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

[dvm27]

You made the knighthead shaping and bowsprit chock look easy, Ed. I know from experience that lots can go wrong. Well done!

[dgbot]

Marvelous workmanship.  You have a lot of patience.

David B

[the learner]

Looking Good! EdT can you tell us about the small camera you are using between decks? The pictures are fantastic!

[Mcdood]

Hi Ed, one question, when you attach the iron knees do you use CA to fix them to the timber ?

Thanks

Martin. 

[mathewp]

Looks like a very complicated build. I'm nowhere near starting a scratch build. I'ts impressive the attention to detail that's in the scratch builds.I'll try and keep up with your build.

[EdT]

Thank you all for these comments.  This work was all done over a year ago, but it seems like yesterday.  Perhaps going through it all again in writing Volume II has kept it fresh.

 

Greg, the chock can be daunting, but I believe it can be done quite easily and risk-free.  I spent some time thinking about how to describe what I did on this for V2 and included a full description of the process plus a diagram.  There are some simple ways to avoid destroying the bollards and ending up with a good fit.

 

Guy, the camera was just a small Sony Cybershot - nothing special.  I was suprised at the time at the quality of these and wished I had taken more like this earlier on the decks below while there was still room for the camera.

 

Martin, I use only bolts of copper wire to hold the knees.  They are really like small nails.  The final installation can then be blackened in place with liver of sulfur solution without having to remove excess glue.  That would be a major problem.

 

Just to add a bit of a progress report on the model.  I don't want to publish new work until the reposts are finished.  The model is almost complete.  Most of what remains is exterior iron work - chains, eyebolts, etc.  I have reworked some earlier work due to some new information or some disatisfaction on my part.  Not much, but a few things,  I look forward to posting this soon.

 

Thanks, again,

 

Ed

[lamarvalley]

I've little doubt that the rest will be anything less than stunning. I love watching this build.

You and a few others on these pages (you know who you are ) are true precision masters on a minute scale... I thank you for the inspiration!

 

Randy

[gjdale]

Looking forward to seeing the new work as well as the rest of the re-post Ed, and of course, Vol 2 is on my "must have" list!!!

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 121 – Upper Deck Detailing Continued 2

Posted 2/20/12

 

It has been a couple of weeks since the last post.  I have been working on a number of different areas of the upper deck and it has taken time for some of this work to come together.  In particular, I have spent a lot of time working on a process to make the split rim segmented wheel assembly.  I will report on that later when I have finalized the method and produced the final wheel.  Here is a picture of the first attempt.

 

 

This was made using Castello.  I am not entirely happy with it and expect to make a replacement.  The final version will be boxwood.  The purpose of this picture is to show the segmented split rim with offset joints and the symmetrical spokes.  That part I’ve got down.  I would like to have square spokes but that may not work out.  I’ll describe the process later.

 

The next picture shows some progress toward the bow.

 

 

 

The first beam has been installed with wood lodging knees and iron hangers.  The as yet unblackened copper hanging knees are curved to avoid the ports.  Planking in this area is in progress.

 

The next series of pictures covers the work around the mainmast.  This involved a lot of interdependent components – the beams, the topsail and jeer bitts and the pump cisterns.  The first picture shows work on the breast beam,

 

 

 

This beam and the one at the forecastle are deeper than the rest because they incorporate a rabbet on the top to bed the ends of the quarterdeck (or forecastle) planks.  This picture shows how these rabbets were cut using a Dremel router table.  This tool is not as precise as the milling machine but for routing, the high speen of the Dremel tool gives a much smoother cut.  The forward face of the beam has a molding decoration.  This was made using a small scraper.

 

The next picture shows this beam pinned in place with the roughed out jeer bit pins being fitted.

 

 

 

These pins support the beam and are scored on the upper and lower deck beams.  In this picture they are pinned in place after having their length adjusrted.  Some small adjustment in the location of the breast beam was needed to bring it directly over the pins.  The pins also need to be spaced correctly athwartship relative to the pump sprocket spacing.  More on this below.

 

In the next picture all four pins have been detailed and are pinned in place. 

 

 

 

Sheaves will be added later, before permanent installation.  The next step was to make and place the pump cisterns. 

 

 

 

The base for these was made previously in one piece to fit neatly over the pump casings.  The two cisterns were built on this base in one piece to assure alignment and spacing.  In the next picture this assembly is shown temporarily in place.  This approach also allowed the spacing between the horizontal crankshafts to be located precisely in relation to the pins, which hold the crankshaft bearings – called “rhodings.”

 

 

 

In this step the cisterns are leveled, with stock for the feet sized to fit between the deck and the base of the cisterns.  Doing this in one piece helps keep everything lined up and level.  In the next picture the assemblies have been separated and the outer feet have been glued on.

 

 

 

 

The inside feet will be added next and then the rest of the detail added to the cisterns. 

 

The new, correct length elm tree pump shafts have also been made and await detailing.

 

I still have not settled on the way to support the decking between the mast partners and the pump carlings (the opening for the pump casings).  There must have been some small ledges installed here.  Anyone with a suggestion?

 

Ed

 

 

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 122 – Steering Wheel 1

Posted 2/23/12

 

In the last part I mentioned work on the ship’s wheel.   I wanted the wheel to be built up as a five piece segmented assembly with the joints offset.  Also, I wanted the 10 spokes on each wheel wheel to be evenly spaced and to be of square section where they pass through the rim.  The process for making this is quite complicated and prone to error.  I used up a lot of precious Euro boxwood in working through it. In this part I will outline very generally the steps to make the two-rim/hub assembly.

 

 

 

The first step was to form a block consisting of five triangular pieces large enough for that steps that follow.  These were cut on a 10” table saw then refined to the precise angle required using a disk sander.

 

 

 

The top and bottom were scribed with an oversize circle and the block was sanded to a roughly circuklar shape.  In the above picture the cylinder is about to be drilled through for the hub, which will also serve as a mandrel to turn the piece in the lathe.

 

 

 

The (oversized) hub was turned between centers to just fit the hole.  The parts were then glued together and the assembly set up between centers to accurately turn the outside and square up both flat faces.  This would allow the piece to be held accurately by one end for succeeding steps.  Maintaing an accurate centering through all the steps was critical.  I learned this the hard way.

 

 

 

 

The piece was then able to be held centered in the three-jaw lathe chuck.  In this picture a hole for an axle is being drilled.  The next picture shows the machining of the square spoke holes for one wheel.

 

 

 

 

Before this step, a disk was parted off the cylinder while still on the lathe.  This would be reattached later.  In the step shown above square slots are being cut in one face of the cylinder for the spokes using slotting saw blades.  The same three-jaw chuck was used mounted in an indexing head with setting divisible by 10.  After cutting these slots the disk removed earlier was re-attached to the removed disk piece with the segment joints offset. 

 

The next picture shows later work after a series of pieces were parted off, after the slots for the second wheel were cut, and after the pieces were all assembled. 

 

 

 

In this picture the final assembly is set up for final machining.  This will be done in one piece to preserve the alignment of the slots.  The inside diameter of the wheels are just beginning to be cut in the above picture.

 

The next picture shows the final assembly after this step and before parting off the wheel rims.

 

 

 

 

Temporary square spokes have been inserted through the rims into the hub.  This will maintain the alignment when the rims are parted off.

 

The next picture shows the beginning of the parting off process.

 

 

 

 

The outer rim is being done first.

 

The picture below shows the finished wheel assembly after parting off.

 

 

 

The temporary spokes will remain in place until they are replaced with the final detailed versions – one at a time.  I will cover the spokes later.  They will be .045² square and I am not sure yet by what means they will be shaped.

 

I have skimmed over the steps involved in making this – too many to be described in detail here.  Perhaps in the future book I will be able to describe these fully enough for some brave soul to follow them.

 

 

 

Ed

 

 

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 123 – Steering Wheel 2

Posted 2/25/12

 

In the last part I generally described the process used for making the wheel rims and the hub assembly. The goal was to make each rim as an assembly of segmented pieces with their joints offset and to have a precisely spaced, regular pattern of the ten spokes set between those joints. Most of the responses to the post focused on making the spokes, and the difficulties of turning these small pieces. Although I was concerned about turning the small spokes, I was surprised to find it took only two days to get a reasonable set of spokes made and installed – as opposed to over two weeks to on the rims/hub assembly. Turning these small squares is a lot harder than turning full size table legs. It took some experimentation to get a workable turning process, so I will discuss the final method in some detail for those who want to try this.

 

The first picture shows the first set of spokes inserted in one rim and the second set waiting to have their center portions turned.

 

 

 

The spokes are 2 ¾” (.044”) square and were turned from square strips of European boxwood. The turnings came out reasonably uniform in shape – acceptable (by my standards, at least) for this scale.

 

The next two pictures show the pieces being turned in my ancient Unimat SL.

 

 

 

Two profile cutters were used, one for the handles and one for the turning between the rim and the hub. Their shape was adjusted by trial and error until a reasonable turning could be made without instant breakage of the part. The cutters were ground and filed to shape from ¼” square mild steel bar stock. The top edges were set precisely to the centerline and honed smooth with a stone. The relief angle under the cutting edge was small – about 10-15 degrees. These are really scrapers.

 

The handles were turned first. They were set up in an independent four-jaw chuck. Getting the square strips centered was non-trivial and very important to get a successful shape. The depth of cut is less than .01”. A number of other factors were important in reducing breakage. First, the pieces were turned at very highspindle speed – 12,000 rpm – flat out on the SL. The tool feed was done very, very sensitively – in steps of much less than one graduation on the wheel – with periods in between to allow the part to re-center. The tool was kept as close to the chuck as possible as shown in the picture. Everything was set up to be as rigid as possible on this machine. There is flex in the Unimat bed, so the feed wheel had to be handled very lightly. With all these precautions the yield on handle turnings was about 50-60%.

 

The next picture shows the setup for turning the center sections.

 

 

 

All the procedures described above were followed in this step. In addition, a wood centering bearing was drilled to support the handle end while turning the center section. This is shown above. The yield on this step was better – about 80%.

 

Although I am using European boxwood for the wheel, I also tried doing some turnings using Swiss Pear and Castello. Both these species could be turned in the same way.

 

The next pictures are of the (almost) finished wheel.

 

 

The wheel assembly was held together by temporary spokes when it was finished off in the lathe as described in the previous part. These were removed one at a time when the permanent spokes were installed – to preserve the alignment and concentricity. These are not glued – at least not yet. They are fairly tight in the holes. The wheel will be exposed for some time on the open deck. If any spokes get broken, they can be pulled out and replaced – or if I decide I don’t like the looks of one or more. . .

 

The last picture shows the wheel next to a ruler to help visualize the 1:60 size. The rims are slightly less the 1” diameter.

 

 

 

I am still thinking about fasteners (bolts) for the rim segments. I will probably use the version-one wheel to test some out.

 

I hope this detailed discussion is helpful for those who want to turn some square spokes.

 

 

Ed

Edited April 25, 2013 by EdT

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 124 – Upper Deck Detailing (3)

Posted 3/1/12

 

The steering wheel has had me pre-occupied for awhile, but other work on the upper deck has been moving ahead, mostly in the area around the main mast.

 

The first picture shows the two cisterns /top-works housing for the Cole pumps getting some detail – feet, shaft bearings and plugs for the drain holes.

 

 

 

The next picture shows the two elm tree pumps with their top works.

 

 

 

These parts were made from brass, silver soldered and blackened. They are slipped over the tops of the octagonal casings only temporarily.

 

 

The next picture shows the pump components temporarily positioned on the deck.

 

 

The jeer and topsail sheet bitts are not attached yet. They still need sheaves. The “rhodings” for the crankshafts have been installed on the bitts in this picture. These were fabricated from small bore brass tubing silver soldered to a length of brass strip then sliced off on the saw to make the small bearing. The alignment of the pumps and the posts are obviously important here.

 

The next picture shows a somewhat later view of this.

 

 

 

 

In this picture the deck planking is proceeding. The cut out plank around the pump casings has been installed. The discharge nozzles have also been installed on the elm tree pumps. One on each just above the upper deck and one on each – not visible - to service the lower deck. These shafts have been permanently fixed at this stage.

 

In the next picture sheaves in the bitts have been installed and also handles on the pump drain plugs.

 

 

 

 

All four pumps and the bitts are permanently installed at this point. The cross pieces to the bits have not been installed. The pump shafts are just temporary – to maintain alignment while gluing the pumps in place. The sheaves in the bitts are just visible in this picture. At this stage the decking is complete, treenailed and polished up except for some at the aft end. One of the gun ringbolts can be seen in the above picture.

 

The next picture, looking forward, shows some more ringbolts.

 

 

 

Those forward of the main hatch are large sized stopper bolts. These doubled as gun bolts. Aft of the main hatch a smaller ringbolt is positioned to serve each gun. These are smaller diameter.

 

The next picture shows more of the stopper bolts going forward.

 

 

 

 

There was one of these stopper ringbolts in each beam. The eyebolts are semi-sunk into the deck. I made a small tool out of a 2d nail to make the indentations for this. I did not use any glue on these. They are made from copper wire and were blackened before installing. The outer decking in this picture is finished and all this decking and the upper deck framing could be given a wax finish at this stage since there is nothing else to be glued to it. There are still some training eyebolts to be installed between the ports.

 

 

Ed

Edited April 25, 2013 by EdT

[Ferit]

Is that possible?!... It's unbelievable!!!

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 125 – Upper Deck Detailing (4)

Posted 3/6/12

 

With the decking completed in the area of the riding bitts the crosspieces could be installed. The first picture shows the aft cross piece glued and clamped.

 

 

 

The height of these above the deck is set by the wood shim in the picture one on each side. There is an eye in the cross piece at each end, to take a hook that is bolted into the bit. I installed the eyebolt with the hook on the cross piece first. Then when the glue was set, hammered in the bolt through the eye in the hook. This was easier than trying to engage the hook in the eyebolt after both were fastened in place. I did try that.

 

In the next picture the adjacent gun port is coming in handy to drive in one of the hook bolts. The holes for these bolts were also drilled through the ports with a push drill.

 

 

In the next picture both crosspieces are installed.

 

 

The hooks and eyes have been blackened.

 

The next picture shows the crosspiece on the jeer bitts installed.

 

 

The scores for both these pieces were cut before installing the bitts. Bolts were added to hold them in place. These can be seen in the next picture.

 

 

In this picture, two of the three beams over the mast partners have been installed. The breast beam is connected to the sides by curved iron knees to avoid the gunport. Wooden lodging knees are installed between these two beams. There will be lot of variety in the knees for the beams at this level due to the interferences with gun ports and the variation in spacing between the beams. This leads to an interesting variety of wood, L-shaped iron hangers - some curved or canted, and some U-shaped lodging knees. There is no definitive historical source for all this, so I based the drawings on as many typical references as I could find.

 

The next picture shows the fastening of the aft beam of this pair.

 

 

 

Another iron knee – this one shaped to the stepped planking and angled to fit avoid the top rider. All the copper wire bolts in the vertical legs of these knees were driven in and peened over after the beams were installed. Holes were drilled through the holes in the knees into the frames for these bolts. The iron knees were attached to the beams before installing and bolted up through the top of the beam. The lodging knees and all their bolts were also bolted on to the beam before its installation.

 

The next picture shows these two beams from above.

 

 

The picture shows some of the very few carlings at this level. These frame openings in the deck to pass rigging to the sheaves in the jeer bitts. These openings will extend aft for rigging to the topsail sheet bitts, the two aft posts in this picture. This picture also shows the rabbet in the breast beam that will bed the quarterdeck planking.

 

Getting these beams in will provide some protection for the pumps and the details on the bitts. When the third beam is installed I will probably move forward to work on the cathead beams, the bowsprit step, and the manger.

 

 

 

Ed

[Mcdood]

Hi Ed, when you say "push drill" I am assuming it is an Arcamedies type drill ? and when you bolt the iron knees onto the ships timber I am again assuming that the fixing hole is smaller than the bolt size, and if so by how much ?

Sorry if it is obvious to all but me 

 

Martin.

[EdT]

Martin,

 

Yes, I was referring to an Archimedes type drill. However, in almost all cases I use a small rotary tool to drill holes. The ones I have are Wecheer - they are less than 1" in diameter and have virtuall no "kick" when placed over the wood and turned on.

 

The copper bolts, with some exceptions on size are made with 22-gauge copper wire. Off the spool this is about .025".

 

I pull this with one end in a vise until it breaks. This is to straighten and stress-harden it. After this it is reduced in size to about .022". This is about the same as a #74 drill. I drill the holes through the beams, and into the frames with that size drill. The holes through the knees may be one size larger. However, drills can make holes larger than their diameter, so the important thing is to use a drill that will give a sliding fit - with some resistance in the wood - so the wire can be pushed through the beam or into the bottom of the hole in the frames with pliers.

 

On bolts through the beams, I cut the back side off flush and cut the wire off about 1/64"+ above the face of the iron knee. The beam is the laid on a metal surface and the wire over the knee peened with a hammer. If the top bends, its too long.

 

On bolts into the frames, the hole is not driven all the way through - unless you have an extra pair of hands and access to provide backing for peening. In this case, I cut a sharp point on a length of wire with clippers then push it to the bottom of the hole with pliers, then clip off the top above the knee face - you will have to experiment to determine how much to leave - then tap it into the wood to peen over the top and drive the point into the wood.

 

In either case the knees are held securely. I suggest testing this until you get a combination that works.

 

Good luck,

 

Ed

[Mcdood]

Thank you Ed,

kind of you to share your skills with us.

 

Martin.

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 126 – Upper Deck Detailing (5)

Posted 3/10/12

 

 

Before moving to the bow, I needed to install the third beam over the mast partners, above the upper deck. In the first picture the beam is ready to be installed.

 

 

Because of the closeness of the beam ahead of it, this beam has U-shaped iron lodging knees. The hanging knees are also iron. These were bolted on before installation. The next picture shows the beam glued in place.

 

 

 

Quite a few bolts need to be installed to complete the installation of this beam. The next picture shows one of these bolts being driven in.

 

 

 

The hole in the end of the leg, in this case the bottom, was drilled first. Its bolt of copper wire was then pushed in with pliers and driven in as shown. The other holes could then be drilled without fear of the arm moving off the first hole. The steel hammering aid shown in this picture was made from drill rod for cases like this, where there is no room to hammer directly. A variety of devices – punches, bent rods etc. - are used for the different access needs. The holes are (usually) driven into but not through a frame, so the bolt can act like a nail. The horizontal holes between the beams, were, of necessity, drilled at a slight angle. With this done, the work moved to the bow.

 

The next picture shows the catheads being glued to beams 2 and 3, there is no beam 1 – a design change.

 

 

The catheads are identical mirror images. At the bottom they meet on the centerline under beam 3. The ends were then checked for length by measuring out from the side and with a square up from the drawing. The fore and aft angle was also squared up from the base drawing and the height of the ends checked..

 

The next picture shows the finished installation.

 

 

 

Holes have been drilled down through the beams for bolts. This picture also shows the framing around the opening for the bowsprit. Beam 4 has also been positioned against the wood lodging knees. Beam 4 supports the upper end of the bowsprit step, which is shown in the next picture.

 

 

 

This picture was taken when the rabbets for the manger partitions were being cut. A bevel was first pared on the lower forward corners. The bevel is shown on the right side in this picture. A groove was then pared down the center of this using the V-gouge in the picture. The sides were then pared with a chisel to a square rabbet as shown on the upper corner in this picture. A traced circle from the dummy bowsprit is just visible in this picture. It was used to center the square opening for the tenon at the foot of the bowsprit.

 

The next picture shows the step installed.

 

 

This picture also shows the “cast” iron knee on the aft side of beam 4. This avoids the gun port and serves as both a hanging and lodging knee. It has not yet been bolted into the side in this picture.

 

The last picture shows the manger wall on the port side.

 

 

The inside end fits the rabbet in the forward corner of the step. The outside end slides into a vertical cant at the side. The cant and the planking were installed as a unit from above.

 

In this picture the beams at the bow seem to have less round up. I believe this is photographic distortion – but I will re-check.

 

Ed

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 127 – Mr. Brodie’s Stove

Posted 3/25/12

 

It has been two weeks since the last post. I’ve been working back along the forecastle with beams and the upper deck detail below them. The picture below shows beams 5 and 6 with the copper knees - not yet blackened. The foremast partners were installed before these beams and are partly visible.

 

 

Beam 7 and 8 were also installed, but that was as far as I could go until the Brodie Stave was made and installed.

 

The Brodie Iron Stove had become the standard by Naiad’s time. It was introduced in the 1780’s but was not dissimilar from types used up to that time. An iron housing contained two built in cauldrons for boiling water. One can imagine 250 pounds of salt meat being loaded into this daily. Below these pots was a firebox with doors on either side for charging fuel – wood or coal. A smaller door below the firebox grate was used to remove ash. A contained oven, accessible from doors on either side, could be used for baking. The front of the stove, the range, was open in the front and was equipped with arms for hanging pots and one or more rotating spits, turned by chain pulleys driven by a vane inside the stack. There was a drip pan under this spit.

 

The finished model of the stove for Naiad is shown below.

 

 

I have been working on this for the last few weeks. I decided to make it from photo-etched parts, but it proved impractical to photo-etch all the pieces then solder these very small parts together. I won’t go through the gory details of the learning process or the earlier failed attempts. I finally settled on making the basic stove structure from a photo-etched plate that could be folded up, origami style, into the basic stove, then making the detailed parts separately. This version has been in production for about a week

 

The next picture shows this photo-etched plate, which was the starting point.

 

 

Some of the stove detail is engraved on the sides – the firebox and oven doors and the front grille. The necking down of the stack transition is the odd part in the lower center of this picture. The next picture shows the basic shape mostly cut out.

 

 

The fold lines were etched out on the back and also one on the front. In retrospect all the etchings could have been deeper. The next picture shows some of this being cut out with a jeweler’s saw.

 

 

In this picture the front vent flap sides are being cut so it can bend up over the stove opening in the front. This piece was made from .032” brass. It might have been better to use a thickness closer to .020”. My early attempts were with much thinner material – too thin, but this thickness made the silver soldering, especially the fastening of the small details, a lot more difficult.

 

The next picture shows the stove in the process of being folded up.

 

The edges along the joints had to be chamfered back to make a tight fit along the seams. The next picture shows the basic stove after silver soldering.

 

 

 

At this stage the internal partitions, the stack, the boiler top, the range grille and the base plate are attached. This soldering required high heat – a regular sized propane torch – hence the blackening. This was pickled off between soldering steps using Sparex dip. Finally the brass-copper fabrication was blackened with dilute Hobby Black. It took about an hour to turn the final shade – shown in the second and the next/last picture.

 

The last picture shows the finished stove in its final position between the bitt standards on the upper deck.

 

 

 

The base plate will be bolted through the deck. The upper stack will be added later when the forecastle is framed.

 

Getting this built was a major milestone. The next big project is the capstan.

 

Cheers,

 

Ed

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 128 – Upper Deck Gratings, Shot Racks

Posted 3/28/12

 

I wanted to model the gratings on the hatches on the upper deck in the waist. This reduces visibility down through the hatches, but there is a lot of open space on the starboard side to see down into the hull. These needed to be installed before the crankshafts for the pumps.

 

I used the method that I am sure many have used to make these. The first picture shows the key parts ready for assembly.

 

 

The supporting ledges and the slats are 2 ¾” wide. The ledges were made deep enough to allow them to be rounded up to match the head ledges of the hatches. The large piece in the lower part of the picture is the assembly jig. All these pieces except the slats were cut using the set up in the next picture.

 

 

A square of Plexiglas was cut to fit the saw table. The saw was fitted with a 2 ¾” (.045”) slotting blade. A dado was ripped into the Plexiglas to fit a guide strip and the opening for the blade cut into it. The boxwood stock was then ripped by guiding it on the wood strip. There is nothing new about all this.

 

The boxwood was then ripped into 2 ¾” wide strips using a much thinner blade. These were then placed in the fixture as shown below.

 

 

The fit in the fixture is loose enough to slide the ledges back and forth. The slats were then fit into the notches. These were a tight fit, but a thin film of glue was applied to the bottom face to help keep the assembly together when removed. The next picture shows a section of grating before sizing.

 

 

The next picture shows the gratings fit to the three hatches in the waist.

 

 

The bottoms of the ledges were sanded until the center of the grating was flush at the head ledges. They were then glued in and the round up sanded top match the curve of the head ledges. They were then finish sanded and polished up.

 

Shot racks were then made and added on the decked side only.

 

 

The shot holes were made with a cannon ball sized spherical cutter in the milling machine, using the Sherline sensitive drilling attachment so the holes could be stopped at a uniform depth - about 1/3 the diameter of a ball - into the edge of a wide piece of pear stock. The strips were then ripped off, cut to length, rounded and glued in place. They were omitted from sides of ladderway openings.

 

Cheers,

 

Ed

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 129 – Y-Bitts, Forecastle Beams

Posted 4/3/12

 

 

The fore jeer and topsail sheet bitts surround the foremast on the forecastle. On the Naiad draft, the jeer bitts are indicated as Y-bitts, but it is unclear if this specification is meant to apply to both sets. I decided to take this interpretation and make both sets as Y-bitts. The picture below shows the parts after fit-up and before assembly.

 

 

 

The sheave caps on the sides were sliced off of the larger piece to the right. In this piece the sheave opening was milled and the decorative mold at the top filed by hand before slicing off the pieces. In the next picture the bitts have been installed.

 

 

The white paper on the upper deck is my solution to minimize small parts dropping into the lower depths. This can be a real problem because tweezers are no longer a feasible extraction method if the pieces reach the bottom. I have had to unbolt the model once or twice to shake out parts that were too valuable to abandon until the next major clean out.

 

The next picture shows the installation from forward.

 

 

 

This picture shows that in my concentrating on these details I had forgotten to install bolts in the made beams and in the mast step. These were soon added. This is easier to do before installing the beams – obviously.

 

In the next picture the beams over the stove are being installed.

 

 

 

In this picture the carlings supporting the vent grating over the boiler lids are being clamped for gluing. I wonder if the barrels of salt meat were dumped into the boilers through this opening or from under the deck? There is not much space for the latter. There is also a grated opening framed over the range area at the front of the stove and the stack will come up through an opening in the deck that will be covered by a metal plate. This latter grated opening is flanked by two openings for rigging – but I am not sure which lines require these openings.

 

The next picture shows some support detail for the beams at the aft end of the forecastle.

 

 

There must have been a lot of onsite improvisation in configuring all these iron knees to avoid the ports, port ironwork, riders and each other. In this case, another iron knee supporting the breast beam – not yet installed – will fit between these knees and the rider.

 

The next picture is a view of the installed breast beam.

 

 

 

This is an interesting beam. It has a wood lodging knee on the aft side – the appropriate orientation for beams in the fore-body. It has an iron hanging knee that can be seen just aft of the rider. The beam has a rabbet on top to butt the forecastle planking and a decorative molding on its aft face. Because of the rabbet and the molding, this beam and its quarterdeck counterpart were made in one piece.

 

The next picture shows a close up of the end of this beam.

 

 

 

The forecastle and gangway planking will butt against the upper portion of the beam with the forecastle planks resting on the top rabbet and the gangway planks resting on the lodging knee. The rounded molded face at the top of the beam will be cut back to take the ends of the gangway planks. The hanging knee for the beam is hidden behind the rider in this picture.

 

The next picture shows the forecastle framing completed and ready for coamings, head ledges and planking.

 

 

This picture also shows that wax finish has been applied to the upper deck and between-deck structures below the forecastle.

 

Cheers,

 

Ed

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 130 – Capstan 1

Posted 4/15/12

 

Although it has been a couple of weeks since the last post, work continues. As the work on the quarterdeck has been moving aft, the capstan has been looming as a major project. I spent a good bit of time examining drawings and the scantlings and then doing the 1:60 drawing for Naiad.

 

The first step was to replace my previously installed upper deck step, which did not have a pall ring. The first picture shows the machining of the inset to take the ring.

 

 

 

The inset was machined first, then the step sized around it. This was done concurrently with the machining of the ring itself, shown below, to assure a good fit.

 

 

The machined ring is shown below fitted into the step.

 

 

 

Eight palls were then silver soldered into the ring. The final ring is shown below after blackening, in the step, in position on the upper deck. The bearing cup, removed from the first step has been centered and installed in the new one.

 

 

Concurrently with this work, the barrel of the capstan was begun. In the first picture a piece of European Boxwood is being turned between centers.

 

 

 

With the piece between centers the end to the right of the picture was turned to a diameter of 24”. This is the width between flats of the 12-sided polygon shape. It will be used to set the height of the tool to machine the flats. The middle section was left larger. In the next picture the piece has been flipped and the round end held in the three-jaw chuck with the other end held on center.

 

 

 

The tailstock end was turned to an actual 5/16” diameter to fit into a makeshift centering device shown below. In the picture the round bearing area at the level of the quarterdeck step is being turned to a 22” diameter.

 

The next picture shows the piece, still held in the 3-jaw chuck, having the slots for the iron bearing strips machined with a very small spherical cutter.

 

 

 

For this and the next step, the 3-jaw chuck has been moved to the milling machine set up with an indexing head with 48 teeth without removing the work piece. The opposite end is set up and held on center by the improvised piece to the left. Two increments between passes yielded slots for 24 strips.

 

In the next picture the 12-sided shaped is being cut.

 

 

As mentioned above, the height of the cutter is set at the diameter previously turned, now at the chuck end. There are four increments between each pass in this step, yielding the twelve-sided shape.

 

The next picture shows the barrel with the 24 bearing strips installed.

 

 

These were made from the black monofilament, shaved off flat at the diameter. They may be slightly oversize, but I could manage nothing smaller. I’m hoping to show some of this bearing detail on the finished model. The barrel is still over length at this stage

 

 

Ed

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 131 – Capstan 2

Posted 4/17/12

 

Continuing the work on the capstan, I decided to make the three heads next – the drumhead at the top, the trundle head on the upper deck and the pall head at the base, just above the lower step. In the first picture a block of European Boxwood has been set up in the independent 4-jaw chuck.

 

 

 

The piece is rough centered for this by adjusting each of the four jaws until the four corners of the square work piece just touch the bit when rotated. A dead center is being used in the tailstock to make a center mark on the piece. This will be used for measurements and any boring. The wood block is a roughly ¾” cube and is set up with the grain direction perpendicular to the lathe centerline.

 

In the next picture the square has been turned to a round and the face has been squared off. It was then flipped end for end and re-chucked – this time in the 3-jaw centering chuck.

 

 

 

This chuck switch is made so the piece can be removed and still be on center when re-chucked – and also because my indexing head can take the 3-jaw chuck. The square end was then turned to a round, center-marked and the end faced off square. Sorry if I am belaboring this, but there were some questions last time on centering, so I hope this is useful. This piece will become the drumhead.

 

In the next picture the piece with the 3-jaw chuck has been set up in the milling machine on the 48-tooth indexing head.

 

 

 

The 12 square holes for the arms are being cut to half depth. The process is the same as was used for the steering wheel so I won’t repeat all the steps. After this the end that will become the top was parted off in the lathe. The remaining piece was then returned to the mill and similar cuts made. These scored faces were then glued together with their grain crossed for final turning as shown in the next picture.

 

 

Before joining the two parts - the chucked lower part only - was bored on center. This hole will either be converted to a square mortise or simply mounted on a turned stub on the top of the barrel. In the next picture the drumhead turning is just about finished.

 

 

 

There are iron reinforcing rings let into the top and bottom just inside the perimeter. A circular score has been cut for the top ring. The turning has been polished with steel wool. The head will now be parted off at its final thickness – 11”.

 

The next picture shows the drumhead with its iron (copper) ring set in the top score.

 

 

 

The picture also shows the pall head, which was a lot simpler to make– one disk only. It is reinforced with a ring like the one on the drumhead, but also an iron band around the outside. The top and bottom rings were photo-etched. The band on the outside of the pall ring is just a strip. At this stage the rings on the pall head have been glued on with medium CA and also bolted with 12 small diameter (22 gauge) stretched copper wire nails each.

 

The last picture shows the pall head placed over the upper deck step. It fits just inside the pall ring. It still needs its four palls to be made and fitted.

 

 

In this picture the ironwork on the pall head has been blackened. In preparation for this the copper was polished and the assembly cleaned thoroughly with acetone and a Q-tip to remove any traces of excess CA. The copper was then brushed with liver of sulfur and washed with water. Although there is a hole in this piece I have not decided how these will be attached to the barrel yet. The trundlehead will have to be cut to fit over the 12-sided barrel, but the other two heads could simply be fit over a turned end, since the joints will not show.

 

 

Ed

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 132 – Pump Cranks

Posted 5/1/12

 

A lot of things have been getting between me and the shipyard in the past two weeks, but some progress has been made. In the picture below two self-standing stanchions have been fabricated from sheet copper and installed at the forward end of the main hatch.

 

 

 

Long straight rods the same diameter as the final crankshafts were used to maintain a straight line through all the bearings. In the next picture the stanchions have been blackened and the fabricated crank parts are being test fit.

 

 

The collars at the ends of the crank were made by drilling a hole into the side of a piece of tubing, which had been filed square on the outside. The ends of the cranks were then silver soldered into these holes. The tubing segment was then re-bored to fit the shaft material. Below, both cranks over the hatch have been blackened and installed.

 

 

This picture shows a few additional beams installed aft of the pump area. The next picture shows two of the iron knees on these beams before bolting and blackening.

 

 

These beams needed to be installed concurrently with the iron stanchions that support them and also support bearings for the after end of the pump cranks. Two of these stanchions are shown in the next picture.

 

 

 

There will be two more of these under the beam that will support the forward end of the quarterdeck capstan step. These were removable to clear the capstan bars when in use on the upper deck capstan head. The next picture shows the extant of the quarterdeck beams installed so far.

 

 

Finally, I realized that almost all the pictures for some time have been interior close ups, so I included two pictures showing the full model at this stage.

 

 

 

This was a rare moment when the workspace was clear of the usual litter. This shows the partially planked starboard side. The last picture shows the port side, which will be left unplanked.

 

 

If the lighting and coloring in these pictures seem a bit inconsistent, it is because I am switching over to a new camera and undergoing some startup learning.

 

Cheers,

 

Ed

[Trussben]

Damn Ed, sometimes your work just leaves me speechless! Can't wait for Vol 2 of the book. You really do show in detail what is possible if your a master craftsman. I don't think I've ever seen a build at your level before.

 

Ben

[EdT]

Thank you, Ben, for your very overly-generous comment.

 

Book 2 is highly focused on process - as was V1. I believe that is the key to good results for ordinary humans - and believe me, I am in that camp.

 

Thanks again.

 

Ed

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 133 – Upper Deck continued

Posted 5/7/12

 

 

First, thanks to all for your continued generous comments.

 

It has been a lot of small “baby steps” lately. The sequence is complicated by various access problems. The decking in the captain’s cabins cannot be done until the half beams are installed and they must await the rigging of the tiller. That cannot be done until the wheel is mounted, and that in turn awaits the installation of quite a few deck beams. I had to install the decking under all of the beams to that point because once the beams are installed the decks cannot be treenailed – but the area in the captain’s cabins cannot be decked yet. The solution was to end the port side upper deck planking at the forward partition of the captain’s cabin then install the rest later. This unauthentic break in the planks will be covered by the cants that anchor the bottom of the partition and thus not visible. The first picture shows the planking being installed and the break at the ledge just aft of the tiller rope sheaves.

 

 

 

The ropes run down from the wheel to these sheaves and thus pass right in front of the partition. In the next picture this planking has been treenailed.

 

 

 

There are still some damp spots from washing the treenail glue off and the nail heads have not been leveled off. This is the full extent of the planking to be installed in this area forward of the future partition, except for one or two center planks just forward of the rope sheaves. In the next picture the decking has been filed and sanded flush and smooth.

 

 

 

The deck ring bolts for the three gun ports in this picture have also been installed. I have to be sure and remember the shot racks before installing overhead beams. The next picture shows two more beams added.

 

 

 

 

More iron knees of various shapes to avoid the ports and the riders. There is one not visible behind the top rider to the left. The last beam is still loose and the knees for the two ahead of it still have to be bolted – interesting drilling problem. The last picture shows the current state.

 

 

 

There will be two iron pillars under the aftermost quarterdeck beam beam in this picture. These will also support bearings for the aft end of the third set of pump cranks. A ladderway interferes with the starboard set of these cranks and would also interfere with the capstan bars, so it must have been removable to allow clearance for these when needed.

 

Cheers all,

 

Ed

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 134 – Upper Deck continued/Stern detailing

Posted 5/25/12

 

 

Again it has been quite a while since the last update, but I can assure you I have been on the job.  It has taken some time though, to get visible progress.  The beam setting on the quarterdeck has proceeded and this is shown in the first few pictures, but that had to be discontinued because of some construction sequence issues.  First, since I am making the capstan in one piece it needs to be installed before the beam aft of it – or it won’t fit.  Also, since I want to invert the model to do the detailing of the stern galleries, I did not want to install the capstan or the wheel before doing that – to prevent them from possible damage while the model was upside down.  This took me on a long detour to draft the structural detail of the stern and quarter galleries and to design the decoration for them.  I will describe this below. 

 

The first picture shows the last beam to be installed before moving to the stern work.

 

 

The two removable iron pillars have been installed under this beam with the bearings for the pump cranks.  There is a ladder way forward of the capstan and a picture taken during its fabrication is shown below.

 

 

 

The next picture shows the ladder installed.

 

 

 

So, on to the work on the stern.  I needed to do quite a bit of research to understand and draft the stern structure, especially the quarter galleries, which are not descri9bed well in Steel or in the contracts.  Goodwin and White were a big help, but the structure is complex and everything is curved, so it took a while – and a whole new drawing - to get it drafted for building.  The modeling of this will be described later.

 

The priority for the next phase will be the stern galleries, including their decoration.  Since there is no decoration plan available for Naiad, the model decoration will be speculative.  Naiads were mythological fresh water nymphs, so the decoration needs to follow that theme.  There will be five figures on the stern galleries, one on each quarter post and three on the taffrail.  The evolving arrangement can be seen in the following pictures.

 

The first picture shows a pattern for one of the figures being pasted to a thick block of European boxwood.

 

 

 

The basis for this figure is a painting by Henrietta Rae - a 19^th century artist specializing in romanticized mythological themes.  It depicts a reclining  nymph gazing down into a pool from  a bank.  The quarter piece figures are based on a painting by Arthur Hacker – same period, same subjects.  These won’t be needed until later.  The central figure in this picture is a water lily, but will likely be changed to the figure shown below – also a nymph.

 

After the outline of the figure was cut out from the block on a scroll saw, the shape was sliced into multiple slabs for the bas-relief carving.  The picture below shows two mirror-imaged pieces.

 

 

Patterns have been applied to both, and both have been glued to a base using wood glue with a layer of paper between so they can be easily removed later.  The next picture shows the carving just about complete – if it ever will be – for the three taffail figures.

 

 

 

 

There are couple of practice figures in the picture.  They helped define the carving issues and final sizing.  The last picture shows a closeup of the two mirrored figures.

 

 

Carving these two together was my best idea yet.  It made it a lot easier to keep them as identical as possible.  I won’t go through all the steps here.  They are quite small for my eyes and my increasingly unsteady hands so I wanted to make sure I could get something acceptable before putting a stamp on the design.

 

They may be small, but they certainly involved the use of more tools per square inch of wood than any other work I’ve done.  The picture below was not posed and more tools were brought to bear after it was taken.  This array is a sure sign of someone without a process.

 

 

By the way,  this picture shows the Henrietta Rae picture used – with modifications – as a source.  With these carvings done, I feel reasonably comfortable with the design, so the construction of the stern can begin.

 

 

Ed

 

 

[druxey]

The detail! The precision! I think I've run out of superlatives....

[lamarvalley]

I'm with you Druxey... I don't know what to say next and WOW! just seems so... understated.

Ed, you're truly an example to emulate...