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woodrat

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  1. woodrat
    Shown here is the final addition to the quarter rudder mounting. This is a sliding rod (the dark rod ) which can slide in and out to lock the rudder against the lower through-beam. When it is required to raise the rudder, the sliding rod is slid back in. I believe this can be seen on the mounting of the Black Sea "round ship" Dick Slid out Slid in This is capture from the Black Sea video showing the quarter rudders from above and it shows the sliding rod as well:
  2. woodrat
    Thanks, Mark. In 1204 the blind Doge Dandolo, conspiring with his treacherous crusader partners, laid siege to, overcame and sacked with sickening slaughter the tottering Byzantine capital of Constantinople. Scuttling back to Venice with their loot (including the 4 bronze horses still seen on the facade of Sr Marks basilica) the venetians set to work to control the trading routes. The Byzantine empire was dismembered and Venice greedily clutched new possessions to her chest including the Peloponnese peninsula and Crete. Venice now controlled trade through the Adriatic, the Eastern Mediterranean, through the Dardanelles, into the Black Sea and as far as the Crimea. During the 14th century Venice was competing with its deadly rival the Genoese republic for control of the trading routes in the Mediterranean. After some scrappy battles, Venice was victorious, became pre-eminent in trade until superseded in the mid 15th century. Venice traded even as far as Northern Europe with its long range merchant galleys. Progressive loss of prestige and degeneration reduced the venetian republic to a shell until the latest bully Napoleon Buonaparte squashed Venice with his thumb in 1797. Here are some pics of the port quarter rudder in the up position. Note that the hoist is tight and the "uphaul" loose. Cheers Dick
  3. woodrat
    Steven, I am at about the same point with my round ship. That is, working out masting, associated tackle and deck furniture/machinery. There is very little contemporary help and the Black Sea is keeping its secrets for the nonce. However, there are some illustrations 12th and 13th century which show the halyard block and tackle heading obliquely at about 60 degrees back to the lower halyard block which is just in front of the poop or steersman . This is analogous to the way it is done in dhows. The halyard tackle was more vertical in carracks and cogs. I would be cautious using 19th century lateen rig as a model. I believe the pulleys in the "calcet" should point fore and aft so the yard can fall forward away from the mast (pole mast or built?) Dick
  4. woodrat
    Whatever type of truss you choose (and I don't think there are many wrong choices) you need to be able to loosen and tighten the truss with a tackle from deck level. The truss needs to be loosened to allow the yard to fall away from the mast (which is angled forward) so that the yard can be lowered or raised. It also needs to be loosened when the yard is transported around the mast during tacking (see Landstrom). Have you thought about where to put the halyard blocks? Dick
  5. woodrat
    Thanks, Druxey and Steven. The tackle as presently rigged allows an arc of 60 deg. That is 30 degrees in and 30 degrees out. This all that is required to steer since having a foil cross-sectioned rudder at angles of attack greater than 30 degrees leads to turbulence and a probable stall at 45 degrees (Gillmer and Johnson 1982 , Introduction to Naval Architecture. Quoted in L Mott: The Development of the Rudder.) Cheers Dick
  6. woodrat
    I have rigged the starboard quarter rudder using a system which I believe is shown in the Veneziano painting of the translatio of St Mark. The only way I could do this was to use a double pulley on the "uphaul" and with the ropes going under the throughbeam around the rudder and back up to the pulleys. The rudder hoist I have left as single pulleys. With the rudder in the down position the hoist is loose and the uphaul tight and pulling the rudder against the throughbeam. Dick
  7. woodrat
    I don't think it makes one iota of difference! Dick
  8. woodrat
    The hull framing is complete and looks more tidy. Now to plan the deck beams Dick
  9. woodrat
    Steven, I have had a message from Prof. Mauro Bondioli. In his learned opinion, rudder blades were indeed coated with pitch. Dick
  10. woodrat
    Here are pics showing the framing of the bow and hawse timbers which need to be strong. Dick
  11. woodrat
    No. The aft end of the curved guides (inner and outer) is permanently fixed to an extended beam. To remove the rudder when in port all that is required is to disconnect the rudder hoist and "uphaul". The rudder is reversed out of the mount with the help of a boat. The rudder then is floated off and towed away by one of the boats. It is reinstalled in the opposite manner, again with the help of a boat. That is my interpretation. Also, do you think that the rudder blades were coated with pitch? The MIchael of Rhodes manuscript shows the blades blackened. Dick
  12. woodrat
    Alberto, what is your specialty in archaeology, if you don't mind my asking? Dick
  13. woodrat
    I closely read Lawrence Mott's thesis. the poop superstructure is based solely on Veneziano's Pala Feriale transport of St Mark, as is the bow structure (to follow soon). The length of the rudders is 1/3 of keel length (Fabrica di Galere and Michael of Rhodes) Having fun. Dick
  14. woodrat
    Thanks, Alberto for the links to Twitter. They did work and I have had a good look at the mediaeval merchantman from 13th century. The rudder mount seems to tally with mine and I feel somewhat encouraged. The Contarina I wreck upon which I largely based my reconstruction has been tentatively dated to 1300 and so can really be regarded as a 13th century vessel contemporaneous with the Black Sea example. Unfortunately Amazon wont ship the video to Australia and Amazon Australia has never heard of it. It will turn up somewhere, I suppose. I am now turning my attention to the bow which is more bluff than the Black Sea vessel. Here are pictures of the quarter rudders in the down and up position. Cheers Dick
  15. woodrat
    verrry interesting! I have not heard that. Can anyone clarify this? The wedges were solidly hammered in and woolded. It would be no mean feat to take them out and replace them for an extra knot or two even if the mast did not go by the board. Keel-haul the captain, I say! Cheers, Dick
  16. woodrat
    The structures surrounding the mast base at deck level are indeed wedges inserted around the mast at the mast partners. These wedges are then tightly woolded with stout rope (see my cocha build). Without these wedges at deck level, the strain on the mast foot would lead to early failure. The coin needs to be byzantine of the correct period, I agree. Dick
  17. woodrat
    Steven that foremast looks like it has a curve to it. Love the poop super structure. It would make sense to use wedges. Don't forget the coin under the mast foot. Dick
  18. woodrat
    Thanks Steven Attached is a rough draft of the rudder and its tackle as I see it. Rudder curved guides are not shown. The hoist and "uphaul" are shown. The forces holding the rudder to the throughbeam and upper beam are shown as red arrows. This system will allow easy re-installation of the rudders and easy raising . Of course the uphaul would need to be cast off to allow the hoist to raise the rudder. I will demonstrate this later when I have made the rudders. It is rather like the system shown in Veneziano paintings ( one of the more reliable artists) Cheers Dick
  19. woodrat
    For what it's worth, having read and re read Lawrence Mott and reviewed contemporary iconography, I am coming to the view that most artists did not know what they were drawing or carving. They represented what they thought they saw. They might, for instance see curved rudder guides in a swing mount and interpret them as ring or box mounts or even through-the-hull jobbies. Artists are unreliable draughtsmen but produce tantalising representations. I await the publication of archaeological results from the Black Sea. Were any rudders found at Yenikapi? Dick
  20. woodrat
    Thanks Steven. A couple of these are new to me. The Veneziano in particular shows detail of the poop deck which I was puzzling over and is very helpful. Some of the others such as the San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro - Pavia show the curved guide timbers much as I have done them. The Sant'Eustorgio is gorgeous and shows the rudder hoist and downhaul ropes well but looks like a box mount . It is hard to see how the rudder could swing up. Cheers Dick
  21. woodrat
    It would only be fair to share them with our colleagues. Pray send them here. Dick
  22. woodrat
    That is what the curved guides would prevent. There was also a rudder "uphaul" which used to raise the rudder. Additional lashing would be added in a heavy sea. But I am not sure if swing mounts had developed early enough to be seen on a dromon. This is a galley from the Michael of Rhodes manuscript showing a quarter rudder raised and being secured by what I have interpreted as curved guide timbers This is one of the black sea wrecks of a similar vessel showing the quarter rudders and the throughbeams. I think I can see evidence of a swing mount....maybe?
  23. woodrat
    The rudders, strictly speaking, won't be "lashed" to the throughbeams, rather held by 3 point pressure generated by the rudder "downhaul" which pulls the rudder onto the aft edge of the lower throughbeam and the forward edge of the upper beam. If that is as clear as mud in a beerbottle, the model will make it clear. This is seen in a number of illustrations by Veneziano:
  24. woodrat
    This in my concept of the swing mount used to attach the quarter rudders. The rudders had to be removed and given to the port authorities as a safeguard against sneaking out without paying port fees. So the rudders ahd to be easy to remount. Also, loss of a rudder was not uncommon at sea and mounting a new rudder had to be straightforward. (and a sight easier than remounting a stern post rudder. The quarter rudder had to be able to swing horizontally out of the way in shallow water to prevent damage. Also the weather rudder could be withdrawn if the ship was heeling. The ship was steered then by the lee rudder. There were many different variants of swing mounts. Here is a contemporary illustration showing a swing mount. This how it is on my ship: This the rudder rotated up ( this would be done by a rudder hoist) and would be even more horizontal when fully raised. Dick
  25. woodrat
    This is my plank bending jig. Planks are soaked for 24 - 48 hours. No steaming. the framing of poop. The stern deck framing is underneath the poop. Note the pillars with the red balls. This will become the shelter for the steersman. Making the external supports for the poop. This can be used to make complex curves. 0.5 mm planks are glued and clamped and allowed to set overnight. It saves a lot of carving. sorry about the soft focus I will show the swing mount for the quarter rudder in the next installment Cheers Dick

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