Dunbrody by Mahuna - FINISHED - 1:48 - Cross-Section - Irish Famine Ship

[captainbob]

Frank, your work is outstanding and I know you are trying to build as accurately to the original as possible.  I understand why, in today's world, the replica has safety rails around the hatches, but I wonder if the original ships had safety in mind when they were built.

 

Bob

[Mahuna]

Hi Bob.  That's a good thought, and I debated whether to build the safety railings.  Thinking of the deck being crowded with people and the tables and benches being only a few feet from the companionways down to the hold, I thought it would be better to have them.  Besides, it's another little finicky detail I can stress over.  

[Jim Lad]

Beautiful work, Frank.  I agree with Bob that those railings on the replica are more a result of modern OH&S rather than historical research.  I really doubt that the original ship had them.

 

John

[captainbob]

  Besides, it's another little finicky detail I can stress over.  

 

Happy stressing.

[Mahuna]

Part 39 – Safety Railings

 

As shown in the last post, the replica ship has safety railings around the companionways for access to the hold.

 

                        

 

                        

 

As discussed in previous posts these railings may only be part of the modern replica ship, but my feeling is that the crowded Accommodation Deck would have made the companionway openings quite dangerous, and the railings may have been at least temporary installations during the emigrants’ voyage.  So I decided to build them.

 

The railings were sized to fit over the framing on the companionways, and CAD plans were developed

 

                        

 

The railings were made from 3 x 6’s (1/16 x 1/8).  The upright members would be notched for the horizontal railings, so these notches were cut into a 1/8 thick billet using the milling machine.  Timbers were then parted off and shaped to the final dimensions in the thickness sander.

 

                        

 

A jig for assembling the pieces was needed to keep everything properly aligned.  The jig was made on the milling machine and can be seen in the above photo.

 

The individual pieces of stock had 5 grooves cut in them.  The first and last grooves were for cutting out the part.

 

                        

 

                        

 

                        

 

The top rail and the bottom rim were mitered and placed into the jig.  Then the individual pieces were added to the jig.

 

                        

 

                        

 

Then the horizontal braces were glued into the notches in the vertical pieces.

 

                        

 

When dry, these side pieces were removed from the jig and the top rail and bottom rim were glued to the sides.  These sides were then placed in a separate jig that was designed to hold the sides square to each other.

 

                        

 

A mitered top cross-piece was glued in place, followed by the horizontal braces for the front of the assembly.

 

                        

 

                        

 

The assembly was then removed from the jig and the bottom mitered cross-piece was glued in place.  Small ‘bumpers’ were added to the bottom rim.  The following photos show the completed railings in place.

 

                        

 

                        

 

                        

 

All of the individual components for the Accommodation Deck are now completed, and installation of the Main Deck beams can begin.

 

                        

 

                        

 

                        

 

Thanks everyone, and enjoy the weekend!

[AON]

I am inspired by your made to order assembly jigs

[Mahuna]

I am inspired by your made to order assembly jigs

Thanks Alan.  These jigs save a lot of alignment problems.  I think I'd try to make them even if I didn't have the milling machine - it just makes it easier to make them.

[GuntherMT]

As always, your craftsmanship is beautiful, and you continue to come up with great tools to help you make everything perfect.  Fantastic.

[albert]

Very nice work Frank.

[Mahuna]

As always, your craftsmanship is beautiful, and you continue to come up with great tools to help you make everything perfect.  Fantastic.

Thanks Brian.  That's one of the things I really enjoy about the hobby - the exercise for the old grey matter.

 

 

Very nice work Frank.

 

Thanks Albert!

[Omega1234]

Hi Frank

 

Really, really nice! You're moving along at a cracking pace, now.

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

[Mahuna]

Part 40 – Main Deck Beams

 

A lot of progress on Dunbrody today.  I had previously made the deck beams for the main deck, and spent today installing the primary deck beams.  This included epoxying the Accommodation Deck furniture in place.

 

Work started with securing the sleeping platforms, the mast stub, and the bucket lavatories.  Then the mast partners for the main deck, with the associated beams were installed.  After that, the beams for the main hold forward of the main mast were installed.

 

                        

 

The forward safety railing was then glued in place.  There are stanchions or pillars that support the main hatch – these were installed next.  A molding was added to the pillars that are in the planked part of the deck.

 

                        

 

                        

 

Once the Main Hold was framed out I was able to fix the forward table and benches in place.

 

                        

 

Then the forward-most beam was installed and a pillar was placed under the beam.

 

                        

 

Turning to the aft section, the table, benches, and safety railings were installed, followed by the framing for the aft hold and companionway.

 

                        

 

                        

 

So now Dunbrody is ready for the lodging knees and the secondary beams for the main deck.  I expect this work will take several days to complete.

 

                        

 

Thanks everyone!

[dafi]

Very nice project :-)

 

XXXDAn

[Mahuna]

Very nice project :-)

 

XXXDAn

Thank you!

[captainbob]

She's looking good, Frank.  Thanks for all the pictures.

 

Bob

[Mahuna]

Thanks Bob.  I always appreciate seeing photos of work progression on other build logs, so I thought I should do the same.

Edited August 28, 2016 by Mahuna

[Mike40]

Excellent work and a great build Frank. It couldn't have been the easiest crossing for those poor immigrants.  I'm late to the party being a newcomer to the site, but I did read your log this evening from start to this point and I found much of interest. It looks finished or nearly finished if I'm not mistaken. Your photos and work descriptions covered the subject very thoroughly.

 

One thing I still can't get my head around is the chocks inserted into the frames  as I couldn't see how they helped the mating with their sister frames. Where they used as some kind of spacer between the frames?  

Edited August 28, 2016 by Mike40

[Mahuna]

Excellent work and a great build Frank. It couldn't have been the easiest crossing for those poor immigrants.  I'm late to the party being a newcomer to the site, but I did read your log this evening from start to this point and I found much of interest. It looks finished or nearly finished if I'm not mistaken. Your photos and work descriptions covered the subject very thoroughly.

 

One thing I still can't get my head around is the chocks inserted into the frames  as I couldn't see how they helped the mating with their sister frames. Where they used as some kind of spacer between the frames?  

 

Hi Mike, and thanks!  I'm glad you find this interesting - my main purpose (besides modeling at a level of complexity that is new to me) is to show the conditions in which the emigrants escaping the famine had to travel.  I had the same question about the frame chocks - they didn't seem to be necessary.  EdT made the point that perhaps they were used to build the single frames before the frames were joined as a frameset.  If you're interested, this is one of the discussion topics in my prior topic of Planning for a Sectional Model of the Dunbrody - the link is below my signature.  And welcome to my log!

[EdT]

Frank, the use of the milled jigs for accurate assembly is brilliant - and the precision shows.

 

Ed

[Mahuna]

Frank, the use of the milled jigs for accurate assembly is brilliant - and the precision shows.

 

Ed

Thanks Ed.  The jigs are simple, but are a big help.

[mtaylor]

Lovely work, Frank and I'm loving the jigs.  They're giving me ideas...  

[Mahuna]

Lovely work, Frank and I'm loving the jigs.  They're giving me ideas...  

Thanks Mark.

[Mahuna]

Part 41 – Main Deck Lodging Knees

 

There are several variations of lodging knees described in the Crothers book that I’ve been using as a reference.  Dunbrody uses 3 of the four types, as explained below.

 

Work started with drafting the various knees in CAD.  Since the drawings would be cut out and pasted on wood stock for cutting out the knees, sufficient copies were printed to allow construction of all the required knees.  The following photo is the drawing of the majority of the knees – knees with a long scarf in each berth.

 

                        

 

The construction plans show a capstan among the various details on the main deck, but they don’t show any underlying support for the capstan.  The capstan is over part of the aft hatch, so I’m not sure what the arrangement was.  I didn’t look far enough ahead in the building, so I didn’t include any capstan support under the main deck – my error.  To try to compensate I added some heavy beams behind the mast partners on the main deck.  The area around the capstan had some simple butted lodging knees on the plan, so I added the new timbers inside the knees.

 

                        

 

                        

 

                        

 

For cutting the knees, 2 pieces of stock were glued together using Ambroid glue – this allowed me to cut out a pair of knees at a time.  The following photo shows the capstan knees.

 

                        

 

The knees with the long scarf were used to support he main beams and the secondary or partial beams that were between them.  The process for making these knees started with pasting the drawings to the stock using an Elmer’s School Glue stick.

 

                        

 

The knees were cut out on the scroll saw and shaped using the disk sander and a round sanding stick for the concave part.

 

                        

 

The knees were then placed in a small bath of acetone in a covered container for a couple of minutes for the Ambroid glue to dissolve – this resulted in the parts for a pair of the scarfed knees.

 

                        

 

The pieces were glued together to form the scarfed knees.

 

                        

 

These knees would be positioned between two main beams, with a secondary beam cut into the knee.

 

                        

 

The knees were first fitted between the main beams, using a disk sander to reduce the width of the knee until it fit snugly in the berth. 

 

The secondary and partial beams were manufactured to their full length so that the correct camber was on the beam.  For cutting the beam to its final length, the beam was first centered on the deck and the length at its innermost location was marked.

 

                        

 

Then, with that part of the beam in its permanent position, the other end of the beam was used to mark the beam’s location on the knees.

 

                        

 

The following photo shows the knees marked for the secondary beam.  The cut will be made so that 5 inches of the knee remains.

 

                        

 

Stop cuts were made at the two lines using a small razor saw.

 

                        

 

The wood between the cuts was pared out.

 

                        

 

And the cut was finished with a file.

 

                        

 

                        

 

The remaining type of knee used in Dunbrody is the most simple type of knee with no butts or scarfs – used at the mast partners.

 

                        

 

The lodging knees for Dunbrody are now completed.

 

                        

 

                        

 

Next item will be making and installing the waterways.

 

Thanks everyone!

[GuntherMT]

Your progress is amazingly fast now Frank.  Are you only showing the nails in the exposed side knees as the others will be covered by planking?

[Elijah]

Nice work Frank! You are very fast!

[Mahuna]

Your progress is amazingly fast now Frank.  Are you only showing the nails in the exposed side knees as the others will be covered by planking?

That's correct, Brian.  I'm trying to get as much done as possible before October, so I'm eliminating any work that won't show in the final product, as long as it's not structural.  And, unfortunately, I also have missed a couple of things by mistake - rushing isn't a good thing.

[Mahuna]

Nice work Frank! You are very fast!

Thanks Elijah.  It may seem fast, but it's also a lot of time in the shop - my hobby has become a full-time job, with some OT thrown in.  (but I'm NOT complaining!)

[Mahuna]

Part 42 – Main Deck Waterways

 

The waterways for the main deck are the next item to be installed.  When I made the frames I left the top timbers long, so the first task was to bring the top timbers down to the appropriate height.  Masking tape was used to mark the proper height of the top timbers.

 

                        

 

Some of the top timbers had to be reduced a significant amount, so an Iwasaki fine file was used.  This file has a cutting surface that’s similar to a microplane.

 

                        

 

This file brought the tops done quickly, and even though it has blank edges I let it drift away from the stanchion to avoid cutting into the stanchion in error.

 

                        

 

It was then a simple matter to finish off the cut using a barrett file.

 

                        

 

Once all of the top timbers were at the appropriate heights the waterways could be started.

 

As in several other circumstances, the way that Dunbrody is built differs from the traditional methods described in the Crothers book.  The normal configuration is to have a waterway with a scupper cut through it and with a planksheer or covering plank fixed above it.  The Dunbrody only has a waterway with no planksheer, and instead of scuppers it has openings in the first bulwark plank to remove the water from the deck.  This is also shown on the construction plans, so that’s the way the model will be configured.

 

                        

 

The stock for the waterways was soaked in boiling water and was then clamped in place for drying.

 

                        

 

A ‘sacrificial’ plank was used to avoid having the clamps cause any denting in the borders of the waterways.

 

After the waterways were dried overnight, the positions of the stanchions were marked on each waterway.

 

                        

 

The pencil lines are inside the edge of the stanchion as indicated by the straight edge.  This was done intentionally so that as the openings were cut there was no risk of making the openings too big.

 

                        

 

The depth of the stanchions was also marked on the waterways, using a compass set at the appropriate depth.

 

                        

 

The metal point of the compass was reversed so that the compass would ride consistently against the edge of the waterway.

 

                        

 

The following photo shows the two waterways after bending and marking.

 

                        

 

There was a small tendency for the waterways to spring back into a straight line, but  the remaining bend can be forced through clamping.

 

The scroll saw was used for the initial cuts, staying inside the pencil lines, and then a small chisel was used to remove the waste between the cuts.

 

                        

 

These initial cuts left a lot of final shaping to be done.

 

                        

 

The shaping was done with various files.  The small block shown under the waterway was used to prevent the filing from changing the curve of the waterway through downward pressure on the edge of the waterway.

 

                        

 

The following photos show the waterways after the opening for the stanchions were completed.

 

                        

 

                        

 

The waterways have an incline from the stanchions down to the deck planking, so that the edge of the waterway meets the deck planking at the same height as the top of the plank.  The depth of the plank was marked on the waterway.

 

                        

 

                        

 

This incline was made using a variety of files.

 

                        

 

The following photo shows the resultant incline in the waterway.

 

                        

 

The waterways are bolted to the deck beams, so blackened copper wire was used to simulate these bolts.

 

                        

 

                                 

 

The waterways were then glued in place on Dunbrody.

 

                        

 

The outer edge of the waterways is an added piece of stock of the same thickness as the waterway.  The outer edge of this piece is rounded and is fitted so that it protrudes beyond the waist planking and the bulwark planking, appearing as a molding piece on the ship.  The round edge was formed using a stainless cutter that was made to the correct shape and then used as a scraper.  This outer edge was then glued in place.

 

                        

 

The waterways are now finished, and the exterior planking can begin.

 

                       

 

                      

 

                      

 

Thanks everyone for the ‘likes’ and comments.

 

 

 

 

 

 

                       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[druxey]

That should make everything really rigid! Very neatly done, Frank.

[mtaylor]

Sweet work, Frank.