A Port Dredger 1750 by Greg Davis - FINISHED - Scale 1:36

[Greg Davis]

I decided that my first attempts at making the curved carlings had not resulted in pieces that I would use, so I am still at this stage and will be until I get results that I am satisfied with.

 

Hopefully more pictures soon!

[druxey]

Good for you not to be satisfied with "Well, it'll do"!

[Jim Lad]

I agree with Druxey completely.  If you went with unsatisfactory parts they'd always be staring at you.

 

John

[Greg Davis]

Thanks for the support!

 

I'm hopeful with the current attempt with the carling and should know the outcome in a couple of days. If it goes poorly again, there is plenty more wood to work with.

 

It's interesting that I feel no remorse tossing a piece during this build. In fact, at times it actually feels pretty good. This is quite a difference from some kit builds where I have spent more (frustrating) time than I should have trying to make a supplied piece fit instead of just fashioning a replacement. I guess here, with the dredger, it is about doing everything as correct as my skills allow. Where in the kits there is an expectation that pieces should fit sooner than later.

[Greg Davis]

I may have a keeper! Here are a couple of pictures of the port curved carling - one near the bow and one near the stern. 

 

Like in previous attempts a cardboard pattern was made to determine the curved shape needed near the frames. After cutting material to this shape, I found that I could refine the shape slightly using the side strake as guidance. This time I then marked and milled the recesses for the frames along the side of the vessel. These recesses where milled at 30 degrees to approximate the curvature of the frames near the floors. The sections that extend through the frames to the back edge of the carling where then milled to 22.5 to match the contours on the plans. After this was completed, I milled recesses so the carling would fit over the floors. The inside edge was then cut on a scroll saw so the carling would be 7.5mm wide throughout. Minimal additional fitting was done with files and then a bit of surface sanding was done to bring the project to its current status. 

 

I won't attach the piece until the starboard carling is made. If I am able to make the starboard carling significantly better, then I will give the port side another go. But if they are similar in quality, I will likely move ahead and fasten both.

 

 

[Greg Davis]

The second curved carling is done and of a matching quality to the first one. 

 

There is a final bit of milling that I will do before attachment - space for a dozen additional timbers need to be cut through the outer edge of the carlings. These twelve timbers are the ones that extend above the deck and will ultimately support the dredging mechanisms.

[druxey]

Well done and very nicely fitted, Greg!

[Greg Davis]

Thanks!

 

They are glued in place now. Tomorrow, I hope to start drilling holes for the 120, or so, fasteners that go through the curved carlings and the side strakes. 

[James G]

Greg, your framing in a word is simply “stunning”. Having a lot of fun watching your progress!

[Greg Davis]

 

Today, I was able to drill and then insert / smooth the 'bolts' that hold the curved carlings to the frames. As I used on the three other carlings the bolts are 24 GA copper wire. I am really glad to have these two curved carlings completed - they were a bit of a test for me!

 

Next I will 'bolt' the side strakes and then will be set to create the knees that join the side strakes. 

[Greg Davis]

Another 120+ holes drilled and filled with copper wire - the side strakes are bolted.

 

There are now over 1000 'bolts' on the model.

 

Now its time to prepare some 5 mm thick stock for the four corner knees that hold the side stakes together.

 

I find myself reviewing the plans almost daily and visualizing the next construction steps - hopefully everything is going together in an appropriate order.

[Greg Davis]

Yesterday I set up some wood to make the side strake knees. There is one straight side on the knee - where it attaches to the bow or stern structure. I pre-beveled the stock to match the angle of the bow and stern and then attached the knee patterns to align with the bevel. I also cut out an additional pair of knees should I need an extra.

 

After cutting the blanks out, decided on the following order of work: shape the long edge to match the side strake, shape the inner bevel, mark and drill holes for bolts, attach knee to model, and install bolts. 

 

I have complete one so far:

On to the next ones!

[druxey]

You might wish to consider running the wood grain diagonally on the knees for better strength. The grain running along one arm of a knee means an inherent weak point at the throat of the knee. 
 

Looks great so far!

[Greg Davis]

I agree and will give that a try for the remaining knees that are visible on and above the deck. However, if I do so should the grain radiate from the corner or should it form hypotenuses with the sides, i.e., create a bunch of triangular shapes? Also, I don't  have any compass cherry to use for this task.

 

In the meantime, the four corner knees are installed and bolted. Also, I have installed the two knees that join the keelson to the bow and stern structures. Once these two knees are bolted, I will move to the next step.

I think there is a choice of two different routes at this point: begin planking the exterior or installing the sheer clamps. 

 

Assuming that I am reading plans correctly, the order of (exterior) planking that makes most sense is 

 

1. bow and stern faces

2. sides

3. bottom

4. doubling of the planking below the water line

5. the wale - but this isn't to be done until the deck has been planked

 

So, I could go ahead and at least plank the bow and stern faces. The sides would then need to get their final fairing before moving on. It is right here that I think installing the sheer clamps first would be a good move. The clamps would give additional stability to the upper portions of the frames for the fairing process. In fact, it might be a smart move to put in the sheer clamps and then fit the uprights for the wheel gantries. This way, the uprights, which have lower portion shaped as a frame could be faired to fit nicely between the sheer clamps, side strakes, and curved carlings.

 

I hope I'm not thinking out loud too much here! I think that I just may have convinced myself that the sheer strakes should be the next (sub)project.

 

 

 

 

[Greg Davis]

I think my brain was turned off when thinking about the grain direction. Assuming that it is most likely that there is failure along the grain, then the best choice would be the grain running diagonally between the pieces being joined. I guess in this manner if there is a split, there would still be sub pieces of the knee forming a joint. Whereas if the grain radiated from the corner of the two pieces being joined, then there is the possibility that the knee would split radiating out of the corner resulting in one piece of the knee contented to each  side of the joint, yet with now no (or little) material connecting / bracing the joint. ☹️ 

[Greg Davis]

I went ahead and milled some wood for the sheer clamps and made the scarf joints for each. Here are a couple of pictures - one of a joint and the other showing the dry fitting of the clamps. 

 

Next I will mark and cut the dovetail notches for all of the deck ledges. 

[mtaylor]

A very well done joint.  One of the best I've seen.

[Greg Davis]

Today I released the hull from the jig I have been using - its really satisfying to see the work done so far sitting freely on a table!

 

 

The structure feels quite stout already, but I will feel even better once the bow and stern faces are tied by the exterior planking.

 

One of the sheer clamps is in place, the other will go on later this evening or tomorrow. Milling the dovetail recesses for the deck beams went well - I think I spent close to 6 hours in total for the work.

 

[James G]

Beautiful Greg! It certainly has a wow factor. I do love that jig you use in your builds.

[Greg Davis]

Jim -

 

This type of jig is often used in model ship construction - it just seems that others are not using such for their dredger and / or Emma Berry models. I think that for any framed models I work on, A jig will be a necessity!  (And I find no shame it that.)

 

Greg

[Greg Davis]

Today was nice here - 70 degrees - and I was really sore from moving huge rocks yesterday, so I got the day off from 'chores'! That gave me the chance to sit outside and finish the basic exterior fairing of the dredger's hull. This was done with 100 grit sandpaper. After the bow and stern areas are planked the sides (and bottom) will get a bit more smoothing with a finer grit. 

 

I also made up the 1.5mm material needed bow and stern planking. The first (bottom) stake - front and back - has been attached. The next five strakes are straightforward. The one that follows needs to have 2 lights / windows cut in and the last (top) strake takes on the camber of the deck. 

[druxey]

Looking very nice indeed, Greg.

[Greg Davis]

First - thanks for all the support that you have been giving me!

 

Over the past couple of days, I have been able to plank the bow and stern faces. I'll take care of the bolts and finish sanding later.

 

It looks like this week the main activity will be working on planking the sides.

[Greg Davis]

I made up plenty of planking material today and have started to form the lowest plank for the port side of the vessel. First I clamped a piece of planking material to the lower part of the side and marked the contour of the bottom of the dredger on it. This shape was then cut on a scroll saw and refined with an oscillating spindle sander. Then the piece was re-clamped to the side and final adjustments to the lower edge were made to give it the correct curvature. 

 

I've measured and recorded the total height of planking along each top timber. These measurements were then divided by 8 to determine the width of each plank as it crosses each frame. The frame locations were marked on the plank that is being developed. The width of the plank at each frame was noted along the frame locations and a flexible strip of wood was used to guide a smooth curve through the points. Tomorrow the upper edge of the plank will be cut, smoothed, and prepared for fitting.

 

I will be planking all of the port side and leaving a portion of the starboard side open for internal viewing.

[Greg Davis]

The lowest strake was made from one piece of wood so that I could get a nice starting position and any joints would not be seen as another layer of planks will go across this part of the vessel.

 

Starting with the next stake (second from bottom) I will be respecting the proper location of planking butts. This particular strake is to be made from two planks joined at frame 14. I chose to join the two blanks for these planks before laying out the shape. In the following picture, the juncture is just to the left of the vertical line marking the line between the timber top and knee for frame 14. The horizontal curve is a tracing of the upper edge of the first completed strake. The tracing being done before fastening the first strake to the vessel - this simplifies the spiling process (for me).

 

I then marked the height of the strake at each frame and drew a smooth curve through them, cut the top edge and smoothed to the final shape. Before attaching this stake to the model, it was used to mark the lower shape of the next strake on another blank. Once attached to the dredger, the plank joint looks good to me. In particular a nice smooth curve has been formed over the joint area - something that is not real easy for me to achieve when making the joining planks independently.

 

Finally, here's a look at the lower two strakes in place - already 25% of this side done!

 

[druxey]

I'm enjoying watching your progress, Greg.

[Greg Davis]

I appreciate that!

 

It really helps to have regular time to work on my models - these first few months of retirement have been wonderful, I hope it stays this way for a long time!

[James G]

Retirement...best job I've ever had. Welcome to the club!

[Greg Davis]

I finished planking the port side and have given it two rounds of smoothing; first with 100 grit sandpaper and then with 150 grit. This is how it will stay until the 'bolts' are in place. At that point I will do the finish sanding as it will be more difficult to do so once the doublings have been added. Final contouring of the top edge is also on hold, until the deck beams are in place.

 

Next, I will work on partially planking the starboard side.

 

I know there are a couple of tasks to take care of before the deck beams, but I am trying to decide how I should construct them: cut them out individually, shape a larger piece of wood to the proper camber and then slice off the beams, or create a mould and bend strips to the correct shape. The mould method might be good practice before making the planking for the two dredger wheels ...

 

[druxey]

I would be hesitant to bend the beams. Wood has a way of reverting to its previous form if not bolted or treenailed in place. The larger piece with the round-up shaped, then parted off, is a better choice. The underside can be milled in if you have the facility. If not, cut the individual beams from sheet and finish them on shaped convex and concave sanding blocks. That is the way I make my beams these days.

 

Looking really nice so far!