Pinas by rcweir - Kolderstok - Scale 1:50 - Cross-Section - Dutch 17th Century ship

[JacquesCousteau]

Very nice work! Personally I think having the upper deck mostly unplanked would look great and would really show off the framing.

[rcweir]

I've had a productive weekend so far, working on various details of the upper deck.   First, though it's not installed yet, is the staircase (or slanted ladder, if you will) from the lower to upper deck.  It wasn't hard to assemble, but I shaved the treads down to .5 mm (about 1/64"), so assembly was somewhat delicate.  Once glued up it has proven to be surprisingly sturdy.

Next is the capstan.    I still need to make the upper half of the barrel,  but the spindle, lower half of the barrel and its platform are all done.  Dutch (and Swedish) capstans of the 17th century seem to use two basic designs for the portion above deck.   The first kind is a simple cylinder.  The capstan illustrations from the Vasa in Fred Hocker's "Vasa", a nice drawing in Herman Ketting's "Prins Willem", and the Batavia plans all show this sort.   The Batavia's dimensions are roughly 4' high and 2' in diameter, with the diameter constant top to bottom.   The other kind has two cylinders of differing diameters, with the larger on top and smaller underneath.   Holes for the bars are in the upper portion and the line being worked is wrapped around the lower.    The two-diameter style is what the kit calls for, and I've also seen that kind on plans that are part of Ab Hoving's "17th Century Dutch Merchant Ships".   In both kinds of capstans the bar holes spiral down the barrel, so that successive bars aren't the same height above the deck. 

 

I am making my capstan in the second style, as the kit calls for.   The lower portion of mine is visible on the near end of the deck in the next photos (I haven't made the upper half yet).  

 

But now I will come to the point.  The kit's capstan design has battens on the upper barrel which spiral down on the same curve as the bar holes.   The few references that I have don't show that kind of decorative(?) detail and I'm dubious that I can add it in way that looks good.   So, at the moment,  I am inclined to skip the spiralling battens.    I think I will make a sample and see how it comes out, knowing that my references give me the leeway of taking an easier path.   Here are small photos of the three variants I'm talking about.  Left to right they are from Ketting, p. 51;   Hoving/Emke, Sheet 4 of Pinas Witsen plans; and the kit instructions.

 

In my previous post, #60 from 14 April, I mentioned the possibility of not planking the starboard side of the upper deck as called for in the instructions.   Yesterday that expanse of unplanked surface was looking pretty bare, so I came up with the idea of planking just the after 1/3 of the deck.    The next three photos show the model looking from aft with planks laid on the after 1/3 of (a) the starboard side, (b) both sides, and (c) the port side.    (Remember, the instructions say fully plank starboard.)   My vote is for (c) - that layout satisfies my desire for consistency by keeping the port side more finished, yet doesn't significantly obscure one's view of the lower deck when seen from the forward end of the model.

The last item for this report is just that I've shaped the lower portion of the mainmast, including the heel tenon.   Simple as it is,   I made a great advance with my Proxxon lathe doing this work, because I made the taper with regular carving tools rather than sandpaper.    Using a gouge to reduce diameter is much, much faster than sanding and a heck of a lot cleaner,  since the gouge produces (tiny) chips rather than dust.    I found that the Proxxon's toolrest was stable, the chuck and tailstock held the work firmly, and there was no vibration.  The lathe was securely fastened to the bench, of course.   It was also easy to make the lower section octagonal (by hand) with the mast in the lathe.    This experience will give me more confidence in using that lathe for future work.

Finally,  I'll add one photo taken from the bow that shows what the model will look like with the port side of the upper deck planked on the after portion.

I have started thinking about the display base, but have not made firm decisions yet.  I think, though, that it has to have a cover which I'll make myself out of plexiglass.

That's all for now.   Thanks for looking!

 

Bob

 

 

[rcweir]

This post is more about chisels than the model.    The capstan requires 1.5mm square through mortises for the bars and  I took that requirement as an opportunity to improve my tool set with some high quality itty-bitty chisels.    In my chisel search I didn't find any practical reviews and few useful images, which is why I'm posting this.

 

For the last several years I've used a set from Micromark (https://micromark.com/products/premier-elite-10-piece-micro-chisel-set?srsltid=AfmBOoo25HTv42qIr3vrm2I6f-pPAJdfx_ZCUUQOsFwwSeSSKkIMR4j5).   It's easy to complain about these chisels, but they served me pretty well to the extent they could.   The handles are good and they fit in my hand well, and there's a great variety of sizes at the very small end of the spectrum.  And I think they are priced reasonably for what they provide.  In fact, I don't know of any other source for chisels narrower than ~1.5mm.   But, ultimately, they don't fit the bill for a genuine micro equivalent of a real bench chisel.   A bench chisel has to take an edge, of course, but there's more: its back must be flat and its sides must be parallel.  Nobody's chisel, regardless of size, comes from the factory perfectly tuned, but the potential has to be there and it isn't with my old set.    

 

From some searching on MSW and a little googling,  my candidates for replacement were Kirschen's Two Cherries 1.5 mm chisel (https://twocherriesusa.com/product/micro-carving-tool-straight-chisel-octagonal-hornbeam-handle/) and the Flexcut 1.5 straight chisel (https://www.flexcut.com/home/product/mt11-116-1-5mm-micro-chisel?srsltid=AfmBOopeJrL74HjjF7cISoSlRGmPjaG7DdC1aEgpLCbbR6liTG1RayQW).    I didn't see anyone other than Micromark offering smaller sizes, but as it happened 1.5mm was the right size for my current need, so I ordered the Kirschen 1.5 mm ($60.00, free shipping) and the Flexcut 1.5 mm 6 chisel set ($104 from Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B016DBO1TK?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1).   Which may seem extravagant, but I figured the Flexcut set would prove useful and that one or the other of the two 1.5 mm straight chisels would be a good candidate to grind down to 1.0 mm, which is another size I think I have to have.

 

Both arrived quickly.   Pictures below.   These were taken after I'd done some tweaking on them, which is why you can see some honing marks.

 

 

The Kirschen's bevel is 25 degrees and the blade is 1.7 mm wide.   The blade length is 5.3 cm and the width is constant.   The handle is 1.5 cm diameter x 11 cm.  It feels good and, since it's octagonal, it won't roll around on the bench.  The blade bottom is flat (and can be made flatter when it's tuned up).   One thing I don't like is that the blade tapers vertically from 1.5 mm at the top of the bevel to 2.8 mm at the back end.   That means it can only fit about 3/4 cm into a square mortise.   Most of the time, though, the extra strength that the taper provides will not interfere with my use.    All in all, I think I'll get plenty of use from this chisel and I am sure that long blade will often be an important feature.

 

The Flexcut's bevel is 27 degrees, and its blade was the same 1.7 mm as the Kirschen.  Blade length is a short 1.7 cm and it tapers in the horizontal plane from 1.7 to about 2 mm.  I definitely object to that horizontal taper.   (What are they thinking to do that?) The vertical thickness is a steady 1.1 mm from the top of the bevel back to the handle.

 

The handle looks like a sausage and I did not expect to like it.    But I found this chisel surprisingly pleasant to hold and work with.   Working in close, with the chisel in one hand guided by fingers near the end of the blade, everything about it is comfortable and secure.   The ovoid cross section of that sausage means that it's easy to keep track of the blade's angle.     I've already ground the blade down to about 1.3mm wide and my intention is to take it to 1.0 mm and make the sides parallel.    I will get a second Flexcut, grind it to an actual 1.5 mm width and also make its sides parallel.

 

I'll conclude with a couple of pictures of the capstan piece that has mortises made from these chisels.

 

And that's all for now.  Thanks for looking, and I hope this information proves useful to some of you.

 

Bob