One more small cog c. 1410 by Brinkman - scale 1:13

[Brinkman]

Thank you all for the likes and Steven and Christian for your encouraging words! 

 

One major thing I have deep regrets about my scale. Why in the world did I choose 1:13 and not 1:12? It makes sense from an engineering point of view - 7.5% scale is a neat and round number. But of course in a traditional modelling context it's a ridiculous number. Can I change the scale now?

 

The model is 86cm which is 11.5 meters when using 7,5% scale. Which would be 10.3 meters if it was 1:12. The model would have been 10cm longer if I would have built it in 1:12 from the start.

 

I guess the choice is mine to make, but it feels really wrong to lie about the scale so I guess I will stick to 1:13, or rather 7,5% to be precise.

 

And talking about sticks, a couple of months ago I ordered more pear wood for the build. But I didn't order a specific thickness suitable for the futtocks but just one big beam that should last for the remainder of the build. I'm ripping it by hand which takes a while, but I didn't want to buy one of those fancy small table saws in case I don't build any more models. At least I'm glad that I didn't rip the planks for the hull as well as my original plan was.

Edited January 7, 2022 by silverman834

[Brinkman]

The center futtocks are in place. (yes, one of the floors are missing its watercourses, but I hope the ceiling will hide it)

 

The floors are heavy and densely fastened with wide treenails while the futtocks are lighter and have less and smaller treenails. I think this not only has to do with the forces being greater on the bottom but also that the clinker sides inherently are stronger.

 

These holes sometimes got a bit on the small side I think as they can be used for tie downs.

 

I can hear you say 'Hey, you shouldn't put the scarf joints in one line, that will cause stress concentrations!' then I say 'Yes, you're right, it does'. This could actually be why the ship sank as the starboard side was broken off at this line.

 

The hull is now seriously pockmarked but a dark tar colour should calm it down.

[Brinkman]

The hull has now even more dots as the aftward futtocks are in place.

 

I cheated and didn't build them all the way down where they will be hidden by the aft deck.

 

This deck will be styled as the Almere wijk 13 find with twin stanchions with a door in between. I don't have a figure for scale here but the space under the deck is just a crawl space. The bulkhead will have vertical planking.

 

When I would do the last of the futtocks I remembered that I had an old set of cheap chisels. They will be great for making the steps in the forward futtocks and other small other details in the wood.

 

 

[Brinkman]

My first thought for the substrate for the aft deck was stringers bent to the futtocks. But I didn't like the idea for several reasons, among them the difficulties of shaping the top surface of it flat to the deck - too much work for something that will not be seen. So I thought of a simple system with straight beams forming a triangle. But as I started I saw that I needed to make recesses in these beams to fit around the futtocks. And the result was actually something I think looks quite reasonable as I treenailed the structure in place.

 

 

Then I added two small beams to support the deck. Their curvature was done by trial and error.

[Wintergreen]

Hi Silverman, just found your log.

It was "cog" that caught my attention since I just finished my build of a "cog" or rather kåg. Actually from your neck of the woods 😉 
You're doing a great job give that you appear to only use hand tools. Making the frames is not an easy task and yours look pretty much spot on.

 

Keep it up!

[Louie da fly]

Beautiful work, mate!

 

Steven

[Brinkman]

Thank you Håkan and Steven!

 

Håkan, I remember seeing your kåg when I started work on my first cog and I'm glad you reminded me of it now when it's finished as I had forgotten about it. It's really nice and you definitely see the resemblance in it to older cogs! I will take some inspiration for some parts

[Brinkman]

Thank you for all the likes!

 

The planks are in place and treenailed to the beams. These planks are really big, up to 40cm (16") wide. It's one of those things that really feels medieval in my eyes. The timber were probably sawn at the site and therefore they didn't rip the planks more than they needed too to save time. The deck is weatherproofed with laths between the planks like the hull and there's a molding around the edges. I sometimes find it hard to do the floor molding in an apartment, but here no angles were anywhere near 90 degrees.

 

The nails in the molding are fake. They would be too small for 'real' nails so I did the trick where I drilled a shallow hole and colored it with a pencil. I went overboard with the nailing, some pieces got double the amount than needed...

 

The molding is not something I've seen in any find, but seemed like a credible solution to seal the edges.

 

Edited January 22, 2022 by silverman834

[Wintergreen]

Nice joinery silverman.

Looks good even the picture blown up.

Keep it up!

[Louie da fly]

I love your moulding (is that the same thing as a waterway?

 

I had a similar problem with my two most recent builds - if you have decking and exposed frames, unless you put in something like this moulding, water will get through the gaps between the decking and the frames and end up in the bilges. At the scale I was using I couldn't even get the decking to meet the external planking perfectly, let alone do this moulding.

 

 

Even a moulding running along the inner edges of the frames would help, as it would be a barrier to water running off the decking and into the bilges.

 

Steven 

[Brinkman]

Thank you Håkan and Steven! Yes, the gap between deck and hull is really bothersome. I really do not know how (or if) they fixed it, but a simple molding sounds plausible to me. But yeah, it's really hard to do on your smaller scaled ships but I bet nobody notices those gaps unless they are pointed out.

 

Now the bulkhead is planked. It was interesting to make the planks as I first made a cardboard template and then glued together three over sized planks and cut them to size as one piece to match the template. But then I broke them apart again and glued them in place one by one to harmonize the gaps between them and the gaps around them.

 

The hinges and latch were quite fiddly. The pintles were 1,5mm stock I hammered flat on one end for what apparently is called the strap and then filed it to 1mm for the pintle. And when I see this blown up picture I see that I really need to clean up the extra hole I got from a first iteration of the latch

 

The door isn't large, but you can crawl to get inside the (relatively) dry storage space. It isn't a large hold, but I guess you can store sensitive and small items there. And yeah, it's hard to open the door when the main hold is full of goods, but it's better then having the door opening inwards and get it stuck by something inside blocking it.

 

I live in Gothenburg that used to have thriving shipyards and when biking through the area where they used to be but now holds normal industries and offices, they actually  were cutting new masts for a ship! The pile you see behind the old masts are the ratlines.

Edited January 24, 2022 by silverman834

[Brinkman]

Now all the futtocks are in place.

 

The space under the fore deck is much smaller than the aft space and I made a more simple door. This one isn't hinged but just kept in place by a bar. Holes used as handles are hidden under the bar. I have no idea if something like this was used, but it seems plausible to me.

 

 

 

And on a last note there is news of the masts I saw being cut. A couple of days after I posted about it I saw this news article about how they are preparing the sailing ship Götheborg for hopefully another trip to China. In the link there is a clip of them making the yards. The article and clip is in swedish but you can still see how they fasten the two pieces together to form a yard.

https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/vast/ostindiefararen-gotheborg-far-ny-rigg

 

Edited February 16, 2022 by silverman834

[Wintergreen]

Nice carpentry Silverman.

Your futtocks looks good even on my 39" 2nd monitor 😮 

Simple and smart solution to the forward hatch door. I like it.

 

Keep it up!

[Richard Braithwaite]

On 7/26/2021 at 9:30 PM, silverman834 said:

So I started doing the floors. The ceiling covers eight floors in the middle so that's a good starting point. As I remove the hull from the mould there is a slight deformation, but nothing to worry about there.

 

I copy the hull shape using this method I've seen here and it works out nicely and I spend a couple of days of the vacation almost finishing all eight floors.

 

 

 

 

It looks pretty good and I clamp some of the floors to the hull and put it back on the mould.

 

 

It doesn't fit!!!

 

I was ready to throw away the floors and do at least a couple of them with the hull on the mould (I made it quite spacious with this in mind...), but after I have stepped back for a while and taken a fresh look I will try and bend the floors sligthly to get the correct shape. The plan is to have the hull on the mould and then clamp the floors to it. Let's see how that goes. 

 

Post script: I think this error was always there when I removed it from the mould, but it was so easy to bend it back that I didn't think so much about it. But the floors solidified the error and now it took a lot more power to bend it back.

I like your method of taking the shape of the floors. I built my trireme model is a similar way (planks over a jig and then shaping frames to fit...) It took ages, as every frame was different...

 

 

And after 

[Brinkman]

Hello all, it was a long time ago I logged in here! My build stopped 1.5 years ago because I just couldn't figure out how I wanted the bowsprit and  life in general got in the way. One thing I did in the meantime that relates to shipbuilding is that I wrote a monograph on medieval ropemaking. You can download it here if interested: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Wo9crW_uUZJOujZHc1JozL4aGPHuU_Lc/

And the most interesting thing I found out that is related to this forum is that I could not find any evidence of eye splices in this time period in northern Europe. But there is this thing callad a laid eye that literature sometimes mistake for eye splices. The difference is very significant in how they are formed as an eye splice is made by first making the rope, and then splice the eye on the end of it. But a laid eye is made at the same time as the rope is formed and is made with the bight of the strands instead of the ends. One version of the laid eye looks like this when it is being made.

 

 

So anyways, two days ago I once again felt energized to continue on this ship! As I said I was unsure of how to fasten the bowsprit because I really didn't like the idea of using knightheads. But now I succumed and did it anyway after planking the fore deck and it looked like this:

And I really don't like it! I will remove the knightheads and fasten the bowsprit much more forward somehow so it looks more like this, but even closer to the stem:More like this:

 

And I really, really want to add this thing seen on many representations of cogs. I don't know the english word for it, but they are called 'mastamickar' in swedish which roughly translates to 'mastsupports' and was used to support the yard when not in use and apparently also the bowsprit.

I'm glad to be back and am trying to catch up on all the builds a followed and all the new ones!

[Mark Pearse]

Hi there,

 

Nice to see this lovely model back on the bench.

 

I think you should go with your instinct regarding the bowsprit. The posts don't make as much sense for a number of reasons, but your solution is simpler & just looks right.

 

 

[Ferrus Manus]

I always wanted to see you get back to this build. Awesome! 

[Ferrus Manus]

Perhaps you could justify the knightheads by belaying the bowlines to them. 

[Louie da fly]

Welcome back, Silverman!

 

Perhaps the bowsprit could go through the foredeck and be fixed to partners beneath? I realise that area is storage space, but the bowsprit wouldn't take up much room, and let's face it, knightheads would have gone through the deck as well, so there's very little difference when all is said and done. And you wouldn't have to show the partners as they'd be hidden by the deck. However, I suppose the bowsprit might get in the way of the door; it's a bit hard to tell from the photos how far back it would intersect with the keel.

 

That mast support is a very interesting feature. I don't know an English equivalent term for it.

 

Steven

[Ferrus Manus]

I'm pretty sure at the angle he had it in the first picture, it would go through the door. 

[Brinkman]

Thank you for the encouraging words and likes !

 

I've been looking more at bowsprits and I really want this to be temporarily fastened, one I saw was just lashed to a thwart. When it's just being used to hold the bowlines, then it doesn't have to be so rigid. I have to think more about this.

 

So in the meantime I made the beam that sits midships, the sailbeam as it later was called as it supported the mast. The main function seem to be to hold the shape of the hull. While larger cogs had the beams pierce the hull timbers, these smaller cogs seem to have used large bolts called rose bolts to keep the hull deforming. This doesn't seem to have been a good solution as there often are damages on the strakes around the bolt from the concentrated forces.

And then I made the gangways so the crew do not have to crawl over the cargo to move around. I think these strong timbers also acted as stringers to help with the longitudinal strength of the hull. At first I planed to have them constant to the sheer line, but that would make them very bowed. And making them straight would take them very close to the sheer line. So I made them in between. The original gangways on the find I based them off were eight meters long! I can not take in how they managed to handle such a heavy timber and make all the notches over the futtocks!

 

I also started on the keelson when it still was easy to access the floor timbers. Both rosebolts, gangways and keelson are inspired by the Almere wijk 13 find. 

Next thing I would like to work on is to make the coaming of the gangway (green), but before doing that I have to make the knees (red), and before doing that I must make the windlass (blue).

[Louie da fly]

This is simply superb work. My hat off to you, sir!

 

Steven

[Brinkman]

Thank you for the likes!

 

The windlass is in place. I used Kalmar 1 for the size and general shape as that ship is of the same size, but Almere wijk 13 for the hole pattern as that ship is closer in location and time.

The axle of the drum is not the correct one in this image. I planned to have it integrated in the drum like on the originals, but then I would not be able to remove the drum as the supports locks it in place. So I use loose pieces for the axle. But they will only stick out about 1mm and therefore can not either be removed once in place. Therefore I use temporary longer pieces for the axle before the final assembly.

 

[Wintergreen]

Very nice and well fabricated windlass Erik!

I really like the hull form in the picture above in your previous post. You can quite easy see the resemblance with the Swedish cog that I built a couple of years ago.

 

Keep it up!

[Brinkman]

Thank you for the likes! Yes Håkan, I think it's really interesting how design derived from long ships and cogs remained common here in the Scandinavian countries into the 20th century.

 

The six knees that helps holding the beams are made and I have cleats on them.

 

But I'm not feeling it. Something is wrong. Maybe I should make them slimmer? I based this on Kalmar I, but now I realized only the knees aft have the cleats, perhaps the protruding part should be cut off from the other two pairs?

Edited October 20, 2023 by silverman834

[Dr PR]

Very nice work!

[Mark Pearse]

On 10/20/2023 at 3:30 PM, silverman834 said:

Maybe I should make them slimmer?

Hi Silverman, as you raised the question, I looked & I do think that you are right - the lower part of the two centre knees are a bit heavy. Remembering that their job isn't to support or strengthen the beam itself, but to brace & strengthen their connection to other members. The part of the knees sitting on the top of the central beam probably need to be more slender than the beam. Perhaps also the aft knees a bit as well. 

 

best wishes, looking superb

[Brinkman]

Thank you for the likes and for the comments!

 

You are absolutely correct Mark, thank you for pointing it out. I will make the knees slimmer, and I will also remove the cleats, at least from the two foremost pairs. And add a stringer along the caprail for belaying rope.

[Roger Pellett]

Silverman,

 

First, I would like to  congratulate you on an absolutely stunning model!  Your clean, precise, workmanship is outstanding.

 

Re; your post no 45 above concerning the method for working an eye into the end of a rope.  If I correctly understand the method, this same idea has been used in more modern times to make rope grommets.  In this case, the rope is first separated into its three components and then put back together again into a circle.

 

Roger

[Brinkman]

Thank you Roger. Yes, these these eyes are basically made the same way as grommets! I would very much like to have lines like this on the model, but it would be very fiddly to make ropes this way and not to use a rope way so I don't know.

 

Now I feel much better about my build. All the time during the build of both this model and my last model I have thought about how to belay the lines. I have hardly seen any medieval cleats and on models and reproductions of ships I always see lines just tied to some stringer. This has in my eyes always looked haphazardly and I really wanted cleats. But now I have succumbed and realized how convenient it must be to belay to stringers as there are suitable belaying points all over the ship then.

 

So I installed a stringer and it looks much more intentionally then I thought it would be and I'm really happy with it.

 

And the second thing that irked me was of course the knees. They were far too heavy. So I started to grind away as much material from them as I just possibly could. And the next day I looked at them again and thought maybe I could remove a little bit more? And this was repeated several times until they were much lighter then before and I think they now looks the part.

While I still saw everything by hand I have bought a small disc sander and mounted my dremel like a router table. These were of great help with the knees!

This ship would of course often be bailed. While larger cogs had pumps I don't think this one had. I handle the water that comes onto the fore deck so it runs into the corners where the short end of the gang way planks will direct it to a hole between knee and gang way plank where it will run to the keel plank. Then it will run in limber holes under the floors to the bilge.

At the bilge it would be hard to bail it over the caprail as one would have to climb upp the sides and reach over the gang way. So one can instead bail it onto the aft deck where the water will run to the corners where it will run out through outlets.

 

 

 

Edited October 29, 2023 by silverman834