Anchor Hoy c. 1825 by Maury S - FINISHED - 1:48 - Harbor craft - POF

[Maury S]

Taking Druxey's kind admonition, I am going back over all the completed frames.  The actual height of each frame is not critical at this stage...it will be faired later.  In TurboCad, I created a vertical line through the center of the frame (CL) and a horizontal line near the top of the frame where there is a ledge.  Lining these points on the master frame plan, holding the frame on the plan and attaching (light dab of glue) a horizontal beam with a score on the top and edge at dead center not only gives temporary strength to the frame, it will help align everything once it goes on the keel.  The horizontals will be removed later on.

 

Maury

[Maury S]

I've been assembling the pieces for each frame.  The last few have been with the control pin method and it's working OK.  Not every hole lines up, but enough to get the pieces aligned and glued.  Frames H and 12 - 15 needed re-lofting to match up with the plan width...The others look to line up well on the keel assembly.  I need to spend time on the intersection of the bottom of each frame with the rabbet.  One frame at a time.  Then back to re-doing the 6 frames once my new scroll saw arrives.

Maury

[Maury S]

About a third of the frames needed re-lofting.  The fore-most frames (H & G) especially needed thickening because of the sharp angle (Buff bow) and I had to leave plenty of meat on the piece.  I roughly trimmed the tops of Frame H in preparation of attaching to the stem wood and the aft edge of the hawse pieces.  Most of the next week or so will be dedicated to the fore and aft-most half frames.  Once they are set, I can roughly fair the insides.  Carefully measuring the thickness of the stem wood where the frames rest made alignment to the body plan right on (at least for Frame H). 

Maury

[Maury S]

Spacers between frames:  I cut some carefully measured pine spacers to place at the bottom and near the top between Frames H and G.  The fore sides of the second frame (G) will line up perfectly with the body plan on the building board and be consistent bottom to top.  The Mini "Jorgensen-type" clamps (thx to Ed Tosti) are so much better than the spring clamps in circumstances like this.  The spacers near the top will be removed much later.  The ones along the keel assembly maybe cut even with the frames...or not.  Original boats of the era would probably have had fillers between frames at the rising wood to prevent water accumulating between frames.

Maury

[Maury S]

Frames G & H installed.  Everything lines up with the body plan. Oops!  The starboard half of Frame G crept up during the gluing.  Iso to the rescue.  I removed the frame, let it dry out from the alcohol and reset it.  This time I used the gantry to create a hold-down jig (pic 3) while the glue set.    Next half Frame F then on to the half frames at the stern.

Maury

Edited July 25, 2016 by Maurys

[druxey]

Those bluff bows make life interesting, don't they? Looks like you've mastered it, Maurys.

[Maury S]

There is going to be a lot of fairing of the bows before I call it a win, but watching how Chuck manages with POB models, I've gained some confidence.  Frankly, the model, locked onto the building board seems quite sturdy.  OK for inside fairing, but until that's done I'm not even going to think about the outside fairing.

Thanks for all the "Likes" and especially the helpful comments. 

Maury

[Maury S]

Frame 15 setup:  15 is the second frame from the stern (first is attached to the wing transom).  First it is squared up to make sure is is centered athwart ships (now I'm sounding like Druxey) and the tops are at equal heights.  The bottom of the frame straddles the deadwood resting on the steps built up on the deadwood) and the tops are measured from the profile plan (1st pic).  That height is transferred to the edge of the two square building board adjustable frames  (NOT the pencil marks about an inch above the tops in pic. #2).  Those frames are set square to the keel and aligned with the body plan on the building board.  The tops of frame 15 are set so they align with the marks on the building square.  I have to cut some filler pieces to fit between frames 16 and 15 and then glue it up.  There is no end to the effectiveness of Ed Tosti's tools and jigs.

Maury

[Maury S]

Half frame 14 being installed on the starboard side.  Appropriate sized spacers are installed along frame 15.  The Building board square frame is marked at the height (of the deck) and set square to the keel and aligned with the body plan frame line.  The frame piece is glued up and held firmly to the deadwood and slid up / down until the marks on the frame line up with the mark on the square. The machinist squares are weighted and are holding the frame firmly against the spacers while the glue dries.  The scrap of wood clamped to the building square is holding the bottom of the frame tightly against the deadwood.  Once dry, I'll repeat the process on the port side.

Maury

Edited July 29, 2016 by Maurys

[Maury S]

Thanks for all the likes.  When someone spots a potential issue, please speak up.  I've got a long way to go in developing my skill levels and would never be this far without the generous guidance of so many on this forum. 

Frame 13 is the first full frame.  It took some blocking and sanding to get it to the correct height.  The deck line is more precise so the height is measured from the profile and transferred to the building board square frames.  I marked a line on the edge of the frame exactly at the level of the deck.  You can see where the temporary cross beam rests on the frame at this level.  The frame (13) is then aligned on both sides and glued in place.  It may become difficult to distinguish one line from another on the square frame so I'll probably use a fresh piece of tape on the edge for each subsequent frame.  Erasing from the wood isn't enough.

I've now arrived at the point of fairing the insides of the fore and aft-most frames while there is room to maneuver.  

Maury

[druxey]

If you continue to be as meticulous in your cross-measurements as you have been, all should work out well, Maurys. I find re-measurung and checking constantly the only way to avoid reaching for the isopropanol!

[Maury S]

I had some time to add the remaining hawse timbers (fillers...I started with a piece of 0.20" x 1.125" piece of scrap) and roughed them out both inside and out.  I'm not erecting several pieces on each side as was most likely done, but it's all going to be planked at the bow and I need the strength to withstand the severe fairing that will be needed.)  Most of the paring was done with a 3/4" chisel on the outside and 3/8" chisel on the inside.  Since I don't have my sharpener with me so I can't touch up the edges of the chisels and after a day's work, they will need it.  (I didn't count how many times David Antscherl told me to sharpen my pencil and my chisels but it was a lot).  Maybe I'll work on the transom.  The frames are delicate and unprotected, so I don't think I'll go as far as gluing them in, but there's a lot to do to get them set properly.

Maury

[druxey]

Ya gotta keep them tools well sharpened, Maurys! You'll regret it when they are blunt, so you push hard and the tool slips....

[Maury S]

Druxey,

How coarse are the water stones you use? 

Maury

[druxey]

I use 1000 and 4000. If an edge should get a nick, I might use something coarser to get the worst ground off. If you sharpen properly with a micro-bevel on the edge, all you need to do is a few strokes on the 4000 grit to get the tool back to A1 shape.

[Maury S]

I made a card template of the transom frame and it was very close to a good fit.  A little tweaking of the wood pieces (slight angles where the frame meets the wing transom) and the eight pieces will be ready to install.  There is hardly any support until some battens get put on, so I'm not going to install for some time.  If someone has an idea of how to protect them, let me know.

Maury

Edited August 2, 2016 by Maurys

[druxey]

One way of protecting the stern timbering is to attach one (or more) battens across them as a temporary measure. Also don't make any sudden reaching over moves and wear short sleeves!

[Maury S]

Thanks for the tips!

Maury

[Maury S]

I cut out all the stern timbers and left the tops a little long for final trimming (there is a nice arch in the original drawing).  I need the outer-most stern timbers in place to properly fair the last few frames.  A lot of meat needs to be trimmed off the last frame (16).  Maybe some temporary battens across the back and along the side will help.  I guess I can install the mid-ship frames first and get the battens set.  I think I'll pre-fair the aft edges of the stern timbers a bit 'cause there is no way they will stand up to sanding without a lot of support.

Maury

[Maury S]

Good progress on installing additional frames.  The stern timbers have been removed to prevent damage.  I have run out of 1/8" material to finish up the remaining three revised frames (C, Dead Flat-00 and #2 ).  Even so, I can proceed. 

I've installed all the frames (moving both fore and aft) until I reached the point where the "square building board frames" no longer fit between the existing ship frames.  Time for the gantry (thanks again to Ed Tosti).  First I clamped a piece of scrap (1/16")  wood spanning the sides of the gantry and marked the height of the frame at deck level just as I had marked the "square bldg. bd frames."  I then lined up the measuring points on the gantry with the body plan on the building board and set the frame in place using the marks on the scrap to keep the frame level and plumb.  The colored clamps are holding the frame tops secure while the glue dries.  This arrangement will allow me to work between existing frames once I get more timber.  I should be able to get a pretty fair line along the tops even with those three frames missing.  Once I fair the sides of the tops of the frames I can install some temporary battens to stiffen everything and secure the stern timbers.  I'm thinking just gluing on the battens will be strong enough unless someone has a warning and convinces me to pin them as well.

Maury

[druxey]

Glue should be fine: pin them and it adds complexity to removing the supports later. Great progress, Maurys!

[Maury S]

The new supply of timber arrived so I remade the four frames that were out of wack.  Everything seems to line up better.  We'll see once I finish the temporary blocking between frames and take it off the board.  When I removed some of those temporary blocks, I had quite a time with the Iso.  For the new blocks, I'm using white school glue.  I assume it's not as strong as the TiteBond II, and wont be as tough to remove later.

Two more pictures of the gantry being used to attach and level the frames where the building board square frames will not fit.

Maury

[albert]

Beautiful work.

[Maury S]

All the frames are now in place.  A lot of fairing to do, and a couple of low spots that need to be built up a wee bit.  The temporary battens over the aft-most 8 frames are protecting those delicate tops really well.  There are a few frames where the tops parts of the frames are small...not much overlap with the paired frame parts.  Next time, those will be longer.  Once planking starts, they will not be an issue.  After fairing both sides I'll install at least one strake of planking (probably the wale) and that will give everything a lot of support.  Off to make some more sawdust.

Maury

[Jim Lad]

Just catching up, Maury - she's coming along beautifully.

 

John

[Maury S]

Back from vacation, so the weekend will be spent sharpening chisels, replacing sandpaper on sanding sticks and pads, cleaning up here and there and getting set to fairing both inside and outside of the frames.  It's messy work so I'll be in the garage where sawdust is always present.  Temperatures have dropped a whole bunch so it's tolerable there.

Maury

[Maury S]

I used a temporary batten to check the rough fairing so far...looking for high or low spots at the tops of frames.  I checked the distance from center-line to the outer edge of each top.  Two frames needed building up and several sanding down.   Black thread seems off-center in the photo, but it's the camera angle.

Maury

[druxey]

Easy does it! It's harder to stick back sanding dust than to take it off.... Looking good, Maurys.

[EdT]

Sorry I've been absent from your blog lately Maury, but I think I'm caught up. She's looking great.

 

Ed

[Maury S]

The frame adjustments have been made and the fairing is complete (grits 80, 100, 150 and 220).  Everything seems good so I put on the two full-length temporary battens using Elmers school glue so it will be easier to remove later on (I think).  The next step seems to be to remove the horizontal frame braces so I can get to the inside of the frames.  I'm going to leave the pine spacers in place to provide more support while sanding the inside.  That means extra chiseling and sanding on the spacers, but I think the support they provide is more important.

Maury

Edited September 9, 2016 by Maurys