Young America 1853 by EdT - FINISHED - extreme clipper

[dgbot]

It was all done by using nets and man power.  I saw an old B&W film along time ago when they were loading a vessel.  The cargo net was lowered through the hatch into the hold and then  team of stevedores would start filling up very spare space.  You would not want to wrestle these guys.  They were all built like gorillas.

David B

[the learner]

Can't let this Log rotate past page 3! Edt must be on vacation, can not wait until the next chapter.

[EdT]

Thanks, Guy, for your continuing and loyal support - and also to those who commented or "liked" since the last post.  I am not on vacation, but have been consumed with some other things - mostly related to the model - drawings patterns, rigging schedule, etc.  The middle deck is also long a quite like the lower, so there is not much new to show.  However, I willtry to get the next part up soon.

 

Thanks, again.  You all keep me motivated.

 

Ed

[SawdustDave]

Ed.... Between you, Piet, and my friend Remco. I am beginning to feel like such a novice at this craft. Sure does make me pay more attention to my own work.

Thanks again.

Dave

[EdT]

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 77 –Middle Deck Framing continued

 

It has been almost two weeks since the last post due mainly to the similarity of the lower and middle decks – not a lot of new stuff.  However, the middle deck framing is proceeding quickly – perhaps it’s the learning curve.  The first picture shows beam installation progressing from the bow aft.

 

 

The beams, hanging knees, pillars and carlings are all being installed progressively – leaving the lodging knees and ledges until later.  This has helped with the pace.  The next picture shows a carling being fitted.

 

 

The carling seats were cut out at the bench based on marks made on the model with the beams pinned – so the carling fitting goes very fast.  The next picture is a close up of the carlings for the above beam.

 

 

The wet spots are from washing off excess glue.  The pillars are set at the bottom on a piece of wire fit into a drilled hole – after adjusting the length to fit.  They are then glued top and bottom.  Wire “bolts” into the top will be added later.  The pillars were offset to permit long through bolts that were used to hold the beams tightly when side hull stresses would tend to separate them.  In the next picture wire “bolts” have been epoxied through the beams at the ends and into each pillar.

 

 

The bolts at the very end pin the beams in place.  The bolts just inside of those are inserted at an angle, down into the hanging knees to give their connection additional reinforcement.  

 

The last two pictures show the current status of the work on the middle deck.

 

 

 

The work will now continue from the stern forward.  It is easier to do the small end beams starting from the stern deck hook.

 

 

 Ed

[druxey]

Lovely work - as always! Thank you for sharing, Ed.

[Mahuna]

Thanks Ed!  I was starting to go into YA withdrawal.

[michael mott]

beautifully precise workmanship Ed it is a joy to follow your progress.

 

Michael

[SawdustDave]

Amazingly beautiful work Ed. I don't know how you keep from getting dizzy just looking at all the busy cross members. Very impressive.

Dave

[dgbot]

What can I say but echo what every else is saying.

David B

[Trussben]

Perfect as always Ed.

 

Ben

[EdT]

Thank you all for these comments and "likes" - most appreciated.

 

Ed

[SJSoane]

 

Hi Ed,

 

I have been away, and just caught up with your build. Looking great!

 

Your comment about the pillars between decks reminds me: do you do anything in particular to ensure that they all line up when looked at in a longitudinal direction? I can imagine how slight variations in the drilled holes would let them meander a bit relative to each other.

 

Best wishes,

 

Mark

[EdT]

Hello Mark,

 

The pin holes that set the location of the pillars at the bottom are drilled into the centers of the planks on either side of the centerline and on the centers of the beams below. Then, when the pillar is fitted on the bottom pin the top is adjusted by eye wen glued - to the others and to be vertical in the fore and aft direction - again by eye. After the glue has set,the top pinholes are drilled down through the beam above into the top of the pillar. Nothing too fancy.

 

Ed

[SJSoane]

Thanks, Ed, that makes perfect sense.

[EdT]

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 78 –Middle Deck Framing continued

 

It has been almost another two weeks since the last post.  Again, the work is pretty repetitive – a carbon copy of the lower deck – but with fancier pillars.  Work continues, however.  At the bow, as seen in the first picture, the installation of lodging knees has begun.

 

 

This has provided something of a break in the hanging knee/beam work going on aft.  In the next picture lodging knee installation has been followed by the ledges and also the bolts associated with each beam.

 

 

Meanwhile, in the next picture, 240 feet aft, the deck hook at the stern has been fitted, followed by the first few beams.

 

 

The deck hook was made in two pieces to save Swiss pear trees.  That center seam will be covered by central deck planks as was done on the lower deck. 

 

As middle deck beams were installed, the aft view ports could be cut, as shown in the next picture.

 

 

There is only one level in view in these aft openings because the rising line is quite high this far back, so there is nothing much to see below the lower deck.  The last picture shows the current state of the middle deck beam work aft.

 

 

The work goes fast when I stay with it, but this time of the year there is much else to do.

 

 Ed

[ianmajor]

Beautiful work Ed.

 

I was struck by the aft view ports - to make them you have cut away some very nicely made joints. Those bits presumably will be discarded. This made me ponder on the fact that you will discarding work that is far superior to anything on my ship!

Edited August 12, 2014 by ianmajor

[SawdustDave]

Such fine work....simply amazing craftsmanship. A treat to watch.

Dave

[Maury S]

Ed, The view ports look great.  I bet you're pleased with the way they are coming out.

Maury

[druxey]

Ian: maybe you should offer to buy Ed's offcuts! Just don't try to pass them off as your own.

[EdT]

Thas, everyone.

 

Ian, it was painful to cut through those frames, but one must make choices and the alternative was for everything to be buried out of view forever - as was the case with much hard workon Naiad's magazine,et al.

 

Dave, by your new avatar it appears you have given up pirating.

 

Maury, I am pleased with the ports. There is more work to do in cleaning them up, but I need to invert the hull for that.

 

Druxey, believe me, no one would try to pass these scraps off as their own work, but thanks for defending my rights to them.

 

Spent most of themorning sharpening chisels so no measurable progress today.

 

Ed

[SawdustDave]

Still considered a blood thirsty pirate at the poker table Ed.....Arrrrgh!

[dgbot]

Ed, I could almost feel the ankiety undoing some of that great work you were doing but will be for a greater good.  As for sharpening, in what you are accomplishing a well honed chisel is a necessary tool.  And I would have to agree that Dave no longer looks like a bucaneer.  But he could be a very dangerous card player.

David B

[EdT]

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 79 –Middle Deck Framing continued

 

The middle deck framing continues.  The first picture shows the opening for the large water tank being framed.

 

 

The header between beams 16 and 20 has been installed and the half beam at 18 fitted temporarily.  The large 6000 gal fresh water tank will fill most of the space in this opening from its base in the hold to just under the main deck beams.

 

 In the next picture the hanging knee and the pillar under the half beam are in place and the half beam is ready to be installed.

 

 

The smaller 2000-gallon water tank will come up to just below this deck .  Its top will fit in the currently unframed opening between beams 16 and fourteen in the upper right of this picture.

 

In the next picture the pillar under the starboard half beam is being fitted for size.

 

 

The next picture shows this area looking down and aft.  The paired pillars on either side of the tank opening can be seen in this picture.

 

 

The next picture shows the extent of framing aft of midship completed to date.  One full beam and two pairs of half beams remain to be fitted – then the lodging knees and ledges.

 

 

Some of the lodging knees have been fitted at the aft end of the deck.  The last picture shows the stern view opening.  As mentioned earlier, this one shows only the space between the middle and lower decks.

 

 

The exposed ends of the frames have been fairly well squared off in this picture, but there is still finish sanding, etc to be done.  The outsides of the frames have been faired, but final sanding and finishing cannot be done until many more simulated bolts are installed.  Those in the picture are bolts for the deck clamps and for the heavy internal bilge ceiling.  Bolts for deck knees have not been installed yet.

 

 

 Ed

[SawdustDave]

Ed - Do you ever get dizziness from focusing into all those parallel timbers?

I would love to have the opportunity to examine your work in person. As great as your camera skills are, it's difficult to imagine how photographs could possibly do it justice.

 

I propose you invite us all over for a "show-and-tell" seminar.

 

Dave

Edited August 20, 2014 by SawdustDave

[Remcohe]

It's really amazing what you are doing Ed.

 

Remco

[michael mott]

 

It's really amazing what you are doing Ed.

Exactly!

 

Michael

[EdT]

Thanks, everyone.  As always, your compliments are very encouraging.  I wish the work were a little more varied, but at this stage there is a lot of deck framing to do and much of it looks alike.  I am beginning to appreciate that it is a large ship - but she was a beauty and I am glad to have chosen it for a model. 

 

Dave, the main thing I'm thinking when looking down through all those beams is - how did all that debris get into the hold and will I be able to get it out?

 

Cheers, all.

 

Ed

[druxey]

Getting fine debris out from below is an issue, Ed. A narrow home-made nozzle extension on a vacuum will only work to a point. My only other strategy is a tedious one: a dampened pointed brush and laboriously picking out particles, piece by piece. Anyone else have a better solution?

[michael mott]

Upside down and a fine jet from an airbrush or fine nozzle on an airline with the pressure just above atmospheric, should do the trick.

 

Michael