rlb

My Chapter 10 posts were too long, I won’t take the time to do that much again.
 
The quarterdeck is pretty much the last “big” thing to do, starting with planking and ending with rails. It’s been such a journey from the first framing, through months of planking and the many detailed components assemblies since. Not sure I want it to end.
 
To keep it short, here are just four final photos of the quarterdeck.




 

Dave, I think I want a light color for the hammock crane line, so actual rope seems to be my best option.  But I appreciate the suggestion.  And we do tend to be pack-rats.  "Never know when I might need this!" 
 
Dowmer, yes, Silkspan seems to be an option here, and you will see my attempt at it.
 
As I work on the hammock cranes, soldering the pins on and finishing them, I am also sidetracking into another project: making a bunch of metal thimbles for the rigging.  When I get to blackening the hammock cranes, I want to be efficient, and the thimbles are something else that needs to be blackened, that I will need soon; so I will show my progress on making those now.
 
Basically, I need to cut pieces of brass tubing, and flare them out.  Easier said than done.  They are tiny.  To cut the pieces, I first tried using a my Zona saw with the 1mm OD wire held in a groove of scrap wood.  Nope.  Then I tried the rotary tool with a cut-off wheel.  Nope.  The biggest problems were holding the wire firmly enough to get a clean cut, and not losing the tiny cut-off piece. 
 
I settled on a method where I drilled a 1mm hole through a piece of scrap wood, and pushed the tube through--
 
The tube was then pushed back flush with the edge, and sawed through--

 
Then, a pin (which just happened to be the perfect diameter) was inserted into the end of the tube--

 
And the tube with the cut piece pushed through--

 
The pin held the cut off piece securely--

 
That piece after being sawn is too long, but it was made that way because I was afraid of snapping off the bit of wood on the edge, if I had made it thinner.  So the next step was to drill another hole in some scrap wood of the right thickness (this part is described in David Antscherl's TFFM)--


 
And the piece then filed--

 
This worked sometimes, but what began to happen more often (as the hole got a little loose, or my filing not square), is that the piece ended up with skewed ends, as on this one--

 
The next step was setting the thimble on a hard surface, and punching it with a modified nail set punch--




 
This took some practice to get a good result.   The end of the tube on the punch would flare, but not the bottom.  Then I would turn it over, and the flared end would just flare more.  After a few failures, I seemed to have better success if I barely started the flare, and then turned it over before punching again.   I had a success rate of about 1 in 5.  Partly because of the problem mentioned earlier about the skewed ends.  If they were skewed, no dice, it would just skew more when punched.   Here is a successful one, and another attached to a hook--

 
So decided to skip the filing step.  Maybe it would have worked just fine if the pieces were closer to the right length to begin with.  In the end I just pulled back a little (by eye) on the tube, rather than having it flush--

 
This gave me square ends, and the right length (more or less).  I cut 20 or 30 of these this way, but haven't started punching them into thimbles yet.  Hopefully I'll do better than 1 in 5.
 
 
Now for some exploration into the Silkspan hammock covers.  This is my first experience with this material.
 
I made a frame out of old unused paint stirring sticks, and cut a piece of medium weight Silkspan--

 
This was then wet, and taped to the frame to dry--

 
Painter's tape is probably not the best choice, because it doesn't stick well when wet, but it seemed to work well enough.  I then used some acrylic paint, diluted just a bit with water, and painted it on--

 
After drying partway it looked opaque enough, but when I held it up to the light, it seemed pretty transparent--

 
I'm going to give it another coat, and see how it looks.
 
So, a number of things going on:  fine tuning the hammock cranes (which consists of rounding the cut off ends and general straightening), making thimbles, and experimenting with the Silkspan for the hammock covering--
 
 
All for now,
Ron
 

Dave, I think I want a light color for the hammock crane line, so actual rope seems to be my best option.  But I appreciate the suggestion.  And we do tend to be pack-rats.  "Never know when I might need this!" 
 
Dowmer, yes, Silkspan seems to be an option here, and you will see my attempt at it.
 
As I work on the hammock cranes, soldering the pins on and finishing them, I am also sidetracking into another project: making a bunch of metal thimbles for the rigging.  When I get to blackening the hammock cranes, I want to be efficient, and the thimbles are something else that needs to be blackened, that I will need soon; so I will show my progress on making those now.
 
Basically, I need to cut pieces of brass tubing, and flare them out.  Easier said than done.  They are tiny.  To cut the pieces, I first tried using a my Zona saw with the 1mm OD wire held in a groove of scrap wood.  Nope.  Then I tried the rotary tool with a cut-off wheel.  Nope.  The biggest problems were holding the wire firmly enough to get a clean cut, and not losing the tiny cut-off piece. 
 
I settled on a method where I drilled a 1mm hole through a piece of scrap wood, and pushed the tube through--
 
The tube was then pushed back flush with the edge, and sawed through--

 
Then, a pin (which just happened to be the perfect diameter) was inserted into the end of the tube--

 
And the tube with the cut piece pushed through--

 
The pin held the cut off piece securely--

 
That piece after being sawn is too long, but it was made that way because I was afraid of snapping off the bit of wood on the edge, if I had made it thinner.  So the next step was to drill another hole in some scrap wood of the right thickness (this part is described in David Antscherl's TFFM)--


 
And the piece then filed--

 
This worked sometimes, but what began to happen more often (as the hole got a little loose, or my filing not square), is that the piece ended up with skewed ends, as on this one--

 
The next step was setting the thimble on a hard surface, and punching it with a modified nail set punch--




 
This took some practice to get a good result.   The end of the tube on the punch would flare, but not the bottom.  Then I would turn it over, and the flared end would just flare more.  After a few failures, I seemed to have better success if I barely started the flare, and then turned it over before punching again.   I had a success rate of about 1 in 5.  Partly because of the problem mentioned earlier about the skewed ends.  If they were skewed, no dice, it would just skew more when punched.   Here is a successful one, and another attached to a hook--

 
So decided to skip the filing step.  Maybe it would have worked just fine if the pieces were closer to the right length to begin with.  In the end I just pulled back a little (by eye) on the tube, rather than having it flush--

 
This gave me square ends, and the right length (more or less).  I cut 20 or 30 of these this way, but haven't started punching them into thimbles yet.  Hopefully I'll do better than 1 in 5.
 
 
Now for some exploration into the Silkspan hammock covers.  This is my first experience with this material.
 
I made a frame out of old unused paint stirring sticks, and cut a piece of medium weight Silkspan--

 
This was then wet, and taped to the frame to dry--

 
Painter's tape is probably not the best choice, because it doesn't stick well when wet, but it seemed to work well enough.  I then used some acrylic paint, diluted just a bit with water, and painted it on--

 
After drying partway it looked opaque enough, but when I held it up to the light, it seemed pretty transparent--

 
I'm going to give it another coat, and see how it looks.
 
So, a number of things going on:  fine tuning the hammock cranes (which consists of rounding the cut off ends and general straightening), making thimbles, and experimenting with the Silkspan for the hammock covering--
 
 
All for now,
Ron
 

Dave, I think I want a light color for the hammock crane line, so actual rope seems to be my best option.  But I appreciate the suggestion.  And we do tend to be pack-rats.  "Never know when I might need this!" 
 
Dowmer, yes, Silkspan seems to be an option here, and you will see my attempt at it.
 
As I work on the hammock cranes, soldering the pins on and finishing them, I am also sidetracking into another project: making a bunch of metal thimbles for the rigging.  When I get to blackening the hammock cranes, I want to be efficient, and the thimbles are something else that needs to be blackened, that I will need soon; so I will show my progress on making those now.
 
Basically, I need to cut pieces of brass tubing, and flare them out.  Easier said than done.  They are tiny.  To cut the pieces, I first tried using a my Zona saw with the 1mm OD wire held in a groove of scrap wood.  Nope.  Then I tried the rotary tool with a cut-off wheel.  Nope.  The biggest problems were holding the wire firmly enough to get a clean cut, and not losing the tiny cut-off piece. 
 
I settled on a method where I drilled a 1mm hole through a piece of scrap wood, and pushed the tube through--
 
The tube was then pushed back flush with the edge, and sawed through--

 
Then, a pin (which just happened to be the perfect diameter) was inserted into the end of the tube--

 
And the tube with the cut piece pushed through--

 
The pin held the cut off piece securely--

 
That piece after being sawn is too long, but it was made that way because I was afraid of snapping off the bit of wood on the edge, if I had made it thinner.  So the next step was to drill another hole in some scrap wood of the right thickness (this part is described in David Antscherl's TFFM)--


 
And the piece then filed--

 
This worked sometimes, but what began to happen more often (as the hole got a little loose, or my filing not square), is that the piece ended up with skewed ends, as on this one--

 
The next step was setting the thimble on a hard surface, and punching it with a modified nail set punch--




 
This took some practice to get a good result.   The end of the tube on the punch would flare, but not the bottom.  Then I would turn it over, and the flared end would just flare more.  After a few failures, I seemed to have better success if I barely started the flare, and then turned it over before punching again.   I had a success rate of about 1 in 5.  Partly because of the problem mentioned earlier about the skewed ends.  If they were skewed, no dice, it would just skew more when punched.   Here is a successful one, and another attached to a hook--

 
So decided to skip the filing step.  Maybe it would have worked just fine if the pieces were closer to the right length to begin with.  In the end I just pulled back a little (by eye) on the tube, rather than having it flush--

 
This gave me square ends, and the right length (more or less).  I cut 20 or 30 of these this way, but haven't started punching them into thimbles yet.  Hopefully I'll do better than 1 in 5.
 
 
Now for some exploration into the Silkspan hammock covers.  This is my first experience with this material.
 
I made a frame out of old unused paint stirring sticks, and cut a piece of medium weight Silkspan--

 
This was then wet, and taped to the frame to dry--

 
Painter's tape is probably not the best choice, because it doesn't stick well when wet, but it seemed to work well enough.  I then used some acrylic paint, diluted just a bit with water, and painted it on--

 
After drying partway it looked opaque enough, but when I held it up to the light, it seemed pretty transparent--

 
I'm going to give it another coat, and see how it looks.
 
So, a number of things going on:  fine tuning the hammock cranes (which consists of rounding the cut off ends and general straightening), making thimbles, and experimenting with the Silkspan for the hammock covering--
 
 
All for now,
Ron
 

Beautiful work, Matiz!
Ron

Beautiful work, Matiz!
Ron

I could suggest another possible option here Ron. Before I throw out old appliances or tools, I always disassemble them and salvage anything useful, especially if they can be used for models. If you have a small old electric motor driven tool that you no longer use, you could use some of that fine copper wire that's wrapped around the armature. The smaller the motor, the finer the wire.  If it's disguised as rope and it needs to be draped, it can easily maintain the curve and there is no fuzz to deal with.  

Another brief update:
 
I tried making some rope small enough, but with the thread I had on hand, it wasn't quite thin enough.   After thinking I might have to try enlarging the holes, I found (I think it came from Bluejacket) a spool of rope in my small stock that fit!   I will dye it just a shade darker--
   
You can't quite make out that the line is through the hole, so--

 
I also tested soldering the pins.  Since they won't be seen, I can overlap the brass, instead of butting it.   This is a much easier joint to solder.   I clearly missed centering the pin on this one (I maintain it moved while soldering!), but again, it won't show, and I'll drill each hole in the cap rail "custom" to match.  (Or maybe I won't use this one!)  I think I have now satisfied myself that these will work. 
 
While I continue the production of the hammock cranes, I am considering how to replicate the oiled cloth (which I guess it is) as shown on Glenn's model that covers the hammocks stowed within these cranes. 
 
All for now,
Ron
 
 

Another brief update:
 
I tried making some rope small enough, but with the thread I had on hand, it wasn't quite thin enough.   After thinking I might have to try enlarging the holes, I found (I think it came from Bluejacket) a spool of rope in my small stock that fit!   I will dye it just a shade darker--
   
You can't quite make out that the line is through the hole, so--

 
I also tested soldering the pins.  Since they won't be seen, I can overlap the brass, instead of butting it.   This is a much easier joint to solder.   I clearly missed centering the pin on this one (I maintain it moved while soldering!), but again, it won't show, and I'll drill each hole in the cap rail "custom" to match.  (Or maybe I won't use this one!)  I think I have now satisfied myself that these will work. 
 
While I continue the production of the hammock cranes, I am considering how to replicate the oiled cloth (which I guess it is) as shown on Glenn's model that covers the hammocks stowed within these cranes. 
 
All for now,
Ron
 
 

Thanks, Cisco and Theodosius, and all watching.
 
Here is how I tackled drilling 228 holes with a #78 drill (.016" or .40mm)--

 
Two pieces ended up being deemed unusable, so I now have the 34 hammock cranes that I need, plus two extra--

 
I broke two more drill bits (for a total of three).  Those carbide bits break if you breath hard on them.  Actually, after the initial careless one, the breakage on the other two seemed to be related to how many holes I had drilled already (they may have been getting dull?), and how flat the piece remained held in the wood through the drilling--sometimes the piece lifted up when withdrawing the drill, in spite of my care to hold it in place.
 
Now I need to trim them, file the ends, and hope that I can thread a line through the tiny holes.  Hopefully I won't have to experiment on "punching" the holes a bit bigger.  Oh, and soldering pins on the bottoms.
 
All for now,
Ron 
 
 

Another brief update:
 
I tried making some rope small enough, but with the thread I had on hand, it wasn't quite thin enough.   After thinking I might have to try enlarging the holes, I found (I think it came from Bluejacket) a spool of rope in my small stock that fit!   I will dye it just a shade darker--
   
You can't quite make out that the line is through the hole, so--

 
I also tested soldering the pins.  Since they won't be seen, I can overlap the brass, instead of butting it.   This is a much easier joint to solder.   I clearly missed centering the pin on this one (I maintain it moved while soldering!), but again, it won't show, and I'll drill each hole in the cap rail "custom" to match.  (Or maybe I won't use this one!)  I think I have now satisfied myself that these will work. 
 
While I continue the production of the hammock cranes, I am considering how to replicate the oiled cloth (which I guess it is) as shown on Glenn's model that covers the hammocks stowed within these cranes. 
 
All for now,
Ron
 
 

Another brief update:
 
I tried making some rope small enough, but with the thread I had on hand, it wasn't quite thin enough.   After thinking I might have to try enlarging the holes, I found (I think it came from Bluejacket) a spool of rope in my small stock that fit!   I will dye it just a shade darker--
   
You can't quite make out that the line is through the hole, so--

 
I also tested soldering the pins.  Since they won't be seen, I can overlap the brass, instead of butting it.   This is a much easier joint to solder.   I clearly missed centering the pin on this one (I maintain it moved while soldering!), but again, it won't show, and I'll drill each hole in the cap rail "custom" to match.  (Or maybe I won't use this one!)  I think I have now satisfied myself that these will work. 
 
While I continue the production of the hammock cranes, I am considering how to replicate the oiled cloth (which I guess it is) as shown on Glenn's model that covers the hammocks stowed within these cranes. 
 
All for now,
Ron
 
 

Thanks, Cisco and Theodosius, and all watching.
 
Here is how I tackled drilling 228 holes with a #78 drill (.016" or .40mm)--

 
Two pieces ended up being deemed unusable, so I now have the 34 hammock cranes that I need, plus two extra--

 
I broke two more drill bits (for a total of three).  Those carbide bits break if you breath hard on them.  Actually, after the initial careless one, the breakage on the other two seemed to be related to how many holes I had drilled already (they may have been getting dull?), and how flat the piece remained held in the wood through the drilling--sometimes the piece lifted up when withdrawing the drill, in spite of my care to hold it in place.
 
Now I need to trim them, file the ends, and hope that I can thread a line through the tiny holes.  Hopefully I won't have to experiment on "punching" the holes a bit bigger.  Oh, and soldering pins on the bottoms.
 
All for now,
Ron 
 
 

Chuck,
Since your captain clearly loves a good book, you will need a bookcase.  Not too big, though.
Ron

Another brief update:
 
I tried making some rope small enough, but with the thread I had on hand, it wasn't quite thin enough.   After thinking I might have to try enlarging the holes, I found (I think it came from Bluejacket) a spool of rope in my small stock that fit!   I will dye it just a shade darker--
   
You can't quite make out that the line is through the hole, so--

 
I also tested soldering the pins.  Since they won't be seen, I can overlap the brass, instead of butting it.   This is a much easier joint to solder.   I clearly missed centering the pin on this one (I maintain it moved while soldering!), but again, it won't show, and I'll drill each hole in the cap rail "custom" to match.  (Or maybe I won't use this one!)  I think I have now satisfied myself that these will work. 
 
While I continue the production of the hammock cranes, I am considering how to replicate the oiled cloth (which I guess it is) as shown on Glenn's model that covers the hammocks stowed within these cranes. 
 
All for now,
Ron
 
 

Beautiful work, Matiz!
Ron

Nice work on drilling those tiny holes Ron.  Not an easy feat.  For the oiled cloth to get something close to scale, you may consider the method of using Silkspan for sails that Lauria explains.  I think you paint over the silkspan to give it the correct opaqueness but still is very thin and scale like. Just a thought.  But I suppose you have it figured out by now. I’ll intently keep watching. Love the detailed build 👍

Hi, and thanks to all
 
 

Another brief update:
 
I tried making some rope small enough, but with the thread I had on hand, it wasn't quite thin enough.   After thinking I might have to try enlarging the holes, I found (I think it came from Bluejacket) a spool of rope in my small stock that fit!   I will dye it just a shade darker--
   
You can't quite make out that the line is through the hole, so--

 
I also tested soldering the pins.  Since they won't be seen, I can overlap the brass, instead of butting it.   This is a much easier joint to solder.   I clearly missed centering the pin on this one (I maintain it moved while soldering!), but again, it won't show, and I'll drill each hole in the cap rail "custom" to match.  (Or maybe I won't use this one!)  I think I have now satisfied myself that these will work. 
 
While I continue the production of the hammock cranes, I am considering how to replicate the oiled cloth (which I guess it is) as shown on Glenn's model that covers the hammocks stowed within these cranes. 
 
All for now,
Ron
 
 

Thanks, Cisco and Theodosius, and all watching.
 
Here is how I tackled drilling 228 holes with a #78 drill (.016" or .40mm)--

 
Two pieces ended up being deemed unusable, so I now have the 34 hammock cranes that I need, plus two extra--

 
I broke two more drill bits (for a total of three).  Those carbide bits break if you breath hard on them.  Actually, after the initial careless one, the breakage on the other two seemed to be related to how many holes I had drilled already (they may have been getting dull?), and how flat the piece remained held in the wood through the drilling--sometimes the piece lifted up when withdrawing the drill, in spite of my care to hold it in place.
 
Now I need to trim them, file the ends, and hope that I can thread a line through the tiny holes.  Hopefully I won't have to experiment on "punching" the holes a bit bigger.  Oh, and soldering pins on the bottoms.
 
All for now,
Ron 
 
 

Chuck,
Since your captain clearly loves a good book, you will need a bookcase.  Not too big, though.
Ron

Best of luck in your new location, Ben!   Looking forward to seeing building updates!
Ron

Skipping around some, I decided to tackle the hammock cranes.  Although they will probably make getting to the belaying rails more difficult, on the other hand, I think they will be more difficult to install after the shrouds are on.
 
I'm aiming for something like what is on the Niagara replica--

 
Only more like Glen Greico's model of the Brig Jefferson, without the wood rail at the top--

 
I'm going to make it a little easier on myself and do three ropes vs. four.
 
Here are some attempts at figuring out the size, and exactly how to make them--

 
The first three are some 20 gauge square brass wire, bent, and pounded a little flatter.  The first two are too big, and the third, which I tested drilling holes on, is actually a bit too small, though too thick.  I was able, though, to figure out how to make a tight radius in the bends.  The third is 22 gauge square wire, annealed, pounded just a bit flatter, and with some smaller test holes drilled.  It's close to the right size, both overall dimensions and gauge of the wire, and I think this method will work, though it leaves no room for error on the hole spacing.  I drilled one hole too far off center, and I also broke a drill bit.  I'll have to be more careful, or I will be buying more bits to finish them.
 
I figured out how many hammock cranes I will need (17 per side) and cut thirty-eight (four extra) pieces of brass--

 
These were annealed (heated to red hot) with a soldering torch.   I also routed a groove in a piece of scrap wood as a guide to make sure they are bent to a consistent shape, and as well to hold the piece for drilling the holes (which hopefully will help with the bit breakage)--

 
The ends of the wire that extend beyond the block will be trimmed off--

 
I put a piece of tape at the spot that was the right width for bending the wire--

 
And the bends were given a light tap to make the radius tighter--

 
Then after some straightening and checking the squareness of the shape, the wire was pounded just a little flatter, mostly just to give me a few thousandths of an inch more width to try and center the drill on--

 
 
The holes will be drilled next.  Hopefully that will be successful and I won't have to abandon this method.   After the holes are drilled I'll solder a short pin to the bottom of each one to epoxy them onto the rail.  At that point I may also adjust the angle of the legs to follow the bulwark angle--

 
All for now,
Ron
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Chuck,
Since your captain clearly loves a good book, you will need a bookcase.  Not too big, though.
Ron

Another brief update:
 
I tried making some rope small enough, but with the thread I had on hand, it wasn't quite thin enough.   After thinking I might have to try enlarging the holes, I found (I think it came from Bluejacket) a spool of rope in my small stock that fit!   I will dye it just a shade darker--
   
You can't quite make out that the line is through the hole, so--

 
I also tested soldering the pins.  Since they won't be seen, I can overlap the brass, instead of butting it.   This is a much easier joint to solder.   I clearly missed centering the pin on this one (I maintain it moved while soldering!), but again, it won't show, and I'll drill each hole in the cap rail "custom" to match.  (Or maybe I won't use this one!)  I think I have now satisfied myself that these will work. 
 
While I continue the production of the hammock cranes, I am considering how to replicate the oiled cloth (which I guess it is) as shown on Glenn's model that covers the hammocks stowed within these cranes. 
 
All for now,
Ron