druxey

Mark mentioned in his Bellona post that he had had some difficulties aligning the strips of gratings during assembly using the traditional technique. I've attached a few photos of a simple jig I made to keep the grating ledges in alignment while gluing up the gratings.
 
The jig consists of a square of wood with slotted recesses for the ledges.  On two sides stops were added.
 

 
The gratings ledges are placed in the slots.
 

 
The battens are now glued in place. I use dilute white glue as they are a press fit.
 

 
The assembled gratings are removed. The round up has yet to be added.
 

 
 

The first carving above the cupolas is a lady in a robe with a shield at her feet.
 
The carving in the rough....
 

 
Further progress on the robed lady....
 

 
The shield area nearing completion.....
 

 
Tools used to carve the lady included the dental drill and several ball end burs, small chisels and carving tools, a #10 xacto blade and a green Scotch-brite pad.
 

 
More to folow....................

Thanks Guys. Here's another update and this time we head back fwd on the forward store rooms. It does look a little confusing, but have added a layout of her store rooms. If any of you have any question's but take a look in Peter Goodwin book the sailing man of war, page 113 fig 4/2. A couple of items in his drawing and Montagu are diferent. Item-A is really the scuttle going down to the main magazine. He call's it the cartridge scuttle which was really on the port side across from the scuttle going down to the main magazine and access to this was in the passage way to the light room. Enjoy the photo's

After sanding and sanding I finally got rid of all the pencil marks.  Some filler pieces cut, other high spots sanded down.  Final result seems that some sections of the frames seem very thin.  Finish sanding with 220 grit, then 320.  Keelson sanded to 12" x 12", and top corners sanded to a 45 degree angle.  The center at every other frame was marked, tapped with an awl and drilled wtih 0.002 drill (#75?) for the bolts.  The bolts are actually 0.0018" black monofilament line (thanks to EdT). 
Limber strakes sanded to 4" and boards cut to 12".  The rabbet had to be cut...blade on my Proxxon saw set to just about 1" (@ sacle) and then the piece run thru.  Good result.  The other top corner sanded to a 45 degree angle (how do you type the little 0 forthe degree symbol?).  Spacers cut to 11" and the limber strakes sanded to 320 and glued in place.  The dark marks under the ends of the keeson and strakes are shadows from a very slight overhang that needs to be sanded down.  The entire model has taken a very rigid setting...not nearly as flimsey as it was before the lastest additions.
Maury

Thank you Mark,
 
Metal fitting installed completes the hold level. The model began 1 year ago, 6 months for the framing, 6 months for the hold.

LED Lighting
 
I received an e-mail from our electricity company, Hydro-Quebec, they pay $10 for each LED bulbs that we buy. Also, lighting on the working desk was not satisfying enough. I paid a visit at Home Depot of my area, this is where I saw the best choice with LED bulbs. Yesterday I bought the best bulbs they had a beam light by Phillips 19.5 watts, dimmable, a fixture and a dimmable switch with a remote. After installation verification with the Luxmeter gave surprising results Test are done at 4 feet except for 3 which are done at 1 foot. Beam width and strength, in a way are not comparable at different distance, but here are the results.
 
LED bulb is more expensive than an ordinary bulb but the performances are more than ordinary. In comparison with the best light Amsco I have, which is halogen (the light is white not yellow as a standard halogen), 2 Phillips LED can produce 13500/19800: 68% of the lighting level.
 
In conclusion, LED is coming with results we could not hope to reach few years ago. Actually, I would say without hesitation that Led lighting is the best way to see what you do.

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797
Part 98 – The Lower Counter
Posted 9/13/11
 
I doubt this part will generate as much interest as part 97 on the lid stops, but who knows.  Before getting to the lower counter framing and planking I finished up a couple of loose ends on the lower deck.  The first picture shows one of the iron standard knees in the area of the officers cabins, before bolting. 
 

 
The knee is copper blackened with liver of sulfur solution.  It rests on a “shole” on top of the decking, which is curved on its underside to fit the waterway.  The large timber to the right is a top rider and the notch to the left is a roughed opening for a ventilation scuttle.  These were covered earlier. 
 
The next picture shows the first steps in framing the lower counter and also the starboard straps on the lower ends of the counter timbers – also installed at this time.
 

 
 
First the sides of the ports were framed.  The helm port opening between the upper deck transom and the seat transom was filled in with blocking shaped to the counter timbers and the helm opening.  Below the upper deck transom the port is also blocked out to bed the counter planking around the helm port at this level.  The tiller will pass beneath the upper deck transom and upper deck beams and above the head of the sternpost.  The tiller and its apparatus will need to be installed with the deck beams so this work had to be done at this time.
 
The next picture shows this framing from the outside.
 

 
And the next picture shows it from aft.  It is still pretty rough.
 

 
 
The filling pieces around the helm port are somewhat speculative, but it is likely that chocks perhaps like these were used.  The planks needed to be bedded right up to the opening.  This picture also shows the framing of the lower deck ports that penetrate the lower counter.
 
The next picture shows the first of the lower counter planking being installed.  This will be done on the starboard side only, in keeping with the model’s format, which exposes the framing on the port side.
 

 
The next picture shows this planking well along – essentially finished.
 

 
 
The planking lines on the lower counter are not parallel because the round up and round aft of the wing transom is roughly half that of the touch of the lower counter.  So, the counter is broader at the center by 4 or 5 inches, requiring the planks to be slightly tapered at the outer ends.  The uppermost plank has its top edge right on the touch of the lower counter and it is modelled the full breadth.  A decorative molding will seat against this and be the base for the planking of the upper counter above it.
 
The next picture shows another view..
 

 
Before doing this planking the shapes of the counter timbers, particularly the pointed touch points were checked carefully against the drawings.  Once the exact touch points were marked, the counter shapes were given a final adjustment with a file and the planking was then brought right up to the lower counter touch line.  The upper counter has the same round up and aft as the lower, so that band will have parallel strakes.  The round up of the tafrail is more pronounced than the upper counter. That will come later, but all the points were checked at this stage. 
 
The last picture is another view.
 

 
The darker area is moisture from washing off the excess glue.  When the glue has set, the pins will be removed, the excess cut off this near side and the planks bolted and treenailed. 
 
 
Ed

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797
Part 97 – Port Stops
Posted 9/10/11
 
The treenailing and bolting of the seven strakes of planking above the black strake was completed this week.  The next three pictures show that stage of completion.
 
 

 
The purpose of doing this outside planking was to be able to install the port stops – the window frames, if you will, on the sides and bottom of the port framing.  These will be discussed below.  In the above picture the hawse holes are only roughed in. They still need to be sized and lined.
 
 

 
 
This picture shows some typical bolting and treenailing.  The lowest yellow strake is loaded – with both treenails and bolts for the lodging knees of the upper deck, which still have to be installed on the inside.
 
The next picture is a close up of this area.
 

 
I mentioned before that the treenails are about 1 ¼ inch.  There are also 1 3/8 and 1 ¼ inch bolts.  The pin holes above the top strake are left from the temporary ribbands that were removed earlier.  They are at the level of the sheer strake and sheer rail.
 
In the next picture the horizontal port stops have been installed.
 

 
 
These lay flat on the sill and their outside edges are at the inside face of the planking.  Their insides were oversized and get cut off flush with the inside of the frames.  The next picture shows the inside being finished off flush after the side stops were installed.
 

 
I knew when I put the riders in that I was creating a future headache for myself, but they really needed to go in before the upper deck beams and knees, even though it would mean slipping planking behind them.  It also presented a problem in facing off the stops.  The first step was to pare these back using  a chisel and a curve-bladed scorp – not shown.  This was followed by filing flush using the bent-handled file, as shown above.  This all went surprisingly quickly.  We’ll see how the internal plankng goes.  The notches in the upper deck clamps are the openings for the lower deck ventilation scuttles.
 
The next picture shows some stops after facing the insides.
 

 
These stops are 2 inches thick and are placed on the bottom sill and the two sides.  They serve to stop the closure of the port lids and probably were fitted with oakum or some kind of gasketing to keep the water out.  The ones for the sweep ports are 1 inch thick.
 
The next picture shows the inside after the stops were faced off.
 

 
The next major task in here, after installing the remaining few standards, will be to install the upper deck beams followed by the waterways and spirketing, which will go right up to the top of the lower sills.  With that done the scuppers can be drilled out and lined.
 
The next picture just shows a few of each type of port finished off.
 

 
The boxwood has been sanded pretty well at this stage – up to 400 grit.  No other finish will be applied to this until all the rails and other external fittings are installed – the steps, the scuppers, the fenders, chesstrees, etc.  – way down the road.
 
 
Ed

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797
Part 96 – Outside Planking 3
 
While the remaining planking was getting installed, I started installing bolts.  My process here is to install all the bolts first, then go back and do the treenails.  In some cases the bolts will be placed so that some treenails are not needed.  The picture below shows an area with the bolting installed.
 

 
All the closeups have lens distortion.  Believe me that line of frames at the top is not curved up.  In this picture there are a few different bolts.  The double row at the bottom of the boxwood planking is for the lodging knees of the upper deck.  The two rows of four large bolts each slanting up to the right are for the internal riders.  On either side of each gun port there are three bolts, which on the inside will be eyebolts, a large bolt for the breeching, a smaller one on further out on either side for the training tackle and a smaller one above the breeching bolts for trussing the gun up.  In addition there is one bolt at the butt of each plank, except for the short planks between the ports.
 
In the next picture the highest strake above the ports is being fit up.
 

 
The two strakes aft of the quarter gallery door have yet to be installed.  After this plank is installed the opening will be filed up to the top sill.
 
In the next picture one of the last bow pieces is being shaped to a curve using the shaft of a small soldering iron to heat the concave side.
 

 
For this thin boxwood planking this is much faster than steaming, which is the approach I have been using on the thicker structural pieces or where some edge bending is needed.  This piece will fit above the bridle port and port number one.
 
The next picture shows it in place.
 

 
This is the last strake for now.  It fits right up under the knighthead and is flush with its forward face.  It was nice that this strake just fit.  There is still some finishing work to be done to clean up the stem and the ends of some of the planks.  The hawse holes were roughed out before these planks were installed, drilled with a smaller drill then filed open parallel to the keel with a slight downward slant..  they are not finished, but I wanted to get a hole through the planking.
 
In the next picture the drilling for the treenails is in progress.
 

 
More distortion. The pattern here is alternating between two nails and one nail in each frame along the plank with the pattern offset for adjoining strakes.  The bolting prevents the pattern from being completely uniform, but I suspect that was pretty much the result on the prototype.
 
The next picture shows the planking for this phase all installed, except for treenailing and some bolting.
 

 
The next picture is just another view.
 

 
These last wo pictures are pretty representative of the true colors of the different woods.
 
After finishing the treenails – or maybe sooner – I will be returning to the inside work.
 
Ed

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797
Part 95 – Outside Planking 2
Posted 9/1/11
 
Planking on the starboard side of the hull continued this week.  The first picture shows pieces between the ports clamped during gluing.  Planks are 3 ½” thick at this level.
 

 
The planking in the waist area is now getting close enough to the topside to allow normal screw clamps to be used.  The planks are being glued in with darkened glue and before being ripped off a wide strip one side of that strip was given a coat of light brown acrylic paint to help highlight the joints.
 
The next picture shows progress up to a few days ago.
 

 
In the next picture the excess ends of the planks are being removed with a #0 Barrette file.  This does not cut on its edges.
 

 
The next picture is a close up of the current state.  The planks have been leveled off and given a preliminary sanding.  Final sanding and polishing will await the treenailing.
 

 
The black bolts in the strake above the black strake are mostly bolts for the lodging knees of the upper deck, which runs at the same height as this strake in the midship area, dropping down below it as the ends are approached and the curve of the sheer becomes higher than the curve of the upper deck.  The two larger bolts in the center of the picture go into and through the internal riders.  The lighter fasteners are .019 inch bamboo treenails.
 
The chamfered corners of the top planking pieces in this picture will seat areas of increased width in the next plank up, as was done on some of the planks below the ports.  In general, this was done wherever the cut out plank width would have left less than half the original width.
 
The waist rail, a molded decorative rail will eventually be installed along the center of these ports – approximately at the height of the plank just above the sweep port in the picture.
 
The next picture is a close up from above the side at the waist.
 

 
The last two planks up in this area, not installed yet, will be thicker and joined at their ends with hook scarph joints.  They will Take the external planking up to the level of the strings and tops of the frames in the waist area.
 
The last picture shows the whole hull in its present state.
 

 
Cheers,
 
Ed

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797
Part 94 – Outside Planking 1
Posted 8/26/11
 
The first picture shows the model at the stage we left off in Part 93.  The wale is finished and I was contemplating starting the exterior planking on this side above the rail. 
 

 
I would like to get the planking finished up to above the ports so the port lid stops can be done before doing the upper deck spirketing.  The spriketting goes over the stops.
 
The first step was the most difficult.  In the next picture I am about to cut into the last of two beautiful pieces of European Boxwood, buxus sempervirens , that I bought in the 1970’s.  Cutting this was painful.
 

 
These pieces were virtually perfect with no imperfections or discoloration.  If anyone knows where I can get more like this one, let me know.  I wanted to use this for the yellow of the external planking, but also for other exposed rails, details, etc.  I used the first one of these on Victory and for other things, tools, etc.
 
The next picture shows the first strake above the black strake partly installed.  The dark yellow is still wet from washing off the glue.
 

 
This is where I miss using ebony for the wale.  The finishing of this strake is almost impossible to do without marring the black finish on the top corner of the black strake.
 
The next picture shows the full hull at this stage.
 

 
This is one of those rare moments when everything was cleaned up and uncluttered.
 
The picture below shows the planking rising up around the lower deck ports.
 

 
In this picture the bolting has begun.  There are several large, 1 3/8” bolts in slanting rows for the internal riders.  There are also smaller, 1” bolts at the end of each plank.  The plan is to do the bolts first, then fill in the rest with the treenails.
 
Below is another picture taken at this stage.
 

 
There is still some leveling of these top strakes to be done.  These pictures help me find things that I don’t see as readily with my eyes – like that slightly  protruding plank just aft of the right hand port in this picture.  This picture also shows the planking cut out at the bottom of one of the sweepports.
 
The next picture shows some more bolting and some of the first treenailing.
 

 
There are three bolts through the side on each side of each gun port.  The pairs closest to the opening are large bolts for the breeching eyebolts and the next two, one through each of the next frames are for the training tackle eyebolts.  These will not go all the way through on the model.  The treenails in this picture are added to supplement the bolts, so the pattern is a bit random.
 
The last picture shows some treenails installed further forward. 
 

 
These have not been filed down as yet.  Holes are drilled for the lowest strake but no nails yet.  The treenails .019” about 1 1/8”.
 
All these close up pictures show some distortion that makes their centers bulge a bit.
 
Work has been slow for the past couple weeks, but I’m hoping to up the pace a bit in the next two weeks.
 
 
Cheers,
 
Ed

Thank you for clarifying Druxey.
Mark, I filed the hole in the mast partner at a slight angle, but as the mast partner is quite thin it's hardly noticeable.
Greg, I didn't plan to, but now your asking..... I made a slightly different pattern than suggested in TFFM.
 

 

 
Remco

If only I had had high school teachers like you.... Your students don't know how lucky they are!

The lower masts and mast tops

The pinnace was build from a NMM plan 

Building the cutter using the Admiralty models plug

Thanks every one. Seems I have been a little distracted with other things, such as life in general and figure I needed to add another up date. This time its with the bulkheads in the hold. There was a total of only four in Montagu hold starting with the bulkhead that separated the magazine. Going aft one runs in to the bulkhead that enclosed the front part of the spirt room, followed by the fish room and finally the bread room. Wish I had installed some barrels in the hold along with some pig iron and gravel that they would of used to steady the ship. One item that one should be able to make out is the pillars underneath each of the orlop beams. Do hope you enjoy the photos.
Gary


 
 

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797
Part 93 – Vent Scuttles –Wale Finish
Posted 8/8/11
 
More has been going on in the last two weeks than was shown in the last part.
 
There are 20 9” X 7” scuttles on the lower deck for ventilation and light, 10 on each side.  There is one in each of the officers cabin aft and everybody else gets to share the other eight, four on a side.  But before getting to those, in response to questions, I wanted to share one picture showing how the monofilament is cut off flush with the top of the planks.
 
 

 
This is done immediately after inserted the filament with CA glue, so the glue can be washed off with acetone before it sets or pentrates too much into the wood.  The razor blade tends to get glue on it, so I use two.  When one gets gluey I drop it in a jar of acetone and use the clean one.  In maybe 5 minutes its time to change.  The acetone dissolves the CA almost immediately. 
 
So, what about these vent scuttles.  The next picture shows three of these cut into the black strake. 
 

 
They slant upward 4 inches or so from inside to out and this puts them roughly on the line of this plank.  On the inside as seen in the next picture they are cut into the deck clamps.
 
 

 
The trick with these is to get them positioned between timbers, in the correct cabin, while avoiding the riders, the knees the beams, chain plates, etc.  This is not easy and I spent some time placing them between the different views on the drawings before settling on their locations.  For the sake of neatness they are all cut so their tops are flush with the top of the black strake outside and the clamp inside.  This leaves the inclines within a few inches of what Steel says they should be.
 
The next picture shows the doors installed. 
 

 
These will eventually get horseshoe hinges but for now they are just glued in with very dark glue.  On the other side where there is no planking they will show the cuts trough the frames in more detail.  Since some of these cut a few inches into the frame I suspect that reinforcing fillers were put between the frames at these points, much in the way it was done near the chain plates, or gun breechings and in some other areas.
 
In the next picture the wale is in the process of final sanding and polishing before getting blackened.
 
 

 
The scuttle doors are barely visible here.  After this picture was taken I did accentuate their borders with a chisel point.
 
So, on to the finishing of the wale.  A lot of thought and also a lot of input from people on the forum went into this.  I believe I did mention the final decision on the process, but briefly it uses a dilute black stain made with Speedball acrylic black ink in water.  The wale was sanded with grits to 320, then buffed with Scotchbite pads.  It was wetted a few times between final sandings to pre-raise the grain, which was then sanded off.  After the first stain coat the surface was checked for light spots and there were some where the CA penetrated around a few of the bolts.  This was re-sanded.  The next picture shows the wale drying after about the third or fourth coat of ink stain.
 
 

 
Before each coat the surface was dampened, either from the previous coat of ink or with a damp rag to keep from blotching.  There were eight to ten coats all together until it got to a shade I wanted where the plank joints and bolting could still be seen.  The ink was very dilute so I would approach the final shade slowly.  The next picture shows the final shade.
 
 

 
The picture was taken after one coat of Watco oil was applied.  This was done after the ink was completely dry.  It was preceded by buffing with Scotchbrite.  A total of less than five drops of oil were used, on a Q-Tip and the surface was then buffed dry with a cloth.  This buffing was repeated about 20 minutes later when some of the oil came out of the pores – which it likes to do.
 
The next picture is a close up of the wale.
 

 
 
And the last picture is another view.
 

 
I’d say these three last pictures give a pretty accurate rendition of the finish.  More oil will be applied.  This is for protection.  In the above picture the fasteners, the planking seams, the scuttles and some of the wood grain are showing.   The area above the black strake will be planked in Euro Boxwood so I was not too particular about keeping that framing pristine.  There are file marks and ink.
 
Wdith this done, the outside planking and parallel work on the inside can proceed.  The area below the wale can also be given its final wax finish.
 
 
Ed

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797
Part 92 –Top Riders/Main Wale
Posted 8/7/11
 
 
After the last report the rest of the top riders were made and installed. The first picture shows one of these being fitted on the starboard side.
 

 
The next task was to install the bolts for these. There are eight in each. In the next picture a monofilament bolt is being slipped in with CA glue. It will then be cut off flush like the one below it.
 

 
The following picture shows the rider bolts installed on the outside where there will be no planking.
 

 
The riders usually hit three or four frames with two bolts in each. To keep the bolts in neat rows inside and out the holes are drilled and the filament inserted from each side. I just haven’t found a reliable way to drill al the way through and get a neat result. To the right of the picture is a vertical row of bolts for one of the lower deck standards.
 
Below is a picture of the rider bolting finished on the inside. This wood work still needs final sanding and some polishing up.
 

 
The strips on the deck are to anchor the cabin partitions.
 
The next picture shows the beginning of bolting through the wale. The angled lines are for either riders or for dagger knees. I believe all those in the picture are for riders. The vertical lines of bolts are for the hanging knees or standards.
 

 
On the wale black monofilament is being used for both the bolts and the treenails. In the case of the nails this is to make them show up after the wale is blackened. The treenails are smaller. The strategy for this was to install all the bolts first, then fill in nails where a bolt is not already in place, two per frame. These include bolts for the riders, lower deck knees and one at eac butt on each wale plank. In the above picture bolts for the knee are being installed one at a time from the top down. And only some of the rider bolts are in. The horizontal row of copper bolts below the wale are holding the lower deck lodging knees and some of the bolts for the hanging knees are also visible. Except for a few copper bolts for the lower deck spirketing, all the wale bolts are black iron.
 
The next picture shows the difference in size between the bolt and the treenails. It also shows the nailing pattern where the nails fill in around the bolts.
 

 
The last picture shows a section of the wale with all the bolts and nails installed.
 

 
There are about a thousand fasteners in the wale, a time consuming task.
 
In the next part we’ll finish up the wale with the cutting through of the lower deck ventilation scuttles.
 
 
Ed

... continue ...
Fore and aft arrangement, complete view of work in progress.
 
Alex

If only I had had high school teachers like you.... Your students don't know how lucky they are!

If only I had had high school teachers like you.... Your students don't know how lucky they are!

If only I had had high school teachers like you.... Your students don't know how lucky they are!

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797
Part 14 – Installing Cant Frames
Posted 11/2/10
 
This part will discuss the general process used to erect the cant frames.  The next two parts will cover the progress of the installation of the aft and then the forward cant frames.

Beginning with the cant frames just ahead of the stern transom assembly, the first of these was installed in mid-May and the cant framing was completed at both ends of the ship by mid-July 2010.  At both ends the work progressed toward the middle.  Below is a picture of a cant frame clear of pattern paper, which in itself should illustrate some of the considerations in installing these.
 

 
First they are in individual halves, which means they must be supported when fit up to keep them from falling over.  Then, the only point of attachment to the backbone structure is the beveled foot at the bottom, which can be difficult to clamp in place.  Although they are all the same thickness, or siding, the fact that the bevel angle diminishes as the center of the ship is approached means they take up decreasing space on the deadwood – but the full set must terminate at exactly the location of the first square frame.  Finally, their upper spacing is not regular, but varies so that the aft end of a 2’11” wide gun port will be correctly spaced at the forward edge of every eighth frame with two closely spaced frames on either side of it.  The spacing on the plan on the board helps with this last issue.
 
The process adopted for installing these frames developed as I scaled the learning curve.  The pictures below will describe the key aspects of the process as it ultimately evolved.  This first picture shows the use of a profile gauge to align the port side of frame SA. 
 

 
All of the forward frames were aligned by the aft edge and all of the aft frames by the forward edge.  In this way I could use the profile line on the pattern on the exposed face for accurate alignment, even before fairing of the frame or even before trimming this face back to this reference line.  To support this approach, patterns for profile gauges with the appropriate edge were put on the pattern sheets when the frames were lofted The frame patterns were marked starboard and port so the pattern would be on the exposed face when installed. 
 
The patterns for the gauges have the bottom line coinciding with the bottom of the keel so they can rest on the board.  The inside vertical edge coincides with the side of the deadwood at the bearding line.  These patterns were mounted on illustration board with artist’s spray adhesive, the critical straightedges cut with a knife, and the curve cut out on the scroll saw.
 
The next picture shows how alignment in the fore and aft direction at the breadth was done using a combination square.
 

 
In the above picture, the square is set on the aft face of the frame on the drawing at the breadth on the frame.  Based on this position, a spacer of soft pine was selected which would fit the space between this and the previous frame.   One of the large clamped squares shown earlier could also be used for this step.
 
The picture below shows a port cant frame being glued at its base only, but with a spacer clamped at the breadth to keep the right spacing.  The soft jaws of the Irwin clamp help with this awkward clamping problem.  Several other clamping methods were also used.  Whatever worked.
 

 
On the starboard side in the above picture a spacer is being glued in place to space the same frame’s starboard partner correctly against its forward mate.  After fastening at the foot, installing the temporary spacers was the next step. 
 
The picture below shows two of these being glued at the same time on a different frame.
 

 
These are temporary spacers, cut from soft white pine and will be removed later as longitudinal members are installed to maintain the spacing and strengthen the structure.  Since these spacings vary, a variety of pine strips are kept on hand, so the right size can be selected easily while the alignment is being done.
 
Many of these spacers have already been removed and replaced to make adjustments in spacing and to put the gun port sides precisely in position and at the right width.  Because they are soft, the spacers can be split with a single edge razor blade tapped with a hammer, then sliced out.  Frame faces can then be cleaned up with a file.  A new different spacer can then be fit.  A thin Revlon metal finger nail file is very useful cleaning up faces that are closely spaced.    Eventually, all the spacers will come out.
 
Below is a close up of the foot of the port SA frame.
 

 
This picture shows the pencil lines that have been put on the upper deadwood to aid in frame spacing.  These were squared up from the drawing below.   The goal is to end up with the aft face of frame PA exactly at the fore face of the first square frame OF.  The faint green vertical line on the frame right next to the deadwood is the line of the forward face, which was beveled back earlier.  The outboard lines can also be seen running down to intersect with the deadwood at the bearding line.
 
The next step in this process is shown below.  In this picture a skew chisel is being used to pare the aft inboard side of the frame to the aft line on the pattern before removing the pattern.  This is useful in setting the next frame, since the next frame’s aft edge should be close to this line.
 

 
Finally, the paper patterns were removed and the chocks leveled down to the frame face with a sanding board or file if needed.  Then on to the next frame, which by this time should have been ready to come out of the assembly jig.
 
Further fairing was done on these frames as they progressed.  First the lower inner edges of the frame were trimmed to the height of the top of deadwood, then paring, rasping, and/or filing, then sanding were done to provide a rough fair inboard surface.  This was done in concert with outside rough fairing, keeping an eye on the sidings of the timbers at each level.
 
Final finish sanding and buffing will be done after all the bolts and permanent spacers in the mainframe bends are installed.

In the next part we will look at the progress made in erecting the aft cant frames.

 
Ed
 
 
 

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797
Part 13 – Cant Frames – Lofting and Fabrication
Posted MSW 10/31/10

Cant frames are half frames that bolt to the vertical surface of the deadwood above the bearding line at the fore and aft ends of the hull.  They are angled forward at the fore end and aft at the after end.  If square frames were used in these areas the bevels would be severe and the timber wastage would be huge.  Each cant frame is at a different angle, which approaches 90 degrees to the keel toward the center of the hull as the first square frames are reached.  The cant frames also get longer in this progression as the bearding lines, both fore and aft, drop down in height.  Below is a picture of the aft cant frames taken later in the construction.
 

 
All these features mentioned above need to be accounted for in the frame lofting process, however, the most significant factor to be addressed in the lofting of these frames is the fact that on the body plans the views of these frame profiles are distorted, actually condensed horizontally, because they are viewed parallel to the line of the keel, at an angle to their true shape.
 
Below is a typical cant frame pattern sheet, in this case for UF, one of the forward cant frames. 
 

 
The cant frame patterns are different than the others described earlier.  First, they contain three patterns each for the starboard and port frames.  One is for cutting out segment patterns, another for assembly and a third in case of mistakes.
 
The pattern sheet also contains a pattern for a gauge that can be pasted to cardboard, cut out and used to set and check the frame position when being erected.  The bottom edge of this will rest on the building board and the inside against the keel.  These gauge patterns were added to cant frame patterns after the erection process was finalized because they are important tools for that process, which will be described later.
 
Like the square frame patterns, profiles are shown for fore and aft edges.   Joint lines are shown as a single line only.  All the cant frames are 10.5 inches thick, top to bottom, and this reminder is on every sheet. 
 
The last important data on the sheet, different for every frame, is the bevel angle of the bottom face that mates up to the deadwood.   Also the locations of the bottom squared off edges that will rest on the bearding line ledge are shown.
 
Like the square frames, separate worksheets were made to loft the forward and aft sets of these.  The worksheet for UF is shown below.
 

 
This worksheet contains much of the information included on the square frame worksheets – plan view of frames, body plan with frame profiles, a template area for developing the frame, and sheer plane views of the bearding line and the top of the deadwood.  I will only summarize how this worksheet is used.  The detailed procedure is given in a note on the worksheet.
 
On this example worksheet, the frame in question has been colored red, both in its position on the framing and in its rotated position on the development template - to help the explanation.  Also, the two profiles needed for the lofting are colored and accented on the body plan.
 
The first step in this process is to copy the plan view of the frame, note its angle to the keel, rotate it to the horizontal, then place its inside aft edge in a vertical line with the deadwood.  Vertical lines are then placed at the extreme edges, inside and out, for both faces.
 
To develop the true outboard profiles for UF, the UF profile, which was taken at its forward edge when drafting the body plan, will be used for the forward edge, and the next profile aft will be used for the after edge.  They are copied, pasted and aligned as before.  To develop their true shapes they are expanded by the CAD object handles out to the lines which were set up above at the edges of the rotated frame object – one at the forward and one aft ends of the rotated frame. The same is done at the inside.
 
Using the profile of the next frame aft for the aft edge is an approximation, but expanding it only to the actual aft edge of the frame makes it a more accurate representation of the actual aft profile.  I won’t say any more about this to avoid being too confusing.   But if there are questions…
 
Heights of the bearding line and the top of keel for both faces of the frame are then transferred to the template by means of the red diagonal line.  Excess frame profile is erased below the bearding line for each face and the height of deadwood is used to terminate the lower end of the inboard edges.  Inboard profiles are developed in the same way as for the square frames – using the red circles to set points.  The frame components are then copied and transferred to the pattern sheet as before.
 
The standardized CAD worksheet greatly simplifies and speeds up the accurate lofting of these complicated frames. I hope this short version of the steps in this process is somewhat clear, but if not, the procedure note on the worksheet describes it thoroughly, for those with a keen interest.
 
The picture below shows some cant frame segments ready to be cut out from 10.5 inch thick pear stock.  For some reason the patterns below do not include pencil lines for the chocks.  For some of the earliest frames, I marked these out after placing the segments on the assembly pattern, but later found it to be more efficient and accurate to do this before cutting up the pattern.
 

 
The steps to fabricate these frames were identical to previous examples, but with a couple of additions.  First, the bevel has to be cut on the mating face with the deadwood at the bottom of the frame.  That was done on a disk sander using the tilt table set to the bevel angle given on the pattern sheet as shown below.
 

 
The last minor item is shaping the foot of the frame to match the bearding line curve. This was done as part of the erection process.
 
With the conclusion of this part, the discussion of the use of CAD for lofting frames is complete.  I hope this has been helpful to those who CAD draft and loft their own plans or who might consider doing so in the future.  The principles are conventional, but I found it challenging to look for ways to ease the repetitive processes – of which the frame lofting was foremost.

In the next several installments I will discuss the installation of all these frames.
 
Ed