AON

The third pieces to make were the HIND and FORE TRUCKS (or wheels). These were also made of maple dowels of diameters just larger than required and sanded down on the lathe. I sanded down a length adequate for two trucks, then scored the proper widths leaving a 1/4" gap between each truck. I drilled the axle hole through on the drill press, and lastly cut between the 1/4" gap with my band saw. The individual trucks were then sanded to the score marks. I chose to make my TRUCKS in one piece as I understand the bolted two layer/four piece sandwiched Truck with grains running at 90° was a feature that followed at a later time. I did not use metal trucks as they were never used on the wooden decks of ships since they would cause too much damage to the deck.

Next came the FORE and HIND AXLE TREES. I decided to make each of these in multiple pieces. The round axles would be made of maple dowels sanded on the lathe to the proper diameter. I drilled pockets into the oak blocks and later glued (yellow wood glue) the maple rounds into them. The dowels were purposefully made about 1/4" too long. After curing overnight I sanded these down to the proper projected length. Note that both ends of the rectangular block parts are rounded to the pockets prior to gluing the dowels in place. I will not be adding metal bands at the end of the rounded dowel parts as to my understanding this was a feature added later in time. The BOLSTER was simply a rectangular block of wood... easily the simplest part to be made!

While waiting for the 3D printing course I decided to build the carriage assembly. The first thing was to select wood material. The real carriages were originally made of elm and later this changed to be oak. As a scaled down version the normal choice would be something with a tighter grain. Since the wood was getting painted it really didn't matter what I used but the song "Hearts of Oak" came to mind so I decided to use oak. I have old oak shipping planks that needed to be cut down to near size on the table saw and then sanded to thickness. The first items made were the two piece BRACKETS or CHEEKS. I've found them called by both names. The pattern was transferred from the plan to the wood using carbon paper and a pencil. I decided to soften the edges by rubbing them with fine sand paper. This was done to all pieces I made for the carriage. Although initially cut square, the axle tree and gun barrel trunnion pockets needed to be filed at a very slight angle because the brackets are set at 7°.

I then created a 2D drawing of the carriage assembly and details using the free downloadable software version of DraftSight. I inserted images and scaled them to full size so I could refer directly to these to create the drawing. This was drawn full size, fitted on 8.5 foot x 11 foot rectangular borders scaled up from the dimensions of a standard A size sheet of paper (8.5" x 11"). I added a cannon ball rack as an afterthought. Below is a screen shot and a downloadable PDF of the 2 sheet templates on the left. 9 Pdr Naval Carriage Dwg (1 of 2) - AON - 25OCT2018.pdf 9 Pdr Naval Carriage Dwg (2 of 2) - AON - 25OCT2018.pdf

One had brought in a naval gun assembled from a kit and the other had 3D printed various size naval cannon barrels at his local library. I found this fascinating and now had an itch to build my own naval gun. Our local library posted a notice of a 90 minute compulsory course (on the evening of 20 November) to allow library card holders to use their 3D printer, so I signed up. A search on their website revealed they allow a 8Mb maximum size STL file of any non-copyrighted 3D image. The build area size is 230 mm long (9") x 150mm wide (5.9") x 130mm high (5.1"). They have a variety of colours and black is an option. I started my research on this forum, and concluded with a wider search on the internet and books in my personal library. I decided on a 9 Pound Naval Cannon that would be found on the quarterdeck or forecastle of HMS Bellerophon (1768), a 74 gun Man of War. Having gathered all the data I could, I made a full size model using Autodesk Inventor. I would rescale it to 1 inch = 12 inches (1:12) later. I settled on this scale because the dimensions of the 9 Pdr fits the 3D printer build area size at 1:12. I brought my info to the October meeting of the Model Shipwrights of Niagara and was told by the single member with experience that the 3D printer needs to start the build on a flat surface (so the object doesn't roll away). This gentleman had made several very small prints in one file (all at once) and oriented his cannons to stand on their flat muzzle. It was suggested by a well weathered modelling member I might split the cannon in half to create a flat surface to build up from and then glue them together afterwards. My model was altered and I added six cannon balls (with a flat underside) to add to my display. The STL file for these items is 7.68Mb in size. I may need to make changes after I attend the compulsory 3D printing course.

I will be getting back to my slow progressing scratch build of HMS Bellerophon with a goal to complete all the frames before next summer... but after a summer of home renovations, grass cutting, fishing, and a little carving, I found myself being drawn to something a couple members of our local club (Model Shipwrights of Niagara) brought to one of our monthly meetings earlier in the year (before the summer). This project was started on 24 October 2018.

Simple. I am the Admiral on my ship. However, please do not disturb Her Majesty with this info.

No progress on my build. The windowless playroom in the basement lost out to the call of the sun outside... but now summer is over, laying about is done, too cold and wet for fishing for these bones, and the grass seems to have stopped growing. Two bathroom renovations are done and the flooring of two other rooms is done and over. Time to get back at her. My goal this season is to get all the frames done and expect to start in the next couple weeks after yet one more diversion project is completed. I had got some progress on my first crack at carving the oversized X3 (too large for the model) figurehead. I had been working on it while sitting outside on the patio under the shade of the pergola and willow in late August. Took it to our September club meeting. Below are some pics. Still a considerable amount of work left to go on this... for later when I get bored. There is a small diversionary project on the go and I expect it will take another week or so before I finally get onto the Billy Ruffian once more.

Happy to see you are back. I completely understand the impact of summer distractions and the need for short term diversions. Wonderful pic of your dad. Looking forward to continuing to follow your progress. BZ Alan

Fantastic assortment of sizes

Kurt I do exactly the same thing. I put put mine in the bedroom clothes closet... top shelf. May be you should start looking on your top shelf. 😉 Alan

This might help with laying out your scarph joints. The Elements of Wood Ship Construction - Scarph Joints - W.H. Curtis (1919).pdf

It likely seems dumb but I would like to know how you have refined the process if you could explain😎

Beautiful job on the pair of block and tackle! ☺

Druxey these are the wee bits I watch for and have a special place they are saved in. Thanks for sharing! Alan

Nicely done!

So I had the boss look at it with me. She says it is blue lettering on a light blue background but noticed one upper part of the bend on the right is pure white background. I asked if the light blue could be the ribbon in the shadow of the transom. She didn't think so but then how do you explain the splash of white? She does not see the gold trim whereas I still do.

I am looking at the image posted above and I see blue letters on a white background with gold trim... but my left eye is not all it should be and my right eye compensates so possibly the white is a pale blue? In my opinion the pale blue seems an odd background if the lettering was meant to be clear from a distance, but I am no expert. I should ask my wife. 😉

Blue letters on white ribbon. Ribbon has gold trim. This combination looks very very good! The carver's wife must have picked them out.

It is quite a chunk of money! Too bad we didn't know about it back when they were offering photocopies. I suppose a reminder in outlook on your computer might work (if you still have the same computer by then).

Good morning Mark, I followed up on the above post of yours. It took quite a while to get all the information which condenses to the following: The document is 6 pages, 10" x 16", at 70 pounds sterling each plus VAT (tax) and shipping. They only offer photos at this time due to the age and condition of them. Photocopying might cause more damage .... however they are digitizing the documents and digital copies may be available in a year or so at reduced pricing.

had to look twice when I saw the moose!

hope to see more - espero ver mas

Greg, I ordered the book after reading your post copied above. It came in today. Not only do I have the quote in the original print now, it is accompanied by a photo of the figurehead of the Boyne with William III on horseback. A great reference. And then to add to this, I now know the original carver's name (pg. 21) of this original figurehead of HMS Bellerophon as described above. Thank you! Alan

Thank you for the suggestion Carl. I searched on the internet and found a few good examples but after having simply shorten them up I believe they do not look so bad... definitely not as majestic as they could have been but it would have been too ornamental and costly for a mere 74 gun ship of the line . Below are the last of these photos. I shortened the wings, changed the cape, and straightened out his back a bit as with all the handling it was beginning to go into a landing stance . The front and hind legs seem a bit thick but I cannot go much thinner on this clay model. I haven't the skill Later this week I will pick up some squares of Linden (local boxwood) for carving and when I feel the need for a change I will start hacking away to get some 3X enlarged practice sample pieces. Until then I need to get back to making frames.