Schooner Germania (Nova) by KeithAug - FINISHED - Scale 1:36 - 1908 / 2011

[FriedClams]

Dang !  You know what I mean ?  Superb workmanship and a wonderful result Keith - just as I knew it would be.  Such a concentration of complexity in so small a package.  Wonderful.

 

Gary   

[shipmodel]

Truly a tour de force, Keith.

Bravo !!!  (I'd put in more exclamation marks, but that might be silly.)

 

Dan 

[BANYAN]

Greg, I purchased some 'high end' cutters from a company here in Australia (square and round/ball ended) down to 0.25mm, in both 2 and 4 flute versions depending on their size/availability.  These are specially coated and not cheap, but I have had no issues whatsoever since purchasing them about 15 years ago.  I have used  them mainly on wood, but occasionally brass.  I think that if you purchase from a reputable/good company such as Harvey Tools, they should be of equal quality?

 

cheers

 

Pat

[KeithAug]

On 2/16/2020 at 2:53 AM, dvm27 said:

May I inquire as to your source for the very smallest end mills you use? I'm curious what the smallest size end mill may be used on brass without breaking or severe deflection.

Greg. 

Smallest size depends on what you are cutting, how big a cut you take and how quick you traverse the table. On hard brass I routinely use end mills as small as 2mm (.080") but I do tend to limit the cut to about .015" and the traverse to about 1" per minute. Soft brass and aluminium both tend to be a bit sticky and grab the cutter making it more likely to break, I tend to use cutters of 4mm (.160") and above when machining these materials but I do find I can increase the depth of cut to around .020". I tend not to use cutters of less than 6mm on steel. 

I have used cutters from many sources over the years including cheap Chinese high speed steel end mills from Amazon. These are not necessary as hard as the best cutters but for light modelling work on hard brass they are fine. Until recently I have bought my better end mills from a local stockist however on advice I purchased a set of Drillpro Blue Naco tungsten carbide end mills from Bangood and found them to be good.

[KeithAug]

On 2/16/2020 at 1:30 AM, Bedford said:

Is this why you were looking for an octagonal collet block?

Steve, thank you your comments, and yes this is the sort of thing that prompted me to look. Most people seem to end up using the square block in conjunction with a "V" block but this seems a bit messy and a lot less satisfactory then an octagonal block. I may have to make one some time.

[KeithAug]

Druxey, Noel, ZBip, Dan, Gary.

  

Thank you for you kid comments. Also thanks to everyone who has visited and or liked my work.

Edited February 17, 2020 by KeithAug

[michael mott]

23 hours ago, shipmodel said:

Truly a tour de force, Keith.

Keith I have to agree with Dan's comment, That really is a superb rendition of the subject, (and could only be improved if you added the welds) 😃

The other thing that always strikes me is the easy way you prepare the drawings, and yes I to would enjoy watching over your shoulder one of these days.

 

Michael

[wefalck]

An alternative to an octogonal collet block could also be a collet indexer for e.g. 5C collets: 

I fashioned something like this from an old collet-holding taistock from a watchmakers lathe by adding a ring with rows of 6, 8, and 10 (should have made 8, 10, and 12) indexing holes and a stop on the body:

 

 

Unfortunately, it cannot be mounted vertically, but then I have a vertical collet holder that can be centred on my rotary table.

[KeithAug]

1 hour ago, michael mott said:

and yes I to would enjoy watching over your shoulder one of these days.

The feeling is mutual Michael. I must have an open day.

1 hour ago, wefalck said:

I fashioned something like this from an old collet-holding taistock

 

Eberhard - I do have a rotary table which can be mounted vertically but it is a bit of a bind to set up and my mill table isn't quite big enough to have the mill vice and rotary table usable at the same time.  I think I may have to fashion something simpler as you have done.

[KeithAug]

Having made the cranse iron the next logical step was to make the bowsprit. The bowsprit is some 14 inches long with the first third parallel at .450" diameter. The second 2/3 tapers gradually down to a diameter of .320". I had a piece of .5" diameter sapele left over from my previous build and I turned this on the lathe as a series of cylinders of reducing diameters (see top right hand corner of sketch below).

With a slender turning of this type it is often necessary to use a fixed steady (a moving steady can't be used when taper turning). Anyway I decided to improvise by using my cupped hand as a steady and this worked remarkably well but but the friction made my hand quite hot - in reality too hot.

Having turned the series of parallel diameters I smoothes out the steps with sandpaper to get a smooth taper.

The large end was then bored to take the shaft on the foot and the narrow end was turned to match the bore of the cranse.

I painted the bowsprit with poly while rotating it at low speed on the lathe.

 

 

[dvm27]

The tapered bowsprit with its hardware looks spectacular, Keith.

 

I  also used a cupped hand for taper turning but I wear a cheap workman’s glove from Home Depot. Worn through a couple but no longer burn my hand!

[druxey]

You must use a very low speed when applying poly. I can just see spraying it over everything if I tried that under power! Looking great, Keith.

[noel_colledge]

Druxey, if you put the finish on a lint free cloth first and then apply this to the work, you get no splash regardless of the speed.

[KeithAug]

7 hours ago, druxey said:

You must use a very low speed when applying poly.

Druxey - 50rpm - no splash - but brush not heavily loaded.

[KeithAug]

On 2/21/2020 at 11:19 PM, dvm27 said:

I  also used a cupped hand for taper turning but I wear a cheap workman’s glove

Greg - sometimes I am an idiot.

[KeithAug]

Having made the bowsprit it was time to sort out the bow rails, in particular the the infill between the rail and the bowsprit. From the photo it can be seen that the rails are cut off square at the bow end and that the space between the rail and the bowsprit is filled by an insert. This insert masks the lower half of the bowsprit hoop and the previously made staysail bracket.

I started by shaping and inserting a strengthening piece immediately below the level of the rail. The middle section of this needs to be removed so I partly cut it through with a razor saw to make the later removal easier.

I made a former to ease the creation of the rail infills.

The previously installed capping rails were cut back and the infills were then glued on to the strengthening piece / rails and the middle of the strengthening piece was removed.

 

I then test fitted the bowsprit.

Then took a couple of general shots:-

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 23, 2020 by KeithAug

[shipman]

A vivid demonstration that a thing is the sum of all it's parts. What a wonderful way to have ones eye's opened to what can be done. This helter-skelter of virtuosity gets faster by the day. Strap me down for the ride.

[druxey]

Bee-utiful, Keith!

[Keith Black]

Finally, a view of the deck (Keith, thank you!) and all it's many bits. The end of the famous Howard Carter quote comes to mind.... " Can you see anything?' it was all I could do to get out the words, 'Yes, wonderful things.” 

[John Allen]

Keith,

 

Your middle name is precision, another museum piece on the ways.

[Retired guy]

A mighty fine attention to detail to you as well Keith, it looks like you love the art of figuring out and fabricating/machining small items 

 

Regards

Richard

[shipman]

Let's not get too carried away with precision.......(1/5th working Merlin).

[BANYAN]

Haven't looked in for a while Keith as my PC was hacked and I have been rebuilding (the PC and not the model unfortunately  ) - that boom turned out terrific.  I will have to try your method as I tend to taper as I go on the lathe and as you pointed out, a steady rest is important for that technique.  Your method would provide a better 'bed' for the rest being a series of flat steps.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[KeithAug]

Thank  you Shipman, Druxey, Keith, John, Richard and Pat for your much appreciated comments, and thank you to everyone who has visited and or liked my log.

 

Shed work has been severely disrupted recently by a influx of house guests, fortunately they have now gone and I can get back to work. I did manage to do a bit of investigation during their stay and also a minuscule amount of manufacturing. So here are the results:-

 

 I did a bit of a review of the bowsprit detail as shown on various photographs. I still needed to make the mast band as per the next photo:-

This band anchors the turnbuckle which tensions the forestay:-

The anchoring lug leans forward.

The turnbuckle detail can be seen in the next photo:-

The stay runs out along the bowsprit and a number of features seem to be interposed between the stay and bowsprit:-

It took some time to understand what these were but eventually I dug up the following photo:-

I think what I am looking at is odd bits of strapping/sailcloth wedged in place to prevent damage to the bowsprit. If anyone has a better interpretation please let me know.

The forestay itself is also a bit of an enigma. In the following photo you can see the stay rounding a sheave before heading skyward:-

In another (I think more recent) photo the forestay seems to be looped around the cranse iron and presumably the turnbuckle has become redundant?????

Anyway I think I am going with the earlier arrangement.

 

As for the bowsprit hoop it was tuned from 1/2" rod and then drilled with 3 holes before being cut in half and parted it off.

I decided that the lower half of the ring could be omitted (as it can not be seen). This makes assembly simpler.

The forward leaning anchoring lug (mentioned earlier) was turned as a mushroom before being shaved flat on the mill. The off centre hole for attaching the turnbuckle was then drilled. 

The lug was then freehand filed to shape and a stem turned for mounting through the bowsprit hoop.

Hopeful this weekend will be more productive but I must take some time to catch up with all your builds. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 6, 2020 by KeithAug

[druxey]

If only I could machine with that precision! Lovely, Keith.

[Jim Lad]

A reasonable bit of rough blacksmithing there, Keith! 

 

John

[wefalck]

👍

"I think what I am looking at is odd bits of strapping/sailcloth wedged in place to prevent damage to the bowsprit." - Could these be velcro-strips to hold the fore-sail(s) on top of the bowsprit when furled ? Given the diametre of the bowsprit, it might be difficult to pass a rope around it for that purpose.

 

Concerning the stay, I have the feeling that it still runs around the roller, but they just have added some leathering to prevent shaving - but of what ? There isn't much beyond that point.

 

Otherwise, clean work as always

[KeithAug]

56 minutes ago, wefalck said:

Concerning the stay, I have the feeling that it still runs around the roller,

Eberhard - you may be right and as I was going to build based on this interpretation I should be ok.

Druxey/John - thank you

[Retired guy]

Nice machining Keith, it's great to have nice pictures 👍

 

Regards

Richard

[KeithAug]

Thank you Richard

 

The weekend was quite productive and I seemed to make reasonable progress that I will cover in a couple of posts.

It started with a bit of a Arggggh!!!! moment while looking at the next photo.

This position is looking forward towards the bow and I had completely missed the 2 valves indicated. So the weekend stated with a valve making diversion.

That done I mounted the 3 shock absorbers for the main and foremast booms. The one on the stern rail was most tricky with the danger that i would drill through to the underside of the stern. I used card and a wooden template to get the position correct and drilled carefully. All went well.

The other 2 were more straightforward.

I also made good progress on the foremost deck house. I will post the details over then next couple of days.

 

 

 

Edited March 8, 2020 by KeithAug