Wood Hull Screw Frigate USS Tennessee 1869 to 1886 by Keith Black - scale 1:120

[Keith Black]

1 hour ago, wefalck said:

Didn't know that B&D made a table-top version of the Workmate

 

 Eberhard, B&D made two versions, the eight inch model 79-025 and the sixteen inch model 79-020. From what I understand these ceased being made in the early 80's. eBay prices for a new in the box sixteen inch are $140.00 to $200.00 plus shipping. New in the box eight inch goes from $25.00 to $70.00 plus shipping.  As my need is just working the mast I figured I didn't need the sixteen inch and the extra cost.

 

1 hour ago, mbp521 said:

it was around 1984 when I got mine

 

 Brian, do you remember what you paid for the one you bought? A guess will do. 

[BrianK]

Here you go Keith.

 

The first one is the one I use and is in the attached photo: It has M3 male and female threads at each end to accept whatever appurtenances you prefer.

 

https://www.makerbeam.com/gooseneck.html

 

This gooseneck was sold with threaded alligator clips and 3mm rods as part of a kickstarter product line called PCB Grip. Now Makerbeam just sells the goosenecks and you have to attach your own ends. It is intended to attach to Makerbeam extruded aluminum beam segments which use M3 hardware.

 

The other more generic style of gooseneck clamps is a complete solution found on Amazon or ebay: 

1) https://tinyurl.com/342sarxz 

2) https://tinyurl.com/2p9p8njt

 

Apologies for the rotated image. Still learning the ins and outs of posting on MSW.

[mbp521]

17 minutes ago, Keith Black said:

 Brian, do you remember what you paid for the one you bought? A guess will do. 

Oooh Keith, that is asking a lot. I've killed off a lot of brain cells since then, but if I had to take a stab at it...

 

Let's see in 1984 I was making minimum wage, about $3.35/hour so it wouldn't have been that much. And, since I worked in a hardware store at the time, where I believe I purchased it. Best guess would put it at less than $20. I do remember that it came with and Xacto set that I still use as well.

 

-Brian

[lraymo]

On 12/27/2021 at 1:19 PM, Keith Black said:

Workmate, model 79-025, 8 inch table top vise

Hi Keith, I was really interested in the 8" table top vise you just got on ebay, since I am looking for some way to hold my little phantom, when I start working on the deck and rigging (sometime in the future, since I have lots to finish on the hull first!)

So I jumped over to ebay, and found a new, in-the-box, Workmate.  I didn't get quite as good a deal as you got, but for under $60, I went ahead and bought it!  Thanks for the showing it in your log! 

[Keith Black]

 Thank you to all for the likes and for following along. 

 

 BrianK, I've seen the PC clips and they are intriguing but as I already have a third hand so I don't know if they would make my life any easier but thank you for sharing.

 

 

 Brian521, sorry buddy. Thank you for trying to answer my stupid question, "do you remember what you paid" for something you bought in 1984. 

 

 Lynn, I do hope the Workmate vise meets your needs and works well for you. I've yet to put mine in use as I'm doing a bit more research before starting on the mast and gaffs. 

 

 

[KeithAug]

On 12/27/2021 at 7:43 PM, wefalck said:

Didn't know that B&D made a table-top version of the Workmate, looks useful. I had the fullsize one for decades.

Yes it surprised me too. Must find one.

[Keith Black]

21 hours ago, KeithAug said:

Must find one

 Keith, if you find one on eBay that's listed by a USA seller and they won't ship to the UK, you could have it shipped to my address and I could forward it on to you. If at anytime you think that might happen, let me know and I'll PM you my address. 

 

 You might be better served with the 16 inch, model 79-020 because your build sizes are larger plus the added versatility. 

 

 

Edited January 4, 2022 by Keith Black

[rwiederrich]

On 1/3/2022 at 2:48 PM, Keith Black said:

 Keith, if you find one on eBay that's listed by a USA seller and they won't ship to the UK, you could have it shipped to my address and I could forward it on to you. If at anytime you think that might happen, let me know and I'll PM you my address. 

 

 You might be better served with the 16 inch, model 79-020 because your build sizes are larger plus the added versatility. 

 

 

I’ve owned my workmate since I bought it new in 1980.  It has been my mast holder for every clipper ship build since then.  
Great find, you’ll love it.  
 

What mine is doing right now 

 

Rob

[Keith Black]

 Rob, the first time I saw a Workmate in use was in a photo you posted doing off ship mast work on the Great Republic. Thanks for looking in. 

[KeithAug]

On 1/3/2022 at 10:48 PM, Keith Black said:

Keith, if you find one on eBay that's listed by a USA seller

Thank you Keith I'll bear that in mind.

[Keith Black]

 Thank you for all the comments and likes. 

 

 Work continues populating the mizzen mast with blocks. I'm getting close but felt that an update was in order.

 

 

 

 Top most four blocks are the mizzen topgallant lifts and main topgallant brace blocks. Once again I'm drilling holes and glueing the blocks in place eliminating the need for eyebolts due to the small scale. Not a lot of wood to work with here. 

 

 The preventer chain is .6 inches and was a pain in the backside getting the length correct. I've never gotten a chain length correct the first time, it usually takes three attempts and this guy was no exception. It's affixed at the point between the cheeks but is just placed in the yard where I can remove the yard and continue to work on the mast unencumbered. 

 

 

 Blocks for the US flag and rear admiral's flag. 

 

 I've tried to use graduating blocks sizes. Larger blocks on the lower areas where the loads would have been greater and then ever decreasing block sizes as I move upward where loads would be lighter. 

 

 As I stated before I bought my blocks from Cornwall. They're perfectly fine for my project but they are not everyone's cuppa.

 

If ordering the types of blocks I'm using, one should order about 20% more than needed. For those of you going the same route as myself, sort through your blocks. One, to eliminate culls and two, to sort sizes. Even though a bag is supposed to be one size, they're probably not and that's a good thing. I found that sizes were slightly smaller and larger than marked and I've taken advantage of that. It's given me the opportunity to try and portray a realistic distribution of blocks through the rigging. 

 

 That's it till next time, thank you to all for looking in........Keith

 

 

 

Edited January 15, 2022 by Keith Black

[FriedClams]

Nice update Keith - that mast is looking amazing. Your careful meticulous work is really shining through and everything is just spot on.  The preventer chain turned out great - sweet little detail.

 

Gary

[Glen McGuire]

I agree with Gary.  Love the preventer chain.  Nice touch and really fine work overall, Keith.

[BANYAN]

You're making great progress Keith; those yards are starting to come alive.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[mbp521]

Beautiful work as always Keith. I love the details that you are putting into this build. Especially at a small scale. Graduating the blocks smaller as you go up and the preventer chains. It’s always the small details like that, that add that special something to a build. 
 

-Brian

[My Fathers Son]

I was about to ask a question on this subject but you have most ably demonstrated the answer for me. An excellent example for me to try to follow master.

 

Your most humble apprentice. 

 

Simon 

[BrianK]

Beautiful work Keith. I am learning more and more with every post! Thanks! I was familiar with "preventers" being used on the main boom to prevent the boom from smacking my noggin during an accidental jibe (gybe for your British audience 😃 ), but now I know there is another use for it: To keep the yards from crashing to the deck and smacking my noggin during naval maneuvers.... 😃 

 

BrianK

[KeithAug]

Very nice detail Keith, i admire your dedication.

[lraymo]

Absolutely fabulous detail!  I am in awe of your skills!

[rwiederrich]

[My Fathers Son]

I have already been installing preventers but had missed the iron support on the lower top yard on Cutty on the other thread.

 

Simon

Edited January 24, 2022 by My Fathers Son

[AnchorClanker]

Keith,

Your model is a very impressive model!  I love the old photographs and how you solved the problem of the wheels for the guns.  What method did you use for your attempt at making the wheels?  

 

Mark

 

[Keith Black]

 Thank you for all your nice comments (I'm humbled by your words) and all the likes. 

 

 Mark, I tried half heartedly to make the wheels but I knew making .40 wheels was beyond my meager skills.

 

 Your support has kept me going this last month as it's been a month of disappointment and frustration.

 

 I got all the running line blocks attached to the mizzen and then started on the mizzen deadeyes. I wire stropped the lower topsail deadeye leaving a wire tail to be the futtock. I laced the deadeyes (creating the lanyards) off mast using my thirdhand. I set it up ( put a drop of CA on the ball joints) where I didn't have to measure the distance between the deadeyes. That worked really well and I could see in my minds eye how easy it was going to be to install the shroud lines, deadeyes, and futtocks and it was going to look wonderful. And then reality took over.

 

 Even though the wire I used to strop the lower deadeyes is soft, once placed through the top there was/is no space (because of the size) to twist the wire around the eye pen representing the futtock shackle. In the process I deformed the eye pen beyond saving and had to cut the wire tails off and replace the eye pen. I went ahead and glued the bottom deadeyes to the top leaving the laced pairs ready for the top deadeye to be captured by the shroud line. It is an almost impossible task because of my shaky hands and the small sizes. While trying to make the connection my fat fingers rode roughshod on the lanyards twisting what was nice and straight to a twisted mess. I proceeded to cut off all the top deadeyes, Now the bottom deadeyes are glued to the top so I need to rig the lanyards on mast. End of deadeye pairs, 1.0

 

 I now had to add eye pens to the bottom side of the bottom deadeyes for the futtocks. I also had the repair the damages to the mizzen created during the 1.0 attempt. This gave me a couple of days to think.

 

 Deadeyes 2.0 was now a matter of lacing the deadeye pairs on mast. I fought the good fight, got the starboard four pairs laced and still couldn't easily capture the top deadeye with the shroud line but I persisted and I thought I had things under control till it came time to try and imitate whipping. I can't whip for beans, in fact, my thread skills stink. The dogs dinner between the top deadeye and the shroud line looked a superglue glazed booger. It was pitiful. In all the years I've worked on the Tennessee I've never wanted to give up until this past Tuesday. End of deadeye pairs, 2.0

 

 I cut the lanyards in half, again. Repaired the mizzen damage, paint and another eye pen and while drying I had more time to think.

 

 Deadeye pairs 3.0 is about to commence. Getting the top deadeye captured seems to be the root of the problem. I've eliminated that problem by stropping the top deadeye with wire and leaving a small gap above the top eye where I can run the shroud line through the gap and tie to the deadeye. The Mizzen is drying, I'm stropping to deadeyes and hopefully in a couple of days I'll be able to post a photo of something positive.

 

 Sorry for all the words, thank you for keeping me from giving up. 

 Keith

 

 

Edited February 12, 2022 by Keith Black

[mtaylor]

It's good you're stubborn, Keith.  Too many of us would probably have given up and taken up basket weaving.  Keep going, you'll get it solved.  

[Glen McGuire]

Hey Keith - After seeing all the incredible, fine work you have done up to this point, I am 100% certain you can get past this rough patch.  Mule time!  

[mbp521]

Keith, there is no doubt that you prevail in this task. At times like this, it’s always good to leave the bench for a bit, take a nice walk to clear the noggin, then get back to it. We’re all here to cheer you on and can’t wait to see the results of dead eyes 3.0. Keep your head up my friend, victory is in sight. 
 

-Brian

[My Fathers Son]

I too am confident that you will find your way through this as you have done with your previous hurdles along the way. 

 

Simon

[AnchorClanker]

Challenges are opportunities in disguise. 

 

[FriedClams]

On 2/11/2022 at 7:38 PM, Keith Black said:

it's been a month of disappointment and frustration.

I feel your pain Keith.  I hate when everything attempted goes wrong or makes matters worse.  During periods like that I always put the damn thing out of my sight for a week or so and return to it after my blood pressure returns to normal.  I never do solid modeling when I try to force a fix.  Step back and take a breath - you’re a talented modeler - you’ll find a solution.

 

Gary

[KeithAug]

On 2/12/2022 at 12:38 AM, Keith Black said:

in a couple of days I'll be able to post a photo of something positive.

 

Oh dear Keith. My wife has a saying "To be frustrated is to revenge the sins of others upon oneself" unfortunately in this case it doesn't apply as the source of your frustration is yourself. I think the more appropriate quote might be "If at first you don't succeed try, try and try again" or alternatively a Churchill quote "if you are going through hell, KEEP GOING".  It might be worth sharing your attempts to show the difficulties - my guess is someone will come up with something.