Kathryn by Mahuna - FINISHED - 1:32 - Skipjack Based on HAER Drawings

[michael mott]

Hi Frank I just finished going through your whole build log..... Wow what a great model.

 

Michael

[John Allen]

On 7/3/2018 at 5:51 PM, Mahuna said:

A brass tube that would fit over the forward part of the bowsprit, along with 1/8” x .025” brass strips

Frank, 

 

Just magnificent, what function does the 8oz? fishing lead weight held in place by 4 wires on the bowsprit do?

[Mahuna]

6 hours ago, michael mott said:

Hi Frank I just finished going through your whole build log..... Wow what a great model.

 

Michael

Thanks Michael, and welcome aboard.

 

52 minutes ago, John Allen said:

Frank, 

 

Just magnificent, what function does the 8oz? fishing lead weight held in place by 4 wires on the bowsprit do?

Thanks John.  I have no idea how that weight got tangled there - I'll need to contact some friends who may know.

[John Allen]

Probably a neighbor fishing, or it maybe holding the bowsprit together.

Again masterful build waiting to see your dredge assembly.

[Mahuna]

7 hours ago, John Allen said:

Probably a neighbor fishing, or it maybe holding the bowsprit together.

Again masterful build waiting to see your dredge assembly.

Thanks John.  It will be a while before I start working on the dredges.  I'm focused on getting ready for rigging Kathryn, and will probably leave the dredges for last.

[Mahuna]

Part 73 –Trailboards

 

Kathryn has Trailboards located on each side of the Chesapeake Longhead, or Clipper Bow, as in the following photo:

 

                        

 

These Trailboards need to be installed prior to any of the chains shown in the photo.

 

Drawings of the Trailboards were made in TurboCad.

 

                        

 

After thinking through all of the alternatives for creating the trailboards, I decided to use the idea suggested by Ron Thibault – to print the drawings on photo stock – this worked out very well.  Thanks Ron!

 

The aft ends of the Trailboards are installed on Kathryn’s bow and consequently flare outwards.  The point where this occurs needed to be determined on the drawing. This was accomplished by clamping a drawing of the Trailboards, printed on plain paper, to the longhead and then making crease in the drawing using a sharp object – in this case the back end of a small metal ruler.

 

                        

 

The drawing was cut along this crease.  

 

                        

 

The stock for the Trailboards was milled to 1/32” thickness, and the two pieces that were required were glued together using Ambroid glue.

 

                        

 

When the Ambroid was set, the two pieces of the drawing were pasted onto the stock, using school glue, and the pieces of the Trailboards were cut out on the scroll saw and refined through sanding.  The pieces for the two Trailboards were separated by soaking the pieces in acetone.

 

                        

 

The final drawing, on photo stock, was glued to the Trailboard pieces.  The joint between the two pieces of wood was actually formed by the printed image.

 

                        

 

The Trailboards have a molding around the entire perimeter (except for the most forward edge).  This molding, made from .040” stock that was .020” thick, was glued to the Trailboard using the setup shown in the following photo.  Rare earth magnets held the Trailboard pieces in place on a piece of sheet metal.

 

                        

 

A piece of annealed brass strip was bent to the angle required in the joint of the trailboard, and this was used to hold the pieces of the trailboard at the proper angle when the molding was installed at the aft end of the Trailboard.

 

                        

 

                        

 

The Trailboard was glued to the Longhead and clamped in place.

 

                        

 

The same process was followed for the Trailboard on the port side.

 

                        

 

Now that the Trailboards are installed, I’ll need to spend some time developing an approach to making the various turnbuckles and shackles that will be needed to complete the installation of the chains mounted on Kathryn’s bowsprit.

 

Thanks everyone for the ‘Likes’ and comments.

 

[thibaultron]

Glad I was able to help Frank!

[Mahuna]

Part 74 –Turnbuckles - revisited

 

In Part 44, back in December, I had posted some work on trying to make turnbuckles.  At the time I was trying to thread one end so that there would be working turnbuckles on the model.  I was able to get a working turnbuckle from wood, but I wasn’t happy with the result.

 

Now that we’re getting very close to rigging the model, it’s time to get serious about putting some turnbuckles together.

 

Kathryn has 7 turnbuckles at the bow, supporting things like the Jib Stay, Head Stay, Bob Stay, and 4 Jack Stays.  The following photo shows most of these turnbuckles.

 

                        

 

All of these turnbuckles seem to be of a uniform width. The turnbuckles for the Jack Stays appear to be longer than the others.

 

Square brass tube was used to make the turnbuckle bodies. 1/16” square tube was used for the turnbuckles at the bow, and 3/32” square tube was used to make the four larger turnbuckles that support the shrouds.

 

The first step, after cutting an appropriate length of tube using the micro saw, was to round both ends of the piece on the lathe – removing about .015 of material.

 

                        

 

                        

 

The workpiece was then held in a vise.  A piece of thin rod was run through the workpiece as an aid in holding and positioning it in the vise.

 

                        

 

Two of the sides (facing each other) were removed by filing.

 

                        

 

                        

 

Most of the turnbuckle bodies were made during one session.

 

                        

 

The 2 turnbuckles for the Jack Stays shown in the first photo have different connectivity components.  One seems to have clevises at both ends, while the other has rings with shackles attached.  I decided to make them all the same way, using clevises for the connecting ends.

 

The 3/32” square tube was used for making the clevises. A hole was drilled through the top side of the tube to take the connecting rod.  The tube was then repositioned in the vise so that a hole could be drilled through both sides of the tube for the clevis pin.

 

                        

 

                        

 

The tube was then turned in the vise so that the last undrilled side was exposed, and this side was milled off using a 1/16” end mill.

 

                        

 

                        

 

The clevis was then parted off using the micro saw.

 

                        

 

                        

 

The clevis was soldered to a connecting rod, and the rod was soldered into the turnbuckle body.  After the clevis and rod for the other end of the turnbuckle was assembled and installed, the turnbuckle was primed and painted the bare metal color previously used for the yawl boat davits.

 

                        

 

A total of four of these turnbuckles will be required. The one shown was actually a first prototype and will be used along with the other three that still need to be assembled.

 

The other turnbuckles at the bow will be similar in size, but the connections will be somewhat different.

 

The most difficult turnbuckles to be made are the four large turnbuckles that support the shrouds.  This will be subject of the next post – coming soon.

 

Cheers everyone.

[druxey]

Nicely machined!

[Mahuna]

Thanks Druxey!

[Mahuna]

Part 75 –Turnbuckles cont’d

 

Kathryn’s shrouds are steel cable, and are held in place by large turnbuckles rather than deadeyes, as in the following photo.

 

                        

 

The connectivity consists of large loops at each end of the turnbuckle, connected by shackles to the chainplate at the bottom and to the cable at top.  These large loops are made of flat stock which turns into a round rod so that it can be threaded to the turnbuckle.

 

My first thought was that this configuration would be too complicated to model, so I made some clevises on posts for connectivity to the turnbuckles.

 

                        

 

The small collar on the post is to provide a more secure fit to the turnbuckle.  The turnbuckle bodies were made from 3/32” square stock which had a 1/16” round inside diameter.  Since the posts needed to be smaller (1/32” rod) I drilled a 1/32” hole through a 1/16” rod and parted off sufficient collars for the 8 rods needed for the turnbuckles.

 

I wasn’t happy with the approach of using a clevis instead of the actual arrangement, so I decided to try to duplicate the rig as it exists in real life.

 

For the large loops, I used 1/32” x 1/64” brass strips. They were annealed and bent around a piece of 1/16” rod that would provide a consistently sized opening.  I was careful not to close the bend into too tight of a shape.

 

                        

 

The workpiece was then clamped for soldering.

 

                        

 

                        

 

The shaft of the loop was then made into a 1/32” round shape by grinding and filing, so that the collar mentioned above would fit over the shaft.

 

The shackles were made from 26 gauge copper wire.  A jig was used to ensure that the bend of each shackle was as identical as possible.

 

                        

 

The copper wire was laid across the jig in the small groove that was cut perpendicular to the round cavity, and a 1/16” steel punch was used to push the wire down into the jig for the circular body of the shackle.

 

                        

 

                        

 

The ends of the shackle were cut to length, and then flattened by squeezing each end in the hinge of a flat pliers.  Holes were drilled into the shackles for .019” pins, and the ends of the shackles were rounded by filing.

 

                        

 

The turnbuckle and shackles were primed and then painted the bare metal color.

 

                        

 

In all, Kathryn has 11 turnbuckles in her rigging, shown in the following photo.

 

                        

 

I have ordered some bare stainless steel fishing line in the appropriate sizes for Kathryn’s cables.  In the meantime, I plan to install some of the chains.  The chains and turnbuckles for the Jack Stays will be installed first.  That will be the subject of the next post.

 

Thanks everyone!

 

 

[HIPEXEC]

Nice work. I'd go blind trying that!

[Mahuna]

Thanks Rich.  Yeah, thank heaven for the Optivisor!

[mtaylor]

Frank, you are the god of hardware ware.  These are just incredible.

[Mahuna]

Thanks Mark - I'm pretty happy with the way the turnbuckles worked out.  Some of them are fairly delicate, though.

Edited July 20, 2018 by Mahuna

[michael mott]

Nice work Frank.

 

Michael

[cog]

1 hour ago, Mahuna said:

Thanks Mark - I'm pretty happy with the way the turnbuckles worked out.  Some of them are fairly delicate, though.

Who would have expected that ...?

 

Very lovely turnbuckles, I am astonished by what you accomplish at that scale, and most of all the number of parts you can make separately. I would be happy if I could make it as a single piece!!!

[Mahuna]

9 hours ago, michael mott said:

Nice work Frank.

 

Michael

Thanks Michael.

 

9 hours ago, cog said:

Who would have expected that ...?

 

Very lovely turnbuckles, I am astonished by what you accomplish at that scale, and most of all the number of parts you can make separately. I would be happy if I could make it as a single piece!!!

Thanks Carl.  I can't imagine how I could make these turnbuckles as a single piece!  One of the problems I have is losing these small pieces to the floor, never to be seen again.  I generally make extras for that reason.

[michael mott]

1 hour ago, Mahuna said:

One of the problems I have is losing these small pieces to the floor, never to be seen again.

I think that is why jewelers and watchmakers tend to have a smock connected to the bench to catch those parts. I of course would forget that I was attached and get up and pull the whole bench over.

 

Michael

[cog]

7 hours ago, Mahuna said:

 I can't imagine how I could make these turnbuckles as a single piece!

No pivoting parts ... nicely stuck together with CA ... probably not a pretty sight either

[Mahuna]

10 hours ago, michael mott said:

I think that is why jewelers and watchmakers tend to have a smock connected to the bench to catch those parts. I of course would forget that I was attached and get up and pull the whole bench over

Hi Michael - yeah, I've thought about doing this.  But like you, I tend to move around the shop a lot and would probably cause more problems than I solved with the smock.

 

4 hours ago, cog said:

No pivoting parts ... nicely stuck together with CA ... probably not a pretty sight either

Carl, I told you a million times not to exaggerate!  

[Mahuna]

Part 76 –Bowsprit Stays

 

Kathryn has seven stays associated with the bowsprit.

 

                        

 

There are four Jack Stays, 2 on the port side and 2 on starboard.  These stays, made of chain, are connected to the port and starboard lugs on the bowsprit band and by turnbuckles to ringbolts at the railing and the wales.

 

The JIB Stay is a chain attached to the upper bracket on the outer stem, and the chain is connected to a steel cable by a turnbuckle. The cable runs through a hole at the end of the bowsprit up to the mast hounds.

 

The Bob Stay is the lowest stay, is made of chain and is attached to the lower bracket at the outer stem.  It is connected by a turnbuckle to the lower lug on the bowsprit band.

 

The Head Stay is a steel cable connected by a turnbuckle to the upper lug on the bowsprit band and to a shackle at the mast top.

 

I was able to find silver chain at Arrow Hobby.

 

            https://ppw-aline.com/collections/tie-down-chain

 

The smallest silver chain is 27 links per inch, which worked for the Jack Stays, and the larger chain used for the Bob Stay and Jib Stay is 15 links per inch.

 

The Jack Stays were installed first.  Installation began by installing the required ringbolts and painting them to match the hull.

 

                        

 

Shackles for the stays were simulated by tying nichrome wire to the connection points.  Nichrome wire has a silver color which blended well with the chains and turnbuckles. A loop of 26 gauge nichrome wire was passed through the end links of two lengths of 27 link per inch silver chain and then tied in a knot which was located behind the lug on the bowsprit band.

 

                        

 

                        

 

When the loose ends were clipped off the wire loop simulated a shackle.

 

Piano wire was used for the connecting pins because of its strength. The turnbuckles for the Jack Stays were attached to the ringbolts by short lengths of .014 steel piano wire run through one hole of the turnbuckle’s clevis, through the ringbolt, and then through the other hole in the clevis.  The piano wire was epoxied in place and then clipped off when dry.

 

                        

 

A short length of piano wire was glued into the holes at the other end of the clevis prior to the turnbuckles being mounted.  A loop of 28 gauge nichrome wire was used to form a shackle tying the Jack Stay chain to the turnbuckle around that short length of piano wire.

 

                        

 

                        

 

                        

 

                        

 

The Jib Stay and Bob Stay both have the chains attached to a ring on a turnbuckle.  The turnbuckles used for these stays were initially made with only one ring each.  The second ring was formed of nichrome wire which had first been run through the end link of the associated chain, as shown in the following sequence.

 

                        

 

                        

 

                        

 

                        

 

These ring/chain combinations were then epoxied into the turnbuckles.

 

                        

 

The Jib Stay was installed next.  The first step was connecting the steel cable to the turnbuckle.  The ‘steel cable’ was made from .014” bare leader wire from AFW fishing.

 

https://afwfishing.com/afw_products/Surfstrand_Micro_Ultra_Leader_Wire_Uncoated_1x19.asp

 

Crimping tubes were made by cutting small pieces off a 1/16” aluminum tube.

 

                        

 

The wire was passed through two of the crimping tubes, then through the open ring of the turnbuckle, and then back through the crimping tubes.  It was then crimped and trimmed.

 

                        

 

The wire was passed through the hole in the bowsprit, and then the chain on the other end of the turnbuckle was ‘shackled’ to the upper bracket on the outer stem using 28 gauge nichrome wire.

 

                        

 

The Bob Stay turnbuckle was ‘shackled’ to the lower lug on the bowsprit band, and then was ‘shackled’ to the lower bracket on the outer stem.

 

                        

 

                        

 

This completes the bowsprit stays for now – the Head Stay will be installed at a much later time in the rigging sequence.

 

                        

 

I’m pleased that these stays match up pretty well to the photos of Kathryn’s bowsprit area.

 

                        

 

This will probably be my last post for a while.  I’ll be spending time experimenting with the use of silkspan to make furled sails.  I’ll also be spending some time planning the rigging sequence.  We’ll also be taking a short vacation to get out of Arizona’s heat – unfortunately that little trip is still over a week away, and our forecast for the next few days is VERY HOT – up to 117F!!

 

Cheers everyone!

[mtaylor]

1 hour ago, Mahuna said:

Part 76 –Bowsprit Stays

 

I’m pleased that these stays match up pretty well to the photos of Kathryn’s bowsprit area.

 

 

You should be more than pleased, Frank.  I had to really look twice to sort out model from real.   Beautiful work on that rigging.

[Calhoun Zabel]

Ditto what Mark said. You've even got the drop of the chains correct, to my eyes. Very impressive stuff. I look forward to following along as you complete this build.

[Mahuna]

On 7/20/2018 at 9:05 PM, mtaylor said:

 

 

You should be more than pleased, Frank.  I had to really look twice to sort out model from real.   Beautiful work on that rigging.

Thanks Mark.  Each stay had to be reset several times to get the tension right.  The use of 'simulated shackles' really helped out in doing this.  I could see if the chain was too tight, or too loose, before tightening the 'shackle' wire, and this allowed me to put another wire through a different link in the chain while the original wire was still in place.

 

9 hours ago, Calhoun Zabel said:

Ditto what Mark said. You've even got the drop of the chains correct, to my eyes. Very impressive stuff. I look forward to following along as you complete this build.

Thanks Calhoun!  I've been watching you moving through the log via all of your 'likes' - welcome aboard.  Having seen Kathryn up close a couple of times, having lots of photos of her, some friends who know a lot about her, and of course the wonderful HAER drawings - all of this has helped me in trying to stay true to her appearance.  I know I won't have these advantages for my next model, but this has been a great experience for me so far. 

[michael mott]

Frank you have done a superb job of matching up all the stays on the bowsprit.

 

Michael

[druxey]

A very instructive series on metal rigging work! Thank you for sharing your techniques, Frank.

[Mahuna]

9 hours ago, michael mott said:

Frank you have done a superb job of matching up all the stays on the bowsprit.

 

Michael

Thanks Michael - having good reference material really pays off.

 

45 minutes ago, druxey said:

A very instructive series on metal rigging work! Thank you for sharing your techniques, Frank.

Thanks Druxey - it has been a good learning experience for me also, having never done this type of work before.  I've learned a lot of the different techniques from watching EdT's work.

[Mahuna]

Part 77 –Blocks

 

Work on Kathryn has slowed over the last few weeks, due to travel and some chores that needed to be done.  What time I have been able to spend on Kathryn has been devoted to learning how to make and furl sails made with silkspan, and in reviewing the details of Kathryn’s rigging.

 

Blocks have already been installed for the main sheet and jib sheet – those were internally stropped Syren blocks.  I decided to make the required additional seven blocks from scratch. These are all 5” blocks: 1 triple, two doubles, and four singles.

 

After shaping the required stock, top and bottom sheave holes were drilled for each block using a #70 drill.  A slight indent (which I call a boundary hole) was also drilled at the point between the blocks.  In previous attempts I had drilled these holes completely through the blocks so that the blocks could be cut from either side, but I found that the remaining groove from the hole required me to take too much stock from the block and changed the block’s dimensions.

 

Rather than milling the grooves for the sheaves, as was done for the large triple blocks supporting the yawl boat, these grooves were cut using a small chisel that had been made by grinding the blank end of a #70 drill bit. The following photo shows this chisel held in a small pin vise.

 

                       

 

                        

 

The following photo shows the stock for single blocks drilled and then shaped for the sheaves.  Shaping the sheaves allows the rigging line to lay more realistically in the blocks.

 

                        

 

Before separating a block, the outside end was rounded using a sanding stick.

 

                        

 

                        

 

The block was then parted off.

 

                        

 

Then the other end of the block was rounded while held in a small pliers.

 

 

 

 

The small number of blocks allowed me to finish this effort relatively quickly, even though it was fairly labor-intensive.

 

The blocks will need some added hardware, which will be the subject of the next post.

 

Cheers, everyone.

[EdT]

Catching up again, Frank.  Love the meticulous attention to detail - and the methods.  Bravo.

 

Ed