Nirvana

Ok its been a great day in the shipyard today, made lots of progress. I finished shaping the false keel, and the Boxwood stem. I also made the boxwood keel and joined all three pieces together. Everything is glued now and while I am waiting for it to dry, I am preparing the bulkheads. I also discovered something surprising - My ship vice has a slight curve in it! only when I clamp down on the keel but...!!! I supposed it would not show on larger models but I ripped that out quickly and the longboat will not go there.
 
So a question to those of you more experienced. I assume I need to mark the centerline on the bulkheads. got a suggest solution? (Harvey I should have listened more closely)

With much thanks to Mike and a few Duh moments I thought I would share my efforts to make my boxwood stem and shape the Rabbit on my false keel.
 
First the false keel. And I would be remiss in not giving credit to Harvey here.
 
I took a draftsman's compass. sharpened the graphite point and extended the metal tip just a bit. I then set the width of the 2 points to be just shy of 1/16 of an inch. I then used this to draw I line on both sides of the false keel that followed the curve of the keel from one end to the other. This gave me a line to follow when sanding.
 
In the 2nd picture you will also see some of the tools I used for the Boxwood stem. For the stem I did a rough cut from the boxwood sheet. I then clamped the rough piece between the 2 basswood stems. Thank you Chuck for the pair of stems. and then I clamped all 3 pieces carefully lined up in my trusty Panamax vice. And then used my Dremel with a sanding wheel to bring it down until everything was the same. Thank you Mike. I don't know why I didn't remember the Dremel. I also used the Dremel to drill the holes. Lastly I used a #13 blade in my Xacto knife to cut the scarf joint. For those who don't know the #13 is the same as the #11 except it has saw teeth. I finally some micro files to clean everything up. Oh and I used the admiral's nail file for some of the sanding. (don't tell her!)
 
The final picture here is a macro shot of the Stem. I can see it still needs a bit more sanding. blowing up macro sure shows what is still needed. the best part of this is that as long as there was some laser char on the basswood stems I knew I hadn't sanded to much.

Try and try again that is all most of us do half the time.
David B

Ok, so today I have had 1 step forward and 2 steps back. Attached are the pictures of a different putty I tried. I think I like the color. And I was trying to loosen the bulkheads that were glued to the false keel to get them in better alignment And... I broke both the false keel & the Boxwood stem. So I get to use the ME guarantee and practice making a better Scarf joint. This will be my 3rd false keel! You might think that after 3 tries my skill might get half as good as Chuck's. I wish!
 
:(
 
 

I'm with you Sam. But one of the rules I learned early in the hobby is that if I redid everything I had finished I would never get to do something new.

Floyd,
 
You're gonna love working with Chuck's blocks and rigging line.
 
If you're like me you're gonna want to go back and re-rig all you're completed projects because you can tell how much better they would be!
 
Sam

Chuck - The 5 rows with putty hardly show at all. Unless you knew what to look for and where to look. I don't think anyone will see it. the 2 rows with just holes show well. I don't want chicken pox but I did want it to be visible.
 
I also forgot to mention that there was another purpose for this test. I wanted to decide whether to caulk the planks or not. if you look closely you will see that there are 2 planks I didn't caulk and the rest I did. it is subtle but I like the look.
 
I should also mention how much I love working with Boxwood. it sands so nicely with crisp sharp edges.

Yupp...thats the stuff.  But you can use any color that you like and any brand.  I like what you used.  I think it looks great.
 
Chuck

Chuck S - LOL you weren't the Chuck I was thinking of. But since you have the answer thank you. I will give it a try. Did you add any color?

Which Chuck?
 
I used Elmer's Stainable Wood Filler.  I got it at Home Depot.

Ok, I have slowed my build to stay in sync with my local club. Besides for those of you looking at my other builds you will see I am working on other challenges. I decided to do some experimenting. I think I have mentioned that I had several reason for doing this build:
 
1. Increase my planking skills. Since you see the inside of the hull there is no room for error. I also figured a small kit would be fun to try new things on.
2. I wanted to try a kit with all new wood from Jeff. (boy and I excited that I did!)
3. I wanted a small kit to try Chuck's drill and fill method of treenailing.
4. I wanted a simple kit that still required rigging. Here again if am going to use Chuck's materials for blocks & line.
5. I had to try another kit designed by Chuck
 
So while I wait for the club meeting next weekend and it is raining this holiday weekend. I decided to take 1 strip of Boxwood planking and do some experimenting. You will see from the pictures below that I took a scrap of wood and planked it with Boxwood strips and drilled holes for the Treenails. You will also see the stuff I used for putty and the result after 1 layer of WOP.
 
So Chuck - I have a question - I searched this site and I know you posted it. but right now I can't find it. What product did you use for your putty. It was by Elmer's but I can't remember any of the details. As you can see the contrast in my case is not quite enough. you really have to look hard. And of course the camera catches what the eye doesn't see.
 
There are 5 rows drilled and filled 2 rows drilled only.

Floyd,
    I tacked the problem of bulkhead alignment with a 3 dimensional jig to get square (ish) in all 3 d's.  Look at my blog...post #7.  It shows a device which runs perpendicular to the keel and has lines parallel to the base.  Assuming that each bulkhead is the same height on both sides (taking pains to ensure that), you can help eliminate the tilt by lining the top of each side of each bulkhead with a particular line.
 
    I see what you mean with the stem modification.  By doingit that way you get the weak grain on the underside, but it is strengthened by gluing it to the centerpiece.

Toni - What you are see is a macro picture of my scarf. As mentioned I cut both parts from Bowwood and you are noticing the flaws in my sanding. Both parts fit the false keel properly and I will fill the scarf joint with putty. Once it is painted there will be nothing to show.
 
Thanks everyone for you input. Stay tuned.

Floyd, take a look at the picture showing the scarf between the stem and the keel.  It should fit perfectly without any sanding except to remove the char from the laser.   It appears to be rotated upwards.  If the shape is wrong, the entire bow will be incorrect.

I will PM you.

Thanks everyone. They are square to the keel and the keel is very straight. Chuck I had not thought of flipping them. I installed every bulkhead with the writing facing forward. I also used PVA. I only used a spacer to keep them square to each other. And I did not glue the spacer. Most are not glued in place. I will start over as you suggest.

Probably the most efficient way would be to remove all frames, and glue them again using some jig to guarantee a proper alignment. I did a jig with lego bricks, some people use card templates, or evenly sized spacers, etc. It's very hard to do a proper alignment without a jig.

You dont have a twist....You just have to shift those port or starboard to line them up.   Thats why I made them tight.   I used titebond because it has a lot of open time.  Then I tapped/pushed one side or the other to align each bulkhead one at a time.  I looked at them from the angles you posted as well as port and starboard.   Tweaking the positions until they were aligned.  I wouldnt glue in any spacers until all of the bulkheads are in position and dried.   That is probably helping the mis alignment issue.   No pins or other aparatus are needed.  Just start mid ship and work your way towards the stern...then flip around and finish it towards the bow.   Aligning each as you go.  Wait for the previous one to cure pretty good before you do the next one.
 
 
 
Chuck

I would double check your frames. Then check the keel. Something is not right. Unless you let a politician put it together.
David B

Wow, definitely some twist going on.  I'm still a novice myself (and I am planning on trying to attend the meeting on the 31st) 2 things come to mind from my experience with wood...
 
1. is severe warp in the keel.  However that doesn't seem likely because with that much sway the keel would look like an S.
 
2. My thought is that the slots are severly miscut/missanded causing them not to sit level in the frame. 
 
I'm not sure what how the drawings for this kit are but if you have a good solid side view you may be able to adjust these fairly simple.  I would use some blue tape or pins to hold them all in place until you can get them to dry.  Shim them with some planking scraps maybe if the slots are extra deep.  Hopefully someone else can give you some better insite on this.  As far as the sanding you noted that you did.  I have found a good set of files is priceless in the tight spots.  A year ago I would have thought files were a waste of my money.  Now, I can't have enough different shapes and sizes.  Good luck.

And here are the pictures I promised. I am finding that a club build is a great way to learn and make progress. When you know your fellow builders will be dropping by you make an extra effort to spend a bit more time with the project.
 
These shots were done in Macro. OMG I will be showing all my warts!
 
2 comments. You will see that I made some custom spacers to place between bulkheads as the glue dried. And I found the notches in the false keel to be a bit too tight. So I cut a small strip of sand paper and folded it over a hull plank to carefully sand the notch.

Hi Chuck, I did part of what you recommended. I cut the stem as 1 piece with the grain running up and down from the prow. I was not as confident in my cutting skills to go for 2 pieces. But I did use the basswood piece as a template and then cut it with the scroll saw. about 1 hour of careful sanding and I had a useful stem. Well at least I did on the 2nd try. I haven't used the scroll saw as much as some of my other tools. I guess I will be changing that with this kit since I am replacing lots of parts with Boxwood.
 
I will just pretend I am practicing for when Chuck publishes his book. The saw may get a lot more of a workout.
 
PS Sam I have not forgot about you. I have a wonderful envelope on the shelf that I need to spend some time with. I just wanted to get this kit to the point of planking before our club meeting.

Floyd,
    Welcome to the fleet.  Your discussion above brought back some bad memories of the scarph joint.  I went back and looked at mine.  I remember!!!!!  The overhang of the stem part is above the overhang of the keel part.  This caused me some probblems.  I would have prefered the other way.  That way I could have fitted the stem to the hull, then fitted the keel into the stem and hull. I have another kit, so I may do as you did and make the stem and keel from boxwood and do the joint differently.
 
    How did you eventually do the stem piece so that it doesn't snap off?

Sure did.  And now that I am adding the bulkheads it looks like the sanding is just fine. I have a nice groove on each side and a plank fit perfectly. It looks like I could have used a bit more sanding aft. Oh well. I am also going to fill the scarf joint with putty. Good thing the keel will be painted.

I have found boxwood harder and potentially more brittle than basswood.  When bending, I would recommend soaking it a little-10-20 minutes depending on thickness.  Not too much because it may washout color.  It sands well and finishes well.  When using basswood, I usually use a sanding sealer to keep the surface from fuzzing up.  Boxwood does not require that.
 
Be sure to use dust mask when sawing and sanding.  While we should avoid inhaling ALL sawdust, I find boxwood dust (like most exotic hardwoods) causes temporary respiratory issues.
 
Chuck