HMS Naiad 1797 by EdT - FINISHED - 1:60 - 38-gun frigate

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 48 – Well and Shot Lockers 2

Posted 2/10/11

 

Installing the remaining louvers and the lids to the shot lockers with their strap hinges finished the well/shot locker assembly.

 

 

 

In this picture it is resting on a drawing of the pumps. Before the assembly could be installed in the ship, provision had to be made for anchoring these pumps to the bottom. The pump shafts will be installed much later during the detailing of the upper deck.

 

I do not plan to model all the inner workings of the pumps. Their shafts and external features will be detailed but not the innards. The next picture shows the six small dowels that will hold these shafts later. These are a non-prototype modeling convenience.

 

 

There are six shafts for the 4 pumps. The boxwood blocks in the above picture are the bottoms of the Cole chain pump housing. Each has two shafts through which a continuous chain fitted with disks carries the water upwards, dumps it into a cistern and continues back to the bottom for another drink. There are also two Elm Tree pumps each with one hollow shaft fitted with a plunger and check valve. These were lower capacity, but higher pressure and were much like well pumps that some of us may remember from our childhoods. When these shafts are made they will have matching holes to fit over these dowels.

 

The next picture shows the well assembly glued in and the two beams at its fore and aft ends set in place temporarily.

 

 

Before installing the beams, their lodging knees needed to be fitted. These are glued to the beams only in the next picture.

 

 

When the glue on these dried, they were removed to have the bolt-holes for holding the knees to the beam drilled on the drill press. Bolts were then installed, two on each knee, and the beams permanently fitted.

 

The next picture is an overhead view of the installation.

 

 

In this picture the carlings between beams four and five are installed. The next picture shows this in a broader view of the hull.

 

 

In the last picture all the carlings have been installed.

 

 

The larger opening just forward of the well is the main hatch. I have wondered why this opening was allowed to be obstructed by the forward shot locker, which takes up quite a bit of the opening. It doesn’t seem like very good design, but obviously it worked in practice since it is a common peculiarity to all the contemporary frigates I’ve seen. The design of the shot lockers is also curious. It was of course important to keep all this weight as low and as centered as possible, but what a chore it must have been to get the 18 and 32 pound balls out of these five foot high boxes. Obviously someone had to get inside.

 

The next step will be to drill and bolt all the lodging knees to the hull frames. This will secure the beams completely – same as the original. Following this, the ledges will be installed and the port side will be planked. We can then move on to the aft platform.

 

Cheers,

 

Ed

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 49 – Orlop Deck

Posted 2/17/11

 

Its been an interesting couple of days in the shipyard. There have been some changes in direction, some rework and some interesting decisions to make. It starts with the first picture, below. I have been having some second thoughts about the very yellow European Boxwood decking. So, while we are still down here in the dark, dingy lower reaches of the hull, I decided to try some Castello in an area that will be virtually invisible in the finished ship. This planking to the outside of the removable planks in the center of the orlop platform can be seen below. The Castello has a slightly redder cast.

 

 

 

The contrast of the Castello against the Pear is a bit more subtle than the Euro Box. I think it complements the pear better and is less of a bright yellow. So, I decided to go with it for the rest of the deck planking, saving the precious yellow real Boxwood for the outside hull planking and other external details that were historically yellow.

 

Also, I have not been too happy with the removable planking and have been thinking about redoing it. The trigger for that can be seen in the next picture.

 

 

The main hatch in this picture is too wide, a drafting error on my part. It should be 5’6” wide and as first installed it is over 7 feet. So, I decided to fix this and at the same time replace all the removable planks (not so removable in the model). So this picture soon turned into as demolition site.

 

The above picture also shows a stretch of internal side planking called “the strake on the orlop beams.” This was installed for the standards to butt against at their bottom. Their tops will butt against the lower deck clamps, so these also had to be installed.

 

The next picture was taken after fixing the hatch and replacing all of the removable planking.. Sorry, no pictures allowed during this ugly work.

 

 

The new planking is Castello and matches the outer planking, which can be seen in this picture to be slightly raised. This is because it rests on top of the beams and the removable stuff sits in rabbets on the beams. These can be seen in the unplanked area. The roof on top of the well is just a temporary protective cover. I got tired of repairing the long fragile louvers every time I rubbed a finger across them.

 

The installation of the “top and butt” lower deck clamps can be seen in progress in the above picture. More on that below.

 

The next issue to face was the way to handle the standard knees on this deck. I will not elaborate further on this. Readers of this log will have seen the very interesting discussion, which followed my request for input on this. Like many decisions where definitive historical data is not available a judgment had to be made on this. So, after deciding, work proceeded to get these installed. Doubts perhaps, but no regrets.

 

These were made by the same method as used for the lodging knees. The profile was cut into a thick piece of pear on the bandsaw, filed and sanded to shape and sized. The individual knees were then sliced off of this piece on the circular saw. The grain on these runs basically from tip to tip avoiding end grain through the arms. Not as good as compass timber, but okay. The picture below shows pieces at different steps in the process.

 

 

The first of these has been fit up and is being glued in the next picture.

 

 

 

The next picture shows all six of these being glued in.

 

 

 

On the model these are on top of the deck. They may have been down on the beams, but details of these is lacking. There would be no visible difference on this side. On the other side, which is unplanked they will be down on the beams.

 

And in the next picture copper bolts have been installed.

 

 

 

The holes for these were drilled from the inside, all the way through the frames. After the first couple I started staggering the boltholes on the bottom legs, which I believe was the practice to avoid creating a weak line along the grain. The bolts in the vertical legs are more in a line because they need to go through the frames which are not always directly in line with the knee. The bolts were glued in with CA and filed off flush inside and out. This picture also shows the treenailing - in the deck, the deck clamps and the strake on the orlop beams. The removable planking is, of course, not nailed.

 

The above picture is pretty accurate with regard to color. I like the more subtle contrast between these two woods.

 

The next picture shows the most aft section of the deck clamps being glued in place.

 

 

 

This piece was bent to its compound curve shape by boiling it for about ten minutes then immediately clamping it in the position above. The next day it was removed scraped and sanded clean and it is shown here being glued in. Surprisingly there was almost no spring back

 

These top and butt planks were cut on the circular saw using two specially made guides to cut the two different angles of taper and to yield the correct width at the apex and the ends. The following picture shows the two different taper guides, one with a plank in position to be cut. With these two guides additional planks can be easily duplicated if needed later.

 

 

 

This worked quite well and the planks fit together without adjustment. The only setup required to use these is to set the width of the plank ends by moving the rip fence.

 

 

Ed

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 50 – Lower Deck Clamps

Posted 2/21/11

 

Since the lower deck clamps needed to be installed to complete the standard knees on all the orlop platforms, it made sense to get these completely done before moving on the aft platform. I mentioned in the last part that this band of two strakes, 6 inches thick is all top and butt planks. The picture below shows this in progress.

 

 

In this picture the curved pieces at the end are being worked on – fore and aft concurrently. Next is a close up of the other side.

 

 

 

At the same time the treenailing of all the installed planks is being done. The next picture shows some of this tedious work in progress.

 

 

 

All the treenailing for all this planking is being done using bamboo, drawn down to .024”. about 2” at 1:60. the holes are drilled to go about halfway into the frames, the bamboo rod is tipped with dark glue, pushed all the way into the hole and clipped off as shown above. The nails are then filed or sanded down.

 

The next picture is of the same area a bit later after the clamps with their treenails have bee cleaned up a bit. The six standard knees shown here have just been glued in. The center one is still wet from glue cleanup.

 

 

 

In the next picture the copper bolts securing these knees have been installed but not finished off.

 

 

The bolts on these knees are staggered and go through the beam in the case of the horizontal leg and through the frames in the case of the vertical leg.

 

The next picture shows these coming out through the frames in reasonably straight lines. They still have to be clipped and filed flush.

 

 

These bolt holes of course pay no attention to joint lines, other bolts, etc, so the pattern on the outside will be a bit random and crowded. There were many fasteners coming through the hull. I believe in the appearance of all these fasteners authenticity will rule over aesthetics. This picture also shows the temporary spacers, which are being slowly removed as spaces are needed for clamping. They will soon all be removed once these clamps are finished and treenailed down.

 

It occurred to me that almost all of the pictures lately have been close-ups showing details, so I added one of the whole model below.

 

 

Ed

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 51 – Aft Platform Beams

Posted 2/28/11

 

After completion of the lower deck clamps, including all the treenailing, some work was done to clean up the outside surfaces of the hull by filing down the protruding copper bolts for the orlop knees and some others left over from earlier work. The hooks in the bow were also bolted through the hull and their bolts filed down. The picture below shows the status of the work to this point.

 

 

 

In this picture areas of the lower interior hull have been treated with the finish of beeswax dissolved in turpentine, hence the somewhat darker color of these areas. Several coats of this dilute mixture will be added until the wood is saturated with wax as the sovent in each succeeding coat evaporates. This needs to be done progressively because these lower areas will soon be unreachable. However, care must be taken not to coat areas that will eventually have to be glued.

 

The next step was to install the four beams for the aft platform. In the next picture these have been positioned and temporarily pinned in place. Because some of these bolt to planking between the bands of thickstuff, some plank sections were added to support those.

 

 

In this picture the marks for the carlings can just be detected. After fitting the beams to the side planking and pinning them, a line was scribed down their centers. From this the distance to the carlings can be measured, and using a straightedge, the inside edge of each carling was marked on the top corner of each beam with a knife while these were in place - to help assure alignment. The beams were then removed to the bench to cut the seats for the carlings. The next picture shows these back in the ship with the carling seats cut.

 

 

In the above picture the knees and pillars have also been installed. This was done after cutting the carling seats The process for doing knees and pillars was covered earlier.

 

The next picture was taken later after installing the carlings. In it a file is being used to cut the seats for the ledges, a simpler joint than the original construction, but one with identical final appearance.

 

 

The next picture shows a ledge being glued in place with the aid of a surgical clamp.

 

 

The surgical clamp allows a lighter touch than if you are squeezing on a pair of tweezers or pliers while trying to align the piece. Once you get the hang of releasing the lock without jolting the workpiece they are very useful.

 

The next picture shows the finished deck framing with the coamings and head ledges for the two hatchways also installed.

 

 

Unfortunately, I’m a little ahead of the game here, having forgotten to install the bulkhead between the fish room and the spirit room before doing the carlings. So, this will have to be done the hard way.

 

Below this bulkhead and the one that goes forward of the first beam, dividing the aft hold and the spirit room, are shown being fabricated.

 

 

 

The one the left, which will now have to be inserted under the completed structure has been made in two pieces, hopefully to make its final fitting and installation under and around the existing structure less difficult, perhaps actually possible. Some dismantlement may be required. We’ll see in Part 52.

 

 

 

Ed

[michael mott]

Ed thanks for adding the picture with your hand it gives me a much better sense of the scale of the model you are working on.

 

Michael

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 52 – Aft Platform

Posted 3/1/11

 

Getting the forgotten Spirit/Fish Room partition in under the finished deck framing turned out to be not as difficult a task as feared. In the picture below the second of two segments is being glued and clamped into place.

 

 

 

To slip it in, the partition bulkhead was made in two pieces with a vertical joint line that is hidden by the pillar on the forward side and the middle bulkhead stanchion on the aft side. The planking on this and the forward spirit room bulkhead was 3 inches thick. The next picture shows the forward bulkhead being glued and clamped.

 

 

 

The next picture shows the finished bulkheads and the beginning of planking of the platform.

 

 

 

Before extending this planking to the side, the copper bolts securing the beams were installed through the frames in the location of the temporary pin holes.

 

The picture below shows the whole interior hull after the completion of the aft platform planking. For some reason the color in the pictures are more vibrant as the camera is moved further away.

 

 

In the picture below, holes for treenails for both the decking and the coamings and head ledges have been drilled.

 

 

And in the next picture the treenailing has been completed and two planked blanks, which will each become a “double-flap” hinged closure are lying in place on their respective scuttles.

 

 

 

Except for the area aft of this platform the whole bottom below the orlop beams can now begin the finishing process, but first a few limber boards needed to be installed – just a few to give the general idea. I still want to have a good bit of the limber channels open so I can continue to enjoy picking out pins, wood chips and other debris which keeps falling into them. Some of these boards are shown below.

 

 

The four standard knees still need to be installed on the aft platform and there are some other detailing chores to be done along the orlop level, but getting this platform in place was a bit of a milestone.

 

Finally, a celebration cleanup of the shop was done so the last picture could be taken without all the usual clutter.

 

 

 

This picture certainly highlights the difference in the Euro Boxwood and the Castello decking. Actually the difference is by no means this pronounced, but I do prefer the more subtle contrast of the Castello on the central and aft platforms.

 

It may now be time to move on the the aft magazine.

 

Ed

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 53 – Aft Magazine

Posted 3/3/11

 

Making good progress this week. The picture below shows the standard knees on the aft platform installed, but not yet bolted. Also the bulkhead, which forms the forward end of the aft magazine has been fabricated and fit into position against the last beam of the aft platform.

 

 

To shape the bottom curve of this bulkhead, a paper pattern was cut with scissors and fit against the side until a good fit was obtained. It was then traced on paper, to which was pinned the vertical stanchions, using the process described earlier. The bulkhead was then planked over on its forward face, leaving openings for the doors – on the left (in the picture) the entrance to the magazine, on the right the entrance to the light room. This planking was made larger than the pattern so that later there would be excess to allow final shaping to the hull.

 

The picture below shows the sides of the magazine being attached. Before this step, these too, had to be shaped to fit the bottom of the hull, which curves upward dramatically in this area.

 

 

In the next picture these sides are being attached with a cross piece at the rear keeping everything square.

 

 

 

In the next picture most of the magazine detail has been completed – the floor, two doors into the magazine, one into the light room, stairs between the magazine doors and cartridge racks. The lantern is yet to be added.

 

 

 

The next picture gives a good idea of just how cramped this space was, barely enough room to turn around.

 

 

 

The doors were made by gluing paneling rails on to a 1 inch thick backing panel of Castello. The actual doors may have been simpler, but these were easy to make and look good. The hatches to the spirit rooms are still awaiting their hardware (the fish room was really used for more spirits by this period).

 

In an attempt to wrap up the orlop some other chores were also attended to. The picture below shows the baseboards for two of the rooms on the forward platform, the boatswain’s store and the adjoining sail room. The sail room has 2” X 2” dunnage beams on the floor to let some air get under the stored canvas. Another larger sail room is located across the passageway from this one, but this unplanked area will not have partitions installed.

 

 

 

When the lower deck beams are placed, the partitions to the rooms on this side of the ship will be added. At the orlop level the partitions were pretty permanent – unlike the upper deck partitions, which were dismantled and taken below when the ship cleared for action. I believe these held in place by wedges or removable battens at the foot. So, baseboards of this type were probably used to anchor the bottom of the more permanent orlop partitions. In any event these will help plumb the partition walls later.

 

The next picture shows some more of these aft, defining what will be – forward to aft – the marines clothing room (perhaps closet is a better word), the slops room ( for seamen’s clothing, etc.) and the stewards room, conveniently located to keep and eye on the hatch to the spirits.

 

 

 

The final picture shows 4” X 2” dunnage beams placed athwartship in the cable tier.

 

 

Some input here would be welcome. I have placed only two of these. Both are on top of the beams where they will not interfere with the ability to lift up the loose planking in this area to get to the hold or to provide for cable drainage, or perhaps better air circulation under the cables. I cannot imagine that after going to the expense of making these removable - rabbeting the tops of the beams, lowering the carlings, etc. that they would then have nailed down dunnage on top that would foil the purpose of all this work. I see two possibilities – loose dunnage beams or running these fore and aft (or both). Of course the only time these planks could be lifted was when the cable was out. I will very likely add some more transverse beams, but I thought I’d give the experts a shot first.

 

There are still more details to finish up before leaving the orlop in favor of “higher pursuits” – the lower deck.

 

Ed

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 54 – Lower Deck Beams

Posted 3/7/11

 

 

 

I needed some relief from all the small detail work involved in finishing up the orlop deck, so I turned to a process that has interested me for some time – the fabrication of the deck beams.

 

There are several aspects of these beams to be considered. On the lower deck of Naiad these 28 beams are 11 inches wide by 10 inches deep, except for those at the fore and aft ends which become smaller in width. All the beams are rounded up in a circular arc so they are 4.5 inches higher in the center at midship, with the same curvature but smaller total roundup as the ends of the ship are approached and the beams become shorter. Also, toward the ends of the ship, due to the longitudinal sheer of the deck, the beams become trapezoidal in cross-section to maintain vertical sides, reaching an angle of a few degrees at the extremes on the lower deck. Finally, at this period longer beams were fabricated in multiple pieces joined by long tabled scarfs. There is no definitive data on which beams were made this way. I decided to make all but the smaller beams at the ends in multiple pieces with the scarfs - on all the decks above the orlop.

 

In this part I will describe how the unscarfed beams were made and save the more complicated, and interesting, issue of fabricating the scarfs for Part 55.

 

First the device shown below was made to give the beams a round up of uniform circular curvature.

 

 

I had prepared patterns for forming these curves but the curvature is so slight that I did not feel that I could manually duplicate it accurately. So, equipped with the pieces of MDF shown in the above picture of the finished device, the radius of the curvature, which is between 8 and 9 real feet, a nine-foot length of 2 X 4, and a router table, the essential pattern was made in the following way.

 

First one end of the 2 X 4 was attached with two nails on the centerline of the MDF piece. The distance of the radius was marked out from the face of the MDF along the 2X4 and a nail driven through it at that point into a block of wood secured in a vice at the same height as the router table. An arc the radius of the curvature could then be swung with the MDF so that its edge could be routed off to the correct curvature. The curved bottom piece was then be made from this first piece.

 

The above picture shows two pieces of MDF made into a clamping device to hold the roughly 2-inch wide stock of the beam width. The picture below shows the router setup used to form the top pattern piece and later to round off the beams.

 

 

 

This picture shows a piece ready to be trimmed. The protrusion is a bit exaggerated for illustration purposes. Only the slightest bit needs to protrude at the center. The bearing on the router bit follows the curvature of the top of the clamp. The lower part of the clamp is sacrificial and sometimes gets cut if it is out of line with the top, but the top piece is the guide.

 

When the curve has been machined, the curve on the lower side of the beam is cut on the scroll saw set up with a fence to yield a beam slightly larger than the final depth. This step is shown below.

 

 

 

The wide leftover piece was then re-clamped in the pattern device and the next beam shaped on the router – and so on.

 

The beams were then sized to final depth and a smooth finish by passing it upside down through the thickness sander in the step shown in the next picture.

 

 

 

For beams toward toward the ends of the ship, where they take on a trapezoidal cross-section, the top faces needed to be angled back before cutting the beam off on the scroll saw. To get that shape the top surface of the beam was sanded back on a disk sander with the table inclined to the angle of the trapezoid. This step is shown below.

 

 

 

 

This step required care to only cut back the bottom surface not touching the top profile or the curvature would be ruined. I needed my higher-powered eyeglasses for this. Once this angle was formed the beam was cut off on the scroll saw as before. The beam was then run through the thickness sander as above with the sanded face down to create a parallel surface on the opposite side at the right thickness.

 

An angle of 2 degrees is almost imperceptible at this scale, but on the upper decks it will be more pronounced so this process will become more relevant.

 

Since this angle increases incremently moving forward and aft, numbering the beams is essential so they end up in the right place.

 

Some finished one-piece beams are shown below. They of course still need to be cut to length, fit onto the deck clamps and have the carling seats cut as described in previous parts..

 

 

 

In the next part the process used to efficiently make scarfed beams will be discussed – an interesting and challenging problem.

 

Stay tuned.

 

Ed

Edited February 26, 2013 by EdT

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 55 – Scarfed Deck Beams

Posted 3/8/11

 

 

As timber supplies began to wane, it became necessary to fabricate deck beams from multiple pieces of timber. There might be two, three or four pieces used to make a beam. These beams may actually have been stronger than one piece beams, but I doubt this would have been reason to take on the large amount of additional work to make these. Also, there is not credit given in size requirements for made beams in any source I have seen.

 

There is no information on which type of made beams were used on which ship. I decided to make the beams for the lower deck of Naiad in two pieces. Cutting all these joints manually in any reasonable amount of time seemed unlikely, quite apart from the obvious final quality issues. For this reason I decided to machine these vertical tabled scarfs on the milling machine on wide pieces of wood thicknessed to the beam width. The picture below shows this machining in progress on an 11 inch thick piece..

 

 

However, some work was required to get to this, which I will describe only briefly. The length and the angle of the scarf needed to be determined. The milling table was then set to that angle. The length of the scarf was then divided into segments. In this case a single table width of 15 inches (.25”) was reasonably representative of the originals, which varied somewhat in width. In the planned process, it was important the scarfes be symmetrical so that one pattern could be used for both pieces to be joined. The difference between levels of the scarf tables was set at a constant of 3 inches as were the depths of the end lips. This was as per the original. A one eighth inch milling bit was used. A repetitive cutting sequence using the calibrated hand wheels on the milling machine was developed. Following this sequence required concentration – for me at least – to avoid ruining the piece. After marking off the length of the scarf the first pass was taken to just skim the surface. If the right angle, table pattern and table depths were followed the last cut at the end would leave the right thickness for the lip - 2.5 to 3 inches.

 

Below are some machined pieces in various stage of assembly. The apparent curvature in this and the next picture is photo distortion. These are straight.

 

 

Two identically machined pieces are shown in the lower part of the picture. If machined correctly, these will be a very tight fit – too tight, so they need to be filed back a bit on the table edges so that they fit together easily, as shown in the middle view. At the top two pieces are glued together. This was done using a very darkly pigmented glue to make the joint quite visible. There is no point in doing all this if the joint cannot be seen and without the dark brown glue the joint is virtually invisible.

 

The picture below shows the joint on an assembled beam blank.

 

 

The process then followed that described in Part 54. In the picture below, 3” thick spacers are inserted in the round up pattern-clamp to compensate for the offset so the ends as well as the middle are held tightly.

 

 

This picture shows the routed beam top. And the next picture shows a beam parted off on the scroll saw as described previously – ready to be run through the thickness sander.

 

 

The next picture shows a finished beam ready to be fit up in the ship.

 

 

 

The identical milling process will be used to make three piece and perhaps some four piece beams on the next deck up.

 

Below is a finished sample, with iron bolts, which shows the expected final appearance, before finish, of the final joint. Two smaller bolts in each lip have not been installed in this piece.

 

 

 

After scarfing, all the remaining steps, including shaping the trapezoidal cross-section follow the processes described in Part 54.

 

The full set of lower deck beams with a few extras of each orientation are shown below. No bolts yet. These will be added after the fitting up, sizing to length and cutting the carling seats and other joints

 

 

Having enjoyed proving out this process, and making the beams – I guess 10 to 12 hours of work, .it was time to go back to the detail work to finish the orlop.

 

 

Ed

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 56 – Lower Deck Beams

Posted 3/14/11

 

After completing the fabrication of all the two-piece beams for the lower deck work continued on the details needed to complete the orlop level concurrently with installation of the beams. The picture below shows some detailing of the cable tier, including the dunnage beams, the side stanchions and the battens on those.

 

 

With the beams set, the heights of the stanchions could be adjusted. In the above picture they are only temporarily positioned.

 

The next picture shows the hinges and eyebolts on the hatches to the spirit room and fish room and also the bolting on the aft platform standard knees.

 

 

The next picture of the same area shows the lantern in the aft magazine, the last detail to installed to complete that.

 

 

The picture below shows the progress of installing the deck beams. First they were cut to length and their ends shaped to butt the frames. They were then located and the spots on the clamps marked so these could be let down on the beams. The height of each beam was checked at the center with the gantry and at the ends by measuring down from the top of frames with the length guage. The seats were adjusted accordingly to get the correct levels. In some cases this required some minor trimming on the tops of the clamps so the amount the beams were let down was held to 2 inches.

 

 

After the beams are all set, they will be pinned in place, the beam arms will be made and fit, the carlings will then be marked and their seats cut. The bolts in the scarfes will then be installed, knees fitted, pillars fitted, etc. The orlop partitions on the decked port side will be installed concurrently with all this.

 

The next picture provides a closer view of the beams being let down on the clamps. Steel says the ends of the beams should be reduced so they are let down 2” on the clamps. His plate however shows seats cut in the clamps. This may be a drafting error. I have seen that detail on another drawing – somewhere. On the model there will be no visible difference, so it’s a bit academic. I cut seats in the clamps 2” deep. It helps to positively locate the beams, which helps with succeeding steps. The next picture shows some of these beam end arrangements. If it were not for the one beam in this picture that is out of position, one could not tell if the beams or the clamps were cut. Frankly, I believe it was poor practice to cut the beams. It effectively reduces the section bearing the load. Whatever.

 

 

The last picture shows most of the beams set in place.

 

 

 

Ed

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 57 – Sleepers and Lower Deck Beam Arms

Posted 3/16/11

 

With all of the lower deck beams fitted and pinned into place there were a few tasks to be done before going to work on the knees and the final beam installation. The first of these was to install the first two of the four sleepers, one on each side of the sternson knee. In the picture below one of these is being fit into place so that it runs underneath the last lower deck beam. The purpose of these members was to give further strength to the structure of transoms and fashion pieces.

 

 

Their precise locations are not well documented. On larger ships the center ones fay onto the sternson knee and terminate lower. On frigates they all reach the top of the wing transom. I had to make some decisions on how to fit them around this last beam. I expect the outer two to go over the ends of the beam, which will be cut back to its seats on the clamp to accommodate them.

 

In the next picture both of these are ready to be glued into place. These are very odd shaped pieces and it took some time to get them to lay flat on the planking and the transoms - and to look symmetrical.

 

 

In the next picture these have been glued into place and held with the usual clamps.

 

 

With the work below the second band of thickstuff in this area now complete a first coat of turpentine/beeswax was put on just before the next picture was taken. It will dry much lighter and less orange.

 

 

In this picture the sleeper bolts, 11 in each, have been installed through to the outside of the frames and finished off on the inside. Some of these are shown coming through the transoms and aft cant frames in the next picture. They still need to be filed off flush on the outside.

 

 

The next picture shows the beam arms for the beam at the main hatch loosely fit up for marking of the carling seats.

 

 

The tabled scarf joints were cut on the milling machine using the same process described previously, except these could be cut in a horizontal position. The arms were machined first, then fit up to the beam so their locations could be marked. Then the beams were machined.

 

 

The next picture shows a closeup of one side of the beam arm assembly.

 

 

These joints are loosely pinned for the marking of the carling positions. They will close up nicely when clamped. When this picture was taken the carling positions on all the beams were marked, so there is no way to further avoid cutting all these seats – 180 of them – except some chisel sharpening needs to come first.

 

Cheers.

 

Ed

Edited February 27, 2013 by EdT

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 58 – Deck Beam Joinery

Posted 3/20/11

 

After getting the chisels sharpened the locations of all the seats for the carlings were marked on the beams while they were pinned in position as shown in the first picture, except for the mast partners. Those were still on the drawing board.

 

 

After the beams were marked in pencil they were removed one-by-one, had the pencil marks nicked with a sharp knife, had the lower face of the seat lined out with the compass shown to the right and then were cut as shown in the next picture.

 

 

This picture shows the first plunge cut into the side of the beam being made with a small chisel. Two of these cuts define the sides of the seat.

 

The next picture shows the paring cuts being made after both sides of the seat were cut as shown above.

 

 

These cuts very shallow, made with very little pressure and the shavings are ejected when the cut reaches the side cut. The joints were then cleaned up with the small chisel to the right. This process, cutting the twelve seats in each beam, takes about ten minutes per beam by this process.

 

In the next picture all of these have been cut and the beams pinned back in position.

 

 

In this picture the iron bolts, six per scarf, have also been installed in the twenty scarfed beams. These were 1” square bolts on the real ship. Here they are 30 lb black monofilament fishing line, which is the size of the 1.5-inch bolt heads. The bolts are held in with CA.

 

In the next picture the beam arms are being glued to the beam which will rest at the aft end of the main hatch and just forward of the main mast.

 

 

In this picture the small clamps are providing the high pressure and their big brothers only very light pressure.

 

The next picture shows this assembly fit into place after its bolts were installed and it was cleaned up a bit with 220 paper and 0000 steel wool.

 

 

All the beams were given this surfacing step and then pinned in place for the next step – the installation of the knees.

 

The last picture shows a close up of the beam arms joints, which like the beam scarfes, were cut on the milling machine.

 

 

In this picture the mortises in the beam sides for the two large main mast partners have been cut after quite a bit of head scratching on what this configuration should look like and also how to fit the pump casings around these timbers and keep them out of the way of each other. The partner carling will fit into these large vertical slots, which in the picture, are just above the louvers in the well - which in spite of all my protective measures, are still acting up and shifting out of place. These large partner carlings will have a half lap that rests on the top of the beam, extending all the way to the other side. These will then be bolted through the beam from above. A section through the pumps can be seem in a posting above this one, although the drawing has changed quite a bit since that version.

 

Next come the hanging and lodging knees.

 

Ed

[Neill]

Ed

Just to say thanks for reposting this log, it is truly inspirational - I'm ordering your book very soon

[Mcdood]

Hi Ed,

Would it be possible for the photos you have taken of this build to be available on a disc that came with volume 2 ?

Regards

Martin. 

[Wintergreen]

Ed, I admire your mindset in that you repost the complete log of the building of Naiad.

Since I've followed you since the early beginning of this log in the old MSW I kind of know how much you've put into this.

 

Hats off!

[EdT]

Thank you for the comments - much appreciated as always.  I appreciate the comments on the reposting, because it is taking some time.  I am trying to post five or more parts each day.  I am looking forward to getting finished with the reposts so we can get back to current progress.  As far as that is concerned, the model is approaching completion.  Perhaps another month.  Most of what is left now is ironwork.  Your patience is appreciated.

 

Neill, I'm always glad to hear of interest in the book and I hope you will find it useful.  I believe you will.

 

Martin, I plan to include images on the disk where color will be of value to the building, perhaps some others.  I believe there will be a color section in the book. 

 

Hakan, thanks.  I know you have been with me on this from the beginning and I appreciate that.  I am sorry that your many questions and comments to the original posts have been lost.

 

Ed

[Wintergreen]

Hakan, thanks.  I know you have been with me on this from the beginning and I appreciate that.  I am sorry that your many questions and comments to the original posts have been lost.

 

Ed

Don't be sorry, I've learned a lot and will pass that knowledge on when time comes and the opportunity given.

 

Onwards, upwards!

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 59 – Lower Deck Main Partners

Posted 3/22/11

 

It may seem like I’m putting off the big knees job, but in order to finish cutting the carling seats for the beams, I had to address the mast partners, since the carlings for these do not match the others either in size or location.  They are much larger and their location depends on mast diameter.  This issue is complicated by another problem and that is the need to have 6 straight pump casings make their way from their bases in the well to the right spot on the upper deck.  Those who have been following this series will have noted the difficulties discussed in several posts in the last few days.

 

The picture below illustrates the problem with the pumps.

 

 

The four shafts in the foreground are the 10 ½” square casings for the Cole Chain pumps.  There are two pumps and at the bottom these shafts connect to an intake housing between the keelson and the second limber strake – no room for maneuver there.  The upper ends of these come through the bottom of a cistern on the upper deck where the water is collected and discharged.  The centers of the tops need to be 24 inches apart precisely, because the sprocket that drives the chain is of that diameter – no latitude here.   The bent pins holding the tops together are maintaining this 24-inch distance at the top.  These shafts must pass on either side of the lower deck mast partner carlings and given the geometry just described, there is a fixed distance between these at the level of the lower deck and it is much smaller than the width of the carlings, so they have to be cut – no way around this regardless of layout.  The two octagonal shafts forward are for the two elm tree pumps – same problem.  They are as far out as they can go in this picture without enlarging the well and its width is well defined by the location of the limber strakes (no pun intended).

 

It took some advice from our MSW experts, multiple readings in Steel and others sources, and some head scratching to get this drawn up and built.  The following pictures show the progress of its construction.

 

The two fore and aft carlings are 15 inches wide and 14 inches deep.  They fit into vertical slots in the beams and have a 6 inch lap over the full width of both beams with two bolts driven through the beam vertically at each end.  All this restrains lateral movement of the mast.  These carlings are connected by 6 inch thick cross chocks, which I have installed in the athwartship orientation.  They have 3-inch laps which rest on 3-inch rabbets in the carlings and are bolted with four bolts to each.  This is quite a massive rigid structure.  In the picture above, the cross chocks are being marked so they can be cut to fit around the casings.  Pins through the carling boltholes are keeping this all together.

 

The next picture shows the rough cutouts in the cross chocks and also the rabbeting of the four corners of the mast opening to take four corner chocks.  All cross chocks are glued in at this stage except for the two to the left. They will be glued in much later when the shafts are permanently fixed.

 

In the next picture rough corner chock blocks have been glued in.

 

 

These were done in Castello so their shape doesn’t get obscured.  Their grain runs tangential to the curvature of the mast.  In the next picture the corner chocks have been opened up to take the mast wedges, leveled off with the top of the cross chocks, and have had their four bolts each installed.

 

All the other bolts are also installed in this picture.  The last picture shows the assembly with the pump shafts fitted up temporarily.

 

 

The top of the well structure has been finished off with some upper framing.  The partners are not fastened permanently yet.  There is still a lot to do on the deck beams before that happens.

 

Ed

 

 

 

 

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 60 – Lower Deck Knees 1

Posted 3/25/11

 

With the complexities and controversies of the mainmast partners now consigned to the past - until they arise again on the upper deck, or maybe even with the lower deck foremast partners – it was time to move on the lower deck knees.  The knees were extremely important to the structure of the ship.  Their purpose was to form moment connections between the beam, the frames and the sandwich of clamps and outer planking that are the primary longitudinal members..  There are two knees at each end of each beam. a horizontal lodging knee to maintain the spacing between the beams and reduce flexing in the horizontal plane, and a vertical hanging knee to resist bending at the beam end in the vertical direction.  They were primary timbers in maintaining the rigidity of the hull – much like gusset plates make steel building structures rigid.  The lodging knees are 8” thick, the hangers 8 ½ inches.  Both bolt through the sides of the beam and in and out through the hull frames and planking.

 

The first picture shows some lodging some of Naiad’s lodging knees from above.

 

 

These have been glued to the side of their beams, which are still only pinned in place.  The beams will be removed to install bolts and for further steps associated with the hanging knees.  In the next picture all the lodging knees, except a few around the beam arms, have been glued to their beams.

 

As described earlier, the knee profile was first cut out on a 3-inch wide piece of pear on the band saw.  Individual knees were then sliced off that piece as needed – like a loaf of oddly shaped bread.  This eliminates intricate cutting of each knee, establishes the right grain direction, assures they are all roughly consistent in shape and saves a lot of time.  The next picture just shows one of these knees clamped for gluing.

 

 

The next picture shows the first few hanging knees attached to the side of the beams opposite the lodging knees.

 

 

To get these up against the deck clamps each lodging knee had to be notched back to the face of the clamp.  To do this a strip of wood the thickness of the hanging knee was used to mark the cut line on each of the hanging knees.  The beam to receive the hanger was then removed so the line of the clamp could be marked.  The beam with the lodging knees was then removed so it could be clamped in a vise to cut out the notch with a razor saw.  The hanging knees need to fit tightly in the notch, against the side planking and of course against the side of the beam.

 

 

At the end of this step each beam will have both of its knees attached.  It can then be removed to have fore and aft bolts inserted through both knees and the beam.  These will be iron bolts.  When the beams get permanently installed, holes will be drilled through the frames from the outside and copper bolts inserted, but there are several other steps before the beams can be installed permanently.

 

One of those steps is the installation of partitions on the port side of the ship, which will be decked.  Some of that has been done concurrently with the knees.  The next picture shows partitions between the steward’s room, the slops room and the marines clothing room.  The latter two are really just walk-in closets.

 

 

Notches in these partitions for the carlings will have to be cut out in place.  Notches for the knees were cut before installing.

 

The hatch over the spirits room is also getting new covers of the double flap variety, which is more correct.  There may be more work yet to do with these two hatches on the aft platform.

 

Construction is starting to overtake the drafting, so some time had to be taken to get that caught up.  This involved finishing drawing of the mizzen step, the foremast partners, and the lower deck hatchways, and making sure all this was going to fit properly with the orlop deck arrangements.  This took some research and some time.

 

There are a variety of things going on right now and that keeps the work interesting.  The knees are progressing much faster than I expected.

 

Ed

[michael mott]

Ed I just get lost for words following what you are accomplishing with your skill and dedication to this craft.

 

Michael

[dnputnam]

This better than Saturday night re-runs

 

Thanks Ed

 

 

Dale

[dvm27]

Great job on getting those pump angles right, Ed. I had trouble lining up just four!

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 61 – Lower Deck Knees 2

Posted 3/27/11

 

In the last part some work had been done on the partitions on the aft platform. This work is now complete. Hardware has been added to the doors to the light room and the aft magazine and that whole assembly was fixed permanently in place. To the right of the light room door is the Dutch style door to the stewards room. The steward reported to the purser and was responsible for distribution of stores, hence the Dutch door. There is also a small sliding door leading to the bread room from this room. The steward slept in this room. To the right is the slops room then the marines clothing room. Slops was the term given to seamen’s clothing and gear that were issued to new arrivals on the ship who may not have had a chance to outfit themselves before being picked up by the press gang. Deductions from wages were made accordingly. Also in this picture the hatch to the spirit room has been converted to a “double-flap.” A ladder way to this deck will descend above this hatch.

 

 

The next picture shows this area with the overhead beams temporarily in place.

 

 

Most of the effort in the past two days involved the hanging knees and the progress of their installation is shown in the next several pictures. The next picture shows the knees installed on beams over the central orlop.

 

 

 

The hanging knees at this stage are glued to their respective beams only. All the knees still need to be trimmed down flush with the beams.

 

 

 

This view from astern shows the hanging knees on the last several beams. The slots let down in the tops of two of these beams are for the mizzen step. Hanging knees on the beam forward of that are clamped for gluing.

 

In the next picture the very last hanging knee has been glued and clamped.

 

 

 

The picture below shows the arrangement of knees on the beam arm assembly attached the beam aft of the main hatch. The knees on this assembly have been sanded down flush with the beam.

 

 

The double lodging knee in the upper left of this picture is the point at which the lodging knees shift position and orientation. It was important to have a large angle between the two faces of these knees for strength. Here at midship they are roughly 90 degrees, but with the change in orientation the angle of these will increase going fore and aft, which is the reason for the shift. Without this shift the angles at one end would be very acute and strong knees could not be made from wood for this situation. Of course, with the change, the hanging knees also change position on the beams. They are on the forward side forward of this point and on the aft side aft.

 

The next picture shows the deck structure with all the knees installed.

 

 

All this structure is still removable. The next step will be to remove each beam, trim down the knees flush with the top, get everything sanded and install the fore and aft bolts through both knees and the beam. The pillars under each beam can then be fitted and the beams installed permanently.

 

There is still some partition work to be done on the orlop. The picture below shows the area of the fore platform, laid out for the boatswain’s store and the sailroom forward of that. There will be no partitions installed on the starboard side – only structure.

 

 

 

Ed

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 62 – Lower Deck Beams Continued

Posted 3/29/11

 

Having glued all the knees to their respective beams, the next step was to install the bolting. The knees are bolted to the beams with iron bolts in the fore and aft direction. These are simulated with 30 lb. test black monofilament fishing leader. The bolts go through both knees and the beam – three at each end. The picture below shows the setup for drilling these to help get the drill exit points in the right place.

 

 

In this picture the two beams at midship have been assembled so their knees can all be bolted. These beams have a pair of opposed lodging knees between them so they needed to be assembled for this.

 

In the next picture bolts have been installed in most of the beams and they are waiting to have those trimmed back flush and sanded smooth.

 

 

After the holes were drilled, a length of monofilament was cut from the spool and the end dipped in medium viscosity CA. It was then inserted in one end of the hole, removed, re-dipped in the glue and pushed all the way through the hole from the other end, then clipped off. This assured that the bolt would be tightly held at both ends of the hole, adding strength to the joint, which is inherently weak in the case of the lodging knees because they are glued on end grain. After drying of the CA the bolts were sliced off with a knife and sanded flush to the wood.

 

The next picture shows some of the bolting on the knees after the beams were put back in their positions.

 

 

This picture also shows the first of the pillars to be fitted under the beams at the centerline. These are mortised into the beams of both decks. They need to be carefully measured to make sure they do not disturb the fair line of the beams fore and aft and cause waviness in the decking.

 

Below is a closer view of these pillars, which have their corners chamfered off in the middle of their length.

 

 

The next picture shows a few more of these further aft.

 

 

Between the platforms the pillars extend all the way down to the keelson.

 

The next picture shows some of the beams over the central platform permanently installed.

 

 

With all the gluing finished on this section of the orlop deck , some of it has now been given a coat of wax finish. That is the reason for the slightly darker cast to part of it.

 

These first beams were a test for my plan to drill through the knees from outside the hull to install full through-bolts. This seems to work all right for the lodging knees by using the drill guide I described earlier, but I found that controlling the drill exit point on the hanging knees was just too unpredictable to give good appearance. Also, it is virtually impossible to finish the hanging knee bolts flush with the beams in place. While this second problem could be overcome, I have decided to compromise on this bolting. The knees will still be bolted from the outside, but I will not drill all the way through them. Bolts on the inside of the knees will all be pre-installed and finished off. This will give the appearance I want, but will not be 100% authentic. C’est la vie.

 

The next picture shows a pile of beams with copper bolts installed on the knees waiting to be filed off flush. I’m actually waiting for delivery of some 220 grit sleeves for my new spindle sander – a birthday gift – before going at this.

 

 

 

The nails at the ends of the beam scarfs can also be seen in this picture. These were added to all the made beams. I knew I had read about these somewhere but couldn’t remember the reference, so until I found it buried in Steel, I deferred installing them. These smaller iron bolts (or nails) were made using smaller monofilament.

 

Just in case someone is wondering why the mix of copper and iron, in the absence of any definitive data, I am using copper for all bolts through the hull from roughly the waterline down and iron for everything that is not normally immersed in saltwater. The rationale is that iron is stronger and was cheaper. Copper was resistant to salt water but somewhat weaker and much more expensive. Seems a reasonable approach.

 

So, the next step will be to trim off the excess copper bolting, finish sand the beams, and then proceed to get them installed. The partitions for the boatswain still need to be done as can be seen in the last picture.

 

 

Ed

[BANYAN]

Take your time with the reposting Ed; although I can understand your need to finish and progress.  It has been very beneficial rereading your posts on this second iteration, as there is so much useful information that I have missed or forgotten from the first time around.

 

Many thanks for perservering with this.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Mcdood]

Ed, I have to admit "I am in Ed heaven" this seems better than first round. I am sure you did not need the work of re-posting all this work, but you sure are making a lot of people happy.

Thanks

Martin. 

[EdT]

Thanks, Guys.  I'm looking forward to getting this reposting done, so I can post the final stages of the build.    I just finished gluing on what I think are the last wood parts - except for the gun doors.  But first a couple more reposts.

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 63 – Mizzen Step/Lower Deck Structure

Posted 4/5/11

 

Once all the bolts were installed holding the knees to the lower deck beams, the beams could be installed permanently.  Currently all the beams aft of midship have been installed.  The forward beams are waiting for installation of the partitions for the boatswain’s store and sail room.  These are being fabricated.

 

In the first picture the stairs leading down to the aft platform have been installed.

 

 

The slots for the treads were cut on the milling machine with a slotting blade the thickness of the treads.  Enough of these were cut to finish the model – hopefully, unless different angles are needed.  The next picture shows this from a different viewpoint.

 

 

This picture shows why the hatch covers to the spirit room had to be redone.  The stairs, the adjacent beams and the carlings were installed together before moving on the the rest of the beams aft.

 

The mizzen step was also installed along with its supporting beams.  Doing all this together is easier than installing these things later.  The next picture shows the lower half of the mizzen step being installed.

 

 

This piece is quite a large timber.  It is “let up” under the beam and is long enough to reach the other side of the beams.  It has a large pillar support it in its center, which cannot quite be seen in this photo.  The mizzen step itself rests on this and is let down on the beams in scores about 2” deep in the centers of the beams.  The next picture shows this in place.

 

 

The pillar under the step can be seen in this picture right up against the aft wall of the magazine.  In the next picture shows the bolts, which go through both step timbers and the beams.

 

 

This picture also shows the remaining beams aft being installed.  In the next picture work is progressing on the installation of carlings aft of midship.

 

 

This step goes quite quickly, since all the seats were cut before the beams were installed.  The last picture shows the carlings in the partitioned area.  The partitions needed to be slotted here to fit the carlings.  This was done with a sharp chisel.

 

 

Some other tasks have been going in parallel with the above work.  These include installing the iron nails in the ribbands, building the bulkheads for the boatswain’s stores and fabricating copper braces/gudgeons for the rudder.  This work will be covered in later posts.

 

Ed

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 64 – Riding Bitts, Boatswain’s Store, Lower Deck Structure

Posted 4/6/11

 

As with the beams at the stern, the installation of the forward beams had to be preceded by some other work.  The boatswain’s stores and the sail room were mentioned previously.  In the first picture the long fore and aft partition is being marked out for cutting notches to fit around the beams.

 

 

The partition is only temporarily positioned for marking.  It was then removed and the notch cut on the circular saw.  It was then returned to position to mark the next beam – and so on.  The next picture shows this partition being glued into place with all the notches having been cut.

 

 

Putting the base stringers for all the partitions in place first, with the door cutouts, simplifies this final installation.  This can be seen in earlier pictures of this area.  The stanchions on the pre-fabbed partitions are cut off at the bottom to fit on top of the stringers.  The lowest planking is then glued to both the deck and the base stringer with position and alignment already established.  It only remains to get and hold them vertical.

 

The next picture shows two of the transverse partitions in place.

 

 

These were made oversize, detailed, then fit to shape with the beams removed.

 

The boatswain was responsible for the ship’s rigging, so this area would have been crammed with spare rigging items.  The forward area was the smaller of two sail rooms, so it has dunnage battens on the floor to allow air to circulate under the spare sails and canvas stored here.  The larger sail room is over the magazine in the center of the ship and will not be modeled.

 

Before the area over the forward hold got congested with beams, the riding bits needed to be installed.  In the next picture the first of these is being glued into place.

 

 

These massive timbers were anchored to beams from the depths of the hold to above the upper deck where a cross piece was attached.  The bits are 16 inches square at the top.  These are the aft pair of two sets of riding bits.  They were used to secure the cable when the ship was at anchor.

To hold it in position for gluing, the huge timber is clamped to a beam held in place with pins and forced gently against the rear bulkhead of the magazine and the fore platform beam with a tapered piece of wood lodged against a small ledge.  “Gently” is the operative word here.  I wasn’t gentle enough on the second one.

 

In the next picture both bits are in place and the effect of wedging the second against the ledge too forcefully is apparent.

 

 

These timbers were then bolted through both the orlop beam and the lower magazine beam and will of course be bolted through the adjacent lower deck beam.  There was just enough room to drill holes for these first eight bolts.  They are just visible in the above picture.

 

They can be seen more clearly in the next picture.

 

 

The camera’s critical eye is evident here, showing the marks from the drilling, which I had not seen.  This will require some cleanup with a file.

 

With the bitts installed, work could continue on the beams.  The next picture shows a mortise being cut into an orlop beam to receive the bottom of a support pillar, which is lying to one side.  This is being done with a 1/16 inch mortise chisel.

 

 

The last picture shows that beam and the one just forward permanently installed with their pillars in place.

 

 

Hopefully, the rest of the beams and at least most of the lower deck carlings will be installed by the next installment.

 

Cheers,

 

Ed

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 65 –Lower Deck Structure Continued

Posted 4/11/11

 

With the riding bitts bolted into place the installation of beams could march toward the bow.  In the first picture beam no. 8 is being glued, pinned and clamped into place.

 

 

The clamps are fixing it to the riding bitts.   As soon as the glue was dry two iron through-bolts were installed between the beam and each bitt.  Having done that the framing around the ladder way to the forward platform and the staircase could be installed as shown in the next picture.

 

 

It seems incredible to me that this one narrow, 28 inch wide ladder way - to say nothing of the similar width passage which came next - was on the main two-way highway between the forward magazine and the guns two and three decks up.  This route must have been incredibly congested with powder monkeys fighting their way past each other while guns crews waited for their cartridges.  The first thing this tells me is that ship designers weren’t too focused on cartridge logistics and the potential effect on rate of fire. It would have been a simple matter to widen this route, simplify it or add some parallel routes.  Of course it would have meant departing from some very traditional arrangements.   The other thing it says to me is that there were either some superhuman powder monkeys in the RN or that the supposed rates of fire (2-3 rounds in five minutes) were highly exaggerated.  I suspect the latter.  I would love to see how this whole powder-handling scheme really worked in practice.  If anyone can tell me what I’m missing, feel free.

 

So, the next picture is from the forward perspective.  It also shows the two cleats between decks bolted to the bitts. These were presumably to add additional support to the beams at this location.

 

 

In the next picture all the beams and carlings have been installed in the forward area except for those around the foremast partners.

 

 

The next picture shows the lower deck looking forward at this stage.

 

The installation of the fore mast partners on this deck followed the interpretation of Steel I used for the main mast partners.  The next picture shows the carlings let down on the beams with their tops 6 inches above the deck.  The two 6 inch thick cross chocks have been installed and let down in rabbets of half their thickness onto the carlings. 

 

 

The assembly was left loose at this point to allow the rabbets for the corner chocks to be cut on the workbench.  When this was done these were then installed into the assembly, shaped and finished off.  The bolts were then installed and the whole assembly glued to the beams as shown below.

 

 

In this picture the bolts trough the beams have yet to be installed

 

A fair amount of work still remains on this deck, including the ledges, the waterways, the partial deck planking, and partitions for the officer’s quarters, wardroom, bread bins and the captain’s pantry. 

 

Ed