18th Century Longboat by dcicero - FINISHED - Model Shipways - 1:48 - Tri-Club

[dcicero]

Thanks for all the kind words, everyone!

 

I started on the mast bands today and ran into some trouble.  Now I'm looking for advice.

 

It all started promisingly enough...  I located the right spot on the mast for the band.

 

 

Then I bent the brass strip around the mast, crimping it.

 

 

Then I removed the band from the mast.  Looks good so far.

 

 

Holding the band together with a clamp...

 

 

I soldered it together.

 

 

Then I dressed it with a sanding stick, getting rid of the excess solder.  That's when the trouble started.  I couldn't for the life of me, drill that little hole.  I used dental drills -- thanks, Marc! -- and small diameter drills that I'd used on other things.  I put them in my Dremel after my pin vice failed to do the job.  Nothing worked.  I just couldn't cut through the brass and solder.

 

Then I thought, why don't I make a fitting that will do the same job.  I cut the end off the band and got a little brass tubing I had, figuring I'd just solder it on the end.

 

 

That worked alright, but trimming the brass tubing was problematic.  (It took too much pressure to cut the tubing and the solder joint failed.)

 

So, back to the drawing board.  I figured that, if I made another band like the first, but twisted the end 90°, I could make a flat enough area to drill the hole and maybe use less solder, if that was the problem.

 

I did that and the results were fine.

 

 

But I still couldn't drill that hole.  What might I try?

 

 

 

 

Dan

 

 

[tlevine]

What type of drill bit are you using?  I have resharpened carbide bits from drillbitcity that work much better than the HSS bits commonly employed.  I normally drill my first hole, then wrap the band around the mast.  After it is soldered, it is easy to drill through the soft solder you are using and the first hole acts as a pilot hole for the other end of the mast band.  If you are blackening the band remember that regular solder will not blacken.  You need to use Staybrite or Tix.

[dcicero]

Toni,

 

I used two different bits.  The first was a dental drill given to me by Marc Meijer, the kind used for root canals.  That one at least made a dent in the brass, but couldn't cut through.  The second was a regular high speed steel drill bit.  I got that as part of a set from Harbor Freight Tools.  Admittedly, those are pretty cheap drill bits, but I got nothing from it.  Nothing at all.  I used a pin vise first, then chucked them into my Dremel.  (I used my cheap Harbor Freight rotary tool, too, but that one wobbles around so much it's useless for any kind of precision drilling.  It's alright for sanding, though.)

 

I've got another set of precision drill bits, but I don't know if I have one small enough to do this job.  Might have to go to drillbitcity and buy some high quality bits.

 

So you solder the band after you've fitted it on the mast?  I'd be afraid I'd scorch the mast doing that!

 

 

 

Dan

[tlevine]

Dan, I drill the first hole, shape the band by wrapping it around the mast, remove the band, solder and then drill the band and then install it over the masthead.  Carbide bits are brittle but they are no more expensive than HSS and once you use them you will never go back.  I would start with a #76 hole and enlarge it from there to your desired size.

[dcicero]

Progress!

 

First, I want to put in a plug for Drill Bit City.  I ordered a set of carbide drill bits (shown below).  I swear, I hadn't even hit "Send" before they showed up on my doorstep.  I ordered them on Monday night and had them on Wednesday when I got home from work.

 

 

I was figuring I'd have to wait a week to get them, so I was thinking about what I could do in the meantime to make the bottom mast band.  I thought, what if I soldered some little pices of brass on the strip and made a hole instead of drilling one?

 

Like this:

 

Step 1:  Bend the brass strip around the mast.

 

 

Step 2:  Solder small pieces of brass on the strip with a gap between them.

 

 

The crimp the strip around the mast and solder everything together, leaving a hole.  (I figured I'd have to drill down through the soft solder, but that wouldn't be a problem and I wouldn't have to twist the brass strip to make a flat surface to drill down through.

 

 

So that's what I did.  And here's the result, after trimming the ends off and dressing everything with a file.

 

 

As usual, no operation goes flawlessly the first time.  I did damage one of my brand new drill bits.  (Note:  carbide does not flex!)  Once I learned my lesson, the rest of the drilling operation went perfectly.  I love those drill bits.  They made quick, accurate work of this job.

 

I probably over-thought this -- nothing new for me there! -- but it was an interesting problem to solve.  The other two bands are simpler because you just have to bend the strip around the mast, solder and drill, so a lot less thinking involved in those!

 

With all this practice, I'm getting a lot faster and more accurate with soldering, too.

 

 

 

 

Dan

[BobF]

Hi Dan,

 

Very innovative approach, and the illustrations are excellent.  I'll certainly consider your procedure, since I still have that "hurdle" ahead of me.  Which bit did you damage?  I may have extras.

 

BobF

[dcicero]

I snapped off the #76, Bob. Thanks for the offer, but I dropped an email to Drill Bit City to see if I can just buy the single bit. We'll see what they say.

 

Started on the other two bands tonight!

 

 

Dan

[dgbot]

Dan those drills work best with drill press. I have forgotten how many I broke over the years.

David B

[tlevine]

Dan, pick up a 10-pack of each of your favorite sizes.  Although I am sure the bits work better with a drill press, don't own one and have not problems using a battery operated Dremel or my Emesco dental engine. They do break if you bend them but I have also drilled hundreds of holes with a single bit if I am careful.  I would not use the Dremel flex shaft as there is too much chatter in the handpiece.

[dcicero]

Thanks, Toni and David.  I found the website to buy replacement bits in packs of 5:  http://drillcity.stores.yahoo.net/5pacresdrilb.html  I'm guessing I'm going to have those early next week.

 

I made the second (smaller) band without any trouble at all.  "This is easy!" I thought, and went merrily along into the third one ... and this happened.  The first hole I drilled with just the bits, turning them like a pin vice.  For this one, I used the Dremel, but was unable to hold it straight and steady enough to drill precisely.  (I have an old Dremel from the 1980's.  The newer ones are much less bulky.)

 

 

The brass strip is only 1/16" wide, so any error is going to make drilling the hole difficult.

 

Taking Toni's advice, I got out my drill press.  It's not a hobby drill press, so it's big for the job, but it is very stable and I have a nice drill press vice for it, so I can hold a workpiece steady.  As with most things drill press, setting the machine up takes more time than the actual work.  Here's the set-up:

 

 

And here's the final product:

 

 

A little trimming and dressing and I had this:

 

 

Just to check fit, I put them on the mast.

 

 

Looking good so far.  Now I need to make the ball truck install everything and paint the mast.

 

 

 

Dan

 

 

[gjdale]

Nicely done Dan.  And a nice reminder to us all that even though it often takes longer to do the set-up than the actual job, it's well worth the extra effort in the long run and will usually end up saving time by avoiding unnecessary re-work.

[dgbot]

Nice work Dan.

David B

[dcicero]

Made a little progress over the past week or so.  I made the ball truck.  There's not too much to that, just a lot of sanding to get the proper shape and thickness.  I had a take a couple of runs at getting the holes drilled in a proper square.  As you can see, there was some wood filler involved.

 

 

And then I assembled the whole thing and completed painting it.

 

The mast is finished!

 

 

 

 

Dan

[dgbot]

Keep it up Dan.  I want to see it when I get back up close. 

David B

[dcicero]

Last weekend, I attended the annual Tri-Club meeting, a gathering of the three Chicago-area ship modeling clubs.  I had a great time, saw some terrific models, heard some great presentations and talked with some really knowledgeable model builders.  I also scored a parts organizer which someone threw on the table for free.  It has found a good home!  I wish I'd taken a picture of my workbench prior to spending some time organizing it.  Here's what it looks like now.  The improvement is dramatic.

 

 

Now, with a nice clean workbench, I started on the bowsprit.

 

I have one little quibble with the materials in the kit. Get a load of the 1/8" dowels from which the bowsprit, gaff and boom must be made.

 

 

Looks like I'm going to need to replace that because there aren't enough straight sections to make the parts from.

 

I did manage to find enough straight stuff to make a bowsprit.

 

 

I made a little jig to make drilling the holes for the sheave easier.  On the mast, I just eye-balled it.  That worked, but I wanted to use my new carbide drill bits and, because those things don't flex at all, I thought it would be better to put them on the drill press.

 

The jig is just a couple of pieces of scrap wood to hold the stock in place.

 

 

 

I taped it down to keep it from moving around and then put it in a drill press vice.  That thing is going nowhere!

 

 

 

So off I went, drilling happily along.

 

I knew something had gone horribly wrong when I pulled the stock out of the jig.  Notice how off-center those holes look?  I really did try to line that up properly and I had the drill press vice clamped to the table, so it didn't move.  Must have just been the angle I was looking at it that made it look centered on the top of the stock.

 

 

It didn't get any better when I looked at the bowsprit.  (This was tough to photograph, so I ran a little piece of black wire through one of the holes to show how off-center they were.)

 

 

I figured that, if I left it that way, anyone sighting down the centerline of the model would notice the asymmetry.  This needed to be done again.  

 

Second time was the charm.  See those holes down the center of the jig?

 

 

And here's the final product, a much better result.

 

 

I had tried, with the first attempt, to turn the bowsprit on my lathe, but the truth of it is that's just overkill.  The taper on the bowsprit is not very severe and using the lathe is time consuming.  I tried a technique Doc Williams has suggested.  I chucked the stock in the drill press and just used sandpaper to sand it down to the final dimensions.  That worked really well.

 

I painted the aft end of the bowsprit and left it to dry last night.  The forward end will get done tonight, along with, probably, the aft iron band.  More pictures to come.

 

 

 

 

 

Dan

 

 

 

 

[tlevine]

I have a suggestion.  Make your holding jig a "V" rather than a "U".  It will hold the wood more securely.  You can also use that jig to sand or plane down the spar to the correct dimensions.  I always get worried when I put long pieces of wood into a drill chuck.  Unless you can keep the speed very slow the wood whips about madly.  Get some good poplar dowels from your favorite craft or DIY store for the other spars.  Since you are into organization, make yourself some storage containers for leftover wood strips.  Take some PVC pipe (I used 4" diameter) and cut off 18-24" lengths.  Stack and glue them together with PVC cement to keep your wood organized. 

[dcicero]

Thanks, Toni.

 

I thought the same thing about using the drill press.  I don't think it's a good solution for every job like this.  For instance, I think I'd prefer to use the lathe to turn a spar.  Tapering both ends of a dowel in a drill press sounds like an impossibility, especially when you do it like I do, with a template and a digital caliper.  For this job, the dowel didn't whip around much, so it worked out.  (It's short, which is probably why.)

 

I made a wood strip organizer out of an oatmeal box and some paper towel cores.  (You can see it on the right side of my workbench.)  That was a suggestion from Kurt Van Dahm and it worked out really well.

 

Off to Hobby Lobby to get some more dowels...

 

 

 

Dan

[BobF]

Hi Dan,

 

Here's something that has worked pretty well for me.

Depending on the length of the spar or mast, I chuck up the dowel in my drill press, and use a piece of scrap wood to steady the stock and prevent whipping.  You may have noticed that the stock isn't exactly plumb in the photo.  I set this up for this post, and didn't excatly take my time.

A little bar soap can be used as a lubricant, if you are concerned about generating heat from the friction that might occur.

It's not a very good photo, but here's my mainmast, which was done in this manner.  As you can see, the plug that rotated inside the base is still attached, and there aren't any heat marks.

 

BobF

[Perls]

Hi Dan,

 

What did you do the second time around to make sure you hit the center? I'm right at the point in my build where I'll be drilling for sheves, staples, and eye bolts in both the bow sprit and jib boom of my build. I have a good drill press but I've been nervous about bringing drill bit to wood.

 

Thanks,

Steve

[dcicero]

Sorry for the delay, Steve. I haven't been attending to Model Ship World as attentively as I should.

 

How did I get the mast lined up? I simplified. I got the table as close as I could to the drill chuck and still have enough room to chuck in the drill bit.

 

I used an awl to make a small mark where the holes should be. (I just did that by eye.)

 

The carbide bits are nice because they have a nice point on the and the won't wobble. The cheap Harbor Freight bits don't, so they're tougher to use.

 

Without the drill press running, lower the bit into the hole, making sure the bit is lined up. This is the equivalent of "measure twice, cut once." When you're satisfied that everything is lined up, drill away!

 

My mistake was using the drill press vice, which made alignment harder. Take your time and it will work fine.

 

 

Dan

[Perls]

Thanks Dan,

 

I didn't have much luck.

 

I needed to cut two rectangular slots 1/16 wide by about a1/4 inch long in my jib boom for sheaves. I think the big mistake I made was to use a 1/16th drill bit to drill the holes. By the time I cut out the scrap and filed to square the corners, the slot was at least 3/32nds which made the side walls too thin. I ended up starting over. I haven't tried to do the slots yet but I'm going to start with a smaller bit.

 

Best,

Steve

[Maury S]

Steve, the 1/16 bit is WAY TOO BIG..  That would be 3" at 1:48 scale.

Maury

[Perls]

Thanks Maury,

 

I figured that out the hard way.  I'm waiting to receive some brass sheave I ordered from  Cornwall Model Boats. When they arrive I'll see how thick they are and try again.  This time, I'll experiment on a piece of scrap first.

 

Best,

Steve

[michael mott]

Dan, one way to deal with small diameter spars is to make them from square stock, rather than dowels.

 

I made this jig from a recycled ebony piano key and a few bits of scrap. the wood was chucked in a pin vice, and sanding sticks used to shape the spar.

 

 

 

 

 

I have just finished going through your entire build log, what a great job you have done the model is looking really fine.

 

Michael

 

 

 

 

[dcicero]

Thanks, Michael.

 

That jig looks like a really useful tool, too. Making spars from square stock probably allows you to find straight-grained material to work with.

 

 

Dan

[Ryland Craze]

Dan,

 

It was great seeing you and your Longboat at the NRG Conference in St. Louis.  You have done an excellent job on your Longboat.  I took a lot of pictures to aid me in the build of my Longboat.  Keep up the good work.

[Redbeard]

Dan

 

Great job on your build. I'll definitely be checking back in for pointers as I have just ordered my longboat yesterday.

 

Keep up the good work!

 

John

[dcicero]

Thanks, Ryland and John!

 

It was nice to put a name with a face in St. Louis, Ryland!

 

 

Dan

[dcicero]

The mast, boom and bowsprit are done!  The gaff is almost there.  I can see the completion of the longboat from here...

 

I've been happy with the quality of the materials in this kit with two exceptions so far.  First, the dowels were warped, which meant I had to spend all of $0.18 at Hobby Lobby for new ones.  The second quibble is with the quality of the line.  The kit comes with polyester rigging line.  I tried to use it, but it wouldn't behave like I wanted it to.  No matter what I did, it seemed to retain the bends that were in it from the little card it comes on.  It's heavier than I like, too.  Instead of using it, I just started using some nylon line I've used in the past and like.

 

After watching Chuck demonstrate his line-making technique in St. Louis, I went out and got some linen crochet thread.  I'm going to try that out and see what I can come up with.  Chuck's got a source for tan thread.  I don't, so I'll wind up dying the off-white stuff I did find.  I wish I'd been able to videotape Chuck's demo.  I know I've forgotten parts.

 

So, on to the construction stuff.  I wasn't very good about taking pictures of the boom as I went along.  No big deal, really, as there isn't much to it.  I turned it on my lathe, as I normally do and here's the result.

 

 

I tried to seize the two blocks on the mast using the kit-supplied line, but ran into trouble.  I couldn't get it through the tiny holes I drilled in the mast bands.  I used fly tying wire instead, but didn't like the result.  After seizing the block onto the boom -- and liking the result -- I cut the blocks off the mast and re-did them with the nylon thread.  They look better now.

 

 

It took me a while to figure out how to mount the bowsprit.  I wanted the pitch of the bowsprit to be correct, for it to be true fore and aft and have the sheaves vertical so that the rigging will pass fair through it.  I installed a small pin in the side of the bowsprit that fit into a hole in the stem.  It would still move up and down and side to side, but fore-and-aft movement was stopped.

 

 

Then I installed the bowsprit support.

 

 

 

Then I installed the bowsprit itself.  You can see the pin run through the forward band into the stem.  That's going to get cleaned up and painted.

 

 

 

And then on to the gaff.  I turned the dowel on the lathe and carved the land into the end.  Then came making the jaws.  They're tiny and I wanted to make sure they were symmetrical and the holes were in the same place on both sides.

 

I traced the outline of the jaws -- from the plans -- on a piece of paper, cut it out and glued it to a piece of stock.  Then I cut a second piece of stock and clamped the two together.  Then I drilled the holes. To keep everything lined up, I ran a piece of wire through the holes.  Between the little clamp and the wire, everything stayed stable while I carved the jaws.

 

 

Here's a photo of the half-carved jaws.

 

 

After they were carved, I just attached them to the gaff using white glue.

 

 

 

I installed the eyebolt too.

 

 

Next step is paint and then rigging it.  Hopefully I get to that tonight.

 

It's all coming together...

 

 

 

 

Dan

[kurtvd19]

Looking real good Dan.  Lot's of progress since the last showing at the club.

Kurt