Bedford

Then the hub and spokes, the hub was done in much the same way as the rims but instead of drilling holes I milled slots, again the resetting to allow the second set of cuts required a lot of measuring, checking and re-checking. The spokes where round stock (Tasmanian oak as with the rest of the wheel) which I set up in the square collet block to machine a 3mm square section before mounting in the lathe to round out the rest of the shaft. It was messy and Tas oak tends to splinter in the lathe so there where a few that ended up in the bin.

The spokes are not glued to the rims or the hub. The built up body of the hub combined with the alluminium tyres hold it all together much like the real thing.

On the subject of the tyres, I just happened to have a piece of alluminium stock that was just big enough to turn for the tyres at 110mm O.D.

The tyres where heated in the oven to expand them prior to fitting. They are very tight on the rims and no glue was used.

Next came the wheels, these are the tricky bits.

First glue up a hex drum with a dowel centre that can be held in collets to allow all the processes required.

Turn it to a nice round shape deep enough to cut two rims from then remount in the hex collet block and drill 2 rows of 6 spoke holes before resetting in the collet block to allow drilling of the next set of holes. This took a lot of fine measuring to get right. As a result the wheels have 12 spokes.

Well I tell you what Eberhard, if you ever drop in for a scotch I'll take you rowing or sailing depending on the weather

Thanks guys, Eberhard you're just going to have to build a boat when you retire.

I've just found this and I have to agree it looks great. I always loved this car and wanted to build the model but never did.

On a side note, I was driving home from Sydney to Orange years ago in my Defender and there was a big hill infront of me, the west bound climb out of Hartley for the locals, there is a side road that comes in at the foot of the hill and being infront in the Defender I really didn't want anyone to pull out of the side road and slow me down or I'd have been lucky to crest the hill at 70kmh in 3rd. I saw a vintage car about to pull out and thought NOOOOOOOOOOOO, then I recognised the profile. It was one of these Bentleys, well he pulled out and headed up the hill and I never saw him again. He left me for dead! I got over the hill at 90kmh in 4th.

The next job was to rout out and plug the clew reefing sheave hole then rout the sides of the boom to accept reefing combs for which I turned another two sheaves. I then routed another sheave hole further aft so the original reefing sheave could be reused as part of an outhaul for the foot of the sail which it did not previously have.

I've yet to use the reefing system while under way but it now has 4 separate downhauls, one each for the first and second luff reefs and the same for the leech reefs, these downhauls are led through fairleads on the boom with eye splices in the ends that simply get pulled to thumb cleats over which they are placed to secure the reef. It sounds and looks complicated but it's actually dead simple and importantly very quick to apply

I've made a few more improvements, this time to the rigging I was never happy with the single line reefing system because it was hard to get good tension at the clew and it meant standing up to move the reefing hooks up to the second reefing line if required. Not a great idea in a small round bilged boat when the wind picks up. 

First I made what I'll refer to as a sheave cassette to go into the boom in way of the yoke, this allowed the single sheave to be replaced by 2 that allow permanent attachment of both luff reefing downhauls. By clamping the boom to a bench and building a bridge table over it I could attach fences so the router cut exactly where I needed to accept the cassette after first routing out the previous single sheave hole and epoxying a spruce plug in.

This is the underside of the boom

The Carriage, this is made from an old block of river red gum I've had for three decades and use little bits now and then. It's a very fine grained hard wood that finishes very easily and when waxed could be mistaken for a cast resin fake timber so I always leave a few very slight imperfections.

Yes epoxy is fun isn't it but the best 3 lessons you'll learn about it are :-

Lesson #1: After a certain period (dependent upon the type you're using) you can smooth the edges with a gloved finger dipped in alcohol

Lesson #2: After it has cured some more and is no longer soft you can use a sharp tool to easily slice off excess before it hardens completely

Lesson #3: After it has hardened completely you can use a hot air gun to soften it so a sharp tool can remove excess but be careful not to heat too much or you'll weaken the joint.

Having built a 12 inch to the foot model myself I'll tag along. While I'm on the subject my "Twelve inch to the foot dinghy" thread was moved to masting and rigging some time ago, can't figure why. As a moderator can you put it back in this section ?

I have wanted to make a field gun and wooden wheels for ages and now that I have a hex ER collet block I thought I'd give it a go. This is a generic design of my own inspired by pics found on the net. It's as much about the exercise and learning opportunities such a project presents as anything else.

Basic shape turned

Mounted in square collet block to drill trunnion holes at 180 degrees

Back in the lathe to finish turning

Trunnions pressed in

Very clever, as usual

In the interest of full disclosure I should inform you that I'm divorced

If more "Honey dos" come your way might I suggest answering with the Beatles classic "Honey don't", you may then wish to duck

Yeah that's an interesting concept, you've set yourself another challenge. It will be interesting to watch it take shape and one to remember I think

In my "Miss Caroline" model build I used small brass nails to secure the keelson to the moulds. I also used them to secure the strakes as I went, the resultant holes are tiny and easily filled with a little wood filler. In my case the floor boards cover most of the holes in the lower hull anyway and I would assume the same would apply in your case but they are so small you have to look for them to see even the ones in plain view up the sides of the hull. My hull is more spartan than yours will be too so they'll disappear easily.

Might I suggest that the indicator disc was probably connected directly to the elevation mechanism rather than the the drive gears for that mechanism.

So it was probably mounted on a shaft that passes through the guns base and connects to the jacking (for want of a better word) mechanism itself, this would give a more direct reading and therefore greater accuracy.

As usual I have run out of superlatives for your attention to detail, I always look forward to your updates.

Congrats on Last Dollar being made the cover girl on the facebook page

I used to joke about my first build that it was amazing it didn't become a flying boat, ie flying across the room. These things teach us patience and the art of recovery.

I don't know how much you know about epoxy but there is generally a period when it has solidified but is still relatively soft. A saving grace when I build the full size Miss Caroline. 

You'll find a sharp chisel or knife will slice through the squeeze out quite easily and cleanly. If the epoxy has passed this point then the careful application of heat from a hot air gun will temporarily soften it and allow easy trimming but don't let it get too hot or the epoxy will fail.

Vaddoc, there is a gas strut at the forward end of the hatch to assist in the raising and lowering

Yeah you're hooked.

You can't stop now so keep building. I'm working on modifications to the full sized Miss Caroline thankfully, it gives respite from the small stuff

4 hours ago, KeithAug said:

 

Steve - excessive if you ask me. 4 large computer screens plus a smaller laptop size screen. I can't even begin to think what they are all for. GPS, Radar, Internet - and after that I run out of ideas.

 

 

Yes I have to agree, what ever happened to "A tall ship and a star to steer her by" 

Bark Endeavour has a comms&nav room in one of the small cabins by the aft companion way and it has one large screen mainly dedicated to wind and a few smaller ones for gps, depth etc but nothing like Germania

That's one hell of a comms/nav station, can't help but wonder how you're going to pull that off.

Well done sir and commiserations on the docking accident. It's a bugger when that sort of things happen but at least in this case you have all the skill to rebuild every part of it.