Albatros by Dr PR - Mantua - Scale 1:48 - Revenue Cutter kitbash about 1815

[georgeband]

We do our research and analyse the results and plan our model and perform delicate surgery, and then cut a bit off because it looks better. I wonder how much the old shipwrights followed a drawing or used their own judgement when something did not feel right. 

Congratulations on your superb workmanship. 

 

George

[Dr PR]

Thanks George and OldSalt 1950.

 

The repair came out OK. Now there is a place for the gammoning ropes. On some ships there was a wide gap between the knee and the bowsprit, and the gammoning was tied across horizontally in that gap. But on many schooners the bowsprit seemed to rest on the knee as shown here, so the cross tie wasn't used.

 

For a while I considered a bit fancier knee with a bit of scrolling at the forward end. But I decided that wasn't necessary. These little revenue cutters were pretty basic, with few frills.

 

There are many small details I have to add to the hull and deck before it is ready for rigging. But my biggest problem now is deciding how to paint the masts and bowsprit.

 

 

 

 

I have created a problem for myself. I used a piece of square dowel I had on hand for the bowsprit. I think it is mahogany that I bought at our local hobby shop decades ago. It has a nice medium brown color. When I started looking for matching wood for the masts I learned you can't import mahogany into the US any more - it has almost been exterminated from the Brazilian forests. I had to settle for square basswood dowels for the masts, and you can see in the picture how much lighter they are than the bowsprit. That's poor planning!

 

I wanted to just finish the bowsprit and masts in a natural wood color, but so far I haven't found a stain that will darken the basswood masts to match the bowsprit. The Minwax red mahogany stain is way too dark, even if it is wiped off immediately after applying.

 

I am considering the color scheme on the modern La Recouvrance and Pride of Baltimore II schooners. The bowsprit is painted black from heel to the cap, and the jib boom is a natural wood color. The lower masts are natural wood color from the deck up to the hounds. The cheeks, trestletrees and crosstrees, mast head and cap are black. The topmast is natural wood color, with the heel black on the La Recouvrance. The spars are natural wood color, with the yardarms (tips of the spars) black. So I would lose that nice natural mahogany color on the bowsprit but I will be able to stain the masts a darker wood color than the bare basswood without trying to match the bowsprit color. And I have lots of black paint!

 

 

 

Edited February 15, 2023 by Dr PR
spelling correction

[Oldsalt1950]

Phil, how close a match is the bulwark brown to the mahogany? You could use that on the masts rather than trying to find a matching stain. Just a thought.

 

Jim

[Dr PR]

Jim.

 

I have been thinking about that. The bulwark brown is more of a milk chocolate color - not quite as red as the mahogany. But I guess it would make sense to use that brown for the masts and bowsprit since it was already used on the vessel.  Thinking in terms of the early 1800s and what was available (cheap) at the time, if they had the brown they could use it to seal the masts and bowsprits.

 

I have some Minwax cherrywood  gel stain that I will try on a scrap of the basswood dowel to see if it comes close to the bowsprit wood with clear shellac on it. It seems to be a bit lighter than the mahogany, but the can says I can apply multiple coats to get a darker stain. I'll see how that works out. If not, I can always paint the bowsprit black.

[georgeband]

Phil,

Have you considered water based wood dyes? These are available in small (10mL) tester bottles for not a lot of money and in a wide range of colours. I have used them to match lime wood to walnut with a bit of trial and error, and even to create pink deck planking for Whiting. The colours are quite strong and I diluted them before applying with a small brush. Repeat coats allow a lot of control of the depth of colour. 10mL is more than enough for a fleet of model ships. 

I bought from a company with the intriguing name of Woodeedoo but a quick search on Ebay shows plenty of alternatives. 

 

George

[Dr PR]

George,

 

I have been experimenting with Minwax wood stains. I have been testing on a scrap of basswood that the masts were cut from. Since I was trying to match what I think is mahogany on the bowsprit - after it is sealed with clear shellac - I tried their red mahogany. After applying and waiting three minutes (according to instructions on the can) I wiped it off. It came out dark brown with no reddish tint, nothing like the color on the can!

 

Then I tried Minwax cherry stain. Again the color on the can was close to what I wanted, and the instructions said I could apply multiple coats to get a darker color. However, I was careless and bought a can of their "gel stain." It is like brown jello. After applying it I had a very close match to what I wanted, but after wiping it off almost no color remained. Maybe a very, very pale hint of brown. I have applied three coats and always got exactly the same result - almost no color.

 

So much for Minwax stains!

 

As you night expect I am a bit frustrated. I'll look up the stains you mentioned and maybe give them a try. But right now I am just thinking of getting some acrylic paints and mixing up a suitable color.

[Gregory]

You might try some Fiebing's leather dye.

 

I have used their Burgundy for a reddish look on some boxwood blocks.   It can be lightened by wiping quickly after application, with alcohol..

 

 

 

 

[Roger Pellett]

I have used Fiebing’s leather dye too.  It’s good stuff.  Shoemakers stock it. Unfortunately they are rapidly becoming extinct.

Roger

[Gregory]

I have had no trouble getting it at Amazon..

[Dr PR]

I tried one more stain, a Minwax oil based "gunstock" color. The color closely matches the color of the wood I used for the bowsprit after it is coated with shellac.

 

 

 

I applied it to the four sides (left) of the test dowel that the masts were cut from, and let it stay on for 3, 5 10 and 15 minutes on different sides before wiping it off. I also did this with the red mahogany stain (right). The cherry stain (middle) was applied for 3 and 6 minutes, overlapping. Allowing the stain to remain on the wood longer produced little or no visible differences. The results were horrible in all cases.

 

Punt!

 

The reason I wanted to stain the basswood masts was to try to match the color of the bowsprit wood. I have decided to just paint the bowsprit, masts and spars. Then there will be no problem getting matching colors. Besides, at 1:48 scale the wood grain wouldn't be visible anyway.

Edited June 11, 2022 by Dr PR

[Dr PR]

Nice weather and home improvement projects have delayed progress on the model, but 101 F (38 C) temperatures today have confined me to the house. Here is a bit more work on the masts. The topmast shrouds  come down to hearts or eyes at the ends of the crosstrees. I haven't decided yet which I will use. The lower eyes/hearts are attached to the futtock shrouds that lead down to a futtock necklace below the cheeks.

 

About 1815 the futtock necklace came into fashion. This was a metal band around the mast below the cheeks - and above the gaff jaws. It had either ring bolts or formed eyes for the futtock shrouds to attach to. I cut a 0.100 inch (2.54 mm) wide strip of 0.005 (0.127 mm) inch thick brass for the bands.

 

 

I measured the diameter of the mast below the cheeks and selected a drill bit close to this diameter to serve as a jig for forming the band. As I progressed the strip was bent to fit tightly around the drill bit.

 

I started with a simple 0.100 inch (2.54 mm) tab bent at a 90 degree angle from the brass strip. I determined that the two eyes should be 0.200 inch (5 mm) apart around the circumference, so I bent another 90 degree angle in the strip this distance from the first tab. Then I folded the strip over and crimped it with pliers to form a double thickness tab protruding from the band. Next I folded the strip again perpendicular to the tab to continue around the mast.

 

This gave me the first eye formed from the brass strip. I added a drop of liquid solder flux and then soldered the two sides of the tab together.

 

The eyes are not evenly spaced around the mast, but are in a "X" pattern, with two eyes a bit closer together on each side of the mast, with wider spacing between the pairs. I estimated the distance around the mast to the next eye and formed two more tabs protruding at 90 degree angles from the band, spaced 0.200 inch (5 mm) apart, and soldered them. The spacing is a bit tricky, so if you try this don't expect the first attempt to come out perfect.

 

Finally I bent the last tab at 90 degrees from the band, leaving a bit of extra brass strip (this will be cut off later). This part will be soldered to the first tab to complete the circle around the mast. But before placing the part on the mast I drilled holes in each tab for the futtock shrouds to attach to. Then I shaped each tab to a "D" shape. It is easier to do this off the mast.

 

 

The next step is to place the band around the mast and use forecepts to draw the first and last tabs together, tightening the band around the mast. Then a drop of liquid flux was added to the joint and it was soldered. After this the excess bit of brass strip was cut off, the hole was drilled through the last tab, and it was filed to a "D" shape like the other tabs.

 

 

I have used this technique for attaching lines to masts for several decades and it produces a very strong attachment point without weakening the mast. This was one of the more difficult bands because it had four tabs that needed to be spaced correctly around the mast. Something similar was used on real ships starting around the mid 19th century.

 

I thought about blackening the band before attaching it to the mast, but decided to not do this. The blackening might interfere with the final solder joint after the band is positioned on the mast. I plan to paint the tops black, and this paint will extend down to and over this band.

Edited July 20, 2023 by Dr PR
to correct spelling

[Dr PR]

I have been busy with home improvements and a vacation, but finally got around to finishing the mast tops.

 

The mast caps were the same size for both masts, but the square holes were different for the two masts, so I marked them with "M" and "F" so I didn't get them mixed up. Paint will cover this. Marquardt's "Global Schooner" said the caps were bolted to the top of the mast, so I used some 7 mm brass nails to simulate the bolt heads. This ensures the caps are securely attached to the mast top.

 

 

The main mast cap has three ring bolts on the front.  These are for the port and starboard fore topsail yard braces and the main top staysail sheet. The lower forward ring bolts are for the port and starboard fore course yard braces. The after two ring bolts are for the top ropes for raising and lowering the topmast. The brass band with the eye around the mast top is for the main gaff peak halliard.

 

 

The complete main top shows the bolts that fastened the crosstrees to the mast and the fid that supports the top mast. I set short pieces of hypodermic tubing in the outer ends of the crosstrees for the futtock shrouds to pass through. I suppose I could have just run the lines through notches in the ends of the crosstrees but I worried the wood might split when I tensioned the lines.

 

The mast top has eight battens around the lower part of the mast head. Marquardt said these were often used to prevent chafing of the mast by the stays and shrouds. They are chamfered at the top to make it easier to place the shrouds and stays. Very few models have these pieces but I decided to include them.

 

 

The fore mast cap has two ringbolts on the forward edge for the port and starboard fore course yard lifts. The lower front ring bolts are for the  topping ropes to raise and lower the topmast. The rear pair of ring bolts are for the port and starboard fore course buntlines. The upper brass band with eye is for the main topmast stay. The lower band and eye are for the fore gaff peak halliard.

 

 

The fore mast top is similar to the main mast top. Not shown is a ring bolt on the aft side set into the mast above the crosstree. This is a fastening point for the lashings used to tighten the main topmast stay.

 

The bottoms of the fore and main topmasts are nearly identical. Small cheeks are attached to the sides of the topmasts to make these narrower masts fit the gap between the trestletrees. The fid holes can be  seen, as well as the sheaves for the top ropes. The sheaves were constructed from two small #2 brass flat washers soldered together as described earlier in post #32.

 

 

I tried a new method of making ring bolts that was described by others on the Forum. Both methods use 0.020" (0,5 mm) 24 American Wire Gauge brass wire. The method I have used for decades is shown on the right. The wire is formed into the ring and the gap is soldered.

 

The new method involved twisting the wire together as shown on the left. I thought this "screw thread" like form would allow glue to fill the hole around the wire and secure the ring bolt in the hole better.

 

 

However, as the close-up photo on the right shows, the rings are distorted and not flat as they should be. I do not like this! They may be more secure but I think I won't use this method again. The straight wire type shown above can be pulled out if the rigging is tightened too much. In the past I have bent slight kinks in the part that fits into the mounting hole making a tighter fit, and this works OK if you don't over tighten the rigging.

 

The entire topmast assemblies have a coating of shellac to seal the wood grain and cracks between pieces. Now I have to decide what color I am going to paint the mast tops. Most models of American and British ships from the early 1800s have black tops. Black paint was cheap and readily available. By the end of the century mast tops were almost exclusively painted white. Apparently this practice started in the 1830s, but I have found no definitive period description of masthead colors. I prefer white because it shows details better than black.

Edited July 20, 2023 by Dr PR

[Dr PR]

Today I decided to correct a blunder I made earlier on. I swapped the gudgeons and pintles on the rudder! I knew better but got involved with making the pieces and put the pintles on the stern post instead of the rudder! What a lubber's mistake!! I was so embarrassed!

 

 

 

Now the pintles are on the rudder where they should be. I also added more appropriate strapping for the gudgeons.

 

Now I can sleep easier knowing that mistake has been corrected!

Edited August 5, 2022 by Dr PR

[Dr PR]

I have made a command decision!

 

Although there are a number of inaccuracies and some speculation in this build, I have tried to be accurate where possible. But model ship colors for vessels prior to the mid 1800s are mostly pure guesswork. In some cases there are some published standards or regulations, but mostly it seems, like everything else on ships of earlier periods, things were done as things were done. The colors of masts, spars and tops were not well documented before photography came along, and even then the early black and white photos tell little about colors, just shades of grey.

 

For the early 1800s masts seem to have been wood colored, perhaps with varnish or oil finishes. But some were painted. References like Nelson's orders to paint mast bands the same color as the masts before the Battle of Trafalgar tell us that, but don't say what colors were used for the masts. I have examined many drawings and paintings of schooners in the early to mid 1800s and have found nothing that shows colors. In a very few cases the tops of early 1800s schooners appear to have been painted white. But some tops were dark, and masts were always lighter. It seems to have been the practice in the British Navy to paint tops black (at least some contemporary models have dark or black tops) and many American vessels followed British practice.

 

Later in the mid 1800s white mast tops became common. Perhaps this happened because the British and American navies changed the color of the band on the hull along the gun ports from yellow to white.  The ready availability of white paint may have led to it being used elsewhere, such as deck furniture and mast tops. For whatever reason white was normal on these parts after the mid 1800s.

 

I would have preferred white tops because it shows details better. But I would have had to paint the mast bands and eye bolts black. And my model is of an early 1800s vessel, probably before white came into use (it has yellow gun port bands). So I decided to go with black tops.

 

Mast and spar color was another matter. But in reviewing several discussions on the forum I came across a reference to the introduction of straw colored paint sometime in the early to mid 1800s. By the end of that century masts and funnels, and even parts of superstructures, were being painted straw color. Look at the ships of the Great White Fleet. And the straw color has continued to be used throughout the 20th century and even until today on some ships of the US Coast Guard (the Eagle, for example). And since revenue cutters were part of the Revenue Service, the precursor to the Coast Guard, it seemed straw colored masts and spars were appropriate. I have always liked the colors on Coast Guard vessels.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So black tops and straw colored spars it is in Phil's Revenue Service! And as was common before any standard colors were defined, I mixed some brown, yellow and white paints to make my own straw color.

Edited July 20, 2023 by Dr PR

[Dowmer]

Nicely done Phil. Your assumptions seem to be well founded and they make very handsome work of the tops and spars. 
I’ve been enjoying your build as you work through the details. 
cheers

[Dr PR]

Dowmer,

 

Thanks.

 

This build started out to be a theoretical revenue cutter of about 1815, but it seems to be morphing into a similar vessel of the 1820s or 1830s.

 

All the choices do slow things down. I may be slow but that is a good thing because I might be going the wrong direction.

[Dr PR]

Here is a note about this build. I have been swamped with work for several projects I am involved with in our community, and I had an eye operation in November (came out perfect - both eyes correctable to better than 20:20!).

 

The latest work was staining/dying the Syren blocks to a darker brown color. But things delayed that and now it is winter. The stains have strong odors so I can't work inside, and it is far too cold outside. So that work is delayed until spring.

 

There are still a lot of details to finish on the hull before rigging the masts, but I don't have the time right now. I will continue when things warm up outside. I just have to build that workshop extension to the garage!

[Dr PR]

I have been procrastinating on this build for too long! I have three very time consuming projects that are consuming my time (anyone have a spare $1.5 million to replace an aging boardwalk?), and cold weather has delayed some of the painting/staining. But the real delay is making the pin rails along the bulwarks. For these the holes for the belaying pins must be evenly spaced and drilled in a straight line. If I don't do this correctly they will look awful!

 

I really need a milling machine with an X-Y table, but I don't have one. All I have is a cheap Dremel "drill press" (a piece of junk) that wobbles and has no precision. But I have used it in the past with success. I just need to clamp on guides and create a stepping tool so I get straight evenly spaced holes. It is a hassle, but I think I can make it work. Now all I need is the time to set up and do the work.

 

And I plan to string all the different sized blocks on thread or wire, with each size on a separate string. This way I can stain them all at once without getting them mixed up. It is almost warm enough outside to proceed with this. To be continued ...

[Gregory]

Looking forward to seeing an update..

 

Your slow and steady approach makes me feel better about all my procrastinations.

[Dr PR]

Well, it is getting warmer, and today we saw the sun. But it is supposed to start raining again next week. This has been a very wet winter and spring  has also been WET! But it is almost warm enough to start staining and painting, so I am preparing for that.

 

The current project is preparing blocks and hearts for staining. I have several sizes of blocks and hearts from Syren that must be assembled. The picture shows the 5.5 mm open and closed hearts, 9/32" double blocks and 5/16" single and double internally strapped blocks. These parts must be assembled, and this is my first time doing this, so I thought I would describe the process.

 

These are very nice pieces, but you do need to be careful assembling them. The tabs that connect the pieces to the surrounding frames are extremely thin and will break easily. You can see two of the open hearts that escaped from their confines while I was handling the parts! With all of these parts you must be very careful applying the glue to avoid breaking the pieces from the frames. But, as you will see, this isn't too much of a problem.

 

 

The hearts were the easiest to assemble. They are three layers, one inside layer and two outer layers. You just apply glue to an outer layer and position the inner layer on it. Then you glue the other outer layer to the inner layer. The inner layer is a bit smaller than the outer layers, creating the groove for the stay that you see in this photo.

 

Chuck's instructions say to use CA glue to cement the layers together, but I don't "do" CA. I used  SIG-Bond aliphatic resin.  CA might work for the simple hearts but there was no way I could have applied CA and put the more complex five-layers blocks together before CA hardened. The aliphatic resin gave me plenty of time to get the parts aligned before it started to set up.

 

 

The 9/32" double blocks were a bit more complicated with five layers, but went together like the hearts. There are two outer layers, a center layer, and two sheave layers that are sandwiched between the inner and outer layers. Above you can see an inner sheave layer glued to one of the outer layers.

 

At left is a complete five layer assembly on the left, still in the frames, the starting two layer assembly on the right, and the remaining three layers. The outer layers have grooves for the rope strop on the outside of the blocks, so be sure that you don't glue this surface to the sheave layer.

 

Chuck's instructions say to align the inner corners of the frames and this works nicely to align all of the layers. He also says to apply the glue only to the parts of the blocks and none to the frames. And he says to apply liberal amounts of glue because you don't want these things coming apart because the layers weren't firmly attached.

 

The 5/16" internally strapped blocks were a bit more complicated. In addition to the wooden parts there are several metal wires and flat straps to be assembled after the wooden parts are glued together.

 

The single blocks were three layers, but the outer layers have a groove on the "inside" where the metal straps go, so you have to pay attention to which side you are gluing to the internal sheaves.

 

The photo shows an assembled three-layer set on the left, a partially assembled outer and inner layer on the right, and other the six-part outer layer  center left.

 

I assembled seven sets of blocks without much trouble. However, when I opened one of the six-block 5/16" single block packages all of the internal sheaves had been broken from the frames and were loose in the package. This might have happened here after I received the sets from Syren. In any case, it really didn't matter.

 

I glued the center layer (minus sheaves) to one of the outer layers and then glued each of the sheaves into place individually. You can see three of them glued in on the right and the other three waiting to be glued in place. After that the other outer layer was glued on.

 

You can see the channel for the internal strap in the outer layer second from the left. Just be sure to assemble the blocks with this groove adjacent to the sheaves.

 

 

 

 

 

The 5/16" internally strapped double blocks were a bit more complicated. There are five layers, as shown in the photo. When you are applying glue be sure to get plenty on the thin crescents at the ends of the block so they are firmly glued in place on the finished block.

 

You need to pay attention when gluing the sheaves to the center layer - the grooves for the straps must be oriented against the center layer. Also, notice that the "sheaves" (oval center piece) are attached to only one of the outer crescents. You should orient both sheave layers the same way, with the sheave attachments on both layers on the same end of the block. This will allow your ropes to pass over the sheaves on the same end of the block. If you forget to do this you can always drill out the obstruction.

 

The outer layers attach as with the single blocks, with the strap grooves on the inside against the sheaves. These blocks have double straps, one against the center layer, and the other in the grooves in the outer layers.

 

You should use caution when applying glue to the inner sheave layers. The tabs attaching the parts to the outer frames are very thin, and you can easily break them off while applying the glue. As I noted above, this isn't a big problem because you can always glue each individual sheave in place before attaching the next layer.

 

After the glue has set you can cut the blocks away from the frame. Chuck warns against the temptation to push the out with your fingers, because you might split off part of the blocks. I used a sharp hobby knife. As you can see in the photo the blocks come away with bits of the tabs attached.

 

If you have followed chuck's instructions the frame layers will not be glued together. These actually turned out to be useful. I want to stain the blocks and I will use these frames to test the different stains and staining methods.

 

 

 

The picture on the left shows the first steps for cleaning up the blocks. The tabs have to be cut away. This will leave a bit of a stub. I used a coarse flat file to remove these stubs and to smooth the three layers. If you follow Chuck's instructions the three (or five) layers will align closely, but there likely will be a bit of a mismatch. The file shapes everything into a smooth surface and removes the char from the laser cutter.

 

The photo on the right shows the finishing steps to shape the blocks. If you are doing a lot of blocks a tumbler would be good to round off the edges. I don't have one so I used a finer file to round the edges. Then I smoothed them a bit more with 220 and 600 grit sandpaper. This is a tedious process, but I found it to be a relaxing form of meditation. However, I no longer have fingerprints on my left thumb and forefinger!

 

Here is a photo of the four steps and the files I used.

 

 

I encountered one minor difficulty as a result of the liberal amounts of glue I used. Some of the strap channels were blocked by glue. I cleared as much glue as I could (being careful to not break off the sheave from the frame) before attaching the layers together, but there was some glue blocking the strap channels on a few of the blocks.

 

In most cases the metal straps supplied with the kit pushed through with no problem. But on some I used a piece of a very thin jeweler's saw blade to push through and open the channel. You could also use a drill bit.

 

With these blocks and hearts assembled I can now proceed with staining these and all the other blocks that I will use on the model.

Edited April 20, 2023 by Dr PR

[Dr PR]

After assembling four dozen of these things - without rounding the edges yet - I think I will build a tumbler for all the rest. My fingers are really sore from holding these little things while I was filing and sanding!

 

As I said, some of the glue squeezed from between the sheaves and the other layers and flowed into the channels for the metal straps. After the glue dried some of the channels were blocked.

 

I used a 0.025" (0.6 mm) drill bit to open the channels, followed by a section of a very small jeweler's saw blade in a pin vise to square up the channel. It wasn't much trouble, but was a bit of extra work.

Edited April 17, 2023 by Dr PR

[Dr PR]

I decided to make a tumbler to finish the blocks. I had 39 blocks that needed the edges rounded. It would take several minutes to do each one by hand, or at least an hour and a half to two hours. My fingers would be very sore and the hands would surely start cramping before they were finished.

 

It took less time than that to make a simple tumbler. I glued some 80 grit sandpaper into the interior sides an old peanut butter jar. Nothing special about this sandpaper -  I just had some on hand. But the coarse grit is important.

 

A 0.375" (9.5 mm) wooden dowel served as the shaft. A strip of the same sandpaper was folded double and glued to the dowel. I also fastened the sandpaper to the dowel with small brass nails. A few staples held the sandpaper together and pulled it tighter around the dowel.

 

I drilled holes in the bottle cap and the bottom of the jar for the dowel to rotate in.

 

Then the blocks were put into the jar, the lid screwed on, and the thing was chucked into a 3/8" hand drill.

 

I ran the drill at medium speed and checked the progress every few minutes until the blocks were rounded to my satisfaction. It took about 8 minutes to process the smaller 9/32" double blocks and about 12 minutes for the larger 5/16" single and double internally strapped blocks. Neither the drill nor the jar heated noticeably during the operation.

 

After tumbling I finished them with  220 grit and then 600 grit sandpaper to remove any surface marks left by the saw/planer on the original sheets of wood. I think the results speak for themselves. The tumbler produced more consistent results than hand shaping would have done.

 

Edited March 13 by Dr PR

[Dr PR]

 

Here are some photos of the Syren 5/16" (8mm) assembled blocks with internal straps. I decided it would be better to assemble the straps in the blocks before staining. I assembled some with extensions for attaching hooks or shackles and some without, all determined by the rigging plan for my model.

 

 

If you look closely you might see that I didn't follow Chucks instructions exactly. For all of the blocks I extended the metal straps across the entire height of the blocks. I am not sure how tightly the aliphatic resin glue will adhere to the metal straps, so I made the straps as long as possible, extending from top to bottom of the blocks. This meant that the holes for the "axles" of the sheaves are blocked by the straps.

 

Chuck includes about twice the length of strap material as needed for the blocks, so if you screw up you can try again. He also supplied a wire (pin) that can be installed through the axle hole in the block and then filed smooth with the surface of the block. But if you run the straps the full length of the block as I did the wire will not fit through the block.

 

Instead I mixed up a batch of JB Weld epoxy and put some of this in the axle holes. The JB Weld is dark grey like the wire, so the holes are filed with something that looks like the metal pin.

 

 

A you can see these are really nice blocks - even if I didn't get perfect alignment of the extension for the shackles. The hardest part of this was drilling the 0.020" holes in the 0.03125" straps. I had about a 75% success rate - it's a good thing Chuck supplies extra strap material!

 

Now they are ready for staining. If it ever quits raining here (we are well into April and it is still snowing and sleeting) I will get outside and stain the blocks.

Edited April 20, 2023 by Dr PR

[Nirvana]

Phil, I have just read through your five-page posting. And I certainly learned a lot. And I am going to use the idea going from a square to create my mast.
The old dowels are not straight anyway.
Many thanks for the tips and ideas of yours as I will use them when going back to my 40 year old Constructo 1851 America (which is still not done)🤔.
 

 

[Dr PR]

Per,

 

I am glad you found my build interesting. It has been a learning experience for me.

 

And I am also glad to know that I am not the only one who takes decades to finish a build!

Edited April 20, 2023 by Dr PR

[Dr PR]

Things slowed down enough that I found some time to work on the model. I made some mast hoops. I need 26 hoops total. There are 11 on both masts to attach the gaff sails, and two spares on each mast.

 

I have looked at metal rings used in jewelry making but they were the wrong size. I thought about making metal rings, but real hoops appear to be rectangular in cross section. I used a technique that I saw on a post on the forum. Sorry I don't recall who came up with this idea, but I thought I would give it a try.

 

Howard Chapelle's "The American Fishing Schooner" (W. W. Norton & Company, New York, 1973) shows how mast hoops were made in the Notebook section on page 555. The diameter of the hoops is about 125% of the mast diameter. He gives examples of the proportions of several hoops.

 

Using the proportions from Chapelle and the diameters of the masts on the model I decided to make the hoops 0.420" (10.7 mm) inside diameter, 0.020" (0.5 mm) thick (radial) and 0.050" (1.25 mm) high (vertical).

 

I started with some wood shavings that I got when I made the masts. I shaved a square dowel to get an octagonal shape, and saved the thin wood strips. They were about 0.005" (0.13 mm) to 0.007" (0.18 mm) thick. I needed a mandrel to wrap the shavings around so I looked for  something that was 0.420 inches diameter. The handle of a large hobby knife was 0.4225 inches - close enough.

 

 

I applied SIG Sig-bond aliphatic resin glue to the wood strips with a paint brush First the strip was wrapped one turn around the mandrel and then I started brushing on the glue as I continued wrapping the strip to form laminated layers (like the real hoops are made). I needed more than 0.020" thickness and found that something like a 0.030" thick lamination (4-5 turns) was a good thickness to work with.

 

Note: I got best results when I started with an end of the strip that tapered to zero thickness - like you get at the end of the shaving stroke. You could also just use sandpaper to taper  the end of the strip. This avoids having a "step" or void at the end of the strip on the inside of the hoop.

 

 

The aliphatic resin may not have been the best choice. It doesn't set up quickly so the strips tried to unwind. I used small clamps to hold the ends in place until the glue set. This did distort the rings a bit, but that was easy to fix later. I had best results working with them after the glue had set over night. The resulting hoops were pretty crude looking.

 

Next I sanded the hoops to about twice (0.1") the desired vertical height on coarse sandpaper. This cleaned up the ragged edges a bit. Then I slipped the hoops over the end of the mandrel and  placed the mandrel flat on the sandpaper and rotated it to sand down the outside edges as shown in this next picture. I occasionally slipped the hoop off the mandrel and measured the thickness (radial) with a micrometer. I repeated this until the thickness was close to the desired thickness (0.020"). I removed the hoop from the mandrel and finished sanding the vertical height to about 0.050". The picture on the right shows three of the original laminations on top and three finished hoops on bottom.

 

 

After two days work I had 27 usable mast hoops and 7 failures (most broke while I was sanding them). Look closely and you will see they aren't perfect. I didn't taper the starting ends on some so there is a thin place where the second layer overlaps it. The thickness isn't uniform around all of them - I may correct this later. But I think they will work. I will sort them into two groups with similar thicknesses and heights for the two masts so the differences won't be noticeable.

 

Edited May 16, 2023 by Dr PR

[Bob Cleek]

Pretty good looking mast hoops! I was probably the one whose description of this technique inspired you to try it. I'm glad it was helpful. It was a trick I picked up from Gerald Wingrove's book, Techniques of Ship Modeling, if memory serves. It was a long time ago and I've been making them like this ever since.

 

I'd suggest in the future that you consider doing it a bit differently, assuming you have a lathe, or can chuck your mandrel in a drill chuck and hold the drill in a vise. Instead of using narrow shavings, use wider shavings taken from the edge of a one inch plank or even larger if you have a good sized plane (a No. 5 or 7, even.) Take as long a shaving as you can, aiming to get long, uniform curled shavings. (A sharp iron is a necessity for that.) Sand one end of a shaving to a tapered end on the flat, as you did here. Wrap your mandrel with a couple of layers of waxed paper, holding the waxed paper tightly around the mandrel with a rubber band at each end so the glue will not stick to the mandrel when the shaving is wrapped around the mandrel. Laminate the shaving around the mandrel a bit thicker than you want your hoops to be. The purpose of the waxed paper is to prevent the glue from sticking to the waxed paper and/or the mandrel.) Use a small rubber band to hold the shaving tightly around the mandrel while the glue dries. (I use Titebond, but the glue type really doesn't matter. Then repeat the process with another shaving, wrapping it around the mandrel next to the first one and continue until you have more than enough laminated wide shavings to yield the number of hoops you may need. (You will break a few hoops, no doubt.) Let the glue dry well, like overnight. Then chuck your mandrel with the shavings wrapped around it into your lathe or drill chuck. Then, with the mandril spinning, slowly is better if you can control the speed, sand the shaving bands down to the finished thickness you want your hoops to be while they are on the mandrel. Then part off the individual hoops as wide as you want them to be by spinning the mandrel and cutting them with a fine jeweler's saw, a sharp hobby knife, or whatever suits your fancy. (With wider shavings, you'll find it easier to wrap them around the mandrel and hold in place with a rubber band while they dry. You'll be able to get several hoops out of each wrapped shaving when they are wider and you don't have to fiddle with the wrapping to make sure the edges are perfectly in line. If they aren't, just discard those edges after the parting is done, keeping only the hoops with good even edges. When your hoops are all parted, slide them off the mandrel. The waxed paper should slide off the mandrel fairly easily and you will end up with a bunch of perfectly sized hoops. Then remove the waxed paper from the inner face of the hoops. It should come off easily since the glue shouldn't stick to it. This method yields perfectly uniform mast hoops of any size desired. Their edges will be "sharp," (not rounded,) but if you wish, you can sand the edges slightly to knock the corners off them. (A block tumbler would probably round them well, but I've never had occasion to try that.) 

 

This "mass production" method should cut your production time down from two days to about an hour, not counting time for the glue to dry.  

 

 

[Dr PR]

Bob,

 

Great suggestions. Thanks!

 

I can see how your method would produce more uniform hoops and the radial thickness should be more uniform.

 

I remembered your post, and as I was shaving wood from the dowel I thought I would try to use it for the hoops. Next time I will try your method.

 

For what it is worth, the aliphatic glue did not stick to the aluminum knife handle mandrel, but I didn't leave the hoops on the mandrel until the glue set up.

 

I should add that I broke a few of the hoops with too aggressive sanding when I was reducing the vertical height. However, the laminated hoops are very tough considering they are only 0.020" (0.5 mm) thick (give or take a few thousandths). No need to worry about breaking them while rigging the sails!

Edited May 16, 2023 by Dr PR

[georgeband]

Phil,

 

That's a lot of preparation and sanding to achieve some splendid wooden hoops. I used a similar technique but with paper instead of wood shavings. It's quicker but the hoops are made of processed wood (paper) and not proper wood. 

• I printed dotted lines on a sheet of cream coloured paper; the spacing between the lines is the width of the hoops.
• The mandrel is a length of mast dowel with a few layers of foil wrapped around it. The foil increases the diameter so that the hoops can slide on the mast and is a barrier to prevent them from gluing to the mandrel. 
• Guess how many turns of paper you will need to get the thickness you want and cut a rectangle from your sheet. 
• Wrap the paper around the mandrel and glue the layers together with PVA. 
• When the glue has set the individual hoops can be cut off by running a knife blade over a dotted line while the paper tube is still on the mandrel. The cut edges do not need much tidying or trimming. 

That's it. The remains of the printed dots even add to the effect of wooden hoops. The photos below are from my Sherbourne. 

 

George

[Dr PR]

George,

 

Thanks. I considered using paper. I think it certainly is easier, and you really can't tell what material is being used, especially if you paint the hoops. And the paper hoops will not be brittle and prone to breaking as 3D printed hoops will be.

Edited June 2, 2023 by Dr PR