JerryTodd

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 56 – Wax finishes, deck clamps
 
 
Thanks, Jim and amateur for your comments.
 
Before getting into the next part of the work, I have included some information on wax finishes, since that got some discussion after the last post.  Also, I need to make some decisions on finishes soon.  The first picture shows some wood samples that have been treated with various wax finishes.
 

 
A composite sample was prepared with four strips about ½” wide, glued to a plywood base, sanded and then buffed with steel wool.  The top strip is heartwood cherry, below that is Swiss pear, then Castelo (sometimes sold as boxwood) and at the bottom is genuine European Boxwood.  The primary woods on this model will be Swiss pear (for oak) and Castelo ( for hard pine).
 
The samples were cut apart and all treated with turpentine/wax solutions, 2 coats, and then allowed to dry for 24 hours.  They were treated, from left to right as follows. 1. natural, ordinary beeswax, 2. a blend of white and yellow food grade beeswax.  (This yellow is less yellow than the natural wax – probably less pollen.),  3. white food grade beeswax, 4. petroleum based microcrystalline wax (Renaissance), also in turpentine.  Sample 5 has no finish.
 
Sample 5 is the lightest.  Samples 2,3 and 4 are virtually identical and very slightly darker.  Sample1 is the darkest.  The next picture shows sample 1 next to the unfinished sample 5.
 

 
The contrast here is more evident.  After looking at all of these in different lights it is clear that the natural beeswax is darkest and most yellow.  The less pale yellow shows up as lighter than the blend - which makes no sense.  That, the white beeswax and the microcrystalline are virtually the same shade as the unfinished.  The slightly darker look may be unevaporated turpentine.  Turpentine dries slowly.  We’ll see what happens in a few days.  All the wood samples were chosen from pieces with pronounced grain, relatively speaking.  The test shows the quite heavy grain in the cherry as opposed to the other woods.
 
I will probably do some more work with the pale yellow wax to tone down the natural.  We’ll see.  For me, genuine boxwood probably does not need any yellow wax.  Castello needs some yellow to bring it to life.  Pear has a dusty white hue that also benefits from some darkening and some yellow – all my opinions, of course.  Although I did not test oils, varnish, shellac or polyeurthane, all are much darker and more yellow.  Water based sanding sealer (straight acrylic emulsion) has no color.
 
The next few pictures show finishing work on the mizzen step.  In the first picture very dilute liver of sulfur solution is being applied to the copper bolt heads to turn them black.
 

 
I have been advocating liver of sulfur to blacken copper for some time – including in the Naiad books – partly because it leaves surrounding wood unaffected.  I want to stress here when used like this the solution needs to be dilute (Do tests.).  In the next picture the solution has been left to dry on the wood.
 

 
At this point the solution has self-neutralized to white and dried.  Two of the bolts had some residual epoxy on them and did not turn black, so they had to be sanded again and retreated after this picture was taken.  Note that there is no trace of stain from the LOS.  If too strong a solution is used, the wood may show gray-green blotches.  If this happens, that can be removed with white vinegar.  I have only had this happen once – but vinegar seems to be the antidote.  The next picture shows the step being treated with wax solution.
 

 
This picture was taken a few minutes after the area was wetted with wax/turp solution.  In the picture it is being dry-brushed to remove and spread excess.
 
The last few pictures show work on the lower deck clamps.  The top surfaces of these need to be “dubbed off” horizontal.  As installed, the clamps are angled to varying degree over their length.  The first picture shows the pronounced angle near the bow.
 

 
The wood strip in this picture should lie flat on the clamps and be horizontal.  To achieve this, the clamps were pared over their length with a chisel as shown below, then faired out with a file.
 

 
Because the angle varies the paring needs to be tested while proceeding.  In the next picture a straight steel wire is being used for a check.
 

 
The wire fits more easily between the frames and the iron latticework.
 
After dubbing off the clamps, the next step will be installing the reinforcing breast and deck hooks at the bow and stern.
 
 
Ed

Here's a quick post with overlapping sail sheeting ideas, just tossed together...
 
Any one that sails knows when tacking, simply put, you let fly the lee sheet at helms-a-lee and take in the new lee shet after the heads'ls across the wind/centerline.
Accomplishing that in a model isn't as easy as it sounds.  For one thing, remote set-up don't tend to work well with slack.  Slack lines tend to snag things and there's no one aboard to clear these snags when they occur.  There's also the issue of space in the hull and access for installation, maintenance, and adjustments.  Servo arms long enough to pull the required length won't usually have the room in the hull to do it.  Winches don't have this issue, but have issues all their own - especially with slack.
 
Typical way of handling overlapping sails with a winch from Dan L:

 
A servo arm set-up from the late Jimmy James:

 
A two servo design.  One servo pulls the sheet to port or starboard, the second servo moves the first servo itself to let in or out the sheets, from someone on Model Boat Mayhem forums:

 
My playing with the above idea, but with one servo.  Instead of a servo sliding the other one fore and aft, the servo slides itself via a line to the other side of the arm.

 
The sliding sheet: the sheet slides through the clew until a knot pulls it over the stay.  Sheet doesn't require a lot of tension if used with a servo arm, if with a winch, that's another issue

 
Someone posted this on RCGroups a while back and it looked really promising to me, but...
I've mocked this up on the bench and couldn't get get a pull of much length.  It's also tough to start the arm from center as the servo hasn't as much leverage.
Trying to make this work within the space available in the hull hasn't been successful but I'm convinced something along this line is the answer.

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 55 – More hold work
 
The plan has been to finish all of the work in the lower part of the hold so finish can be applied to this area before moving upward to work on the lower deck.  The first picture shows the main mast step and the water tank base.
 

 
The members to support the off-center beam pillars are being positioned in this picture using a straightedge.  In the next picture they have been glued down.
 

 
This picture also shows the addition of one last 6” wide strake of planking to bring the width of the limber channel down to the required 10”.  In this picture a few limber boards have just been glued over that final channel – hence the wet spot.  The pins on the opposite side are holding the last plank on that side.
 
The next picture shows some more limber boards in place plus a pile to one side.  The ceiling planking and other structures have just received one coat of beeswax-turpentine finish.
 

 
When dry, the shade of this finish will be about halfway between the two shades in this picture.  Surfaces that will receive glue later have not been coated.
 
The next picture shows some work on the Mizzen step.
 

 
The chunk of pear being marked will be cut to the shape of the knee and then slit into two to fashion the forward knees.  The aft knees are roughly fit at this stage.  In the next picture the mizzen step is almost finished.
 

 
Bolts have been installed down through the frames with epoxy.  These will have to be filed off and the assembly finish sanded.  The bolts will then be blackened to represent iron.
 
The last picture shows the current status.
 

 
With the ceiling planking darkened the contrast with the bilge strakes above is clearer.  This shows the convergence of the heavy bilge strakes forward to butt into the bottom of the lower deck clamp.  In this configuration the heavy band acts like a girder to reduce hogging strains.
 
It will soon be time to start work on the lower deck framing.
 
Ed
 
 

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 54 – Treenailing, steps, water tank plinth
 
The first picture shows the treenailing of the ceiling planking on the port side in progress.
 

 
Treenails have been glued in and clipped off on the center to right side of the picture.  To the left, holes have been drilled and are waiting for nails.  The next picture was taken later around the midship area.
 

 
In this picture the nails have been filed off flush and the planking finish sanded and polished up with some steel wool.  The iron blunts at the butts are more pronounced.  The step of the main mast is in position but has not been permanently fixed.  It still needs assembly bolts.  The next picture shows more of the port side ceiling and both forward mast steps.
 

 
I had to catch up on some drafting in order to move forward with the permanent fixing of the steps.  I had not yet detailed some additional hold members.  The next picture shows some of the additional members required in the midship area.
 

 
Some of the pillars in this area are located outside of the openings for the main hatch, the mast partners and the two large square tanks that stored fresh water.  These off-center pillars will be installed on the long base members shown loose in the above photo.  The next picture shows the beginning of construction of the plinth that will support the water tanks.
 

 
These two iron tanks rested on the keelson and are about 6 feet wide, so additional supports were needed on either side.  These are being built up as a solid base of 8” x 8” members.  The first layer of these is shown in the above picture.  The next picture shows this first layer being leveled off on the port side.
 

 
The lower members were shaped to match the hull curvature, but the final structure needs to be flat at the top.  The next picture shows the completed plinth.
 

 
The top of this substantial base has been fitted with 6” x 6” dunnage beams.  The two flat-bottomed iron tanks will rest on these.  The aft tank is 6000 gallons and extends up to just below the main deck, a height of about 20 feet.  The smaller 2000 gallon tank is 12 feet high with its top just under the middle deck.  I don’t know why these were so tall.  I would have thought shorter tanks with a larger footprint in the hold would be better for stability, but the source is reliable.  These were usually round, but Webb installed square tanks in Challenge and that was the basis for this design.  I assumed no change would be made in the short interval between Challenge and YA.
 
The pillar support members seen in this picture have not yet been shaped or installed.  There will be three pairs of pillars on the forward set and two pairs on the set astride the tanks.
 
The last picture shows the final installation of the foremast step.
 

 
After gluing the assembly on to the keelson and the ceiling planking, holes for the bolts in the horizontal arms of the knees were drilled down through the frames.  Copper wire through-bolts were then epoxied into place.  Long bolts through the centerline of the cap were inserted into the keelson in what had been locating-pin holes.  All these bolts were iron and will be blackened before applying finish.
 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 53 – Mast Steps
 
With the ceiling planking finally installed, I could move on to some other, more interesting, work – the mast steps.  The planking and some of the bilge ceiling still needs to have many fastenings installed before the mast steps are permanently fitted, but for a change of pace I decided to make the steps next – installing fastenings concurrently in small doses. 
 
The first picture shows the parts of the foremast step before final fitting.
 

 
The next picture shows the general configuration of these roughed out, unfinished  parts.
 

 
The typical step consists of a cap – as yet unmortised – two side chocks with their grain direction vertical and four knees.  The next picture shows some of the parts of the main and mizzen steps.  I installed a horizontal chock under the cap of the mizzen step to provide additional height for the knees.
 

 
The caps are supported directly on the keelson and the side chocks.  These chocks rest directly on the frames.  I mentioned earlier that the limber channels by which water runs to the pumps are cut on the underside of the frames on these ships, so the step chocks as shown would not block this flow.
 
In the next picture a clamp has been used to hold the chocks against the keelson. Tthe cap was then glued only to the chocks, so the assembly could be removed.  In this picture the cap glue has set and holes for bolts into the chocks are being drilled.
 

 
The cap will next be bolted to the chocks (copper wire epoxied) to secure the connection.  Pin holes to precisely locate the step are also drilled into the keelson and will later be used for bolts.  Below, the foremast step has been pinned in place for fitting and gluing of the knees to the sides.
 

 
One of the knees is being glued in this picture.  The step is still removable.  It can be installed permanently only after the treenailing and bolting of the ceiling planking is finished.  The next picture shows the knees attached.
 

 
In this picture the step assembly had been removed to the bench for the installation of the bolts holding the knees to the side and the simulated bolts through the chocks and the keelson.  The next picture shows the main mast step with the knees glued but not yet bolted to the sides.
 

 
The last picture shows the positions of the steps within the hull.
 

 
Knees are still needed on the mizzen step.  This picture also provides a good view of the extent and shape of the ceiling planking.  At this stage all of the ceiling bolts on both sides are installed, but the Treenailing of the port side has yet to be done.
 
Ed
 
 

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 52 – Port side ceiling continued
 
The planking of the floor on the port side continues – dull work, but with some interesting quirks as the planking approaches the keelson.
 
The first picture shows some planking strips sawed off of a wide blank of Castelo – a substitute for real European boxwood.  I am using Castelo wherever hard or yellow pine would have been used on the original.
 

 
These planks are 8” wide and slightly over the 4” thick specification.  This allows some extra thickness for leveling out and sanding the installed planking.  The 4” strips are cut from the 8” thick blank to the left that has been painted with two coats of dark brown acrylic latex paint – ordinary hardware store variety – to simulate the caulked joints between planks.
 
The next picture shows a strake of this planking being installed.
 

 
After the plank is cut and fit, yellow glue is applied to the top of each frame.  Dark glue is then applied to the painted edge of the plank and the butt end.  The plank is then held in place at each frame, drilled and pinned. The pins fit tightly and need to be forced into the smaller holes with pliers to hold the piece until dry.  The holes will later be used for treenails and iron blunts at the butts.  Water is immediately used to brush off excess glue.
 
Because the line of these strakes is closer to the keelson at the fore and aft ends, a number of planks need to be “dropped” so the planking will finish parallel to the keelson at the limber channel.  I started dropping planks after a few of the initial strakes were installed over the full length.  The next few pictures show – very briefly – how the number and positions of the dropped planks were determined,
 

 
The process is conceptually simple but can get confusing in practice.  I will not try to describe it completely here.  As shown in the above picture, the widths of the planks are marked off on a slip of card and numbered from the end.  The number of full strakes to the keelson can then be determined and marked at each point along the hull using the marks on the card.  The distance between the marks can then be used to set the taper from two planks down to one – thus dropping a plank toward the ends.
 
The next picture shows the marks being used to set the point where the next plank will be dropped.  I normally do not drop more than one or two planks in a single strake.
 

 
The plank has already been tapered to half-width at “6”.  It will be notched at the point marked “7”, cut halfway through at that point, then tapered up to full width at the point being marked at  “8”.  The next picture shows the plank that is being marked above being filed to shape – on the unpainted side.
 

 
In the next picture this plank is being installed.
 

 
I hold the plank tight to its neighbor using the pliers as shown in the above picture.  The pin hole location is then center-marked and drilled.  The pliers are then used to push in a pin and secure the plank.
 
In the next picture the aftermost piece in this strake has been tapered to the “drop” point and is being fit into position
 

 
The last picture shows the floor after the installation of this strake.  A few more planks will need to be dropped before getting to the limber strake next to the keelson.  This method was used on the finished starboard side.
 
 

 
I usually recheck remark the drop points after each strake is installed.  I expect the divergence to be fully corrected before installing the last two strakes.
 
I hope this brief explanation has not been to confusing.
 
Ed
 
 

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 51 – Port side ceiling continued
 
It has been about a week since the last post.  Seems longer.  Work has been progressing, but most of it is similar to work covered in earlier posts, so there has not been much of interest to add.  The first picture shows the bilge ceiling being installed under the lower deck clamp aft on the port side.
 

 
At this stage all of the iron strapping is in place on both sides, so now it’s a matter of keeping it undamaged until it is covered by the various internal planking and clamps.  The next picture shows some of the lower strakes of the thick bilge ceiling being installed.
 

 
A fair amount of clamping is required to pull these 8” x 8” timbers into place and hold them there while the glue dries.  The deck clamps have been extended concurrently with work on the ceiling.  This can be seen in the next picture, which shows the current state of the model.
 

 
Below is another view showing the open areas in the bilge ceiling.  Later, nine frames in each of these sections and an aft section will be removed up to the height of the middle deck clamps.
 

 
The entire bilge ceiling is complete in this picture.  The thinner floor ceiling planking has not yet begun on the port side.  The next picture shows a closer view of the central view port area.
 

 
All of the bilge ceiling has been leveled out and given a preliminary sanding to allow the remaining iron (copper wire)  bolts to be installed.  All of the bolts have been installed in the completed deck clamps.
 
The last picture shows the starboard lower hull. 
 

 
In this picture the protruding bolts installed thus far have been filed and sanded off.  There are many more to install as the inside work continues.  The bolts are relatively invisible at this stage but will be much more prominent when etched black. 
 
The next step is to plank the floor area on the port side.
 
Ed
 

Bedford, every time I build a boat I get ideas to make the next differently.
 
Bob

Now the ship is on its "legs"

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 50 – Port side ceiling continued
 
In the first picture some of the 8” thick bilge ceiling members between the forward and midship view ports have been installed and one of the lower members is being glued into place.
 

 
The next picture shows this area a bit later, unobscured by clamping.
 

 
Strapping installation has been proceeding in parallel and keeping ahead of the ceiling members and deck clamps.  The next picture shows the extent of the midship view port – left free of strapping.  The members marked “X” will be removed later up to the middle deck clamp.
 

 
In addition to exposing the inside of the lower hull, the view ports will also show the cross sections of the ceiling and other inboard planking and structural members.  A part of the ceiling cross section can be seen below.
 

 
Below is another view of the port side inboard area aft of midship.
 

 
Bolting of the bilge ceiling and deck clamps is keeping pace with the other work.  The next picture shows the area between the view ports drilled and partially bolted.
 

 
The bilge ceiling ends are easier to fit after the lower deck clamp is in place.  The next picture shows the aftermost section of the lower deck clamp being installed.
 

 
The strapping is nearing completion in this picture.  The next picture shows most of the strapping work completed.  A few lower pieces near midship have not yet been installed.
 

 
The outline of the aft view port can be seen in this picture.
 
 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 49 – Hull cleanup, Port side ceiling
 
Before moving to the interior of the port side, I wanted to remove the protruding bilge ceiling bolts on the starboard side of the hull.  There will be many more of these to be added but the installed wires are a hazard.  The first picture shows the epoxied through-bolts being clipped off.
 

 
The remaining bolt stubs and epoxy were then filed off as shown below.  A fine cut file works best for this because it doesn’t “grab” on the wire.
 

 
The next picture shows the lower hull sanded after removal of the bolt heads.
 

 
The next picture is a close up showing how the iron strapping will appear between the frames.  Most of the strapping on the inside will be covered with planking.
 

 
The copper wire bolts are bright in this picture and will be blackened later, just before applying finish to the hull.
 
The next picture shows the start of work on the port side with the installation of the first strip of bilge ceiling near midship.
 

 
This first strip is installed just below the heads of the first futtocks.  This sets the line of the bilge ceiling that the other strakes will follow.  There are four more thick strakes below this.  Above it, thick members extend up to the lower deck clamp as on the starboard side.  It may seem odd to install this before the strapping, but I did it for two reasons.  First, I wanted a very secure joint with the frames, especially on this side where a number of frames will be removed above this joint and below the middle deck clamp – to provide view ports into the hull.  Secondly, the pins shown in this picture were used to correct any irregular spacing between the frames.  This had to be done before strapping.  After gluing and before removing the clamps, most of these pins were replaced by copper bolts.
 
The next picture shows the first section of lower deck clamp being installed.
 

 
In this picture and the one that follows, the frames marked “X” will be cut out between the lower futtock heads and the middle deck clamp to provide the view ports.
 
The next picture shows the strapping covering all but the forward view port area.  There will be three of these view ports, one at each mast.
 

 
Sections of the deck clamps have also been added.  The lower deck clamp is not glued or bolted to the “X” frames, but the frames are securely bolted to the clamps above.  Note from the “X’s” that there are three groups of three frames to be cut out. This will be done much later when the structure has been well reinforced by additional members.
 
The last picture shows the strake of bilge ceiling extended forward along the lower futtock heads to intersect with the lower deck clamp.
 

 
All of these members are being epoxy bolted through the frames as they are installed to provide the primary strength to the joints with the frames.  Glue alone is not enough, especially where there is strapping.
 
 
Ed

Sphinx from Alex

Amerigo Vespucci from Schiffebastler

Real de France

Friesland by Dieter

Lady Nelson by Lady Hamilton

Royal Sovereign from AVbiker

Wappen von Hamburg

SMS Trinkstein

As time goes by ...

Prince

America from Werner - I like it, its a plastic kit :-)
Cardboard models

 
What a day!!!

For those, who have access, find plenty-plenty-plenty more pictures at:
http://www.segelschiffsmodellbau.com/t2644f93-RE-Forumstreffen-Sued-Das-Happening.html
 
Cheers, Daniel

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 48 – Starboard Ceiling Treenailing and Bolting
 
In the first picture, the floor ceiling planking is installed except for Treenailing.  The thicker bilge ceiling above it  has been completed up to the underside of the lower deck clamp, except for the bolting.
 
 
 
While the last few strakes of bilge ceiling were being installed both the bolting and treenailing was begun.  The next picture shows some of these fasteners installed.
 

 
The copper wire bolts in the thicker ceiling show as bright dots in this picture.  They were iron bolts driven through each frame and riveted flush inside and out.  Before finish is applied these will be blackened.  This section of floor planking below the thicker strakes has been treenailed and some sanding has begun.  The butt ends of these planks were secured with iron blunts, represented here by black monofilament CA glued in.
 
All of the tree nailing was completed in three sessions that included making the treenail strips from bamboo skewers.  In the next picture one of these .020” strips has been dipped in glue and is being inserted into a predrilled hole.
 

 
The holes are just large enough for a slip fit.  After pressing to the bottom of the hole using the clippers, the strip is cut off as shown below, the new end is sharpened with a razor blade and the process is repeated a few hundred times.
 

 
The excess glue is washed off with clean water.  When dry the nail heads are filed off flush as shown below.
 

 
The planking was then sanded with 120-grit followed by 220-grit paper and then buffed with Scotchbrite as shown below.
 

 
The next picture shows the area at the stern after these steps.
 

 
The next picture shows a section of the ceiling after all of the treenailing was installed and the planking sanded and buffed. 
 

 
The wire bolting of the thicker strakes is only partially complete on the right side of this picture. The treenails are not too pronounced in this picture, but they will “pop out” and be more visible when finish is applied later.  The iron bolts at the butts are quite visible here.  The copper bolts into the top of the keelson at the lower margin of the picture were copper and will not be blacked.
 
All of the ceiling work on the starboard side is now complete.  The next step will be to sand down the bolts on the outside of the frames and then move on to the ceiling on the port side.
 
 Ed

ok, but you're not both a midshipman and a lieutenant.

He found me    and the links are in my signature.

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 47 – Bilge and Floor Ceiling
 
The first picture shows the 8” thick bilge ceiling being extended up the underside of the lower deck clamp.  The clamp would have been edge bolted down into these thick members.  With the clamps and frames they formed a sort of girder over the length of the hull to combat hogging.
 

 
I mentioned earlier that these 8” x 8” bilge ceiling members required some serious clamping to close their joints.  The next picture shows some remodeled clamps used to assist in this work.
 

 
In these clamps the old jaws were replaced with stronger versions.  I used the strongest wood I could find in my old scraps collection.  The dark colored jaws are black walnut and the lighter ones hickory from and old axe handle.  The walnut clamps had the ends of their jaws narrowed down to fit between the frames from the outside.  The next picture shows a pair of these being used to close up a joint.
 

 
Up near the deck clamp, soft pine wedges could be used to close the joints as shown in the next picture.
 

 
The next picture shows the hull inverted so the epoxy bolts on the outside could be sanded off – to help save my hands when working from the outside.  There are many more of these bolts to add as the bilge ceiling progresses.
 

 
The next picture shows the first few strakes of 4” thick floor ceiling installed.  The contortions from the convex to the concave hull shape made this interesting at the ends.
 

 
All of this 4” and 8” thick ceiling was of hard pine, so I am using Castello for it.  Pear is being used for all oak.  The next picture shows a strake being installed using .021" pleating pins in tight drilled holes to hold it in place when glued.
 

 
The dark area is wet from washing off glue from between the strakes.  One edge of these planks is coated with dark brown latex paint (before ripping) and dark glue has been used on that face.  Plain yellow glue was used on the frames and washed off from the outside between the frames with a wet toothbrush.  In the next picture the floor ceiling has been completed down to the limber channel.
 

 
Several stealers had to be installed so the final strake would be parallel to the keelson.  The next picture shows the limber channel.
 

 
When this picture was taken, the planking had been leveled out with rifflers and some sanding.  Bolts were then installed at the ends of each plank.  Each plank will next be treenailed at every frame.  Can’t wait.
 
 
 Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 46 –Inboard structural members continued
 
Work on the starboard side, inside of the hull, continued.  The iron strapping on that side is complete, except for a bit of repair work.  The first picture shows the use of an Incra rule taped to the paper cutter to assist in cutting the straps to accurate widths.
 

 
The sheet is first squared up on the cutter and then advanced 1/16” after each cut.  The indexing holes on the rule could be used, but I found this unnecessary and rely on my eye.
 
Below is a picture of strips after slitting on the cutter.
 

 
Fortunately, these straighten out easily and quickly when held in a vise and pulled with pliers.  After that they are blackened with LOS before installing.  They are held in place with copper “riveted bolts” made from 22-gauge copper wire.  These are more like nails, being pushed into a tight hole, then clipped off, then peened over with a small hammer – as shown below.
 

 
Once the strapping was finished, the deck clamps on this side could be installed back to the stern.  The next picture shows a scarph joint being marked on the next piece. 
 
 

 
Initially I fitted the next of these joints on the bench, but identifying them and keeping track became more trouble than doing it in situ – with equivalent results.
 
The next picture shows the right angle Dremel drill boring holes for the through bolts.
 

 
I don’t use this tool much.  It is large and has a good kick when starting, but it is indispensable for drilling “normal” bolt holes down in the hull.  I use it with a Foredom foot pedal speed control, plus the speed contol on the tool to keep the speeds low and to avoid it jumping out of the center-mark.
 

 
The 22-gauge copper wire used for the bolts is a sliding fit in the holes.  An end is dipped in epoxy and pushed through the holes.  The outside is then touched with epoxy and the wire pulled back in.  These bolts are never coming out.  They will be sanded off flush and those that are visible will be blackened later.  Many on this side will be covered with planking.
 
Fastening the deck clamps is pretty easy work, but the 8 x 8 ceiling members at the turn of the bilge are another matter.  The curve of the hull where they are placed can be seen in the next picture.
 

 
These require some serious clamping and long waits for the glue to set.  I usually bolt them in place with the epoxy wherever possible before removing the clamps.
 
I am being extra cautious – as well as authentic – in the bolting through every frame because of the copper plates between the frames and the inboard members.  I don’t trust the glue alone on these joints.  The hull is now becoming extremely rigid.
 
The last picture shows a strake of bilge ceiling being attached toward the stern – intersecting with the lower deck clamp.
 

 
This picture also shows the strapping toward the stern.  Not too much of it is damaged.  I straighten our any problems as each wood member is added.  Most of the strapping on this side will only be visible from outside the hull – through the frames.
 
And so it goes…
 
 Ed

So, I'm at a church yard sale back in October and come across a set of some 15 books about a character named Nathanial Drinkwater.  At $5 for the lot I figured I couldn't go wrong, so...
So far I'm well into the 4th book.  The author is an historian and has been to sea; he's has done good research to construct his stories, though it tends to read much like a history book.  It's a decent read, the language and nautical jargon is correct, and I've had no trouble picturing what happening by his descriptions.  I can't say I really "care" for this fellow, all these stories seem to copy Forester and this one's no exception.
 
Even less than a quarter of the way through the series, I have to say it was well worth $5. 

Waiting for parts to turn up from the UK again.............
 
There was discussion on page 14 from memory about the difficulties involved in controlling the differential feed required for the stays'l sheets.
 
The problem is that as the sails cross the stay in the course of tacking the lee sheet has to take up while the windward sheet has to go quite slack so it can cross over the stay and remain slack. Therfore the servo has to let out more line than it takes in. This leads to some very complicated control movements as per the posts on page 14.
 
Me being me I always look for an easier mechanical solution. Tonight I found it !
 
This is going to get a touch technical but it is pretty straight forward.
 
First, I have about 150mm of width in the fore cabin to play with and the device I made to test my principal is 90mm across so it will fit in easily. I was thinking I would need a curved sheet guide to provide smooth exponential in and inverse exponential out feed but it turns out that the rotary movement of the end point achieves this naturally. What I am saying is that I started with a curved line of nails but ended up realising that I just need to attach to the end of the arms, ie where the last nails are in the pics.
 
The large pin in the centre is the pivot so this is where it would attach to the servo, the lone nail out from the pivot pin adds to the inward pull.
 

 
Now that that's as clear as mud, look at the following pics, you can see the position of the clamps on the faux sheets when the control device is centred.
 

 
When the device is turned through 90 degrees you can see that the inward pull is significantly less than the outward feed.
 

 
The same occurs in reverse when rotated to 90 degrees in the opposite direction.
 

 
You can see how the sheet goes out around the single pin infront of the pivot. I would imagine making the centre of this pin adjustable so as to have adjustment of the in pull. The further from the centre the greater the pull.
 

 
With the test rig I achieved a differential feed of 60mm, ie 30mm in and 90mm out!
 
So I need to buy yet another servo, one that will travel through 180 degrees, and make the "L" shaped servo horn with an adjustable pin, no biggy ! I will probably need to make a guide out of brass wire so that as the servo rotates and pulls in the slack sheet the guide will make sure it comes back up onto the servo horn.
 
If you followed all that, you win a banana !
 
Steve

ok, but you're not both a midshipman and a lieutenant.

Doing what I can do best ...
 
... DESTRUCTION ...
 

 
... and even ...
 
... more DESTRUCTION ...
 

 
... okokokok ...
 
... I also cleared up ...
 

 
... the whole thing ...
 

 
... and then carefully choosing some important steps in the circle of life of a big ship :-)
 

 
Cheers, Daniel

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 45 –Inboard members continued, Stern fairing and half-frame bolting continued.
 
American Clipper Historical Note: In 19th Century America, forest resources were plentiful, in fact they seemed limitless.  For these reasons, and due to the immaturity of the American iron industry, ships with wood structures continued to be built throughout the century and into the 20th.  Several domestic species found their way into American-built ships.  White oak, very similar in species to English oak was the primary material used for structural components.  However, the less plentiful but superior species, live oak from forests in the southeastern states, was often specified for critical components.  It was almost 50% stronger than white oak and the shape of the growth lent itself to knees and curved members.  Joshua Humphreys specified live oak for the original American 44-gun frigates and crews from the northern shipyards went south to harvest the requirements.  Another southern species that was widely used in American ships was hard pine, also known as longleaf pine.  This plentiful timber had 90% of the strength of white oak and was roughly the same weight.  Hard pine was used for beams, planking and knees.  White pine, the species most associated with the term “pine,” was lighter, softer and less strong – only about 50% in strength compared to white oak.  It was often used in planking weather decks.  Other species of pine – pitch pine, yellow pine, red pine – were also used.  Another important species was black locust.  Its hardness, straightness and strength – 35% stronger than white oak  - found wide use for treenails and often for pillars.  Various other structural woods were used, but these were the primary species.
 
Young America’s structure was largely white oak – most frames, central sections of the keel and keelson, stem, stern posts, hanging knees.  But it is very probable that a significant number of important members were of live oak – parts of keel and keelson, keelson riders, hooks, some frame timbers.  Hard pine was used for beams, inboard and outboard planking, waterways, deck clamps, binding strakes, lower deck  planking and deadwood.  Lodging knees would have been pitch pine.  Exposed decks were white pine.  Pillars and treenails were locust.  Other decorative works were of other species and will be described later.
 
For the model, I an using Swiss pear wherever oak – white or live – was used.  Hard and pitch pine members will be Castelo.  Weather decks may be holly – not decided.  Most of the work covered so far has been in pear, but Castelo has been evident in the last few posts in the bilge ceiling and deck clamp construction.
 
 
Work described in the last part continued.  In the first picture the deadwood near the sternpost is being smoothed with a #0 cut Grobet riffler after paring with gouges. 
 

 
When the fairing of the aft part of the lower hull was finished, the bolts securing the aft half and cant frames were installed.  The next picture shows this in progress.
 

 
Holes were drilled deep into the keelson/deadwood.  Copper wire dipped in epoxy was then inserted and moved in and out to distribute the glue internally.  The wire was then clipped off as shown.  The stains on the wood in the picture are  from isopropanol used to wash off excess epoxy and has not yet dried.  The heads of the bolts will be sanded off flush and blackened just before the final wood finish is applied.  They were iron.
 
The next picture shows the lower hull after this bolting.  Bolts will be much more visible when black.
 

 
Finish sanding and polishing of these areas will be done later.  The next picture shows the stern framing from directly aft.
 

 
Work inside the hull on the strapping, deck clamps and bilge ceiling continued.  In the next picture a strake is being glued on the upper side of the band.  Strapping below the bilge ceiling has been added.
 

 
One of the lower strakes is being glued in the next picture. 
 

 
After the glue has dried, all of these strakes are bolted through every frame with epoxy at both ends of each bolt.  These bolts, also iron, will be blackened later.
 
This internal work is going to take some time.  I switch between iron strapping and ceiling planks when I can - to battle the tedium of repetitive work – not my strong suit.
 
 
 Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 44 –Inboard members continued, Stern fairing and half-frame bolting.
 
Work continued on the iron strapping with some breaks to work on other things.  Other things included installing wood members over the strapped areas.  In the first picture a portion of the lower deck clamp is being glued to the frames.
 

 
The forward section of the upper deck clamp has been installed at the top of the strapped area.  As soon as the clamps are removed when the glue has dried, these members are immediately bolted through the frames with copper wire bolts epoxied all the way through the hole, making an extremely strong connection.
 
In the next picture a section of bilge ceiling is being installed.  These heavy members will fill the area up to the lower deck clamp.
 

 
There will also be a few strakes of bilge ceiling below the installed strakes.  The iron strapping will also be extended down to the floor heads.  The next picture shows one of these extensions.  The break in these straps will occur behind frames and will not be visible.
 
The next picture shows additional deck clamp sections installed, including forward sections of the middle deck clamp.
 

 
All these members are epoxy bolted as described above. 
 
Before progressing much further aft with the iron strapping, I wanted to get the aft half-frames bolted securely.  They have been held in place since installation only by the end-grain glue joints.  I did not want to risk breaking these with the hammering of the strap rivets.  Before installing bolts on these frames they needed to be faired.  This is easier before the copper bolts are in place.
 
In the next picture 80-grit sandpaper is being used on the feet of the cant frames to bring them flush with the deadwood.
 

 
In the next picture all of the cant and half frames have been faired at their feet. The cant frames, in their scores, end right at the bearding line line.  However, the half-frames are not installed in scores but bolted directly to the deadwood.  These were not faired to a feather edge at the line but were cut back to about a 3” thickness above the line.  The triangular gap was covered with planking.  It acted as a limber, or drainage channel, for water that would otherwise accumulate between frames and in the joints between the frames and the deadwood.  This feature was evidently not included at the feet of the cant frames. 
 
The next picture shows the feet of the half-frames being squared off above the bearding line.
 

 
There will be more to say later about the path of this water to the pumps.
 
With the model inverted it was a good time to fair the deadwood back to the rabbets in the keel and sternpost.  The next picture shows a shallow gouge being used to rough out the shape above the keel rabbet.
 

 
This can be risky if not done carefully.  In the picture the curl of shaving shows that the gouge is moving parallel to the keel using the pressure of my thumb.  I find that cuts go easier at an angle to the edge, slicing the wood -  and it is never a good idea to cut toward the rabbet.  The gouge is moving in the same direction in the next picture – held as in the last picture with the left hand, in this case pulled gently with the right – always with very light cuts.  Do not attempt this with a dull tool.
 

 
In the next picture a #0 cut riffler is being used to smooth out the gouge marks.  This was followed by 120 then 220-grit paper.
 

 
The last picture shows the feet of the half and cant frames after the sanding.
 
 
 
With the final lines of the frame bottoms established the bolt holes were laid out and drilled.  These are now ready for the bolts.
 
There is a lot more sanding to be done on the lower hull, but this much was sufficient to get the bolts in.  Now for the other side.
 
 Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 43 – Bilge Ceiling, Iron Strapping
 
Historical Clipper Note: A number of different structures were installed inside clipper ship hulls to increase strength and help defeat hogging, the most serious structural threat to wooden ships apart from rot.  Hogging is the tendency of hulls to droop at the ends.  It resulted from the reduced buoyancy at the ends of ships as the flotation area of the hull got smaller.  It was further aggravated by localized stresses as waves passed under the hull.  This was a particular problem in clipper hulls that were very long and had very fine lines fore and aft.
 
In addition to large keelsons, weight reductions at the ends, moving foremasts aft and some features discussed in earlier posts, additional structural members inside the hull were also used.  These varied from builder to builder.  These included massive additional keelsons in the area of the floor heads, various forms of heavy ceiling timbers, long diagonal wood “pointers” and ironwork.  From what we know of William Webb’s designs, he seemed to favor thick “bilge ceilings” – bands of heavy planking from below the lower futtock heads up to the lower deck clamps - rather than bilge keelsons or pointers.
 
An 8” to 7” thick bilge ceiling and iron strapping were the most likely combination used in Young America and that will be the configuration I will use on the model
 
After some deliberation – discussed in earlier posts – I finally decided to install the strapping on the inside of the frames.  Although this is not known to be the original configuration, it is most likely based on some references and Webb’ practice on other ships.
 
The strapping was installed on the frames under the ceiling planking.  Because installing the strapping requires some hammering on the frames to rivet the straps in place, I wanted to get a couple of ceiling strakes in place to make the frame structure stronger before beginning the strapping.
 
The first picture shows the first strake of the bilge ceiling being installed.  These are 8” x 8” members bolted through the frames from a few feet above the floor  heads decreasing in thickness to 7” up to the lower deck clamp
 

 
The strake being installed is at the heads of the lower futtocks.  This strake and the others in the band, follow the curve of these futtock head joints.  Fore and aft they converge under the lower deck clamp to form a sort of truss to resist bending of the hull.  This was definitely the configuration when bilge keelsons were used and it is likely the bilge ceilings followed this practice.  Once this line is set by the first strake the others above and below it will be installed.
 
The next picture shows a closer view of the bolting and one of the joint scarphs.
 

 
Copper wire bolts have been epoxied through the frames.  The dark area is isopropanol used to wash off the epoxy – not yet dry.  Epoxy will help assure that the wire will act as true through bolts.  In practice these were iron, so they will be blackened before final finishing.  The second bolt at each frame pair will be modeled using black monofilament.
 
The next picture shows the copper bolts coming through the frames outside.
 

 
These will be clipped off and sanded flush as part of the external fairing process.  It can be seen that the bolts come through the lower futtocks just below the heads.  I am considering leaving a few view ports on the exposed framing side of the hull.  The bottom of these open areas would be at the floor heads, so the bolted inside members should provide plenty of strength around the openings. The tops of these openings will probably be at the middle deck clamps.
 
With a stretch of ceiling in place I was anxious to try out some iron strapping. The first picture shows the installation of a test area.
 

 
I decided I wanted no part of recessing all these into the frames.  For the most part they will be covered with inboard planking and will only be visible between frames on the outside, through the view ports if installed, and down through unplanked deck areas.
 
The next picture shows a closer view of the straps and their fasteners.
 

 
I used .005” copper for the straps, cutting them to size with a paper cutter, and then stretching to straighten them.  I considered using .010” strips but these would require recesses.  The thinner material should not affect the planking glue joints.  Planks will also be bolted so should be quite secure.  The difference in thickness is virtually undetectable visually.  The actual thickness would probably be somewhere between the two sizes.
 
The straps are held in place by copper rivets - 22 gauge copper wire – some through and some partially through as “blunts”.  Like the real bolts, the heads are peened over to secure the strips.  I initially tried to get all of the intersections on frames for bolting, hence some uneven spacing in this first area.  I will not describe all the steps in detail – or the journey up the learning curve to get acceptable-looking straps.
 
These must of course be blackened before being planked over – to avoid glue spots that would interfere with the etching.
 
The next picture from outside the hull shows some strapping blackened using liver of sulfur solution.  This will be the predominant viewpoint for this feature.
 

 
This picture shows some inevitable crossing of straps between frames.  I doubt that I will try to rivet these intersections as was done in practice, except where they fall over a frame.  A few strapping rivet heads can be seen on the outside of the frames.
 
The strapping will be installed over the full length of the hull up to the upper deck clamps.  The next picture shows some correctly sized clamp material – for the lower and upper decks - temporarily held in place,
 

 
This shows the convergence of the ceiling and the lower deck clamp mentioned above.  The 7 to 8” bilge ceiling would fill the area below the lower deck plank and continue for a few more strakes below those installed in this picture.
 
The straps will be cut off above the upper deck clamp.  The strapping is fully extended forward in this picture.  The middle deck clamp will fall midway between the two shown.
 
I now foresee a considerable amount of strapping work, punctuated with some bilge ceiling and perhaps deck clamp installation.  Should be interesting.
 
 Ed

A Doctor Who fan, eh?