Boccherini

Dick,
I should've put a "😀" after "van". My apologies if you interpreted my light hearted comment as criticism. It was not intended as such.
 
Regards,
Grant.

I started with the Taig lathe with many accessories including the milling tool.  It did everything I wanted to do including pens.  I had a chance to purchase a slightly used long bed Sherline lathe and jumped at the opportunity.  I have to say that Sherline has more accessories than Taig but I am not a machinist and both lathes are capable of doing much more than I will ever be capable of doing.  I have come to the conclusion that the Taig was perfectly good enough for me and I didn't really gain anything by purchasing the Sherline lathe until I late had a chance to pick up a very slightly used Sherline mill.  The ease of switching from turning to milling having both Sherline machines far out weighs the conversion from turning to milling with the Taig lathe with its milling tool.  A big difference in price to add the Sherline mill but I am very happy I did it.
There are times I wish I had stuck the Taig lathe in the corner because some things I found were easier to do with the Taig but I got my entire investment in the Taig back when I sold it so overall selling it to a club member worked out for both of us.

The octopus gave it the look of a sea going food truck. Not very piratical.
 
Regards,
Grant

The octopus gave it the look of a sea going food truck. Not very piratical.
 
Regards,
Grant

I've been fiddling with making 'raw' deck beams for the past couple of visits to the museum. The model will need to come home shortly to have some finish applied to the inside of the hull, but in the meantime, I can make the beams ready to start chopping some of them up where deck structures will intrude so that things can progress after the model comes home.
 
This is how she looks at the moment with the beams so far made temporarily fitted in place.
 
John
 

That's looking good John.
What is the overall length at present?
 
Regards,
Grant.

That's looking good John.
What is the overall length at present?
 
Regards,
Grant.

As this Hawaiian project comes to a close, I want to extend a huge MAHALO to everyone that stopped by for a quick look, suffered through the whole dang process, or anything in between. 
 
@Keith Black, @BANYAN, @Ian_Grant, @Knocklouder, @gjdale, @GrandpaPhil, @Canute, @mtaylor, @Javelin, @Louie da fly, @Landlubber Mike, @gsdpic, @Bryan Woods, @ccoyle, @John Fox III, @JacquesCousteau, @Thukydides, @Harvey Golden, @kgstakes, @woodrat, @hollowneck, @wefalck, @Boccherini, @modeller_masa, @Ryland Craze, @_SalD_, @BrochBoating, @BLACK VIKING, @Rik Thistle, @Tomculb, @Elijah, @Archi, @ERS Rich, @DanB, @AJohnson, @Brinkman, @Jim Lad
 
As always, I greatly appreciate your comments that are laden with wit, humor, insight, encouragement, suggestions, and criticisms.  I’ll say it again because it’s true once again – doing these build logs on MSW makes the project feel like a team effort.  Y’all make everything I try to do a whole lot better.  A sincere thanks to each of you.
 
Here's the final pictures.  

 

The picture shows my modification of Mondfeld's ships boat making jig in "Historic Ship Models". I had used this type of jig previously but as I got ready to do some ships boats for my current build, I decided to modify the jig. The result was a more stable to work with jig where the work piece being temporarily fused together gave greater stability and allowed for easy construction and sanding. Where the original jig had the mold or plug placed in a cut-out of plywood, I used a solid piece temporarily joined by two screws to the mold. The outline is then drawn around the mold on the plywood, and the position of ribs marked. The screws are then removed and holes for the ribs are made using adjacent drill holes cleaned out with a scalpel. Two blocks are then glued to the undersurface to give elevation so the screw heads will not keep the jig from sitting flat and to allow for the ribs to project beyond the plywood and so be well seated.  Screws are then reinserted, and the ribs are then steam bent and placed in their respective holes. The temporary fusion of the mold to plywood makes the bending and placing of ribs much easier and steam bending can be finished with the ribs in place on the form giving better results. The keel, post and transom which were previously made to fit the mold are then placed over the ribs and glued in place. Mondfeld shows notching along the keel for the ribs, but I just glued them without making notches. This eliminated the chance of having an inaccuracy between the notches on the keel and the holes for the ribs in the plywood. I was worried that this would give instability to the boat when removed but after planking and adding an external wale, the little boat is tight. The ribs projecting beyond the planking can be snipped with a pair of scissors. Finally, when carving your mold remember that there was no uniform design for ships boats which were built locally so you don't have to go crazy in exactly coping plans. Just try to keep it bilaterally symetric.
Rich

Steven,
just finished browsing through the build log, an interesting project well executed.
 
Regards,
Grant.

I nearly forgot to add:
may your Christmas fowl be seasoned and cooked to perfection.

Glen,
that is a well presented model, congratulations.
Looking forward to seeing the completed project.
Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.
 
Regards,
Grant.

It's been a busy couple of months, heaps of progress.
Pin and cap rails installed, lower masts completed, lower yards shaped.
The steps up to the poop deck don't look right from some angles, very awkward to get right as the decks run off in different directions, nothing is nice and level or square.
The size of the lower yards surprised me. They extend past the rails 5-6m either side.
I've noticed a nasty problem with the 2 lower fore stays from the main mast. The rigging plan shows them running under cleats on the fore mast then to their deck fixing UNDER the forecastle deck. Just to complicate things, there is a windlass for the stays to go over. This is what happens when you start something with no real idea of what you're doing. Another "teaching moment".
 

 

 

 

 

 
Grant.

Where I'm currently at:

Note to self: stay focused while shaping masts.

This started a series of mistakes, it took 3 attempts to arrive at the finished items. The second pair were correct.....until I followed Underhill's advice to check the sizing of the mast above before committing yourself on the lower one. I'm becoming quite proficient at manufacturing masts from square stock as a result.
The "lug" on the cap for the crane caused some problems, snapping three 0.5mm bits or off centre holes on the underside while trying to drill holes for the crane pins. Drilling 1.04mm holes through the brass and brazing in 1mm tube sleeves with 0.5mm ID worked a treat.
 

 

Grant.
 
 

Thanks Tony,
"shippy" 😄.  What was once vacant space is quickly filling.
 
Thanks Glen.
 
Strops for blocks:
 I made a couple of "forms" out of brass to keep the strops basically identical. The "slot" in the top form is redundant, just the first version in the development of the idea. The join was always on a side, to allow for brazing the eyes on either end as needed. The eye and the top of the strop was cut through after brazing, allowing the strop to be opened up sufficiently to slide over the block. It was then pinched closed, completing the job. It was easiest to thread several strops onto a jeweller's saw, prior to clamping and cutting.  There were slight variations the size of my hand made blocks, I can live with the minor imperfections this caused. Apologies for the picture quality.
 


Attaching the stropped blocks to the jack stay created a problem, too many brazed joints in close proximity for my skill level to cope with. It worked out easier to braze only one side of the shackle, then open and close it over the eye on the jack stay. This is difficult to see without magnification, if the unbrazed joint is on the mast side of the jack stay, no one will notice.
 


 
Grant.
 

Workshop is temporarily out of action for a long overdue clean up. Time to catch up on the log.
Mizzen top stuff up
Too much time was spent making things from drawings in "Masting & Rigging......" without referencing the rigging plan. This shows a top.....without deadeyes and shrouds for the top mast. Several people kindly provided some pictures that appear to show a single shroud either side. Any attempt to magnify the pictures for some definitive answer were pixelated into obscurity. My eyesight, not being what it used to be, was not helpful.
I've run with what appears to be the easiest solution. A cut through the trestle trees just shy of the bottom left a sliver that peeled off thanks to isopropanol. Then a rebuild of the top with a single spreader.
 




 
End result is most satisfactory.
Grant.

Steven,
just finished browsing through the build log, an interesting project well executed.
 
Regards,
Grant.

The last deck elements I needed to make before completing the deck guns were the three cowl vents that go forward of the fore funnel. I'll show how I make these in hopes that in may help someone else who also has limited tools at their disposal. 
 1) Drill the opening for is to be the head and then turn using drill motor and jewelers file.
 2) Once the head is turned cut it at a 45 degree angle and cut the tube at a 45 degree angle.  
 3) Mate the two with a generous supply of glue. (I wasn't able to figure a means of pinning the head and tube)
 4) Because the head is so much larger than the tube, there is a lot of wood that needs to be removed with sandpaper and file to shape the two  
 pieces.  

I had to knock down the spiderwebs when I came through the door, sorry for the delay in posting. As an excuse, it's summer with all the required summer duties and I've been spending a lot of time in the pool hall trying to find my stroke. I've not been totally idle on the Tennessee as every now and then I get a chance to strop more deadeyes. 
 
 Thank you to all for the nice comments, the likes, and for following along. 
 
 I thought I was done with the lantern rabbit hole but not so. After @Bob Cleek shared with us his lantern collection I thought "I need a Tung Woo too!"   So I'd been watching the various auction sites and over Memorial Day weekend a Tung Woo masthead lantern came up on eBay for the buy it now price of $93.75 plus shipping. It looked to be in fine shape (new, never been lit) with the exception of years of tarnish. What intrigued me most was the fact that the lantern was complete with the burner, chimney, and reflector. It's a rare lantern comes up not only in good condition but also complete so I hit the buy button.
 
 This past Friday it showed up and I immediately sat about with Tarn-X and Brasso. I finished polishing yesterday and discovered a chore I dislike more than stropping deadeyes. 
 
 eBay sellers listing photo.
 
 
 After polishing.
 
 
Lamp removed. The lamp burner was made by Sherwood and Sons LTD, they quit using that name in 1920. They supplied burners to several lantern manufactures. There is no doubt the lantern and lamp tank were made at the same time but it's a bit strange in than the tung Woo badge seems to indicate the lantern body was made ca 1950-1980. 
 
 I plan on writing something up in Nautical General Discussion on Tung Woo lanterns where I'll go into further detail.

 
 I didn't polish the inside, I just wiped down with Tarn-X 

 
 Lamp inserted.

 
Photo with the lamp removed showing the condition of the fresnel lens, no chips or cracks.
 
 Thank you to all for following along.......Keith

Apologies to all, who looked here in vain for new developments, but real life severely interfered with my workshop time and the zen mental state to carry out miniature work ...
 
In the meantime, I wish all Forum Members a peaceful Christmas and a successful New Year 2024 !

I nearly forgot to add:
may your Christmas fowl be seasoned and cooked to perfection.

Glen,
that is a well presented model, congratulations.
Looking forward to seeing the completed project.
Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.
 
Regards,
Grant.

I nearly forgot to add:
may your Christmas fowl be seasoned and cooked to perfection.

Glen,
that is a well presented model, congratulations.
Looking forward to seeing the completed project.
Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.
 
Regards,
Grant.

I nearly forgot to add:
may your Christmas fowl be seasoned and cooked to perfection.