HMS Victory by gjdale - FINISHED - Mamoli - Scale 1:90

[st george]

Congratulations on your promotion Grant.

[Anja]

Hello Grant,

 

Congratulations on your promotion

 

Anja

[mtaylor]

Grant,

 

New toys...yep the darkside is so close we can smell it.  Congrats on the promotion.  Funny thing, I think we spend as much time figuring out what we we're going to make and how to make it as we making the bits and pieces.  But that's life in the darkside.

[gjdale]

Thanks for the congrats everyone - guess this means I'm officially a gas bag!

 

Andy - I think I'll avoid that other table, there's very strong winds over there!

 

Mark - you are absolutely right, but then again, that's half the fun. And there are so many clever people on this site to "borrow" ideas from.

[mtaylor]

Grant,

 

From where I sit, usually there's too many ideas to choose from when problem solving.

[realworkingsailor]

Grant.... Those winds... "Head" winds..... Uh... "Tail" winds..... Or some combination of the two?

[gjdale]

Andy - one word - Yes!!! :P

[Micklen32]

Hi Grant

Well, I come off holiday and you make me jealous    :mellow:   

It's all good though and should do some good work for you

 

Keep it up   

Mick

[gjdale]

Thanks Lawrence and Mick for stopping by and for the kind words.

 

Well, it's been a bit of a block party here today.  Finished making the blanks for the remaining sizes of blocks, and then got to actually finishing some.  I decided to start on the largest size (1/4" or 6.35mm), as I figured these would be easiest to work with and I could refine the technique with them.

 

All went pretty much according to plan.  The mods to Chuck's box jig seem to be working well and the new Proxxon drill press is a dream to use.  I then put the completed blocks through my series of home-made block tumblers, giving them three minutes in each of the 120 and 400 grits, and then finally five minutes in the 600 grit.  Here is the net result of my afternoon's work - 236 x 1/4"  "Chucky Blocks":

 

 

Here's a close-up:

 

 

Other than a little final tidy up to some of the sheave holes, I think they came out pretty well. 

 

Next up, the 3/16" (or 4.75mm), then 5/32" (4mm), and 1/8" (3mm).  I'm pretty confident with each of these sizes.  I've also prepared blanks for 3/32" (2.5mm) and 5/64" (2mm), but I'm a little less confident with these.  We'll see how I go as I work my way down in size. 

[WackoWolf]

Grant,

 

    They came out beautiful. You shouldn't have any problems with the smaller size. Keep the pictures coming.

[Sjors]

Amazing Grant,

 

That looks fantastic !

I wish they provide such blocks at the kit !

 

[Micklen32]

Simply spot on and beautiful

Not a lot else to say other than I echo what Sjors has said

 

Keep it up   

Mick

[Chuck]

Thats looking great Grant.   I would try and make the holes farther apart as the would be closer to the ends of each block.  Other than that they look perfect.  Great work.

 

Chuck

[gjdale]

Thanks very much Joe, Sjors, Mick and Chuck.

 

@Chuck - yes, I'd just come to that same conclusion having seen your latest update to the Syren blocks. I noticed that you placed the sheave holes much closer to the ends of the block and I agree they look better that way. I'll re-calibrate the eyeballs for the next batch.

Edited August 10, 2013 by gjdale

[mobbsie]

Hi Grant,

 

I can only agree with what's been said before, great work on the blocks mate.

 

mobbsie

[realworkingsailor]

Mmmmmmmm.... tedious.....

 

 

Nice though...

[augie]

First rate all the way.  Tumbler seems to be doing it's job (gotta make me one of those).

 

Can't wait to see the 3/32   

[mikec]

Fantastic work Grant, the kit blocks are so inferior to yours 

[gjdale]

Thanks Mobbsie, Andy, Augie and Brian.

 

@ Andy - tedious? Perhaps a little, but once you get into the groove (pun intended) its not too bad. The only down side is that I need to kneel on the ground to get my eye at the right height using the drill press on the bench. Think I need to look at installing a chest-high bench for this.

 

@ Augie - you may be looking forward to the 3/32" but I'm not!!! The 1/4" are a nice size to work with - it just gets harder from here on in! The tumblers are great - well worth the time and effort spent on making these.

 

On closer inspection of my 3/16" prepared blanks, I think I may have cut the grooves too deep. I may have to re-do these before milling and drilling. Oh well, won't take long, and I've got a little more experience now! Hopefully will have some more pics to show by the end of the day.

[gjdale]

Limited time for the shipyard today due to social duties, but did manage to make about 250 3/16" (4.75mm) blocks.

 

I decided not to re-do the stock blanks and persevered with those I had already made.  I still think the grooves were all cut a little too deep, and this has meant more "rejects" due to the side walls of the sheaves breaking off.  Nevertheless, I think there will be sufficient salvageable to use.  I also tried to get the sheave holes close to the ends of the blocks as suggested by Chuck, though I think there's room to go further out still.  It's only when seeing them under the camera's macro lens that you can see the room there is to move.  Working on the drill press, even with the Optivisors on, it seemed to me that I was at the limit - but maybe not! 

 

Anyway, here's a couple of pics of today's production run.  Not quite up to Chuck's standard, but still way better than kit provided stuff.

 

 

 

And here's a couple of yesterday's 1/4" blocks for size comparison (1/4" on the left, 3/16" on the right):

 

 

Next weekend I'll be trying my hand at 5/32" (4mm) and 1/8 (3mm) as these are the most common size for my Victory.

 

And yes Chuck, I will be having a go at some doubles and triples further down the track! 

[dafi]

WOW; great collection!

 

Daniel

[gjdale]

Thanks Mikec (almost missed your post there - sorry about that), and thanks Daniel - yes, the collection is growing!

[mtaylor]

Grant,

 

I'm guessing that you might be opening the Aussie branch of the Syren Model Company?   :D      

 

Ok.. seriously, fantastic looking blocks.  As for kneeling, will a low chair work?

[gjdale]

Thanks Mark,

 

I don't think I'm quite up to Chuck's standard (or production rate) just yet, and besides, I promised Chuck that I wouldn't go into competition with him!

 

To be honest, I don't know how Chuck can sell these for the price he does. Even with the mass production method refined, it would still be a minuscule return for the effort involved. If people don't already realise it, Chuck is doing everyone a real favour here and deserves all the recognition we can give him.

[gjdale]

Thanks Brian,

 

Yes, they all received three minutes in each of the 120 and 400 grits, followed by five minutes in the 600 grit. These were the tumblers I made and posted about a couple of months back. They work really well and as you can see produce a very nice finish.

[mtaylor]

Grant,

 

I wasn't suggesting "competition"... more like a franchise.    :D  

[Blue Ensign]

Nice work on the blocks Grant, I envy your dedication and skill; for me all I can say is thank God for Chuck

 

B.E.

[themadchemist]

Wow that's one big pile of peanuts.

If one didn't know better at a quick glance they look like peanut halves.....or maybe my eyes are really that bad.

 

Nice work, its good to see the tumbler's gettin a work out.

So once the different sizes of single blocks are done, do you then start double and triple blocks?

[gjdale]

Thanks Lawrence, Mark (again), B.E., and Keith.

 

Mark - while a Chuckie franchise might sound attractive, the slave labour margins put this out of the question. Besides, I don't think I'm yet able to meet Chuck's QC requirements!

 

And Keith, yes - doubles / triples are on the agenda. Stay tuned .......

 

Had planned more work in the shipyard this weekend, but instead spent most of the time doing preps for our big O/S trip. We fly out a week tomorrow. Somehow I don't think there will be any more progress until we return at the end of September.

 

I'll still keep checking in with your various builds, but my own shipyard will now lie dormant for a few weeks.

[augie]

I'm sure you'll have plenty to do for trip prep.  Batten everything down at home and have a safe and rewarding journey.  We'll keep a light on for you.