kruginmi

I have had a couple of queries with regard to my Byrnes saw sled so I thought I would give some data on this.
 

 
I originally cut some wood strips that fit into the saws slots.  Not too tight or loose, just right.  I then grabbed a piece of thin plywood and glue tacked it onto the wood strips while they were on the saw.  I tried to get everything as squared up as possible but this wasn't critical.
 
When dry I ran the blade through the first third of the plywood.  I then glued the top block onto the plywood (which held the now slightly separated pieces together).  Then back on the saw and cut almost through all the plywood.  Now attention to detail is critical.  I affixed the back block using a square to insure it was ABSOLUTELY 90 degrees to the now visible cut mark.
 
Once dry I run a clean run all the way through the plywood which adds the cut mark to the blocks also.  That pretty much sums it up.  As I have said previously, I use this almost every time I work on the model.  I need to cut anything at a 90 degree angle, it is done on the sled.  Any other angle I also use the sled with appropriate hold downs.  I consider it very safe and very controlled.
 
Stay building my friends,
Mark

Thanks for all the kudos, looks and likes!
 
Grant - for most of the ideas you have picked up here, I can probably refer to other builds where I snagged them.
 
Tim - I don't know if I am as good as lucky!
 
As i thought about the forecastle it became obvious two things had to happen first.  I had to pry off the top level outer planks since they were sanded down slightly more than they should have been and replace them.  Not too hard and easy to do.
 
The second was the railing had to be done now (or a factor of 10 in hardness later).  This was a half height railing (would not conform to OSHA standards) of five posts.  For strength I opted to mortise them into the deck beam.  After all the planking is attached I will attach a cap piece running the length of the beam to cover the end of the planks as well as most of the generated mortises.
 
First order of business was to generate five posts that had some carving done to their tops as well as a plank shelf running the length of the railing.  I cut a notch around the post for the 1/32inch shelf to slide into for support and maintain constant height.  To do this I always like a jig:
 

 
Once the post work was done I cut the post to half width where it connected with the deck beam using my Byrnes saw.  I always use a sled that I have built if I am not ripping down lengths of wood.  The whole sled moves with everything else anchored.  Very solid, very safe and easy to make several accurate cuts on different pieces of wood.  A micro-chisel was used to smooth down any bumps left by the saw blade.
 

 
I then attached one post at a time, starting from the center.  I also doweled the mortised section into the deck beam.
 

 
After each post was affixed I used a piece of oversized wood for the shelf and cut the slot for the post into the shelf.  This allowed one slot to be focused on at a time which was easy as opposed to five at the same time.
 

 
Working outwards it didn't take too long to get all the posts in and the shelf fitting snug.  Then I simply cut the shelf down to size lengthwise and width wise.  An important item to remember was that the deck planks have not been attached (so that size needs to be accounted for).  When I put the railing on the ship I put down a couple of pieces of plank thick wood for visual comparison.
 

 
I will add small pieces of wood to fill the gaps in the shelf behind each post.  This system worked out a lot easier than I had thought and I feel much more confident on the railing work on the stern now - which is a good thing.  Lots of ways to do things, but this worked for me.
 
Next up is the mast partner and then the catheads.
 
Stay building my friends,
Mark

Hey Eamonn, Define 'Novice.'  I am looking at the Ballahoo and it might be your first proper wood build but the experience and care you bring to sure puts you above a novice.  I actually think that anyone that actually finishes planking a hull automatically graduates to 'Been there, done that' classification.  This is my first scratch so I am right in there with you what ever the classification - hah, hah.
 
After four hours in the front flower beds (winter is officially over in Michigan) I needed to do something that showed I was finally off that gun deck.  So...the gammoning jumped out, which included the necessary cleats:
 

 
I didn't know where the cleats should be positioned and did some over thinking for awhile.  Finally I grabbed the line I intended to use and loosely put in the gammoning which took less than 10 minutes.  After insuring the lines were clearing all the headwork and looked right I lightly marked a line on the bowsprit where the cleats should fall.  Pull off the gammoning and make some cleats.  I did keep the cleats parallel with the bowsprit and equal spaced, which required the front face of the lower cleats to have a slight angle.
 
I had hoped for 8 frappings (I believe they are called) and it worked out perfectly with the gammoning hole drilled out so many years ago.  I might eventually replace this but there is no rush since this can be done anytime with full access.
 

 
Stay Building My Friends,
Mark
 
P.S.  Happy Easter

Wow, board looks pretty active right now.  Lots of great work going on all over the forums.  Thanks for everyone checking in.
 
To finish off the gundeck for this go around I needed the simplified windlass on the posts.  This afternoon I decided to dig in and was done in less than an hour.  I used boxed wood, chucked it up on my lathe and pretty much free handed it to the dimensions required:
 

 
Once sanded and cut off, I used some brass rod and bent up the handles pretty quick.  To allow me to install this I did make the handles in two pieces - one that is most of the length, and one that just goes in the opposite drum.  Blacken the brass, a little bit of super glue and it is done:
 

 
I am moving to the forecastle.
 
Stay Building My Friends,
Mark

Thanks Greg and Michael and all the likes / looks.  I appreciate them, this build has been a long time in coming!
 
With spring break being over with all the trips / visits / teenage angst I can finally get back to work.  First on the list was the 90 eyebolts and 40 rings (18 gunports, 5 eyebolts per, 3 rings per).  Just pull up a cozy chair, have a good magnet nearby to find all those AWOL pieces and a mere 3 hours later they were done:
 

 
Since I needed to blacken them, it was a natural to finally get all those hinges done to allow everything to blacken in one bunch.  I sliver soldered a thin rod onto a cut rectangular piece of brass then super glued this along with another small piece of brass to achieve the look I wanted.  These were also used for the rear lockers.  Then everything had a coat of gel coating.  I did make this job easier when I suddenly realized I didn't need hinges on both sides of the door!
 

 
Then of course you have the obligatory draft install to check out the final look:
 

 
Another notch in the complete column.  Now for some clean-up, the addition of a small windlass, affix all that cannon tackle and I will declare the gun deck complete. Maybe by tomorrow night?
 
Stay Building My Friends,
Mark

For a second go I used the shank of a drill bit to achieve around a 50% reduction in ring size for the eyebolts affixed to the hull.  The hanging ring I kept at the 4P nail size.
 

 
This achieves the look I had in my mind.  I now have to find my Zen, a comfortable spot and produce 90+ of the eyebolts.  Then after cleaning and blackening I will put them aside until the gun deck is totally gel coated before gluing them in using CYA glue. I hope this ends up being this weekend!
 
Stay Building, My Friends,
Mark

Thanks everyone for looking, with your motivation I am almost buttoning this gun deck up! 
 
One of the last things is to affix the cannon tackle (port tackle eybolts on top, breeching ringbolts on bottom each side of cannon).
 
For my prototype I used 28 gauge wire and a 4p nail.
 

 
It looks to me I need to go with a smaller nail.  Given that their will be no cannon I am also leaning towards having no breaching ring hanging off the ringbolt for a cleaner look (the right side of the pic).
 
Any comments?
 
-mark

Thanks Nils, Ed, Jay and Russ for the compliments.  Jay - yes those slots are for the channels.  Almost a whoops there since I had almost glued in the molding over them before almost by chance remembering I needed to keep that clear.  The actual channels are roughed in and off to the side currently.
 
Now for the mast partners.  I had never really thought these through but had 'assumed' the normal fashion a ring and slip it over the mast and rest on the deck.  As I went over what had to be done I had one of those ah-ha moments where I realized the process was almost as complicated as the 'real' process.  Why not?  (bashing / scratch is so liberating - hah, hah).
 
First obstacle was that the deck hole was currently a snug fit for the mast and had to be enlarged, but by how much?  I affixed four 1/32" pieces to the mast and measured the resultant opening.   Also VERY important to trace the deck profile onto the mast since the partners are not at 90 degree angle to the mast.
 

 
This was then transferred to the deck and the hole suitably enlarged.  I measured the outside circumference of the new hole to define a uniform wedge size.  Then using some wood from the scrap pile (I  believe 1/8") I cut out that width and using a jig cut the tail down to the target 1/32".  The back of the wedge was sanded to the profile of the mast and the edges hand cut to the necessary bevel.  Each wedge had to be checked against the deck profile (drawn onto the mast) to insure the correct slant was added to the deck mating section.
 

 
Once all the wedges were attached there was point sanding to smooth / round things out.  I should note that I periodically checked the fit against the deck as the wedges were attached.  I still have some more refining to do but it works out to around an hour per mast partner.  Still have the main and foremast to do, hopefully today.
 

 
-mark

Thanks for all the likes!
 
7 hours and 180 pieces of wood (and counting) the bulkheads are pretty close to done.  Still need the hinges and door knobs to make the doors pop and the gel coating will help accentuate the paneling.
 

 
I also will add some pieces on the fore and aft panel between the beams to clean up the top edge and provide some added strength to keep it from shifting in the future.  With the deck extension the British added these bulkheads are pretty far under the quarterdeck lip.  I will keep a gap in the floor planking for some glimpses.
 

 
Now on to the mast partners.....
 
-mark

On to the bulkheads!  The windows ended up being 66 different pieces of wood, it will be interesting to see how many pieces are used for these 3 panels.
 
The approach for the 3 panels (2 cross ship, one bow and aft connecting) was to use a 3 ply sandwich of 1/32" basswood, used on other builds in this forum.  The middle piece is a solid piece of wood with the 2 other being trim pieces added to give the look of fancier paneling.
 
The initial form was defined through the use of cereal box cardboard.  If any one needs that detail let me know, but needless to say it took around 3-4 iterations before I was satisfied (around a full size Cheerio box - hah, hah).  Once I was satisfied with the fit I transferred to the basswood and cut out:
 

 
The panels were cut to fit under a defined deck beam, flush with the rear edge.  You can see in the above photo the Legos used to help hold things up (another great idea from this forum).  I then defined the doorway locations which required more effort than I thought.  The original location looked great but upon trying the panel in location was obvious had an issue with the location of the stairs to the berth deck.  I moved them farther out but then realized the door locations had to be equivalent on the aft bulkhead for the connecting partition to work and, of course, they were now too far out.  So....third time the charm and I got to an acceptable location:
 

 
The connecting panel was added and the trim work to allow them to connect.  I added some preliminary trim pieces to check out the pattern I sought after, but it is still incomplete.  The doors will not have windows added to them.
 

 
A final check required before the push to complete the panels was to add the other quarterdeck beams.  I love it when a plan comes together:
 

 
Tonight the plan is to complete the trim pieces on all three panels, add solid 3/32" pieces of wood between the beams on the fore and aft piece for strength and a more finished look.  The metalwork for the hinges and door knobs will be this weekend.  Then the pieces get stored away until the cannon carriage bolts are affixed.
 
Not too much work, but a tremendous change in visual appeal.
 
-mark
 
 
 
 
 

After a few more hours in the shop I managed to get the remaining windows complete and sanded to shape.
 

 
Even with all the templates there still was a few minor gaps that bugged me.  After looking at the stern closely I realized the key was to remove the external planking between the windows and replace with some slightly larger to cover the initial window frames.  Didn't take too much time to make this change.  I still have not applied the gel coat to the new pieces which will make the finish much more uniform.
 
I did clean up the internal edges with some very thin molding pieces (though it will invisible to view).
 
-mark

There is a saying when I was in the Army that no plan survives first contact and that was certainly true with the stern windows.  Being flexible and open to modifying your approach (without becoming overly exasperated) is an important part of this hobby - a lesson well learned over and over for me!  The stern windows are nothing but angles (and nothing 90 degrees).  To start I cut 1/16 inch templates, slowly cutting away as I custom formed them to the necessary openings.  Note:  the frames also angle inwards.
 

 
Once these were made I could make the actual frames off ship (a good thing):
 

 
1.  I glued down scrap straight wood pieces to capture the outline.
2.  The template was taken out
3.  The outline of the window was measured out and glued together
4.  The horizontal cross members were added and glued
5.  The vertical cross members were added and glued
6.  Sand the top face totally flat with a sanding block
6.  A razor blade was used to remove the outside forms
7.  A razor blade was used to gently remove the window
8.  The back of the window was sanded flat and the joins cleaned up
9.  Through trial and error, the frames were gently sanded on their sides to fit into the window opening.
10.  With a good fiction fit I put the original template against the outside window to help push into place
 

 
Stand back and breathe.  Repeat four more times.  Each time I have done this the results have been better.
 
The main issue I had was that I had originally intended to mortise and tenon all the frame pieces for all the frame pieces.  I tried and tried some more.  With all the angles I just wasn't successful in producing an end result that was tight and looked right.  I finally had one of those moments when I stepped back and opted to try just using butt joints.  Given the outside form I was able to really hold the frame and apply outside pressure so this decision paid off.  Especially given that the final window was protected and affixed on all four sides I am okay with this change.
 
-mark

With some time back on the ship I decided to tackle the manger.  This was not on the plans but something I have thought about adding for a awhile (plan bashing?).  This area is obscured but still can be seen if you are triple jointed (hah, hah).
 
 
 
I designed this on the fly and probably ended up with about two and a half hours total.  I had several starts and stops but relaxed and finally evolved to a solution that I liked. 
 
This is the view from the middle gun deck and what will be visible from the finished viewpoint.
 

 
For background, these temporary walls contain the slime and mud brought up on the anchor cables.  Given the location and look it was a natural place for any animals (eg pigs, cattle) brought on board to be penned up - thus the name manger.
 
-mark
 
 
 
 

Thanks for looking.
 
Everyday I have tried to get something done in the workshop.  Today was two items:  one, the boxes for the steerage cables on their way up to the quarterdeck and two, finishing the bow wall planking.
 
For the cable boxes, I didn't want to use just a flat glue joint so I extended one side down into the floor planking:
 

 
The height of these boxes is equal to the size of the other coamings on the deck.  Pretty straight forward but really cleans up the look.
 
The second item was another major milestone - completion of the bow wall planking (and thus - all of the gundeck planking).
 

 
Next up is more sanding, the stern window frames, the hinges for the stern lockers and then the bulkhead partitions.
-mark

Today was the internal hawse hole linings.  Given the size of the holes and proximity to the edge of the pieces, opted for boxwood for this detail work.  First used some basswood to size things out though.  This lining will project out from the other wall planking by 1/32 (1/2 the width of the 1/16 wall planking).
 
The initial prototype built on the waterway just didn't look right and it was obvious this thick stuff needed to go down to the deck.  So, after measuring out the required distance I chiseled out the waterway.
 

 
Once I had the hawse hole lining roughed out I put it in place and did a light drill from the outside to place the location of the two hawse holes.  Once this was done the piece was removed and (as shown in the next pic) I used a smaller drill to locate these locations to the other (finished) side.  I could then drill the full size hole from both sides to avoid tear out and get a very neat and accurate hole.  I then used a file to put in a shallow groove  providing a smooth groove leading to the deck.  Once put in place the drill showed a clean smooth hole through the whole hull
 

 
I sized to fit under the first opening then rounded the edges exposed to the wall planking.  This will make the planking neat and tidy.
 

 
Now I can move on to the final bow planking.
 
-mark

Still plugging away and actually have a lot of fun.  I am now putting stuff on that will actually be easily seen in the finished product.  The big additions lately are the cap rails over the mid-deck section.  I used boxwood for these because of its hardness, given the potential for banging around during the construction to come.  Pretty much everything else is basswood.
 

 
This morning I got the chesstrees re-attached and the pass through hull sheaves on one side of the ship.  Still many details to work (eg I am adding a manger, window sills) on the gun deck - my goal is to finish this section up early next week.
 

 
Lots of sanding, sanding, sanding.  I have partially gel coated completed sections of the hull to highlight the plank seams, this will be 100% as the assemblies are finalized.
 
-mark

Sailor, I tried directing the oldest one and that failed so I am just letting my 9 year old go with whatever he likes- just so long as glue is involved.
 
John and all the likes - thanks for stopping by.
 
I have been working on the wall planking as the next step:
 

 
I have refined my theorem:  Sand until you believe you are 100% - you are actually 25%.  Repeat for the same time period - now you are 50%. Do two more times and you will be done.
 
I have thought I had gone over these walls so many times smoothing them down.  Well, start putting the planks and all the irregularities arise out of the smoothed walls to create a landscape looking more like the moon than a polished piece of glass.
 

 
With the last pic you can see the deck addition clamps put on by the British forward of the quarterdeck.
 
My belief is that I am currently at the 50% mark for sanding.  Still room for improvement but should be there later tonight.  The bow is currently untouched.
 
-mark

Version 2.0.  What a little sleep and doodling during some (boring) meetings can do to you.
 

 
This is a cargo ship so simpler is probably better.  Still some embellishments, sanding and finishing to go but this is the version I will go with.
 
Now to start getting those walls planked.
 
Mark

On to the lockers.  These aren't on the plans but the rudder head required a cover and I decided to spruce things up a bit.
 
I prototyped a first vision (nothing is glued down):
 

 
I am thinking the rudder head locker should be less wide and stick a little farther into the cabin. 
 
The side lockers should have less depth and maybe a little less height.  I don't think I will extend them to the bulwarks on either side.
 
Once decided on how it will look, there will be hinges, knobs and trim added to clean up the final version.  Pretty much lost to view under the quarterdeck but there will be glimpses if you look hard enough.
 
Suggestions invited.
 
- mark

A pretty big milestone in my build - the gun deck planking baseline is complete!  I had hoped to finish it this weekend but had had my doubts.  Finally I was able to stand back and view the deck as envisioned. 
 

 
Still lots of details to work on for this deck before I can move up but I take the victory today.  I did put everything that had been laid aside back on to insure I still had everything as well as see that nothing had changed fit wise.
 

 
Finally to add some proportionality I provide a view of myself and the ship.
 

 
Tonight I move on to my 9 year old's F-14 plastic model (last hope in the family).
 
mark
 
 

Thanks for all the likes (and looks),
 
I am still pounding away at the port side.  Making those irregular planks at the bow / stern sure take some thought and time.  One they are attached though, the work pays off.
 

 

 
A lesson learned is to always use basswood first.  Even if I move to other woods I will always have a supply of at least 1/16th inch basswood boards for prototyping and trying things out.  I do start with paper, but that wrinkles and folds and can only get you so close.  Basswood is pretty easy to work with and will generate a 1:1 template for very little cost (even if the first one or two don't work out).
 
At the other end of the ship I am still looking at a gap that I hope to fill by tomorrow night:
 

 
My current plan shows this ship finishing up the middle of the year at the current pace and tasks remaining (making it around 13 years since the first cut).  I even caught myself looking at some plans thinking about the next one.  Must focus!  Lots of things left to do.
 
-mark

Finally got the starboard side all planked up (with a coat of gel coat).  It became evident pretty quickly that in order to plank the outer sides (with locking planks) you need to have the plan in place for the bow and stern planking.  This was my first go at this.  These areas are totally covered up by the quarter deck and forecastle but I still wanted something seemed plausible with my knowledge.  The result was:
 

 
The gel coat enabled the seams to really pop so all this hard planking work was not lost (hah, hah).  I ended up using a trim outline (around half a plank width) to frame in the open area of the deck.  So there is no end grain visible.  It really seemed to tidy things up and give a finished look to it.
 

 
So, when I take a step back and look at the final view of the cut out deck (at least the starboard side) I am left pretty happy with my efforts.  It took a little longer than anticipated - but what doesn't in this hobby?  I am relying on the stern planking on the wall to clean up the join with the floor.  I need to construct a rudder head box along with a seating / storage area in this section.
 

 
So on to the port side and trying to produce close to a mirror result.   - mark

Thanks for the good information Gary.  Constantly learning in this hobby.
 
This evening I had some time and have diagrammed out my plan for the outside planking.  I had wanted to include some locking planks for the experience in making them and also the look they provide. 
 

 
With the space available I am opting for two regular plank runs, one on both sides of the locking planks.  The final run is the trim piece that totally encircle the open space.  I am still undecided if I should work from the mid section to the outside or from the hull towards the middle, but will probably work from the outside in.
 
Lots of sanding and fitting in my future.
mark
 

Thanks for stopping in and taking a look!
 
On to the gun deck planking!  Unlike most of the berth deck there are all sorts of items poking through the deck requiring special consideration and thought.  As an example the following (and where they fit):
 

 
For the target plank width I decided one fourth of the width of the coamings would be just right.  I do have some liberties here since this ship was originally built in America as a cargo ship before being bought into the British navy.  This decision made for some clean lines:
 

 
After getting these affixed I thought the open sections needed some cleaning up to get good lines for the eye.  I decided to go for a trim piece slightly less than half plank size and framed out the opening, using mitered corners at all joins.  There is no end grain visible.
 

 
For clean up I find a scraper (usually a straight razor blade) works best.  A few swipes and everything looks clean.  Now on to the deck sides.
 
mark

Success breeds progress.  Tonight was to climb the mountain.that I had thought about for a long time  - the pumps.
 
I had lathed out rods to represent the pumps a LONG time ago (in a galaxy / home far - far away).  Ever since then I had known that I wanted to improve their look above the deck where they were most visible.  That decision had churned in my brain ever since, growing larger and larger in mythical proportions of complexity.  Today was the day, they had to be done.
 
The following shows a before and after shot (hopefully you can tell the bottom pump is the before):
 

 
As is usually the case, the reality wasn't that bad at all.  After marking where the pumps came through the deck, that line was scribed with a knife and the rod paired down.  I used a draftsman guide of six sided shapes to find the appropriate size that I wanted.  Wood was cut to these dimensions and I eyeballed the necessary bevel at the edges.  These were then glued together and onto the rod.
 

 
I used piece of boxwood for a cap.  The actual handle will be generated later. 
 

 
Tomorrow the gun deck planking begins.  mark