Fishing Smack c. 1920 by G.L. - FINISHED - Scale 1/20 - POF - cross-section

[G.L.]

Part 18 Laying the deck

Before starting to lay the deck, I read a bit further in the practicum and learned that the traveler for the jib sheet is at both sides mounted on the horizontal knees and not on the deck beam. That would not be possible with the knees like I made them, they are too small. Fortunately I discovered that before it is too late to replace the knees. I replaced my first knees by larger ones.

[G.L.]

18.1. Preparing to lay the deck. Making a fair leading post

Before laying the deck, some deck gear has to be made and to be placed. I start with a sheave post which will be standing left of the mast (Drawing: 'Sailing trawlers' Edgar J. March).

Afterward the post will be painted so the practicum advises to use beech because it shows less grain then oak. I have a beach plank, but it is painted black. I saw al slice of it and glue a piece of paper on it because I can't draw with pencil on the black paint.

I drill two holes for the recess of the sheave.

Sawing out the post.

Sawing the recess for the sheave.

Shaping the post by filing it.

The top of the sheave post is strengthened with a metal band. I cut a strip of a tin plate to make it.

Turning the sheave with the lathe from a piece of hard wood.

Making the cleat.

The finished fair leading post.

The fair leading post, presented into its position. Under the deck it is supported by a carling.

[G.L.]

18.2. Preparing to lay the deck. Making a bit for the jib boom roller

At the right side of the mast stands a bit with a cleat. Between the bit and the mast is a roller on which the jib boom is brought in (Drawing: 'Sailing trawlers' Edgar J. March).

Making the bit.

The fair leading post and the bit presented into their position.

.

[G.L.]

18.3. Preparing to lay the deck. Making the main hatch

Just behind the main mast is the main hatch (Drawing: 'Sailing trawlers' Edgar J. March).

The four hatch coamings.

The coamings placed together with the dovetails sawn out.

The hatch covers

The hatch has to be painted in ocher and the covers in light blue. I paint also the fair leading post and the bit for the jib boom roller.

I use acrylic paint from my wives paint box and varnish it when the paint is dry.

Making the hatch rings

[G.L.]

18.4. Preparing to lay the deck. Prepairing the mast opening

The mast opening, now quadrangular, has to be octagonal. Four keys in the corners ...

... and four boards in between.

[cog]

glad you discovered your "error" with the knees in time. Beautiful workmanship again on the wooden parts. How did you "solder" the hatch rings? It looks almost like welding when I see the clip on the scisors ...

[John Allen]

G.L.

 

Precision at its best, the term pay attention to details is way beyond what your creating, great job.

[G.L.]

On 2/2/2019 at 11:18 AM, cog said:

glad you discovered your "error" with the knees in time. Beautiful workmanship again on the wooden parts. How did you "solder" the hatch rings? It looks almost like welding when I see the clip on the scisors ...

Thank you Carl.

I use the resistance soldering method and I use common soldering flux and soldering tin.

[G.L.]

On 2/2/2019 at 2:07 PM, John Allen said:

G.L.

 

Precision at its best, the term pay attention to details is way beyond what your creating, great job.

Thank you, John.

[G.L.]

18.5. Laying the deck

I start with the making of the covering boards

Starting to lay the deck on the midline.

At portside I will leave a part of the deck uncovered to give view to the inside of the hull, the deck beams and the knees. The paper template shows the shape of the opening.

After a couple of hours.

When the deck is completely laid and tree nailed, I scrape it with a piece of cutter blade.

The deck after scraping and sanding and making the edges straight.

[Baker]

Great work.

Where is the cat ??

[G.L.]

1 hour ago, Backer said:

Great work.

Where is the cat ??

Here she is, at least one of the three. In winter they prefer the warmth of the central heating in the living room above my cool workshop.

[G.L.]

18.6. Deck finishing. The railing.

Unusual for Belgian fishing sloops, the stanchions of the railing of this smack are not a part of the frames.
Sawing the stanchions.

Fitting the stanchions.

Lining of the top of the stanchions.

With the table circle saw I saw two notches at the top of each stanchion. Then I saw it off to height. Like this I have teeth on top of the stanchions which will fit in grooves in the railing on top of them.

The stanchions become narrower towards the top. I shape them with a wood chisel.

Gluing the stanchions into place, using a small lath to check the heights.

Dry fit of the bottom plank of the railing.

The middle plank of the railing has a bulging shape, I sand the shape in it.

I want to paint the inside of the railing as a whole, so I first glue the planks together.

Fitting them on the model without gluing.

On top of the stanchions comes a railing bar. Fitting is marking the stanchion positions.

Making notches for the stanchion teeth. I first drilled them an d finished them then with the chisel.

Gluing the bars on the stanchions. I use some weights to keep them into position until the glue is dry.

Changed my workshop for the kitchen for a while and painting the stanchions and railing bar in ocher and green, which were apparently the common colors on these vessels. Painting also the inside of the railing planks in green.

Gluing the railing planks against the stanchions. I am using a wedge in the middle to make the planks fit nicely with the bar.

On top of the railing bar comes a cover shelf.

[G.L.]

On port side there is a gate for the trawl warp. I saw the opening for it.

Placing the side frames.

The side frames are protected for the scraping of the warp by half round iron bars. I make the half round bars by filing half of a brass 2mm ø rod.

The roll for the gate.

Taking measurement for the hinged part of the railing.

To make the hinge I saw two strips of brass and bend one end of them around a 1.5mm drill.

I file the outsides of the loop from one of the strips (apologies for the blurry picture).

I saw away the middle of the loop of the other strip.

The two together form the hinge.

The gate

[cog]

Stunning details again G.L. I would have expected the top to flip upward instead of inward ...

[michael mott]

On 2/3/2019 at 9:17 AM, G.L. said:

I use the resistance soldering method

Can you show us your equipment, it sounds like a good way to do some jobs.

Nice sequence of pictures showing the way that you made the roller through the bulwark.

 

Michael

[G.L.]

On 2/16/2019 at 11:13 AM, cog said:

Stunning details again G.L. I would have expected the top to flip upward instead of inward ...

Thank you Carl,

What you mention makes sense. I think that the reason for a inward flipping is that the hinge must be on top of the cap rail if flipping upward. There is still some stuff to be placed on the cap rail which leaves no room for a hinge forward of the gate. The hinge could be placed aft of the gate, but that part is not included in the cross section. Maybe it was there in reality but the author of the practicum used the 'poetic freedom' to place it on the side to make a cross section with flipping cap rail possible. Who knows...

[G.L.]

On 2/16/2019 at 4:00 PM, michael mott said:

Can you show us your equipment, it sounds like a good way to do some jobs.

Nice sequence of pictures showing the way that you made the roller through the bulwark.

 

Michael

Well Michael, Now you bring me some embarrassment. My soldering station is not a technical masterpiece, but it is a self fabricated apparatus.

When I started to make ship models, I did not succeed in soldering well. Some years ago we had a demonstration in our modeling club about resistance soldering and seeing that, I had my eureka moment. That was the soldering method that I needed! The fellow who demonstrated had a commercial built soldering station that was quite expensive and it was not available for purchase in Belgium but he said that it could be built relatively easy by yourself. So I started to search on the internet. My technical English is not sufficient to explain the resistance soldering technique in an intelligent way so I refer to this website for more information: Resistance soldering

To build my station, I used following diagrams (source: Cooltrain.be):

For a techno-illiterate like me even the above diagram is a mystery, so I used the scheme for dummies (source: Cooltrain.be) below:

It gave me the necessary information to buy and search all the needed components and to fabricate my soldering station.

That is like it looks inside.

Now I am able to solder as well. But I am still far from making a navigation light like you are doing for your skipjack.

The main advantage of resistance soldering is that there is a intense heat produced in a fraction of time at the carbon point of the soldering pin. It allows to solder in the close vicinity of other soldered parts without melting those other parts loose.

[BANYAN]

I too am a convert to resistance soldering GL, nice self-made rig you have made.  The goal is always for practical application not winning any artistic merits

 

cheers

 

Pat

[michael mott]

GL Thank you for the information and the diagrams I will look into setting up something when I get a spare moment, (there are no spare moments in retirement) I remember something about using the carbon rod in a D cell battery or is that not done these days.

 

Michael

[G.L.]

6 hours ago, michael mott said:

GL Thank you for the information and the diagrams I will look into setting up something when I get a spare moment, (there are no spare moments in retirement) I remember something about using the carbon rod in a D cell battery or is that not done these days.

 

Michael

My first soldering iron was made with a carbon rod from a battery, but afterward I got some rods of purified carbon with a thin copper shell which I use now in my soldering iron. They are thinner, less fragile and probably the small amount of fume which is released while soldering is less unhealthy. 

[michael mott]

17 hours ago, G.L. said:

but afterward I got some rods of purified carbon with a thin copper shell which I use now in my soldering iron.

Thank you, I will look into it.

 

Michael

[G.L.]

18.7. Deck finishing. The traveler for the jib sheet.

To make the traveler , I bend a 2mm brass tube round a wooden template to give it the right shape.

I make three rings of copper wire. The large ring, outer ø 6mm, goes around the traveler to hold the jib sheet block, the two small rings, inner ø 2mm will form the traveler feet.

To make the traveler feet at the correct height I use a simple wooden jig.

A bit solder tin round the traveler ...

... then heating with the soldering iron and filing it.

Drilling the mounting holes.

and placing the traveler after it has been painted black.

[G.L.]

18.8. Deck finishing. Boat slide.

Right of the hatch there is a slide to support the ship's boat.
Fitting the slide.

Slide glued into place after being painted and varnished.

[G.L.]

18.9. Deck finishing. Ice bunker cover.

When I was laying the deck, I made a hole in it to place the cover of the ice bunker.

The frame will be made of a slice of gas pipe and the cover of an old brass vise.

Making the cover.

The finished cover soldered in the frame...

... and glued into place after being blackened.

[G.L.]

18.9. Deck finishing. Berthing for the trawl head.

The deck of the smack is protected by an iron plate in the vicinity of the gate for the trawl rope. I cut a piece of brass plate for it and drill nail holes in it.

A fastening ring to secure the trawl head is soldered on it.

The plate, blackened and nailed on the deck.

[G.L.]

18.10. Deck finishing. Anchor chain pipe.

I lay also a small protection plate for the anchor chain on the deck. A little bit outside of the edge of the cross section stands the anchor winch. The protection plate will also serve to secure my loose end of the chain.

I saw the plate with a hole in it.

... solder a copper collar on it and saw and file the round end in shape.

The plate is then blackened and glued on the deck.

 

[G.L.]

Overview of the deck arrangements.

[G.L.]

18.10. Deck finishing. Pin rails.

At both sides of the cross section, there is a pin rail.

I make them from two oak sticks.

I shape the forward end of both rails with a round file.

Making cleats for below the pin rails.

Gluing the pin rails with cleats into place at starboard side. The rail is temporally laying on two wooden blocks to hold it at the correct height.

And at port side.

[BANYAN]

You've made some significant progress G.L.; it is all looking very good.  You must be close to finishing now?

 

cheers

 

Pat