Wintergreen

Next installment, some kind of a keel and stem.
Since this boat will be generic I am using my artistic license to build as it suits me. 
 
For safety measures I glued the stem in place twice. Well, not really for safety, it was more of the so familiar:  
"I can do better than that" kind of joint...
 
Happy enough with my second try. The stern came in place somewhat easier. You cant avoid being very humble when you look at other masters work here on MWS. Joints without gaps, straight and true pieces and all. Well well, I might get there some day when time permits.
 
Here are a couple of images of the work so far. Stem and stern are glued and pinned even though I really dont think they would fall off without pins. I took a hot kettle of water to make the stem part with the keel. And it is not really the keel either since it will be a waterline model.
 
Pictures, yes, here they are:
 

 

 
Camera in question is the cell phone, hence the warped corners. 
 
Next up will be to form a floor/bottom for the boat. Since the boat will be half full with sand to position candles in I want to make it a confined structure.
 

Thank you for your interest.
 
I dont mind chair squeeking, the row up front is almost always available (at least in church ...lol )
 
Today I practised sanding to true angles. Big pieces make for forgiving progress...
 
Pinned and glued. The bamboo pin blends nicely into the oak.
 

 
Next up will be the keel, I think.
What I forgot to say is that it will be a waterline model. And for constructions, well, I will return to that topic further down the line.
 

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.
 
 

Thanks for the compliments and the likes and visits, they are really appreciated.
 
Build part 32
 
I made a new scraping tool to create a rebate for the caulking it is scale 5/16 wide and 3/8th deep, after sanding the plank smooth the rebate is scraped on the inboard side. I mixed up some coloured Titebond III I used some Windsor and Newton Burnt Umber and Ultramarine Violet to make a deep brown, I think black is a bit harsh on small boats.  The channel already has a fair bit of the glue filling it as a result of the initial liberal application of the glue with a brush. It will need further applications of glue done the same way as the caulking on the pilot cutter using a syringe, that will come when the planking is completed.
 
I decided to nib the planks into the king plank.
 

 
The next plank heat bent and ready for splitting, fortunately there are only 3 long planks on each side then they are much shorter so the scraping will not be a tiring on my fingers.
 

 

 
I was a little heavy handed with my scraping tool and snapped off the corner of the blade so tomorrow I shall have to make another.
 
Michael

Ed, 
I'm not online here very often, but every time I do login, I turn to your log for inspiration and to keep the interest  re ship modelling fed properly.
 
Sincere thanks for your splendid work and presentation. The flywheels are just stunning.

Michael, you started just before Xmas with drafting and now you are onto laying the deck?
 
Don't you have anything better to do?
 
Just kidding! 
Please keep on your delightful building. 
 
One note on the mast hoops, when I saw that you used the gummed paper I thought it to be a slightly bad idea since the gum softens with water and this would be a pond model...but so a simple error would you not let yourself to I saw reading on.
 
Excellent build.

Michael, you started just before Xmas with drafting and now you are onto laying the deck?
 
Don't you have anything better to do?
 
Just kidding! 
Please keep on your delightful building. 
 
One note on the mast hoops, when I saw that you used the gummed paper I thought it to be a slightly bad idea since the gum softens with water and this would be a pond model...but so a simple error would you not let yourself to I saw reading on.
 
Excellent build.

Another update.
Not that I've been busy as a bee, but things are nevertheless progressing. (it can also be the fact that our pastor asked about it the other day...)
 
The first strakes I put in, without scarfs. Really tedious and hard to get proper alignment and nice joints to stem and stern. So, to ease my burden I changed the habit and cut the planks in two. The joint is a simple box joint, slightly angled. I will not put a covering piece on the inside, instead there are pins drilled through the topmost plank , into the underlying plank. This is also done at stem and stern.
The aftermost plank goes on first and the pin at the rear helps keeping the plank in place longitudinally. While the furthermost plank gets the pin in place prior to gluing to aid in proper fitting in the box joint.
 
A really sharp carpenters knife is useful to work away the waste. Apart from that, ordinary files are used and a little no 12 Stanley low angle block plane to work on the plank height (or width, whatever you want to call it).
 
Also notable in the pictures are my very untidy workplace. As can be seen in the pictures is the crude hull shape. Lots of dents and gaps and so. But since the plank thickness is 4 mm there is no real danger for me to be able to sand through the sides. As for the gaps, I will try wood filler of the sort that cabinet makers use.
 
Here is the sequence. 
Plank bent to shape... 

 
...and fitted to stem.

 
The open joint where the rear plank is glued and pinned in place.

 
at another angle and the tool.

 
Held and glued in place

 
And finally the clamps gone, Alas this is of course the other side. Clamps at the rear are holding next two planks in place so we are really picking up pace here...

 
About the sign on the wall in the first picture...did I mention that I bought a blue ocean sailing yacht, late august? Didn't I? But I DID! A long long dream come true and I am so so happy!
 
 
 

How did you know, SJ?

druxey, knever a knegative thought....

I love looking at pictures of your shop, Micheal. It makes me feel right at home - power tools crammed into every space and fitted with homemade accessories, benches littered with delicious clutter, lots of sawdust, etc. Isn't it great to be able to walk away at the end of a session and not have to clean up and restore neatness?
 
Tying frames to the ribbands sounds like a good idea. All the best with the project.
 
Ed

Michael, you started just before Xmas with drafting and now you are onto laying the deck?
 
Don't you have anything better to do?
 
Just kidding! 
Please keep on your delightful building. 
 
One note on the mast hoops, when I saw that you used the gummed paper I thought it to be a slightly bad idea since the gum softens with water and this would be a pond model...but so a simple error would you not let yourself to I saw reading on.
 
Excellent build.

Another update.
Not that I've been busy as a bee, but things are nevertheless progressing. (it can also be the fact that our pastor asked about it the other day...)
 
The first strakes I put in, without scarfs. Really tedious and hard to get proper alignment and nice joints to stem and stern. So, to ease my burden I changed the habit and cut the planks in two. The joint is a simple box joint, slightly angled. I will not put a covering piece on the inside, instead there are pins drilled through the topmost plank , into the underlying plank. This is also done at stem and stern.
The aftermost plank goes on first and the pin at the rear helps keeping the plank in place longitudinally. While the furthermost plank gets the pin in place prior to gluing to aid in proper fitting in the box joint.
 
A really sharp carpenters knife is useful to work away the waste. Apart from that, ordinary files are used and a little no 12 Stanley low angle block plane to work on the plank height (or width, whatever you want to call it).
 
Also notable in the pictures are my very untidy workplace. As can be seen in the pictures is the crude hull shape. Lots of dents and gaps and so. But since the plank thickness is 4 mm there is no real danger for me to be able to sand through the sides. As for the gaps, I will try wood filler of the sort that cabinet makers use.
 
Here is the sequence. 
Plank bent to shape... 

 
...and fitted to stem.

 
The open joint where the rear plank is glued and pinned in place.

 
at another angle and the tool.

 
Held and glued in place

 
And finally the clamps gone, Alas this is of course the other side. Clamps at the rear are holding next two planks in place so we are really picking up pace here...

 
About the sign on the wall in the first picture...did I mention that I bought a blue ocean sailing yacht, late august? Didn't I? But I DID! A long long dream come true and I am so so happy!
 
 
 

Michael, you started just before Xmas with drafting and now you are onto laying the deck?
 
Don't you have anything better to do?
 
Just kidding! 
Please keep on your delightful building. 
 
One note on the mast hoops, when I saw that you used the gummed paper I thought it to be a slightly bad idea since the gum softens with water and this would be a pond model...but so a simple error would you not let yourself to I saw reading on.
 
Excellent build.

Another update.
Not that I've been busy as a bee, but things are nevertheless progressing. (it can also be the fact that our pastor asked about it the other day...)
 
The first strakes I put in, without scarfs. Really tedious and hard to get proper alignment and nice joints to stem and stern. So, to ease my burden I changed the habit and cut the planks in two. The joint is a simple box joint, slightly angled. I will not put a covering piece on the inside, instead there are pins drilled through the topmost plank , into the underlying plank. This is also done at stem and stern.
The aftermost plank goes on first and the pin at the rear helps keeping the plank in place longitudinally. While the furthermost plank gets the pin in place prior to gluing to aid in proper fitting in the box joint.
 
A really sharp carpenters knife is useful to work away the waste. Apart from that, ordinary files are used and a little no 12 Stanley low angle block plane to work on the plank height (or width, whatever you want to call it).
 
Also notable in the pictures are my very untidy workplace. As can be seen in the pictures is the crude hull shape. Lots of dents and gaps and so. But since the plank thickness is 4 mm there is no real danger for me to be able to sand through the sides. As for the gaps, I will try wood filler of the sort that cabinet makers use.
 
Here is the sequence. 
Plank bent to shape... 

 
...and fitted to stem.

 
The open joint where the rear plank is glued and pinned in place.

 
at another angle and the tool.

 
Held and glued in place

 
And finally the clamps gone, Alas this is of course the other side. Clamps at the rear are holding next two planks in place so we are really picking up pace here...

 
About the sign on the wall in the first picture...did I mention that I bought a blue ocean sailing yacht, late august? Didn't I? But I DID! A long long dream come true and I am so so happy!
 
 
 

Ed, 
I'm not online here very often, but every time I do login, I turn to your log for inspiration and to keep the interest  re ship modelling fed properly.
 
Sincere thanks for your splendid work and presentation. The flywheels are just stunning.

Another update.
Not that I've been busy as a bee, but things are nevertheless progressing. (it can also be the fact that our pastor asked about it the other day...)
 
The first strakes I put in, without scarfs. Really tedious and hard to get proper alignment and nice joints to stem and stern. So, to ease my burden I changed the habit and cut the planks in two. The joint is a simple box joint, slightly angled. I will not put a covering piece on the inside, instead there are pins drilled through the topmost plank , into the underlying plank. This is also done at stem and stern.
The aftermost plank goes on first and the pin at the rear helps keeping the plank in place longitudinally. While the furthermost plank gets the pin in place prior to gluing to aid in proper fitting in the box joint.
 
A really sharp carpenters knife is useful to work away the waste. Apart from that, ordinary files are used and a little no 12 Stanley low angle block plane to work on the plank height (or width, whatever you want to call it).
 
Also notable in the pictures are my very untidy workplace. As can be seen in the pictures is the crude hull shape. Lots of dents and gaps and so. But since the plank thickness is 4 mm there is no real danger for me to be able to sand through the sides. As for the gaps, I will try wood filler of the sort that cabinet makers use.
 
Here is the sequence. 
Plank bent to shape... 

 
...and fitted to stem.

 
The open joint where the rear plank is glued and pinned in place.

 
at another angle and the tool.

 
Held and glued in place

 
And finally the clamps gone, Alas this is of course the other side. Clamps at the rear are holding next two planks in place so we are really picking up pace here...

 
About the sign on the wall in the first picture...did I mention that I bought a blue ocean sailing yacht, late august? Didn't I? But I DID! A long long dream come true and I am so so happy!
 
 
 

Thanks for all the likes.
 
Build part 31
 
Thinking about the curved deck planks and the issues of bending wood along the wide dimension I thought I would see if I could split a square section along its length after it was curved.
 
I used the heat gun to bend the Costello and then checked the curve I did leave a little spring in the wood.
 

 

 
Then using the jewelers saw I cut it along its length, my saw seems to set the blade very slightly out of perfect alignment with the frame which makes it easy to cut a long piece. this was the longest single cut I have ever made with a jewelers saw, it cut very well.
 

 

 
I will use this same technique for the rest of the planks.
 
Michael

Thanks for the visits and likes.
 
build part 28
 
The experiment is a go as far as I am concerned I need to make 10 more.
 
step 2 was to cut the ring in half which I did with the jewelers saw with a #3 blade (very fine)
 

 
the next step was to rough shape it with a sanding stick with some 220 wet and dry
 

 
this was then coloured with a Prismacolor dark brown felt marker, then polished up with some Trewax a clear carnauba paste wax.
 

 
I hung it on a varnished paint brush handle to see it is a context.
 
Michael

Another update.
Not that I've been busy as a bee, but things are nevertheless progressing. (it can also be the fact that our pastor asked about it the other day...)
 
The first strakes I put in, without scarfs. Really tedious and hard to get proper alignment and nice joints to stem and stern. So, to ease my burden I changed the habit and cut the planks in two. The joint is a simple box joint, slightly angled. I will not put a covering piece on the inside, instead there are pins drilled through the topmost plank , into the underlying plank. This is also done at stem and stern.
The aftermost plank goes on first and the pin at the rear helps keeping the plank in place longitudinally. While the furthermost plank gets the pin in place prior to gluing to aid in proper fitting in the box joint.
 
A really sharp carpenters knife is useful to work away the waste. Apart from that, ordinary files are used and a little no 12 Stanley low angle block plane to work on the plank height (or width, whatever you want to call it).
 
Also notable in the pictures are my very untidy workplace. As can be seen in the pictures is the crude hull shape. Lots of dents and gaps and so. But since the plank thickness is 4 mm there is no real danger for me to be able to sand through the sides. As for the gaps, I will try wood filler of the sort that cabinet makers use.
 
Here is the sequence. 
Plank bent to shape... 

 
...and fitted to stem.

 
The open joint where the rear plank is glued and pinned in place.

 
at another angle and the tool.

 
Held and glued in place

 
And finally the clamps gone, Alas this is of course the other side. Clamps at the rear are holding next two planks in place so we are really picking up pace here...

 
About the sign on the wall in the first picture...did I mention that I bought a blue ocean sailing yacht, late august? Didn't I? But I DID! A long long dream come true and I am so so happy!
 
 
 

Another update.
Not that I've been busy as a bee, but things are nevertheless progressing. (it can also be the fact that our pastor asked about it the other day...)
 
The first strakes I put in, without scarfs. Really tedious and hard to get proper alignment and nice joints to stem and stern. So, to ease my burden I changed the habit and cut the planks in two. The joint is a simple box joint, slightly angled. I will not put a covering piece on the inside, instead there are pins drilled through the topmost plank , into the underlying plank. This is also done at stem and stern.
The aftermost plank goes on first and the pin at the rear helps keeping the plank in place longitudinally. While the furthermost plank gets the pin in place prior to gluing to aid in proper fitting in the box joint.
 
A really sharp carpenters knife is useful to work away the waste. Apart from that, ordinary files are used and a little no 12 Stanley low angle block plane to work on the plank height (or width, whatever you want to call it).
 
Also notable in the pictures are my very untidy workplace. As can be seen in the pictures is the crude hull shape. Lots of dents and gaps and so. But since the plank thickness is 4 mm there is no real danger for me to be able to sand through the sides. As for the gaps, I will try wood filler of the sort that cabinet makers use.
 
Here is the sequence. 
Plank bent to shape... 

 
...and fitted to stem.

 
The open joint where the rear plank is glued and pinned in place.

 
at another angle and the tool.

 
Held and glued in place

 
And finally the clamps gone, Alas this is of course the other side. Clamps at the rear are holding next two planks in place so we are really picking up pace here...

 
About the sign on the wall in the first picture...did I mention that I bought a blue ocean sailing yacht, late august? Didn't I? But I DID! A long long dream come true and I am so so happy!
 
 
 

Ed, 
I'm not online here very often, but every time I do login, I turn to your log for inspiration and to keep the interest  re ship modelling fed properly.
 
Sincere thanks for your splendid work and presentation. The flywheels are just stunning.

Ed, 
I'm not online here very often, but every time I do login, I turn to your log for inspiration and to keep the interest  re ship modelling fed properly.
 
Sincere thanks for your splendid work and presentation. The flywheels are just stunning.

After getting distracted by a lot of other (mostly business related) projects I finally found some time to resume work on my Syren. Now the long gun prototypes, which I have shown on my model during the last 2 years, need to be replaced with the final versions. As there are only 2 guns I decided to make the gun barrels myself based on Chuck’s Syren plans. Images 1a – 1d show the different steps of turning one of the gun barrels. In image 2e the trunnion holes are drilled. After a “sanity check” with one of the gun carriages from the Syren kit the barrel is separated from the raw metal piece and the gun muzzle finished (img 2g). Img 3a shows the barrel with trunnions in place, the locations for the breech ring and touch-hole parts milled out, and the parts lying beside the barrel. The assembled gun barrel and Chuck’s plans are depicted in images 3b and 3c. The final result after blackening can be seen in image 4.
 
Thomas
 

Image 1
 
 

Image 2
 
 

Image 3
 
 

Image 4

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 142 – Mooring Chocks
 
The next planned item of work was to install the brass “monkey rail” that surrounds the poop deck.  I do not know the origin of the term.  However, since the four large chocks that control the route of the mooring lines through the rail from the dock to the mooring bitts are below that rail, they needed to be slipped into the queue and installed first so that holes for their bolts could be drilled.  There are four of these at the stern and four at the bow.  The first picture shows these being installed on the starboard side of the stern quarter.
 

 
A small dab of epoxy is being applied in the picture.  The chocks – sometimes called “comb cleats” – and their bolts were made as integral assemblies as described below.
 
The chocks and the bolts were made from copper.  I prefer this material to brass because I find it easier to blacken using liver of sulfur solution.  The first picture shows a length of copper bar with shapes for several chocks partially cut.
 

 
The first step in making these cuts was to drill two spaced holes for each chock.  The tops were then cut through with a jeweler’s saw.  In the next picture a round, spiral-toothed blade is being used to shape the inner lines.
 

 
The outer contours of the chock cleats were then filed out.  In the next picture the rounded shapes of the chock cleats have been filed and polished, holes have been drilled for the bolts, wire bolts inserted, and the strip of chocks readied for soldering.
 

 
Copper-phosphorus solder was used for this because it blackens well with LOS.  The finished stern chocks are shown in the next picture.
 

 
The bolt heads have been cut back and one of the chocks has been blackened.  In the next picture the locations of the chocks are being laid out with dividers.
 

 
Bolt hole spacing was also set with dividers and the holes drilled through the main rail.  In the last picture the four chocks have been installed.
 

 
The last picture also shows the aft, central section of the monkey rail temporarily positioned and in need of a bit of straightening.  I also not in this picture that the helm enclosure – temporarily fitted at this stage was a bit askew on its pins when the shutter snapped.
 
Work on the brass monkey rail was now able to proceed and will be described in the next part.
 
Ed