olliechristo

Whilst im at deck fixtures I felt like getting the cannons built up so i cane check port placements. ,, The kit suplied brass rod for axles but it was a sloppy fit in wheels and i think these small canons may have had timber axles anyhow... i used blackbean and worked it down to 2mm rods... I used bamboo wedges to chock wheels in 1mm holes and they can rotate nicely but not sloppy... I made my own mounts for eyelets also... and a jig to make shackles or clasps to hold canons on mount..
Ready get back to hull work almost,, Ollie

Hi All,
 
 The stem planking is complete on the Starboard side and the port side is about 1/3 done.
 

 

 

 
I have started making the gunport lids. The kit supplied laser cut lids made from 0.8mm ply with pre drilled holes for the ropes to attach to them for opening and closing. The instructions don't mention covering them with any strips of wood but in the drawing showing how to attach the lids to the hull it does seem to show the lid with a lining of planks on both sides of the lid and the planks look to be flush with the lid.
 

 
 
When I tried 1 of the lids in my port I found it almost fell through the lined gunport, as I had cut my ports out to originally fit the pre made supplied port linings this was a bit suprising. So I have decided to use the supplied lid as a plug and plank the outside of it with 1 x 6mm offcuts from the second layer of planks and to leave a overhang of 0.5mm all the way around the lid and to line the inside with 0.5mm sapele that I'm using on the stem
 

 

I am also trying to replcate the run of planks with the gunports , fortunately most of them have only two planks runnig through them but a couple of the lower ports have three with the centre being a full plank and the outer ones cut at different widths 
 

 

 

 

 
 

SWEET!!!

I can't thank you guys enough,,, ! Guess what John I got up early and did exactly that,, got some solvent on the bell and cleaned her up and satin clear coated... I had a look at some pictures and I've even impressed myself with this creation.. here she is pretty much done, might blacken up the mounting a little more as have you have suggested TOM.

Cheers, Ollie!  Give us a yell next time you'll be down in the 'Big Smoke'!
 
John

Looking good, Ollie!
 
John

I was photographing Rainbow Bee-eaters in that cemetery in July.  "Just down the road in Martyn Street" - sound s like you live in Cairns, Ollie - pity I didn't know you before our trip north!
 
John

Ollie,
 
In well run ships it was common for the bell to be polished to within an inch of its life.  Can I suggest just some clear gloss finish to protect the shine?
 
John

Sorry! I missed a chance to compliment you on how well you did the bell and mounting. Very nice work!! Jim is also correct about a polish job for the bell, but the metal parts of the mounting would be black.
Don't forget to stagger your plank endings. Check out small schooners and yachts. There are a whole bunch of ways to finish the planking and you can pick and choose between them!! They are still using the same rules today!

Thanks Eamonn
Tom, that makes sense to me
Yes I have been using flat black enamel, and will probably stay with that,. But will do some research anyhow,,Cheers

Thanks Eamonn
Tom, that makes sense to me
Yes I have been using flat black enamel, and will probably stay with that,. But will do some research anyhow,,Cheers

Well thanks heaps again guys. I'm getting keen to start that deck planking in the next week..  Not sure of what pattern to do, any ideas are welcome.. Just want to be organised and plan ahead..
 
SO I put on my metal working costume and set about making the bell, I was keen..    About 4.5 hours and a heap of enjoyment..
 
After the last adapter adaption going so well I took another football valve and this one was brass, so nice to work with.. The rest kind of explains itself, lots of filing and fiddling..   In the last pic i have tried misting it with black and then satin clear coated, not great, might retry something else... 
 
Should I invest in this metal blacken stuff? Can i make my own home concoction perhaps, hmmm I will look into it... Enjoy the pics and thanks for looking. Ollie

Coloring metal is chancy if you don't know the alloy.....I might suggest... God forbid... a flat black paint?!? Perhaps gun bluing compounds are available? I know you can get it to look black if you immerse the item long enough.   Experiment a bit and check out a "Machinery's Hand Book" one of the earlier editions should have a ton of info in it about the coloring of metal.   Good luck   This might work on guns and other metal fittings.
 
Tom
 
P. S.  What did you use on the windlass??

Well thanks heaps again guys. I'm getting keen to start that deck planking in the next week..  Not sure of what pattern to do, any ideas are welcome.. Just want to be organised and plan ahead..
 
SO I put on my metal working costume and set about making the bell, I was keen..    About 4.5 hours and a heap of enjoyment..
 
After the last adapter adaption going so well I took another football valve and this one was brass, so nice to work with.. The rest kind of explains itself, lots of filing and fiddling..   In the last pic i have tried misting it with black and then satin clear coated, not great, might retry something else... 
 
Should I invest in this metal blacken stuff? Can i make my own home concoction perhaps, hmmm I will look into it... Enjoy the pics and thanks for looking. Ollie

Looks grand to me Ollie, not sure if a ships bell would be black so that finish seems ok.
 
Eamonn
 
BTW you must be cornering the market in Valve Adaptors at this stage.. Keep up the great work!

Well thanks heaps again guys. I'm getting keen to start that deck planking in the next week..  Not sure of what pattern to do, any ideas are welcome.. Just want to be organised and plan ahead..
 
SO I put on my metal working costume and set about making the bell, I was keen..    About 4.5 hours and a heap of enjoyment..
 
After the last adapter adaption going so well I took another football valve and this one was brass, so nice to work with.. The rest kind of explains itself, lots of filing and fiddling..   In the last pic i have tried misting it with black and then satin clear coated, not great, might retry something else... 
 
Should I invest in this metal blacken stuff? Can i make my own home concoction perhaps, hmmm I will look into it... Enjoy the pics and thanks for looking. Ollie

Dave, thanks for the tip regarding the hoop and pegs.
 
Bob, I am pleased that you are following along. I did look at the windings on a couple of very small motors today both were a larger Diameter than the telephone coil wire, which is .0028"
 
Early this morning while reaching for a piece of wire I caught the top of the mast and snapped about 1/4 inch off, so I had to make a new mast. I decided to use some of the Lilac so stripped off a 1/16 x 1/16th square of it, then filed it round in the new mini dowel filing jig.
 

 
next is a shot of the telephone coils
 

 
And a close up of the wire with the thread coating.
 

 
I needed to make a modification to the filing jig so that I could also use it as a drilling jig, to that end I added an adjustable saddle for the pin vice with an elevating screw to counteract the taper on the mast or other spars. there is also a second V groove for the initial shaping. for the shaping of the mast I made a couple of paddle sanding sticks so that the taper was even they are 400 and 600
 

 
Drilling the .008' holes was a bit nerve wracking, I pushed the mast down onto the v groove which stopped it from rotating while I drilled the hole with a watchmaking pivot drill in another pin vice.
 
the next picture shows the .0028 wire through the hole at the top of the new mast the diameter at the top is .030 which is a bit heavy but looks OK.
 

 
the next picture shows filing down the shoulder on the mast to fit the hole in the deck. I really like the way this new jig works.
 

 
The next **** shows the goosneck fixed into the mast the wire is 36 gauge wrapped around some .011 hard wire then closed up a little more with a couple of pairs of pliers.
 

 
the next two show the current state of the build, with the old mast being salvaged and being used as the bowsprit.  I am going to take a break from the micro it is hard on my nerves, and get back to the Bristol cutter for a bit.
 

 
 

 
Michael
 

Hi Ollie,
 
I think most planks were between 18 and 25 feet long so at your scale of 1:48, if my maths are correct, your planks should be between 115 and 160mm long depending on how you work out the pattern for your deck.  A 100mm plank would equate to a real length of  about 15 feet

Bulwark linings done.Jig for gallant rails worked out o.k.Hatch covers next.

Thanks Jeff, great info...  The kit says to cut planks at 100mm lengths.. I'm not sure if this appropriate scale or not..  Getting my head around  how to do the margin plank..  Should get a few more hours in today..  Ollie

Thanks so much all of you..!!!  You are keeping me very enthusiastic about my build..
 
I have spent another 3 hours on windlass. It has been a challenge, but all in all, not that hard.. I just need to work out the ratchet and release mechanism now.. I like the one on the 'Harriet' and you may notice that i basically copied my windlass by eye.. I like the little bell on top of the post, i would like to know what it is for and if it was common.. I gather it has something to do with the anchor procedures..
 
Also any reccomendations on the deck planking would be great... Should this cutter's deck have a margin plank around it?
 
Happy crafting all.

Great work on the windlass, Ollie.
 
Jeff is spot on with his advice re the bell and margin plank.
 
On large modern ships the bell is (or was when I was at sea) certainly used in anchor work - to ring out the number of shackles of cable (each of 15 fathoms length) that were in the water.
 
John

Thanks so much all of you..!!!  You are keeping me very enthusiastic about my build..
 
I have spent another 3 hours on windlass. It has been a challenge, but all in all, not that hard.. I just need to work out the ratchet and release mechanism now.. I like the one on the 'Harriet' and you may notice that i basically copied my windlass by eye.. I like the little bell on top of the post, i would like to know what it is for and if it was common.. I gather it has something to do with the anchor procedures..
 
Also any reccomendations on the deck planking would be great... Should this cutter's deck have a margin plank around it?
 
Happy crafting all.

Spencer,
 
Sorry I was a bit obtuse.  QA's explanation of my confusion is correct.
 
The photo below might show you what I mean.  It shows my Stag with the deck planking part completed.  The red arrow is pointing to the margin plank (the edging).  The green arrow shows joggled planks (the planks with the shaped ends) fitted into the margin.  The purple arrow simply points to the uncut or shaped portion of the margin plank outside the planking currently fitted.
 
The next plank to go on will have its end shaped and then the margin will be marked using the shaped plank end as a template and then cut to fit the shaped plank end.  The trick with this method is to make sure you have a REALLY sharp blade to cut out the margin so that you don't get any torn edges.
 
You can get a larger view simply by clicking your mouse on the photo.
 
John