts into the wood. The red hue in the photo appears to be from the effect of the lighting on the photo. It appears quite black "in person." Thank you, Frank. I use the TIVA solution for degreasing after pickling - rather than solvents. TIVA is a commercial product for cleaning metal before treating. It is normally used in ultrasonic tanks, but seems to work well as a room temperature dip. I am increasingly convinced that the most important step in blackening is pickling of soldered parts, followed by polishing the metal surface. I usually drop the still-hot, soldered pieces into Sparex solution after each joint to knock off most of the oxidation and flux. Lately, after completion of all soldering, I have been immersing the parts in white vinegar, bringing it to a boil (as in food pickling) then letting it cool for a few hours before final polishing. This has worked well. Thanks, Druxey. If I can add a good idea to your repertoire, I am indeed flattered. The .005" copper cut easily with a razor blade or a surgical scalpel. I am anxious to try it on the thicker material that will be used on the many yard and mast bands that await. I may use a turned, slightly tapered, metal mandrel for those. We'll see. Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853 Part 163 – Bower Anchors 3 In the last part the fabrication of what will be the port bower anchor was completed. That anchor has still to be blackened and mounted. Work on the starboard anchor went on concurrently and is described in this part. In the first picture the shaft and arms of that second anchor have been soldered and it has been set up to solder some short lengths of telescoping square tube that will be used to shape the boss for the wood stock. The configuration is different from the first iron bar stock anchor. In the next picture shaping of the fully soldered anchor has just begun. On the first anchor the shackle bolt was soldered in place on the finished anchor. On this anchor the wooden stock must be installed before the shackle so the shackle bolt was threaded into the shackle to avoid soldering with the wood stock in place. The threaded rod and shackle are shown below. The still unshaped anchor is also shown in this picture. The shackle threads were made with a jeweler’s tap and die. The next step was to make the wooden stock. In the next picture one of the two halves is being mortised to fit over the square anchor shaft. Before final shaping of the wooden stock, the iron bands were made. This may appear backward in sequence but I think it is easier to do the final fitting of the bands by light sanding/filing of the wood stock, rather than to precisely size the bands. To accurately shape the bands a wood form was made to match the anchor stock shape. This was marked for band location and copper strips were bent around the form at each location. In the next picture a razor blade is being tapped with a hammer at an angle to cut the overlapped band to precisely size it and form the joint for soldering. The next picture shows the band joint (and the cut damage to the wood form). It was then removed from the wood, soldered, replaced on the wood form and cleaned up with files and abrasive sticks. Using the wood form for fitting, clean-up and polishing avoids damage to the actual stock and also keeps it clean of metal dust. In the next picture the six bands have been fitted. Fitting of the bands required light filing sanding of the wooden stock to the point where each band would fit tightly at its final location. In the above picture the polished bands have been pressed into place, and are ready for blackening. In the last picture all of the iron parts have been blackened and the anchor is ready for assembly. All of the metal parts were pickled in heated white vinegar, polished, soaked in TIVA cleaning solution, and rinsed before treatment. The copper bands on the stock were brushed liberally with liver of sulfur solution. When black, the assembly was rinsed in clean water. The brass anchor and shackle parts were dipped in diluted Birch-Casey brass black, brushed until black, rinsed, buffed with Q-tips, and allowed to dry. The tight fit of the bands on the stock and the stock on the shaft may be sufficient without glue. I may use a tiny drop of CA on the underside of each band and on the anchor shaft just to be safe. The anchor shackle will be attached to a soldered chain shackle so will be installed later when those parts are made. Ed