Bob Legge

Who could have known that making clamps will take so much time But I hope it worth it!
 
Sanding that metal pieces to ensure uniform length. A simple jig prevents them from tipping over when in contact with the sandpaper.

 
Cutting clamps, this is mostly cherry:

 
Also made three pairs of long clamps, specialised for things like wales. To make it easier to clamp around hull shape, they will have a gap in the center:

 
Gluing soft basswood strips that would help to prevent damage of a pieces being clamped:

 
Mill as a drum sander, works fine:

 
Big Clamp help to make a tiny version of itself

 
Experimented with various shapes of handles, the most elegant and simplest to manufacture is just a smoothened slightly conical cylinder:

Sanding sealer test results are quite surprising. On cherry, there is no visible difference between any of them and Danish Oil (while there is a clear difference on Pear).
However, the surface smoothness is different, especially on endgrain or diagonal grain. Rustins and Liberon are rough and look blotchy on a photo, while Briwax cellulose leaves a smooth and even finish, though a bit too glossy for my taste. Danish oil is slightly less smooth.
Decided to go with oil since I am more used to it, and these clamps are tricky to finish (a lot of surfaces, narrow areas between the metal rods, and I do not want the finish to cause any buildup where the metal cylinders go).
 
From left to right: Liberon, Rustins, Briwax, Danish Oil:

 
Each clamp got a nice chamfers on all edges, primarily with a block plane and a file on a crossgrain:

 
Half of the regular shorter clamps got that narrow tips. Simple radius looks good enough:

 
 
Drum sander leaves marks on cherry, so it needs some satisfying sanding time to make it smooth and beautiful:

 
So all short clamps are waiting for their turn to have their sides sanded. It is tedious, and brass particles get stuck in a wood, requiting some scraping afterwards to remove them. Hope it would be less of a problem for cherry.

 
While the longer clamps are ready, and just need to get their handles (which requires to mix a batch of epoxy, so I will do it later for all clamps in the same batch):

Thanks for the compliments!
Clamps got their butts rounded and slots cut:

 
So now it's juts a matter of sanding, assembly, breaking the edges, more sanding and applying some finish. Some oil would be great, but I do not want it on a basswood contact surface (they will act like a sponge and, when pressured, release oil into the model parts). So it would be probably some kind of less penetrating finish. I have three bottles of various sanding sealers to play with! 

... And this is the moment when I would really love to have a CNC mill - for repetitive and precise tasks...
Ok, even a regular mill is better than trying to do it by hand
Surprisingly, drilling with a mill bit works better than with a wood drill bit. No idea why, maybe the speed is too high for a drill bit. It causes burning and some chip-out on the back side of the hole, while a milling bit just pushes fibers outside without causing them to chip out.

 
The fuzzy fibers are easily cleaned up later with a knife.

 
Mill is pretty amazing for the precise work, I really love the control and having everything square in all directions!
 
 


 
Current state of things. The wisdom says that you can never have too many clamps, challenge accepted!  


 

Hello Mark,
thanks for the tip.
I practice a lot, here are my modest results.

 
 
 

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 302 – Spanker Boom 1
 
This is a slight diversion from the fore topgallant yard left unfinished in the last post.  I will return to that shortly.  The work described below was concurrent with that.
 
The spanker boom is a large spar – 62' long and 14" maximum diameter.  It is anchored to the lower end of the spanker mast with an iron gooseneck inserted in a fitting that was described in an earlier post.  The first picture shows the boom temporarily set up in position.
 

 
Some of the copper ironwork has been fitted in this picture.  Unfortunately, the band over the wheelhouse had to be moved aft.  In this position the boom sheets that attach to it would foul the wheel house as will be seen later.  After the correction – including the drawing correction - the hardware on the boom was completed and blackened, as may be seen in the next picture.
 

 
The boom sheets and footropes seen in this picture will be described in a later post.  The first lines to be installed were the two boom topping lifts shown in the picture.  Each of these consists of a 5" central pendant with 10" blocks spliced on at each end.  The lower blocks are reeved with a 3" span that is shackled to the boom at each end.  The span allows the boom to be supported equally at two points regardless of angle.  The shackled connections at the center of the boom are shown in the next picture.
 

 
Shackles allow the connections of the spans to be spliced eyes with thimbles (no thimbles at this size) and still be disconnected from the eyebolt on the spar.  The next picture shows the two pendants
 
 
A lot of loose ends visible in this picture and many not shown – soon to be tidied up.  The next picture shows a close up of the luff tackles at the top of the lifts.
 

 
These consist of single blocks on the pendants and double blocks hooked under the top.  The 3" falls are belayed below on the spider band as seen in the next picture.
 

 
Again, a lot of loose ends that will soon be clipped off when all the line tensions are right.  The spider band is about half full at this point.  More rigging of the boom in the next post.
 
Ed

5 posts pass through the taffrail. 
The angle for the piercing is determined by tracing the angle on a block set on the vice as  seen on the second photo.

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 301 – Fore Topgallant Yard 1
 
Since I have made a number of posts on yards and their rigging, I will try not to be too repetitive in describing those that remain.  The first picture shows the fore topgallant yard after attaching the parral yoke over the central sling band.
 

 
The yard was made as described earlier.  One exception for this and other smaller yards is that the yardarms have through sheaves rather than the iron cheek blocks fitted on the larger yards.  These were drilled, along with the jackstay stanchion holes, before any tapering of the spar.  The sheave is merely carved into the wood as was done on the upper mast sheaves.   In the next picture the iron (copper) bands have been fitted and the studding sail gear fabricated.
 

 
The inner bands are soldered strips.  The yardarm band is an expanded bit of copper tube.  Brass was used on the outer boom irons because it is stiffer than copper.  The next picture shows the yard with the inner boom irons fitted.
 

 
These are blackened with Brass Black, so unlike the copper they had to be blackened before fitting.  The picture also shows the booms as well as the reinforcing ironwork over the yardarm.  The next picture shows a closer view of this.
 

 
The outer boom irons will need to be bent and cut to length before insertion into the ends of the yard.  The next picture shows how holes for these were drilled.
 

 
After securing the end strap with two fitted rings, the enlarged end of the strap was center-marked and drill as shown, with pliers holding the sides of the strap to prevent it from spinning and destroying itself.  The square section inside the yardarm was held in the vise with wood battens.  The last picture shows the still wet yard just before insertion of the outer boom irons and the jackstays.
 

 
As with other yards, one coat of Wipe-on poly was applied before adding the iron bands. All holes for eyebolts or other hardware were then drilled through the bands into the yard.  The bare copper was then blackened on the yards by brushing with liver of sulfur solution then rinsing under running water.  The yard and ironwork were then given a second protective coating of poly, wiped dry.  The picture also shows the "hinged" bracket that closes the parral to the mast.  I will return to the remaining work on this yard in a later post.
 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 300 – Rope Coils
 
I had to take a break from rigging the yards to work on rope coils because access for fitting these is becoming daily more obstructed.  Each of the 200 or so belayed lines on the model requires a coil of excess rope to be laid over the pin.  It is not practical to use the actual excess line for these, so each ids being made separately and glued over the pin and belayed line.  The first picture shows the simplest arrangement in which the coil is merely laid over the pin.
 

 
In poring over many photos of old clipper ships, this seems to have been the dominant method – without too much care or uniformity applied.  While simple to make there are disadvantages.  In the picture a sample line is belayed behind the rail – not possible for most lines – making the draping of a large coil awkward, especially for many closely spaced pins like those on the model's main pin rails.  My preference has been to use the method shown in the next picture, taken on the Joseph Conrad at Mystic Seaport.
 

 
In this configuration, commonly used today, the line is belayed with a number of crossover turns on the pin.  A coil is then made of the excess rope.  The line between the pin and the coil is then pulled through the coil, given a twist, and placed over the pin.  The result is a neat coil that takes up minimum space on the rail.  However, I was not prepared to adopt this method because of its absence from early photos – until I came across the next picture, taken in the early 1870's.
 

 
This method is clearly used – none too neatly I may add – on the pins at the right and further back – along with a variety of coil types.  This was sufficient evidence.  After making a few of these by the method described above and fitting them over pins in confined spaces, I concluded that my life expectancy would not be sufficient to make and fit the required number, especially if my sanity became impaired.  So, I decided to make them in the following way, yielding a similar but slightly different appearance.
 
In the first picture a length of line was wrapped around a strip of Teflon and looped under itself to form a single hitch as shown in the next picture.
 

 
After pulling the hitch tight to hold the coil, the line was passed under the loop again and another looped hitch formed leaving the loop to the left in the next picture.
 

 
This loop on the left will go over the pin, being secured by pulling the line on the right to tighten the looped hitch.  The final tug on this line was made after the coil was removed from the strip and fitted to a pin rail fixture as shown below.
 

 
The coil on the right is about to be pulled up to look like the one on the left.  The next picture shows six of these on the fixture. 
 

 
These have been wetted for pliability and touched with wood glue at the knot.  When dry, they can be slipped off, the excess ends clipped, and fitted into place.  It takes less than two minutes to make one of these, which suits me just fine.  The coils are matched to the rigged line sizes and consist of the amount of rope to be expected given the configuration of each line.  The last picture shows installation of these on the foremast fife rail and forward main pin rail.
 
 

 
Only close inspection will reveal the extra knot.  I am now trying to install these as each line is finally tensioned and the belayed loops glued.  The forward pin on the port rail is for the lazy tack, which is still kept loose until the lower course sheets are rigged – so no coil yet..
 
 
Ed

Well, those are what heraldry would call a leopard "proper" (in its own natural colours), and a blazon (heraldic description) would certainly take the trouble to point out that it was a real leopard rather than a "leopard".
 
Carving hair to look natural is an absolute bugger. Generally most carvings of people tend to oversimplify its features and curls etc, even when, as shown below, the thing is enormous (designed to be seen from quite a distance). 
 
I've done a little at 1:50, but when the scale gets down to 1:80 as you're doing, it becomes almost impossible. Generally, at that size the finer detail becomes pretty hard to see with the naked eye anyway. Looking good.
 
Steven
 

Hi Steven ~ I'll take 'Snow Leopard' !
 
As for the spots (or lack thereof) - - - the drawing is somewhat vague, although it hints at a few spots as there are a few shown there >>>
When I look at that enlarged pic above, it does appear that the face is meant to be looking to the side rather than straight ahead.
(The actual size of the cat on the drawing is only about 12mm, or about a quarter of the size of the above as I view it on my laptop monitor.) 
Apart from the natural colours of the wood and the black parts of the ship, the only colour I have used is on the figurehead so I think I'll just carry on with the 'Snow Leopard' colours . . . maybe I should re-name the ship HMS Snow Leopard ???  !!!
 

I didn't want to say anything.  Didn't want to risk bring the discussion down the gutter and getting a warning.   The cats look much better with the lighter color.
Tom

Thanks for your comment, Tom.
 
In my post above I said the Leopards were inconspicuous crouching there on the beakhead and I was less than happy with them.  They were almost invisible because of the colour of the basecoat I had applied, so I removed them and re-painted them with a paler base colour then 're-spotted' them.  The spots look black BUT they are dark brown.  Here's a 'before-and-after' comparison >>>
They may be a little bit pale but at least now they can be seen on the ship. (I felt they were a waste of time previously, and didn't notice how invisible they were until I looked at the photos.  They didn't appear as invisible in reality but I find that photos seem to give a false impression.)
The drawing of the figurehead appeared to show her with 'blowing-in-the-wind' fly-away hair.
I couldn't imagine how I could carve that, so I glued thin strips of black tissue paper to her head hoping to create that illusion.
Also, she has had further breast reduction work done as, although her waist was reasonable slim, above there she looked like a black-haired Dolly Parton! > > >

Finally rigged the mizzen topmast shrouds then made a start on the ratlines.  Got 9 done on the port side and about 3 on the starboard side then decided to have a break away from all that tying of knots > > >

It felt like time to have a try at creating the figurehead. The 'carvings' on the stern had been made from air drying modelling clay as I had never done any wood carving and ended up with reasonably acceptable items.
Out came the clay and made a couple of attempts at the figurehead - - - both were disasters!  The figurehead is much bigger than any of the stern carvings and it is also 'full width' and I just couldn't get that clay to work for me.
A small scrap piece of softwood (I think it was Pine) served as a 'testbed' for my first ever attempt at wood carving. I expected it would have been as much of a disaster as had been my clay attempts.  I glued the drawing of the figurehead onto the wood and roughed out the profile on the bandsaw then proceeded to try to give her the shapes she needed with a craft knife and some riffler files.
I left some wood on at the feet in order to have something to hold while I tried carving. I also cut a central groove in the excess wood so that it would sit over a dummy beakhead.  After initial carving I was surprised that it almost resembled the drawing! > > >

I made 'her' with her face looking forward - the drawing showed her face looking to starboard but I wasn't sure if that was just meant to be a representation. Also, my 'woman' didn't have a nose and at first I couldn't figure how I could ever give her a nose. I eventually drilled a 0.8mm hole and glued in a tiny piece of wood and she has now ended up with a rather pointy nose! Also, at first, she was a bit fat and I don't think she would have been very happy with that so after considerable carving and filing and sanding she now looks a bit slimmer.
Initially, the softwood carving was just meant to be an experiment and I acquired a piece of Bass wood in order to make the "real" figurehead but it turned out worse than the pine edition and it also broke in a couple of vulnerable places, so I've gone with my first one.
In the picture above the starboard Leopard can be seen crouching behind her feet.
Although these Leopards are quite tiny, as well as being only half width, I decided to carve them from the Bass wood. I glued a drawing on one side of a piece of the wood, roughed out the profile again on the bandsaw and carved both sides of the 'Leopard' on the same piece of wood > > >
(Yes -- you're right . . . nothing on that piece of wood looks like a Leopard!)
Back to the bandsaw to slice each Leopard almost off the wood > > >
(Still nothing looking like a Leopard yet!)
Maybe something resembles a Leopard now? > > >
One of the Leopards crouches somewhat inconspicuously behind the feet of the figurehead > > >
 

Good morning.

Hello.
Beautiful work.
Karl
 

Good morning.

We continue building the ship...  Barsik in the center of events!

G.L.

Glory To The Russian Surgeons!!! I'm home! ( temporarily.)

Examine the standing rigging... And this cat is hunting for ropes!

I'm not really sure I can show this video, but I learned from this example. Do not judge strictly my work! 
 

Keep talking! Light wood is a pear, very dense and perfectly cut. Masts in production...

Every time I make this rig, the level of glucose in my blood is down to 3.5! Movement is life!!!

Spent a little time today working on the lower topsail yard and its lift and hardware
 
Rob