Young America 1853 by EdT - FINISHED - extreme clipper

[BANYAN]

WOW Ed, as if your previous work didn't impress.  Great result with your gin blocks - you set the bar awfully high

 

cheers

 

Pat

[SJSoane]

Ed, you continue to amaze us with your skill, working out very clever ways of fabricating such tiny parts, and obtaining such precision. Not to mention the beauty of it all!

 

Mark

[druxey]

Impressive, to say the least!

[AON]

I find your creations inspirational 

[allanyed]

Clever solution to a tricky task!   

Allan

[EdT]

Thanks for all these comments and likes.  I judge these blocks to be adequate for a model of this scale and scope.  For some silly reason I was thinking there were more of these when I was doing the design and thinking about an efficient production method.  Silly, because I had the rigging list in hand months ago.  When I did a final count to cut the tubing, I realized there were just three, but by that time I was on a track.  Spoked sheaves and fillets on the frame were certainly doable with more work - but with the yards down on their lifts these will be tucked up under the cross-trees and not the most prominent items on the model, so they will do fine.  Thanks again for the compliments - always a good way to start a day.

 

The upper yard has now been made and I will start covering that in the next post.  The new element there is the wood and iron parral that was also an interesting project.  There will be 12 of these in all sizes on the upper yards.

 

Ed

[Maury S]

What great ways to do things!

Maury

[rwiederrich]

Fantastic job Ed...really.

Just to let you know..I made some of these myself..almost exactly like yourself..however I only needed one solder joint.  I compressed the tubing like you did..but I then only cut out the two corners of the compressed tube on the end and had a *T*... which I then added the bolt eye and soldered, then I made the final bottom cut and there you go.  My blocks were a bit bigger, but basically the same.  Your's  are very nice.

 

Rob

[EdT]

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 268 – Fore Upper Topsail Yard Parral 1: Wooden Yoke

 

All square yards above the lower topsails will be secured to their masts with parrals.  These each consist of a wooden yoke bolted and strapped against the aft flat of the octagon at the center of each yard.  The yoke is clamped to the yard by means of a hinged strap.  The first picture shows the finished, but as yet unblackened, parral assembly fitted to the fore upper topsail yard.

  

 

The picture also shows the center sling band, the bands for quarter blocks and the holes drilled for the jackstay eyebolts.  This part describes only the modeling of the wooden parral yoke.  You will note in the picture that the inside of the mast opening is lined on the wood face.  The lining of the hinged clasp will be done later.  The next picture shows the wooden yoke before assembly.

 

 

The yoke has been notched for the sling band, but not yet for the two quarter bands.

 

The wooden yokes could be shaped manually, but more precision in the circular opening may be obtained by boring the opening using the milling machine fitted with a rotary table.  Starting with an oversized wood blank, the circular opening of the yoke was bored first, followed by rip sawing to yield a half circle, then sawing the base, and finally shaping the curved sides.  The circular opening was bored using the setup shown in the next picture.

 

 

The four jaw chuck conveniently centers and holds the piece.  For modeling, the diameter of the opening will be 2" larger than the topmast diameter at the lower cap.  This allows 1" for lining and 1" clearance.  In practice, these allowances were more like a total of 1½" – ¾" for leather lining and a ¾" gap.  The bore was made by centering a milling bit on the rotating table, offsetting the bit to cut the correct ID (= hole radius – bit radius), lowering the running bit through the piece and rotating the table a full 360 degrees.   The resulting bore was very precise.

 

Centering the table on the mill spindle using the normal dial indicator method can be a tedious task – a lot of work for this single bore.  The setup shown in the next picture simplifies and speeds up this task and yields sufficient accuracy for these borings.

 

 

The method uses two short lengths of close fitting telescoping tubing.  The larger size is clamped in the four jaw chuck mounted on the rotary table.  The smaller tube is chucked in the spindle.  The X and Y tables are then adjusted until the tubes fit together smoothly as shown – centering the table.  This is most easily done using the sensitive drilling attachment, which is then replaced by the milling chuck. 

 

In the next picture, the yoke has been sawed to yield a half circle for the opening.

 

 

To accurately make this cut, the depth of wood below the bore was measured.  To this was added one-half the bore diameter.  Digital calipers were then set to this dimension and used to set the rip fence on the saw.  After cutting the half circle, the rip fence was reset to the full depth of the yoke and the base excess sawed off.  The curved faces of the yoke were then cut out on the scroll saw and finished with files/sanding.  The notches for the bands were then filed out and the yoke glued to the yard as shown in the next picture.

 

 

You will note that the banding shown on the drawings in some of the photos was later corrected.  Fitting this banding and making the hinge/clasp will be described in the next part.

 

Ed

[Mahuna]

Great work as usual, Ed.  Your approach to centering the rotary table solves a problem I've had to deal with, so I'll definitely be using it.

 

[DaveRow]

Love the detail you go to Ed.

Masterclass effort.

 

[EdT]

Thanks for the comments and all the likes.  I hope to be putting the second part on the parrals later today.

 

Frank, the centering method using telescoping tube is a real time saver and is certainly adequate for our work.  As you will see, it has advantages over the more conventional dial indicator methods - its faster and requires less effort - and contortions to read the indicator in each rotated position.  Good luck with it.

 

Ed

[EdT]

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 269 – Fore Upper Topsail Yard Parral 2: Ironwork

 

In the first picture the wood yoke has been glued to the octagonal flat on the aft side of the yard.  One of the bands that reinforce the connection of the yoke to the yard has been fitted and the other is shaped but awaiting attachment.

 

 

All "iron" fittings on the yard are copper, to facilitate later blackening with liver of sulfur solution.  The uninstalled band shown in the picture was shaped around the yard and yoke.  It includes a short overlapping tab that will be used to through-bolt the band using a copper wire bolt.  In the next picture one of these bolts is being inserted through a drilled hole at the base of the yoke.

 

 

The short tab is located on the underside of the yard – out of sight.  The copper wire shown was next clipped just above the surface on both sides of the yoke and peened to form a tight connection.  The next picture shows the upper side of the banded parral.

 

 

The next picture shows the underside of the yard/parral and parts of the hinge/clasp that will hold the yard to the mast.

 

 

To simulate the hinge/clasp fitting, short lengths of wire were drilled to accept copper wire pins that will slip into holes in the parral.  The wire pins were soldered into the holes.  The piece on the left has been filed to shape.  These assemblies were then silver soldered to the half-circle band as shown in the next picture.

 

 

The picture shows dividers that were set to the spacing between the pins and used to mark the bands on either side of the circular yoke opening.  The above two pictures also show simulated leather lining in the opening.  This was made from dyed heavy paper glued to the wood.  In the next picture the spaced holes are being manually drilled to receive the long copper pins.

 

 

I drilled these manually to avoid disturbing the boring setup on the milling machine described in the last part.  There are never enough tools.  The last picture shows the completed parral except for blackening and fitting of the lining on the hinge/clasp.

 

 

Copper wire bolts have been driven through the arms of the yoke into the yard to simulate those used originally and to provide additional strength.  Next, the rest of the ironwork on the yard will be added.

 

Ed

[Maury S]

Simply amazing.

Maury

[Tigersteve]

Beautiful work as usual. The amount of work on the yards/spars alone is so extensive. Amazing!

Steve

[rwiederrich]

Just delicious......superbly done Ed!

 

Rob

[Dziadeczek]

Ed,

Are you going to blacken the copper parts? And if so, how, without bleeding the blackening agent into the wood?

[EdT]

Dz, I have had a lot of success blackening copper parts on wood without staining the wood using liver of sulfur solution.  I use copper for that reason.  I have also had success blackening brass on wood using a product called WinOx, but have not used that very much.  I have described this method in many posts on this and the Naiad build logs on MSW - and in more detail in the Naiad and Young America books.  This does not work using the blue selenious salt agents.  The liver of sulfur solution neutralizes quickly so does not leave reactive products on the wood.  The wood must be clean and free of metal dust or that dust will blacken and leave smudges on the wood surface.  This can be difficult on items like spars where there are a lot of parts and a lot of handling when fitting bands and other pieces.  In this case I try very hard to keep the wood clean, prefinish it to seal the surface before adding metal parts.  I then brush the liver of sulfur solution on the entire yard and put the black areas under running water immediately as they blacken.  When completely dry I finish the yard assemblies to seal the black metal. You may see the results on the yards in the pictures that were all done this way.  I am currently using wipe on satin polyurethane to finish the yards.

 

Ed

[BANYAN]

Outstanding detail at 1;72 - I have to keep reminding myself of that.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[EdT]

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 270 – Fore Upper Topsail Yard Ironwork 1

 

To avoid excessive repetition and to avoid tedium in these posts, I will not be describing all 18 of Young America's square yards at this same level of detail, so do not despair.  However, the first three are each different in the way they are supported and rigged.   Some of the fittings are therefore unique and it has been interesting to design and make them.  Even so, some of the work shown in this post has been described before.  The first picture shows the fore upper topsail yard with its parral and all of the bands fitted except for those that support the boom irons.

 

 

All but the yardarm bands at the ends were made by cutting and silver-soldering .010" thick copper strips that were slightly undersized so they would be stretched to a tight fit when positioned on the yard.  After soldering, the bands were shaped, filed, and polished on a separate tapered mandrel to avoid damaging or smudging the yard.  I believe all this was described in earlier posts.  The bands at the yardarms were made thicker using copper tube.  These stronger bands will be drilled for multiple eyebolts – at least three each.  Slices of tube were expanded to fit the yardarm as shown in the next picture.

 

 

A hardened scribe is being used to expand the band by tapping with a hammer with the band resting on the edges of the vise jaws.  The band was then pressed into position on to the yardarm as shown below.

 

 

This band will be drilled for three eyebolts – one for the standing lift, one for the brace, and one for the downhauler used on these doubled yards.  Most bands have at least one eyebolt fitted.   These were all drilled later.

 

Supports for the studding sail booms are the most complex pieces to make.  These include a boom iron on the yard and another at the end of the yard.  This latter support requires ironwork to reinforce the yardarm for this loading.  The next picture shows one of the boom irons set up for soldering.

 

 

The band for the boom was made from tube as described above.  The square arm was made from brass for stiffness.  The copper strip under the arm was used to center the arm on the band.   The next picture shows the next assembly step.

 

 

The length of the square section needs to be cut fairly accurately.  One soldered assembly is being checked in the picture.  The yard bands were made from somewhat thicker strips (.015") for strength. The next picture shows one of these assemblies fitted and the pair of fabricated outer irons for this yard.

 

 

The outer irons are supported by a strap bored at the end for the outer iron.  This strap is secured to the yardarm by two tightly fitted bands.  These were of the soldered type.  In the next picture, one of these is being polished on the tapered scriber.

 

 

The vise was again used to force the bands over the longitudinal strap as shown in the next picture.

 

 

The support straps were predrilled to fit the boom irons, but to avoid possible damage, the yardarms were hand drilled with a much smaller drill, then bored out to full depth by hand after the ironwork was fitted.  This is being done with a pin vise in the next picture

 

 

This complex metalwork at the arms was given some additional shaping and smoothing.  It was then very lightly polished using a new, clean buffing wheel.

 

To be continued.

 

Ed

[druxey]

My! That is a lot of 'ironwork' to manufacture, Ed! Beautifully done, too.

[russ]

Ed:

There is nothing boring in your posts. You keep posting, and we will keep reading. This is a tremendous opportunity for many of us to learn. 

 

Russ

 

 

[BANYAN]

Beautifully crafted ironwork Ed; working with copper has become my 'norm' now as well - many thanks for pointing me in the 'right' direction

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Sailor1234567890]

Your ironmongery is awesome Ed. Keep showing us how you do the magic that you do.

 

[EdT]

Thank you all for the comments and likes.

 

Yes, Druxey, there is a lot of ironwork on these lower yards, but it will become less as we ascend.

 

Pat, copper does have some distinct advantages and some disadvantages.  On the plus side: the ability to blacken parts after mounting on wood, its ductility that permits forming, stretching of wire for reducing diameter and hardening, the ability to expand rings to an accurate fit, and availability of copper wire in a wide range of sizes.  On the negative side, it is soft and difficult to machine compared to brass.  Brass machines well and is less prone to bending.  

 

Ed

[Maury S]

Ed, Will you share your source for copper wire?

Thanks

Maury

[EdT]

Maury, I've gotten most of mine from Amazon.

[cog]

Maury,

Try electrical wire, old ethernet cable stripped of insulation. The electrical wire you can flatten with a hammer, width and thickness depends on the gauge of the wire. I tend to save the odd bits

[Maury S]

Some  wire labeled as "copper" I've bought (I think "Artistic Brand"...the beading stuff from Hobby Lobby) was strongly attracted to a magnet.  Maybe that's OK for strength but if you clean it too much and take off the copper coating, it won't react like copper to LOS.  I'd love to find more of the flat wire I have (.019" x .029") but I don't know where I bought it long ago.

Maury

[DORIS]

Wow. Absolutely perfect and professional work. My deep admiration. Thank you for this great inspiration.
Kind regards,
Doris