Centerboard Schooner C. Chase 1846 by Maury S - FINISHED - Scale 1:48

[druxey]

Great progress, Maury! Enjoy fairing up your framing.

[Maury S]

Ed, I did use a spacer in the CB well when I was gluing up the frames.  I think it's an illusion in that pic.  The next post will show all the keelsons glued in place with the centerboard in the well.  One side of the well will be fully planked.  The other not so much.  The challenge has been to keep the pivot pin aligned as it must go through all the keelsons, the CB well planking and the centerboard.

Thanks for your comments...always appreciated.

Maury

[Maury S]

All the keelsons are in.  There are several pieces holding things together since the frames set into the side of the well.  The cross section design was shown in an earlier post.

A note about the simulated bolts.  The use of the monofilament line came from Ed Tosti (EdT).  I have developed a technique with the line after several models.  If I can pre-insert them I do so.  This involves slicing a taper in the line to aid in insertion in the drilled holes.  I push the line through the hole from the finished side of the plank or beam, dip it in CA and pull it back through the hole until flush on the under side.  Then it is clipped off with flat nippers.  This way, there is no CA residue that needs to be wiped off (with acetone...nasty stuff).  I also run a soldering iron over the exposed ends of the line, which finishes it off more like a bolt head.

 

Maury

 

[EdT]

Sweet.  Thanks for answering my question.

 

Ed

[Maury S]

Transferring top of beam measurements from plan to the boat.

The camera angle distorts where the line lands. I now have to measure down to the top of the clamp.

Maury

 

[Maury S]

Some additional internal fairing needed to be done.  Installing the clamps comes next.  Spiling the internal plank is a bit different from the external planks.  I started with some card stock taped inside the frames and marked the height of the bottom of the deck from the bottom of the false keel at every three frames on the card.  I then marked down the thickness of the deck beams.  I used a ships curve to connect the marks and cut out a template.  Card bends differently from wood so I transferred the card template to some sacrificial bass wood and made the necessary adjustments to the rough shape.  

The top edge is the one that counts.  Clamping the plank in place showed a little more trimming was necessary.  Everything now fits smoothly.  

I'll transfer this form to the Swiss pear that will be used for the final clamp.  Now to repeat on the port side and do the same for the quarterdeck.

Maury

[druxey]

You're getting pretty good at spiling, Maury!

[michael mott]

Clever idea using some sacrificial wood for the template, Maury.

I like the gauge that you are using to transfer the info from the drawing, do you have any further details about it?

 

Michael

[Maury S]

Thank you Michael.  The gauge came right out of one of Ed Tosti's books.

Maury

[BETAQDAVE]

On 7/26/2018 at 8:21 AM, Maurys said:

      I really like those adjustable handscrew clamps shown above!  Are they homemade?  While I inherited some larger versions of them and they were quite handy for furniture making, they are way too big for model making.  I have seen small versions of them on the market but they are usually quite expensive.

[Maury S]

Dave, They are hand-made, right out of Ed Tosti's books.  (Probably Naiad).  Mine are very simple since I don't have a way of having a left-handed as well as right-handed threaded rod.

Maury

Edited November 8, 2018 by Maurys

[BETAQDAVE]

On 7/28/2018 at 6:55 PM, druxey said:

In the case shown above, it's an off-centerboard! Usually the keel widens and the board passes through it centrally

    Maury, your ship reminds me of one of my first solid wood hull kits from A.J. Fisher from back in the 60's called the Challenge.  Her centerboard was smaller and did pass right thru a thickened keel, as druxey mentioned above, that cleared the base of the masts allowing them to remain centered.  She was a shoal, flat-floored, sharp-ended, two masted great lakes clipper-schooner built in Manitowoc WI. in 1851-2.  She reportedly could easily make and maintain a speed of 13 knots.

    Here is a photo of her below.  Admittedly it was a much simpler and smaller model (1/8" scale) than yours but back then my skill level was not that good yet. (As a mater of fact the boat at the stern was actually taken from an old plastic ship kit.)  According to the blueprints the deck house was not always a common feature, but I thought it looked pretty good anyway.  I built her for a former coast guardsman (that had been stationed on the Great Lakes) turned policeman for just the price of the kit so I could buy the next one. 

    I also found these two illustrations (note the deck house is shown) of the ship in my copy of The History Of American Sailing Ships by Howard Chapelle that are shown below.

       As you can see their were a lot of similarities between the ship designs.  Good luck with your build.  Looks like you will be busy with her for quite some time yet.

[Maury S]

Dave,  The Challenge was one of the boats I considered.  As it turns out, the C.Chase has very little information and Chapelle's notes don't go very far in the description.  On the other hand, with all the info. I've gathered (with the generous help of many maritime researchers and historians) on these types of boats, there seems to be ample data to complete the model, and no one will be able to challenge the smaller details.

Maury

[Maury S]

The clamps for the main deck are installed on both sides.  Shown below are those on the starboard side.

Test beams were laid across at various points and everything is fair.  Now on to the clamps for the quarterdeck.  Much tighter fit there.

Maury

[EdT]

Looking sweet, Maury.  Getting those deck clamps in really ties it all together - and soon no more spacers.

 

Ed

Edited November 11, 2018 by EdT

[Mark Pearse]

Hello Maury,

 

she looks to be strongly built as a boat - how large in actual size are the ribs & their spacing? I assume they are sawn pieces rather than bent...?

 

They have a very interesting shape, quite dishy for a sizeable vessel.

 

thanks, Mark

[Maury S]

Ed,

I'm anxious to get those spacers out. It's rigid enough now to take it off the board and work on fairing the frames on the outer edge.   I think there is a minor twist from dead flat aft so I'll have to deal with that.   Mark, Early in the log you can see the process of building the frames.  Each is lofted separately.  They are 6" (1/8" at scale) paired.  The spacing is 12".

[Maury S]

While waiting for glue to dry, I set up the jig for the two ladders on the boat.

Basically right out of Greg Herbert's TFFM Vol. 3.

The flat top sits on top of a spine to fit in the mill vise.  The sides will be cut to length later.

Maury

[Maury S]

Fairing continues.  I'm happy with everything from frame 12 aft to the hawse timbers.

Frame 14 needs filling (and maybe Frame 15).  I hate that part.

Maury

[druxey]

I guess that area will be planked, Maury?

[Maury S]

Druxey,  Yes, the stbd side is the larger problem with the two frames and as things stand now, I was going to fully plank that side.

Maury

[Maury S]

Fairing done.  I cut the wales using card first (6 - 7 times trying to get it close), then sacrificial wood.  Photos all seem to show wales that are not as beefy as war ships or the Anchor Hoy.  Just a little over-sized planks (these are 3 1/4").  Once the wales are in, I'll do the garboard plank and then line out the planking.   Some where in the process, I'll get to the ceilings.  Lots of time looking at pictures and drawings from the period and after.

Maury

[druxey]

Nice, Maury. And nice to have lots of references for a change!

[Maury S]

Fore portions of the wales are installed.  The top of the wale lines up with the top of interior deck beams (bottom of deck planking).

 

Maury

 

 

[Maury S]

I'm working on the planking butt plan in a spreadsheet (trial and error).   My rules became:

16 planks between Wale and garboard (just under 10" each)

approx. 20' planks (3 per strake)

 3 frames between butts on adjacent planks

2 planks between butts on each frame

The wale is done in two planks

Garboard is constrained on the port side by the centerboard well between Fr. D and Fr. 5. and the port side will not be fully planked

Two strakes (3 & 15) will be either two or 4 pieces

It looks OK to me and if I've messed up here, please let me know.  Maury

 

 

CC_PlankButts.pdf

Edited December 19, 2018 by Maurys
wrong file attached (pdf)

[Maury S]

I ran a different Butt pattern;  3 strakes between butts on a frame

2 frames between butts on adjacent strakes.

I'm not sure it matters but visually, the butts are further apart this way.

 

 

Edited December 20, 2018 by Maurys

[druxey]

The butts should alternate, not be in staggered rows on adjacent strakes. This is inherently weak. One joint starts to go, and the rest will follow like unzippering! So, taking your example above:

 

Strake 1      F, 6

            2     C, 9

            3      I, 3

           Etc.      

[Maury S]

Thanks.  Details in TFFM?

Maury

[druxey]

Of course! See Volume II, pp.14-15 for an illustration of the staggered butts.

[Maury S]

Druxey,  Thank you again!  I carefully examined the layout, reproduced it on my sheet and everything lines up nicely.  Three planks on each strake, three strakes between butts on each frame and correctly staggered.  It extends several frames farther both fore and aft than I had imagined and I don't think that's a problem.

Edited December 21, 2018 by Maurys
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