kruginmi

So many plans, so little time.....I finally forced myself into the workshop in a little break (who needs sleep) to accomplish something.  This something was to start the rigging.  I have attached the jeer block with a served double strop.  As usual, the black on black on black tends to obscure all that hard work, but I know it is there (we won't mention the sail that will eventually obscure most everything else):
 

 
Pretty proud of that.  I also was able to get the two sections of line served for the quarter blocks:
 

 
Hoping for tomorrow to get both of those also set up (no promises).
 
Stay Building My Friends,
Mark

Ok I'll post a few teaser pics. So the first one doesn't involve shipbuilding at all. It is a carving that I did late last year. The carving is done in cherry. In doing this carving I found I really liked how it carved and really liked the figure and finish of the wood. The carving is on the lid of a humidor that is sitting on my workbench. It's pretty much what convinced me that I'd rather have such a fine model in Cherry rather than Maple.
 
The rest of the pictures are of the stern. I am doing some rough shaping and contouring on these pieces. I have included a couple pictures with the original maple stern alongside the version 2 Cherry stern. Hopefully you can get an idea of the difference in wood figure from these. I'll have to work better lighting for photos in the future.

I still would ask that you give some progress shots.  New year, new wood, new skills.  Glad to see you hadn't dropped off the Earth and the drive is still there.
 
Great story on your grandpa.  I am sure his reaction was fantastic.  Say thank you for his service (especially in torpedo bombers!).
 
Mark

I still would ask that you give some progress shots.  New year, new wood, new skills.  Glad to see you hadn't dropped off the Earth and the drive is still there.
 
Great story on your grandpa.  I am sure his reaction was fantastic.  Say thank you for his service (especially in torpedo bombers!).
 
Mark

Hello Everyone,
Wow, it's a little over 2 years since I've posted anything. So, here's a little update. One of my other life long hobbies is R/C aircraft - large R/C aircraft. Back in April of 2013 my dad approached me with the question of whether I could build a replica of the TBM Avenger torpedo bomber in which my grandfather was a turret gunner aboard during WWII. I informed him that it was indeed possible and that yes I could do it. My Grandfather just turned 90 years old last Dec. Due to his age such a project required immediate attention as I wanted to get it finished before he passed on - we just don't know how long we have. So, that meant putting the Richard on the shelf and shifting focus to the Avenger. I am happy to report that last summer we fired the engine up and taxied the plane around my Granddads backyard. There is still a lot of work to do on it yet, painting for one - which due to the size of the model (little over 9 foot wingspan) must be done outside. Basically, I need to wait until spring when it stops raining here in Washington State. So, I am taking a little break from the Avenger for a couple months.
 
More importantly, I started the Bonhomme Richard as a long term project. Back when I started it I really had no place to put the model once it started reaching finished dimensions. My home was too small to house a  4 or 5 foot long model ship. So, I am happy to report that as of November of last year I purchased a house large enough to house the Bonhomme Richard in its yet to be built case once completed. A fringe benefit to the larger house is that I now have a larger shop. I went from a small table in a single car garage to an entire two car garage. This has allowed me to expand my collection of shop tools. Things like a new 48" lathe, 14" bandsaw, planer, and one heck of a nice delta table saw. I had one of those little Craftsman table saws and one day I was trying to rip a full size sheet of plywood for some storage cabinets in the garage. I got tired of chasing the table saw across the shop floor and down the driveway. Plus the thing is insanely loud. Since I was on a mission to improve my tool inventory I also took the opportunity to improve my wood carving tools. I years ago I had looked into quality woodcarving tools and choked at the cost of them, as a result I turned to low quality Chinese wood carving tools from Harbor Freight - I hated them. They took hours of work to put and edge on them only to have it lost 5 minutes into carving. Advice DON"T BUY THAT JUNK. I finally bit the bullet and started buying Pfeil gouges and I now have about 30 different ones. I am still simply in disbelief at the quality of these gouges They take a razor sharp edge and they hold for a long time cutting through oak, maple and cherry. When they do dull all they really require is a couple passes on a strope to bring back that razor edge. I'm not kidding about how sharp these are either, they are like scalpel sharp. So do yourself a favor and don't skimp on tools.
Now for a bit of bad news - well good news then bad news, and then good news. Last weekend I finally located the box in which I had packed away the Monography for the Bonhomme Richard. Finding it got me eager to jump back in a work on her some more. The hull had been sitting on a shelf in my office in the state I left it in two years ago. I brought it in to shop and laid out some of the plans to figure out where I left off and that's when I noticed problems. Alignments where off due to certain parts getting cut wrong. I began to realize that when I started this project I was making little errors here and there and trying to compensate for them as I continued one. I spent the better part of last Saturday going over the hull rechecking everything thinking that I could pull the bad parts off and remake them and drive on. Honestly, I could have done that but sometime last Sunday I decided to scrap the entire hull and start over only this time instead of using maple I would switch to cherry. In addition to the stock of maple I have in my shop I acquired roughly 500 board feet of cherry that I used to make some cabinets inside the house. I really like the figure and character of the cherry wood and decided it would look nicer than the maple on the model. So, I am in the process of rebuilding the model in Cherry at this time. I'm not going to post pictures just yet because it would really be just a rehash of the ones I've already posted just with a different wood. Once I get caught up to where I was I start posting pics again.

I love seeing these type of subjects.  I will definitely be following along.
 
Mark

I love seeing these type of subjects.  I will definitely be following along.
 
Mark

I love seeing these type of subjects.  I will definitely be following along.
 
Mark

So many plans, so little time.....I finally forced myself into the workshop in a little break (who needs sleep) to accomplish something.  This something was to start the rigging.  I have attached the jeer block with a served double strop.  As usual, the black on black on black tends to obscure all that hard work, but I know it is there (we won't mention the sail that will eventually obscure most everything else):
 

 
Pretty proud of that.  I also was able to get the two sections of line served for the quarter blocks:
 

 
Hoping for tomorrow to get both of those also set up (no promises).
 
Stay Building My Friends,
Mark

That is looking just fantastic.  Well done.

So many plans, so little time.....I finally forced myself into the workshop in a little break (who needs sleep) to accomplish something.  This something was to start the rigging.  I have attached the jeer block with a served double strop.  As usual, the black on black on black tends to obscure all that hard work, but I know it is there (we won't mention the sail that will eventually obscure most everything else):
 

 
Pretty proud of that.  I also was able to get the two sections of line served for the quarter blocks:
 

 
Hoping for tomorrow to get both of those also set up (no promises).
 
Stay Building My Friends,
Mark

So many plans, so little time.....I finally forced myself into the workshop in a little break (who needs sleep) to accomplish something.  This something was to start the rigging.  I have attached the jeer block with a served double strop.  As usual, the black on black on black tends to obscure all that hard work, but I know it is there (we won't mention the sail that will eventually obscure most everything else):
 

 
Pretty proud of that.  I also was able to get the two sections of line served for the quarter blocks:
 

 
Hoping for tomorrow to get both of those also set up (no promises).
 
Stay Building My Friends,
Mark

<<this question moved to the rigging forum section of this site>>
 
Even though I have had little time in the shop, the brain neurons keep firing....
 
A future problem to tackle involves the quarter deck rail (pic from full Druid mid-construction):

 
The following lines are connected to this rail:
1.  Mainsail clewlines
2.  Mainsail buntlines
3.  Mainsail Leechlines
4.  Topsail Clewlines
5.  Topsail reef tackles
6.  Topgallant sheets
 
The question is how?  Per the plans this rail is not a real 'beefy' one.  Tying them all just to the top rail would seem foolhardy given the stresses.  Normally you would see some sheaves either attached to, or through the bases of each column but these rails seem too thin for that.  At the very least belay pins seem in order (total 16, 4 between each post), but the runs of the lines are in question.  With two lines per category (port / starboard) I currently do not have a firm decision.
 
If I was rigging a full ship you would also add:
1.  Mainstaysail halyard
2.  Mizzen Topsail Bowline
3.  Fore Topgallant Brace
 
Any opinions?
Mark

So many plans, so little time.....I finally forced myself into the workshop in a little break (who needs sleep) to accomplish something.  This something was to start the rigging.  I have attached the jeer block with a served double strop.  As usual, the black on black on black tends to obscure all that hard work, but I know it is there (we won't mention the sail that will eventually obscure most everything else):
 

 
Pretty proud of that.  I also was able to get the two sections of line served for the quarter blocks:
 

 
Hoping for tomorrow to get both of those also set up (no promises).
 
Stay Building My Friends,
Mark

So many plans, so little time.....I finally forced myself into the workshop in a little break (who needs sleep) to accomplish something.  This something was to start the rigging.  I have attached the jeer block with a served double strop.  As usual, the black on black on black tends to obscure all that hard work, but I know it is there (we won't mention the sail that will eventually obscure most everything else):
 

 
Pretty proud of that.  I also was able to get the two sections of line served for the quarter blocks:
 

 
Hoping for tomorrow to get both of those also set up (no promises).
 
Stay Building My Friends,
Mark

So many plans, so little time.....I finally forced myself into the workshop in a little break (who needs sleep) to accomplish something.  This something was to start the rigging.  I have attached the jeer block with a served double strop.  As usual, the black on black on black tends to obscure all that hard work, but I know it is there (we won't mention the sail that will eventually obscure most everything else):
 

 
Pretty proud of that.  I also was able to get the two sections of line served for the quarter blocks:
 

 
Hoping for tomorrow to get both of those also set up (no promises).
 
Stay Building My Friends,
Mark

So many plans, so little time.....I finally forced myself into the workshop in a little break (who needs sleep) to accomplish something.  This something was to start the rigging.  I have attached the jeer block with a served double strop.  As usual, the black on black on black tends to obscure all that hard work, but I know it is there (we won't mention the sail that will eventually obscure most everything else):
 

 
Pretty proud of that.  I also was able to get the two sections of line served for the quarter blocks:
 

 
Hoping for tomorrow to get both of those also set up (no promises).
 
Stay Building My Friends,
Mark

Nicely done, Mark!

So many plans, so little time.....I finally forced myself into the workshop in a little break (who needs sleep) to accomplish something.  This something was to start the rigging.  I have attached the jeer block with a served double strop.  As usual, the black on black on black tends to obscure all that hard work, but I know it is there (we won't mention the sail that will eventually obscure most everything else):
 

 
Pretty proud of that.  I also was able to get the two sections of line served for the quarter blocks:
 

 
Hoping for tomorrow to get both of those also set up (no promises).
 
Stay Building My Friends,
Mark

I think so.
 
Your advice was right.
 
Thanks
 
John

Did a bit more work on deck got some cap rails on and a capstan and hatch.  Also worked on the stairs.  That was a core and a half.  I'm still debating whether I like the outcome.  I might take it all out and try again.  
 

 

 
 

You seemed motivated going into 2016.  I try not to compare to my progress!  Looking great
Mark

Mark,
 
What you see is what I have,about as basic as you can get. Almost forgot I have 3 cans of different diameter and sterno for bending wood.
I'll throw them up there to back you up.

While we are on the subject of improvements......your workspace is WAY too clean.  If my wife was to catch a look she would draw an obvious comparison to my space (with me on the negative side).  Please, throw some random tools / wood / clamps around for my sake (at least when taking pictures).
 
Humbly, Mark

While we are on the subject of improvements......your workspace is WAY too clean.  If my wife was to catch a look she would draw an obvious comparison to my space (with me on the negative side).  Please, throw some random tools / wood / clamps around for my sake (at least when taking pictures).
 
Humbly, Mark