Rattlesnake by Ed Ku20 - Model Shipways - 1:64

Ed Ku20 · 2025-07-28T16:34:16Z

THE BOWSPRIT

Work on the Rattlesnake is moving slowly this summer. Slow, but sure, progress is being made!

The Bowsprit is made with two wood dowels. The bowsprit piece is thicker at ¼” in diameter. According to the practicum the jib boom is made with a 5/32” dowel. According to Model Shipways it should be 1/8”. I went with 5/32”. They are joined with a cap similar to the lower masts.

Another difference is the length of the ¼” bowsprit section. Per the practicum the bowsprit is 5-1/16” long. However, per JSGerson, whom I’ve been following, the correct length is 5-7/8”. According to my measurements, there should be 4” from outside the hole in the bow to the end of the cap (so, including the tenon). On my model, I needed a total length of 5-5/8” to leave 4” outside the bow of the ship.

The end that sits on the main deck must be sanded flat. On my ship this caused the bowsprit to have a little too steep of an angle. I added some scrap wood to raise up the base of the bowsprit off the deck.

The outer third of the bowsprit piece is tapered to 3/16” diameter at the end. I used my power drill technique to achieve the correct taper. A rectangular tenon was cut on the outside end. This fits into a hole that is cut into the cap. The tenon and the cap must be cut at an angle that is perpendicular to the waterline. The cap is 3/32” thick x 9/16” long x 1/8” wide. I just eyeballed the angle for the tenon from a dry fit position on the ship. I cut it first. Then I transferred the top and bottom marks of the tenon to the cap. Drill a pilot hole in the cap for the bowsprit tenon and then enlarge and square up the hole using mini-files.

Here is a picture of the tenon laid over the cap to find & mark the angle

Next, I made the jib boom from a 5/32” dowel that is 4-3/4” long. Taper the diameter to 1/16” at the forward end. The practicum said do not round over the end. Now the hole for the jib boom can be made in the mast cap, at the same angle as the bowsprit. The jib boom fits thru the hole so that 1-1/2” extends aft from the back of the cap. The last 1/8” of the jib boom tip is trimmed down to 1/16” to form a lip for rigging. A hole is drilled just behind this lip for the jib stay to pass through.

A small saddle made from 1/16" square boxwood is fitted on top of the bowsprit and the jib boom sits in this saddle. The saddle has a concave surface both on top and the bottom where the bottom matches the curvature of the bowsprit and the top matches the curvature of the jib boom. Sorry, I don’t have pictures during the process for each step. Below are pics of the finished step.

The next step is to make a pair of “Bee’s and Bee Blocks”. This is a support on either side of the bowsprit just behind the cap. A hole is drilled in each one through which some fore topmast rigging passes. I have some pictures.

The pair of Bee’s on the front end of the bowsprit

The Bee Blocks under the Bee’s provide support

Head on view of the Bees & their blocks

The Gammoning Cleats are the last pieces to be made and installed on the bowsprit at this time. Started by dry fitting the bowsprit to determine where the Gammoning Cleats are to be positioned. This was done by wrapping a single line from the gammoning slot straight up and around the bowsprit and through the gammoning slot again. A pencil line was drawn tracing the rigging line on the bowsprit. Six pieces of 1/32” x 3/32” stock were cut to 7/32” long. These were set up in one of my jigs and the curved shape was cut into the end with a round mini-file. The finished pieces are glued around the top half of the bowsprit.

Jig for cutting the shape into the Gammoning Cleats. I cleaned them up with a sanding twig afterward