Surabaya by Piet - 1/80 - Mid 17th-Century VOC ship

[Omega1234]

Hi Piet

 

It's a shame about the hassles from the broken drill bit and, the fact that the wooden bending trick only did half of the job.  But, as expected, you came up with some great work-arounds and things are looking pretty speccie now.

 

Nice !

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

[michael mott]

Piet, pity about the broken drill bit, did it break just as it was about to come through? if that was the case it might have been because the drill has to be modified a little to drill through brass. so that it does not grab. With brass the tip needs to be toughed with a stone to put a tiny flat so that the drill bit is prevented from digging in as it cuts.  Also some brass is gummy and does not machine well.

 

Michael

[Piet]

Thanks to all for visiting, the comments and likes.

 

Yes, Michael, actually the drill bit angles should also be a different for brass and aluminum.  The bit was only half through the bar but I already had a bad feeling about the possibility of it happening.  I saw the bit making waving motions thus my very slow feed.  I like to blame it on the bit having only one flute, thus  also one cutting edge, which takes it out of balance.  It's good enough for wood but not metal.  One learns the hard way. 

True though with what you said about flattening the "sole" of the bit.  My actual machining days are so long ago and memory failed me again.  I used to be able to sharpen drill bits on a bench grinder, no more today  

 

However, I lucked out today and found an American made 1 mm drill bit at our local hardware store. I proceeded to drill a few more holes in the brass bars in the anchor shafts for the stock without any problems.   It seems that the brass alloy I am using here is rather hard and not too" greasy."   I was able to drill next to the broken bit where the stock can still hide the bad part.  

 

Cheers, 

[Piet]

I'm trying to catch up with what I've done in the last few days.

This post is from work done yesterday.

 

I marked the anchor arms for machining.  They deed to be thinned out towards the outside and steps machined in the ends for the flukes to be silver soldered to.  Unfortunately I do not have a milling machine so I had to resort to the "armstrong" method - the file.  Oh, I guess i could use a rotary file but that's kinda messy with all the filings flying every which way.  Besides, I like to use a hand file, better control.

Yes, it's slow work but hey, I'm retired and not going anywhere so what's the hurry 

 

I also started making the anchor stock and used cherry for that.  Fortunately I had some stock left that was thick enough. I completed the arms for both anchors but expect having to do some more "machining" after the flukes are made.

 

This shows where to "machine" away metal on the sides of the arms.

 

This shows where to "machine" away metal from the top of the arm for the flukes and the lower part of the arm.

 

This shows my "armstrong"milling device.

 

Here are the rough parts for the stock.

 

Sorry for the messed up post.  I don't know what happened or why.  i tried three times to re post this but every time it comes out the same.  Well, all yuns are smart enough to understand what dialog goes with what picture.

 

Cheers,

[pete48]

HI, Piet, Well, it looks like everything worked out pretty well, in light of the broken drill bit. they look fantastic  Beautiful work

 

Best Regards,

Pete

Edited February 2, 2016 by Pete48

[Piet]

Thanks Pete, yeah, it's working out okay, so far.  Better then with posting pictures in my log.  Some show two or more and others don't show at all. 

I'm calling it a night and will try again tomorrow whit today's work. 

 

Cheers,

[Burroak]

I wonder if brass is soft enough to go through a drum sander? I have never tried it.

[Omega1234]

Hi Piet

 

Looks like you've made some good progress. It probably won't be long before you'll have it all assembled and ready to show us!

 

Cheers and all the best!

 

Patrick

[Piet]

Thanks everyone for your like votes and Greg, Patrick and Lawrence thanks for dropping in and your kind words.

 

@ Greg:  I think I would not want to try it but I guess it will.  These sanders are really not made for metal, regardless of hardness.  I have used it against my regular disc sander, holding it with vice grip pliers though.  It wears the sanding disk real fast.  Even using a bench grander is frowned upon by machinists, it tends to clog up the wheel.

 

@ Patrick:  Yup, progress is being made and I'm doing more then expected.  Will explain in an upcoming post.

 

@ Lawrence:  Thanks for your kind words my friend and yes, having been around metal, specially sheet metal, my whole life I'm quite well aware of the drill bit breakage when coming through the metal.  My problem was not that, the bit broke half way through.  Like Michael mentioned, brass tends to be "grabby" like aluminum.  Let me blame it on the cheap Chinese drills, I had no problem with good old Yankee drill bits. I could not use a back-up block of wood that I use otherwise because I had to put the parts in my drill vice for accurate 90 degree drilling.  You can actually feel when the drill is about to come through and then you ease off and go slowly.

 

I'll try to post yesterday's work next and hope it will work this time, other wise I'll have to post each picture on a separate post.  Wish me luck,

 

Cheers,

[Piet]

 

Okay, I pasted yesterday's post here and see if I can add the pics in the right sequence.

 

The first thing I did this morning, after my morning cup of coffee, was drive up to Bunnel to the hardware store to buy some brass flat stock for the anchor flukes.

It so happened that when I asked the store attendant if they have numbered drill bits he showed me where.  Oh my, I was in heaven, and bought a bunch of the smallest they have, from # 60 to #56.  Next trip I'll get some more of the other sizes to replenish my drill index box.

 

I was now able to drill the holes for stock locking bolts in the shafts, which was the first thing I did when I got home.   .  Worked just beautiful with brand new USA made #60 drill bit, which is about 1.1 mm and will work just fine with the 1 mm rod I'm using.  I also managed to drill a new hole right next to the one with the broken bit in it.  The stock will hide it. 

 

After that was done I transferred the shape of the fluke to the brass sheet stock, which is 1/16 inch or 1.7 mm.  It's a little on the thick side but all the brass sheet stock I have in house is too thin and the store didn't have the size I really wsanted, soooooh - beggars can't be choosers.  I can always machine them thinner if need be.

 

Well, I was only able to cut out three, using my jeweler's jigsaw and finishing two of them.  I tried cutting them out on the Proxxon jigsaw but that was waiting for breaking a bunch of saw blades.  So back to my old trusted hand held jigsaw that I still have from when I was a kid in Holland.

It only took me 1/2 hour to cut one out, which is not too bad considering - - -  I wanted to finish at least one pair before closing shop for today.

 

I also completed the stocks for both anchors, including the securing bolt holes.

 

Now let's see if the transfer of the pics work out better.  

 

This shows my old trusty jigsaw with a fine tooth metal saw blade.

 

One fluke cut out, ready for dressing it down.

 

Two completed anchor flukes.

 

Here I have placed the two completed flukes on the arm cut-outs.

 

 

Cheers,

[GLakie]

Very nice Piet!    Glad you got it sorted and found some "good" drill bits. Do you have a name-brand of those bits? I'll be wanting to get a set of reliable numbered bits myself in the near future! 

 

Cheers

[Piet]

Well, it looks like I lucked out this time and everything in my previous post showed up as advertise.

 

Today I continued with cutting the last fluke out of that brass sheet stock and filed the last two to size.  Looking at them on the anchor arm they looked just too heavy for scale and flat.  So, I decided to hand machine them down somewhat and at the same time machine a curve into them.  

Yes, it's a lot of work but so what, it's only a few more hours of my time.  I did use diamond impregnated mini grinding wheels though to speed-up the work.  I brought the thickness down to 1.2 mm, not bad at all.  The final shaping was done with a series of files.  I'll wait with the final dressing till after all the parts are soldered on and the anchor is completed.

 

I did not make any pictures of the grinding and filing, all yuns know how to do that - - right?  I also didn't make any pics of the soldering for the same reason and besides I don't have an extra set of arms

 

So then, tomorrow I'll assemble anchor numero duo and put the stock on.  I plan to wrap three straps around each side to secure the two halves together.  That'll be fun, soft soldering the brass straps on the cherry stock without burning them

 

That'll complete both main anchors and I think I need to make a smaller one to display somewhere on the ship.

 

Here are two pics, hope you approve.

 

 

 

Cheers,

[dgbot]

Piet have you thought about using black electrician's tape or pinstriping tape to simulte the banding?

David B

[amateur]

Are you sure that Dutch anchors of that period were strapped? In early years they were just bolted. .

I am not sure when they changed to iron bands.

 

Edit: actually, after some googling I'm pretty sure you don't need straps. Look at one of the models in the Rijksmuseum: https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl/collectie/NG-MC-652

Alos others in maritiemdigitaal do not show straps.

This one shows the position of the bolts quite nicely:

https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl/zoeken/objecten?q=William+rex&p=1&ps=12&ii=0#/NG-MC-651,0

 

Jan

Edited February 3, 2016 by amateur

[ianmajor]

Very nice work Piet.

 

I don't know about extra hands to hold the camera I find soldering often requires three hands one of which needs asbestos tipped fingers!

[EJ_L]

Great work. Building a ship completely from scratch is currently beyond my skill set. I hope to some day and seeing builds like yours teaches me a lot on how to go about doing it.

[pete48]

Beautiful work Piet, they look fantastic

 

Best Regards,

Pete

[michael mott]

Very nice work on the anchor Piet, sometimes the fine saw like yours is the best tool. I find that I am using mine for a lot of cutting, wood, brass, plastic  it is just so convenient and quiet. I have a couple set up with different blades for metal or wood.

 

Michael

Edited February 3, 2016 by michael mott

[Sjors]

Wow,

 

Goed gedaan jochie       

 

(Translation ,well done !!!!!!!)

 

Sjors

[amateur]

Hi Sjors,

 

Why don't you translate the 'jochie'?

Ah, well, Piet doesn't need atranslation anyhow.

 

Jan

Edited February 3, 2016 by amateur

[Piet]

Thank you all for visiting my humble shipyard, your welcome comments and also those who clicked on the like button.

 

@ David B:  To tell you the truth, no.  Actually I like to do things the hard way, use real metal and wood

Glutt'n for punishment, I know but it's all a challenge to me.  Can it be done and can I do it.  Now that you mentioned it, I have read or heard about black electrician's tape before.  Besides, Jan just informed us that the anchors on ships in my era, mid 17th century, did not yet have iron bands, so I'm saved by the bell   

 

@ Jan:  Thanks for the head's up and the link.  Here i was ready to add some more detail to the anchors and save some time.  I actually made three bands already but didn't put them on the stocks.  I never looked to see of iron bands were appropriate for that era, they just look nice.  Okay, I'll put bolts in, that'll look nice too, although I like the looks with the bands.  Now to make the bolts.  They were most likely square headed and forged.  Hmmmm, that'll be a challenge making them and the nuts - or were they just clinched at the other end   Kidding of course, 1 mm brass rod will do.

 

@ Ian:  Yup, that's why they make alligator clips for and clothe pins.  Thanks for kudos too - appreciate it.

 

@ EJ:  Thank you for your complements, not deserved but appreciated never the less.  Having worked with my hands most of my adult life fabricating parts for aircraft and engines and assembling aircraft from parts and pieces lying around helps (grossly simplified).  It all starts with an idea, finding the right info, which I lacked at the time I started, is the first step.  That's where this forum is such a treasure of information freely given to those who need it.  And boy, do most of us need it.  For me Amateur Jan, Dirk and Hans have been invaluable.  Someday you'll get there.

 

@ Anthony:  Don't make me blush but thanks for the added confidence, we all need it.

 

@ Pete:  Thanks my friend.

 

@ Michael:  A note of clarification on that Chinese drill bit.  What I meant was that the drill didn't show two curls coming out of the hole, just chips and the flute was rather elongated, didn't look like the 1/16 inch I finally bought.  Yes, I like to use mostly hand tools, mainly to keep my hands and fingers nimble (arthur needs to be exercised) and I don't have many pieces of machinery.  

 

@ Sjors:  What can say, not many people lived after calling me jochie   For the non Dutch speakers that translates to little boy.  We could say lad but that's a high class word.  Okay, here's what my response is - jochie, you are calling me a jochie?  I have enough hair on my chest to weave an indian blanket - and you call me jochie?    Hey Sjors, all in jest mind you and I'm grinning from ear to ear        BTW, thanks for the kudos - bedankt voor de complimenten.

 

The drill bits I bought are Irwin.

 

Cheers,

 

[Piet]

Today was rather productive, albeit short.  I didn't get to the shipyard till around ten a m but soldered the second anchor together.  Then it was cleaning them and roughly polishing them.  I don't want them to appear as jewelry, leaving them a little rustic like the ship is, a good match.

Next step was installing the stock.  I put a small dab of CA at the center anchoring bolt and then some PVA at the ends of the stock.

 

Next I made the rings for the anchor cable.  This posed a slight problem because the shank in square and I had to make the ring with a flat part that goes through the shank. It was a little tricky getting the ring to look like a ring yet also let it rotate in the shank.  Next problem was soldering the ends together in such a way to make it look like a forged ring.  I don't know if anyone on the forum ever have welded iron rings like chain links, in a black smithy or forge fire.  Very tricky - yes I have.  In any case this reminded me of that process. I filed both ends to a taper so that when thy are soldered together they should look like one piece.  Perhaps I'm making it a lot more difficult then need be, again not really knowing how they did it in 1665.  It turned out acceptable to me and if it's not the way it should be Jan will most certainly let me know.  One more thing I need to look at using the URL Jan gave me.

\I normally don't start with MSW till late in the evening, sorry Jan for not yet getting to look at the model in the Rijksmuseum.  Tomorrow for sure, before I do anything else.

 

After lunch I cleaned up and started making the bands for around the stock.  I made three that are actually ready to be put on and the ends soldered.  Then it was time to close shop.  I cancelled the order for the iron bands

 

Tomorrow we'll make the bolts for the stock and finish the anchors.  There is still a smaller anchor I want to make.  We'll see - the 3.2 mm brass bar is a little to hefty for the smaller anchor and ordering a smaller bar at the total cost of $12.00 is a little much at tgis stage - - unless I hand machine these down.

 

Here I am in the process of filing the ring ends to a taper.  If you squint real good you may be able to see the spit and start of the taper.  I had to put a toothpick in it to hold the ring up for the picture.

 

Here we see the finished ring.

 

Here are both main anchors posing for the picture.  Now the only thing left are the bolts that hold the stock pieces together.

 

I hope all yuns approve.

 

Cheers,

[GLakie]

You did a fine job on the iron-work Piet, and those are a couple of good looking anchors! 

[mtaylor]

Sweet looking anchors, Piet.

[Omega1234]

Nice job on the anchors, Piet!

[Mirabell61]

Piet,

 

those anchors look great, nice metal work !

 

Nils

[pete48]

Piet, Those Anchors look incredible, Beautiful work my Freind 

 

Best Regards,

Pete

[JesseLee]

That some mighty fine work Piet! I wish I had your metal working skills.

 

Jesse

[Sjors]

Piet,

 

Thanks for all the jochie stuff     

Can I order 10 of those anchors ??????

They are looking so good.

I think that the manufactures should go to you to see what they can put into the boxes !

 

Sjors

[Remcohe]

That is a nice set of anchors Piet, do you take a commission and build me a pair for the KF ;-)

 

Remco