Wintergreen

10000 hrs? Yes, I have heard that too. Means I only have like, what... 8000 more to go...
Splendid work, Druxey.

Hi fellow builders!
 
So, first scratch build as well as first build in a fairly long time...what can be of this you say. Actually it is a build that I've been commissioned to do. That doesnt happen too often. For this particular commission I will not charge any payment, it is for pure fun.
 
Quick background story (to keep with MSW rules of non-this and non-that content):
Our pastor came up to me and asked about ideas for a candle holder to place in our church. A candle holder, usually found in Lutheran and Catholic churches, can have the form of a globe, a tree or just a box filled with sand to put small Christmas tree sized candles in.
 
"A boat" was my immediate thought. I tested the idea and it was received well so I went home and took out my sketchbook. But what form should the boat be of? Anything open of course. Reverted to Google that told me about a excavation some 30 years ago at the shore of the Sea of Galilee.
http://www.jesusboat.com/Story-of-the-Jesus-Boat
How appropriate! A boat from the time around the start of our calendar. Not unlikely a type that Jesus, himself, rode in.
Search "Galilee" in our forums and you will see both scratch builds as well as kit.
 
Anyway, out from my pencil came the below sketch. Never mind the tables, they are a separate story. The sketch was presented to the board and accepted. Return question was: "When can it be ready?"
Guess I have to start making sawdust.
 

 
But first I made a card skeleton to grasp the needed size. As it turned out the finished boat needed to be some 20% bigger than the card model.
 

 

 
Obviously the finished boat will be of wood, not card. But card is quick and easy to do a mock up in.
 
Scale, might someone ask for. No such thing. My boat will some 75 cm long from stem to stern. I have blown up the mid section to care for more candles. There is some plan of the real thing on the site above which shows a flat bottom, rather upright sides and curved stem and stern and then the distinct feature of the cutwater. Like found on Roman ships of the time.
 
Wood then? It will be oak. Rather uncommon on these pages because of it coarse grain. The real thing was build in Mediterranean species of which I have none...also the size of my model will cater for rather sturdy dimensions. Oak is known to bend well and it looks great when aged. Another feature of the oak I will use is that it is salvaged from an old motor boat from the 1940s...the trees that was used started to grow some 200-250 years ago...
 
Here are some pieces that I picked out, arent they nice?
 

 
Well, after some hand planing and a couple of runs through my thickness planer the blanks for the stern looks like this:
 

 
That is how far I've come now. 
As always, daywork will interfere with time in the workshop, but I will make the most of it.
 
 

Hi, an update again.
 
Work is progressing rather good now. 
To show that I care for my health since contact cement smells heavily.
I mounted the big sucker (I know, I know, it is called something like dust extractor, not as fun though) on the edge of my work area.
 
The second picture shows the floor glued in place. A bit damp in the picture after wiping off dust.
Next up will be "frames", or more like "L"-shaped side supports.
 
To be continued...
 

 

10000 hrs? Yes, I have heard that too. Means I only have like, what... 8000 more to go...
Splendid work, Druxey.

10000 hrs? Yes, I have heard that too. Means I only have like, what... 8000 more to go...
Splendid work, Druxey.

10000 hrs? Yes, I have heard that too. Means I only have like, what... 8000 more to go...
Splendid work, Druxey.

Hi, an update again.
 
Work is progressing rather good now. 
To show that I care for my health since contact cement smells heavily.
I mounted the big sucker (I know, I know, it is called something like dust extractor, not as fun though) on the edge of my work area.
 
The second picture shows the floor glued in place. A bit damp in the picture after wiping off dust.
Next up will be "frames", or more like "L"-shaped side supports.
 
To be continued...
 

 

A while ago I descided to add floors to the hull. Not that it will be visible when on display filled with 3-4cm of sand. But the again, how many builders here on MSW add stuff that will be forever out of sight?
 
The floor boards are 5 mm thick and varying width.
 
I use contact cement to stick to the brown bottom and ordinary white glue on the edges.
 

Further news from the shipyard. First the side strakes of footwaling were installed (there is probably a proper term for them, but I don't know what it is). They required a twist through almost 90 degrees along their length, achieved by steaming.
 
Next were the risings. I misspelled the name as 'risers' earlier - sorry. The risings were cut after a card pattern established their shape and the pair were made while rubber cemented together, ensuring symmetry. The height of each below the gunwale was marked out at various points along the hull and the risings glued in. Note that paint was scraped off where the thwarts will attach.
 
Next will be the footboards for the rowing crew.

Since Michael nicked my idea for a steam chest, I decided to come up with something new...(just kidding Michael, I keep you in the highest respect, seen your abilities to construct small engines...fantastic).
 
The apple tree I harvested, several years back now, warped during seasoning. It has bugged me all along. Today I put together a "slightly" larger steam chest to facilitate steaming of these billets/timbers.
 
It is ca 95x45 cm (3' by 1'6"). 
After an hour in the Turkish sauna I clamped the pieces to some sturdy timber for drying out. I will let them be there for 24 hrs.
 

 

 
Oh, another milestone passed this week as well...Gods wonder in a small child, my first of the "grand" type ;-)
 

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 151 – Ship’s Boats 7
 
Thank you for the comments and likes since the last post.  I am looking forward to completing the work on these small (3 to 4”) long boats!
 
After the last post I made some modifications to the 25’ clinker built cutter.  I took some advice from my good friend Druxey that the lapstrake planking needed to converge to a carvel form as it approached the stem and stern rabbets.  This is well illustrated in his posting on the Greenwich barge.  I applied a cosmetic fix to the installed planking as shown in the first picture to remove the overlapping at the ends.
 

 
The clinker style overlap at the rabbets would cause a complication in sealing and that is probably the reason for bringing the planks flush at those points.  Anyway, because of this, I decided to lapstrake the 4th boat using the correct process.  I had intended to make this carvel planked, but decided I needed to do one more clinker to fully understand the correct planking process.  The next picture shows another view of the current state of the first three boats.
 

 
You will notice that eyebolts have been installed in the skid beams and the boat sterns have been lettered.  The next picture shows the plug for the 4th boat, a 22’ cutter that will be suspended from the starboard quarter davits.
 

 
I reused the 25’ cutter plug as a starting point for this, hence the pinholes.  The plug has been primed in the picture – not very photogenic I’m afraid.  In the next picture the frames have been bent over the plug.
 

 
They of course need to be aligned.  The first step in securing them is shown in the next picture. 
 

 
A temporary guide and holding strip has been nailed to the plug over the frames at the boats topside height.  A hole for an additional nail is being drilled in the picture.  With the frames secured topside the stem piece is being fitted in the next picture.
 

 
This piece was then pinned to the plug and glued to the first few frames.  The keel was then fitted and glued to the frame floors as shown below.
 

 
The last step before planking was to add the stern deadwood as shown below.
 

 
This is glued to the keel.  The connections are all pretty fragile at this point, but the addition of the garboard strakes will strengthen it significantly. 
 
Ed

Clever move.
It is all about the conformity of lines...our eyes are very picky when it comes to anomalies, right?
 
Lovely little bark, I must say. Makes me almost wanna try our Swedish cousin...but then again, no. Not yet, anyway.

Again, thank you for the kind compliments. 'Precision' is merely taking sufficient time and care, plus accurate marking out. These come from experience; you know, the 10,000 hour thing.
 
The aft platform has been made, painted and installed. The next challenge is covering the compound curved surface above this platform up to the height of the topside.

Jack next time I am in the city i will check out what the Michaels has. there is also a hobby shop close as well.
 
Deon I will give the canopy glue a look.
 
Thanks for all the likes
 
While waiting for the other boat to dry I had one of those moments where I fitted the skylight to the low raised cabin roof. I kept looking at the junction between the two halves of the original cabin, and picked up a chisel and a razor saw.....
 
The went out to the shop to the big bandsaw...
 
before
 

 
after
 

 

 

 
I will need to rework the hatch area but I like the overall design better, it feel a little more elegant and less boxy.
 
Michael
 
 
 

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 150 – Ship’s Boats 6
 
In addition to the workhorse longboat(s), clippers carried smaller boats for convenience and for the safety of the crews.  Government regulations had begun to exist to aid in crew and passenger safety.  A variety of different types and sizes were used and it is most likely that boats on a given ship varied over time.  With Young America’s long, 30 year career I am sure there were replacements. I am still pondering the fourth boat, but the third is to be a 25 foot clinker built cutter that will rest inverted on the skid beams outside the longboat on the starboard side.  It is likely that the fourth boat – to be suspended from quarter davits - will be a somewhat smaller cutter.  So, on to the first cutter.
 
In the first picture, the sheer line at the top of the side is being scribed into the partially shaped pine plug.
 

 
The boat pattern can be seen pasted to the block.  This initial shape was formed using the disk sander.  In the next picture the plug has been fully shaped and the area below the topside given a coat of white shellac, sanded and well waxed.
 

 
The frames being formed in this picture are slightly smaller than the longboat frames.  They too, are pear and were left in water overnight before being placed as shown above.  They were about as flexible as string.  The process being used is the same as for the longboats, but thanks to the learning curve, it is still evolving and becoming more efficient.  In the next picture planking is well along.
 

 
Planking began after both halves of all the frames shown were fitted over the plug, the keel assembly installed on them and the topside guide strip nailed over the frames as shown above.  Frames at the ends were added later.
 
The clinker planking requires more work and care than the carvel planking used on the longboats.  First, because the planking lines will be very pronounced even after painting.  Also, the upper edges of each plank need to be beveled to bed the next plank, working up from the bottom.  The next picture shows the first step in that beveling using a paring chisel.
 

 
On the carvel hulls the planks were tapered at the ends to provide fair lines and to conform to the contraction of the planked area at the ends.  The same was done here before beveling the planks as shown above.  After the paring step, a flat file was used to smooth out the bevels along the plank.  The next planks were then overlapped and glued to both the plank above and the frames.  The next picture shows the topside plank above the wale being installed against the guide strip.
 

 
The next picture shows the planking nearing completion.
 

 
In the next picture, the boat has been removed from the plug and some internal members have been added.
 

 
As with the longboats, except for the unplanked boat, the internals are simplified on these upside-down boats.  The last picture shows the cutter in its position on the skid beams.
 

 
In this picture the boat has been given a first coat of white shellac primer, to be followed by the white acrylic.  The wales on this boat – and the one at the top – will then be installed.  The two longboats can then be secured, but this cutter will be left loose to provide access for rigging on the rail below, if needed.
 
Ed

With the deck finally complete on the second model,  i was able to convert my mill from a thickness planer back to a mill.  I have been putting off turning the paddlewheel shafts because they have hexagonal bosses that require a dividing head on the mill.  This week I was able to make some progress on the paddlewheels. 
 
Turning the paddlewheel shafts.

 
Milling the hexagonal bosses.

 

 

 
Test fitting the paddlewheel flanges.  On Heroine, all of the flanges were damaged to some extent.  A few had several of the arms broken off and were reinforced by flat iron strap.  Next week I will reproduce this damage and repairs.

 
 
Bearing timbers in place with iron tie rods.

 

 

 
Paddlewheel spokes fresh from the mill.

 
 
The mill cuts the mating pieces so accurately, there is almost no fitting required.  Just a little clean-up and they slid tightly into the channels in the flanges.

 
Test fit of the starboard paddlewheels.

Clever move.
It is all about the conformity of lines...our eyes are very picky when it comes to anomalies, right?
 
Lovely little bark, I must say. Makes me almost wanna try our Swedish cousin...but then again, no. Not yet, anyway.

A while ago I descided to add floors to the hull. Not that it will be visible when on display filled with 3-4cm of sand. But the again, how many builders here on MSW add stuff that will be forever out of sight?
 
The floor boards are 5 mm thick and varying width.
 
I use contact cement to stick to the brown bottom and ordinary white glue on the edges.
 

A while ago I descided to add floors to the hull. Not that it will be visible when on display filled with 3-4cm of sand. But the again, how many builders here on MSW add stuff that will be forever out of sight?
 
The floor boards are 5 mm thick and varying width.
 
I use contact cement to stick to the brown bottom and ordinary white glue on the edges.
 

Clever move.
It is all about the conformity of lines...our eyes are very picky when it comes to anomalies, right?
 
Lovely little bark, I must say. Makes me almost wanna try our Swedish cousin...but then again, no. Not yet, anyway.

A while ago I descided to add floors to the hull. Not that it will be visible when on display filled with 3-4cm of sand. But the again, how many builders here on MSW add stuff that will be forever out of sight?
 
The floor boards are 5 mm thick and varying width.
 
I use contact cement to stick to the brown bottom and ordinary white glue on the edges.
 

Clever move.
It is all about the conformity of lines...our eyes are very picky when it comes to anomalies, right?
 
Lovely little bark, I must say. Makes me almost wanna try our Swedish cousin...but then again, no. Not yet, anyway.

It might be hidden by 3cm of sand, Hakan, but you'll know its there!
 
John

The footwaling is now complete, after making a false start. I initially tried cutting and bevelling each board to length in situ. The result, as you can see, was not pretty. Having thought things through, I then made a card template which was used to actually attach the boards to. When complete, I channelled out the card so that the boards would sit at the correct height on the keelson, then glued the assembly in. This gave a much improved result.

A while ago I descided to add floors to the hull. Not that it will be visible when on display filled with 3-4cm of sand. But the again, how many builders here on MSW add stuff that will be forever out of sight?
 
The floor boards are 5 mm thick and varying width.
 
I use contact cement to stick to the brown bottom and ordinary white glue on the edges.