Captain John Smith’s Shallop by JerryC - Ships of Pavel Nikitin - 1:32

[JerryC]

Ron, 

I tried a sim

 edge razor blade on some of the thick jig making material and was not satisfied with the results. I think the MDF is too dense and the parts are too small to feel comfortable with a razor blade that close to my fingers. I will try again when I get to the planks and other wooden parts. It’ll be all files and sandpaper for the jigs.

[JerryC]

getting this to fit is problematic,

[JerryC]

I’m stuck! I don’t understand how the cant frames go together. The center piece is raised up like the cross pieces for the other frames, but they overlap so there’s a good gluing surface. With the cant  frames there’s nothing to glue to. Maybe put the frame sides in face down?

[Richard44]

Hi Jerry,

 

Have a look at Olga's video, about 14:50 along - she shows the frame you are having problems with. I hope the link works. If it doesn't find the video via James' post on the shallop. 

 

 

Cheers

[JerryC]

we’ll, I’ve got the full set of frames, the bow and stern frames are a little suspect. We’ll see when they are inserted into the jig. If I can get them in the jig, I’m hoping that the gunwale and the clamp will hold it all together until I can get some planking on that should hold it all together.

[JerryC]

Richard, thanks for the link. That Olga is just too good. 

[Chuck Seiler]

Jerry,

 

    I think you will find that the skeleton will be surprisingly stable once the frames are inserted into the jig and glued to the keel, the keelson is added and the gunwales and clamps are added.  Delicate, but stable.

[JerryC]

Olha not Olga. Thank god for autocorrect 

Edited January 14, 2023 by JerryC
Correct autocorrect

[Richard44]

5 hours ago, JerryC said:

Olha not Olga. Thank god for autocorrect 

 "Olha" is Ukrainian, "Olga" is English. Her English language website identifies her as Olga. Whatever 😊. Her modelling skills are far better than mine😁.

 

I'm following your log with interest Jerry, as I have the model as well, though I haven't started it yet.

 

Cheers

Edited January 14, 2023 by Richard44

[thibaultron]

My kit arrived two days ago!

[Chuck Seiler]

11 hours ago, Richard44 said:

"Olha" is Ukrainian, "Olga" is English. Her English language website identifies her as Olga. Whatever 😊.

She is Ukrainian.  Her shirt says "Olha" and in her FAQ video she pronounces her name "OH-la".

[Snug Harbor Johnny]

  'Had a look at the framing video, and I think its WAY cool.  The Khufu boat build from Woody Joe had a novel way to frame and plank ... THIS kit has another ingenious design!  Its definitely on my want list in the future.

 

[JerryC]

Chuck, good looking too, I hate her, or maybe I envy her, or ma,bye I love her. Regardless, I am impressed with her talent.

 

johnny, it’s a novel way to put these things together. It’s expected that you can figure out what’s depicted in the illustrations. With help from Chuck Seiler and others with common sense, and experience with the kit, it will be an easy and satisfying project. It’s a nice kit with good materials. I think you won’t be disappointed when you purchase the kit. U

[JerryC]

There’s trouble in river city, and I don’t mean pool. These frames just don’t have enough can’t to fit in the jig. All the rest of the frames look good. I’ll be doing some debonding and see if I can salvage them. I should have paid more attention to Ohla’s video, would have saved me the aggravation!

[JerryC]

Well, I’m stuck now. I sent an email to Pavel to see if I can get some new parts to fix my problems with the can’t frames. Until I hear back from him, I’ll be making barrels and decking and lee boards. Just a bump in the road!

[JerryC]

I emailed Pavel and he will send me the parts that I need to redo the cant frames. I only have to pay for shipping!

[JerryC]

I figured out where I went wrong. When I put the main jig together, there was a tight fit between the tabs and the slots. Not a real problem, just required a little adjustment, mostly just sanding the tabs a little. 
on the jigs for assembling the cant frames, the bottom narrow legs were too thick to fit in the form. So, I opened up the slots in the jig. Bad idea. With the legs fit into the jig, the frames didn’t line up with the center pieces.the legs were too low to mate with the center pieces. When the new pieces arrive, I’ll need to block up the slots in the jig.

[Chuck Seiler]

Can you just unglue the cant frames?

[JerryC]

Yes, I did unglue them, but I was unclear about the process and tried to shape the pieces with files and sandpaper. I should have fixed the jig. 

[mtaylor]

13 hours ago, JerryC said:

Yes, I did unglue them, but I was unclear about the process and tried to shape the pieces with files and sandpaper. I should have fixed the jig. 

All things considered that sounds like the normal approach.  At least you didn't reach for a large hammer.  

[Chuck Seiler]

14 hours ago, mtaylor said:

At least you didn't reach for a large hammer.  

You are never going to let me live that one down, are you?

[mtaylor]

8 hours ago, Chuck Seiler said:

You are never going to let me live that one down, are you?

I forgot about that not even sure I do remember.  I was thinking of what I've done at least once.

[JerryC]

While waiting for frame parts, I’m assembling some other stuff. I’m getting the hang of it. There are a lot of subtle locating notches that require attentionI had disassemble this one twice i was aligning the pieces at the top and losing the notches.this one needed to be fixed three timesthis one still needs to be cleaned up and the hoops blackened and fastened. I think I’ll have to go and get some CA for that. I don’t think PVA is appropriate and epoxy would be too messy. I’m thinking of draining it walnut, only because I have a can of it sitting around.

[Richard44]

On 1/14/2023 at 7:46 AM, JerryC said:

Maybe put the frame sides in face down?

Hi Jerry,

 

Yes, the frames have to go in face down. If you look at Olha's video, about 14:30 in, you can clearly see her putting frame 22 into the jig 105 face down. What initially confused me is that you can see a laser-etched line on the back of the frame sides. Olha must have a slightly different kit to me, and probably you, as mine does not have any etched lines on the back of sheet 1P (the sheet with all the frames etc). A close look at the diagram for frame 22 on page 12 does show the position of the etched line that we don't have.

 

I glued up frame 22 this morning and two photos of it are attached. The third photo is of the frame loosely in position on the keel.

 

Cheers

[Chuck Seiler]

Jerry's parts have arrived or should be arriving shortly, based on timing of previous shipping.  I look forward to the  shipyard restarting production.

 

I wanted to take this opportunity to ask a question about real construction.  Based on building practice of the day, would the frames have been bolted together or treenailed?

[JerryC]

My replacement parts for the shallop arrived today. Time to get my nose down to the grindstone again. The break gave me some time to move forward with the clay Feldman/lumberyard Lexington.

[JerryC]

Ok, I’m back on track!

[JerryC]

The replacement parts are looking good. 
 

there will be a bunch of thickness sanding to do. 

The clearances are tight. I noticed it on the jig and now I’m seeing it on the frames To the jig. 

[sirdrake]

Yes, I only just finished the first few frames but the fit is tight. I guess it's a good idea to widen the clearances so that the frames can slide in and out easily. Otherwise removing the completed skeleton without breaking something might become a real challenge.

[Chuck Seiler]

Looking good Jerry. 

 

Be careful not to sand down too much or else it may throw off the alignment.  I noticed that with the frame jig the charring was in ridges.  I think if you lightly sand the charring to where the ridges are smooth but you still have some color...AND...smoothing the frame faces, you will get a snug (but not too snug) fit.

 

Little at a time.  You can always take more off.  Harder to put more back on.