Lettie G Howard by captainbob - FINISHED - 1:48 - POB - schooner

[captainbob]

Thanks Keith.

[captainbob]

So now it’s time to attach the chain plates and deadeyes.   To do that, I will need sixteen 1/8” (about 3mm) deadeyes.  Yes, I could buy them but where’s the fun in that?  Some time ago I remember seeing a jig a forum member had made to make deadeyes.  So working from memory this is my, I think, third jig.  You don’t want to see the first two. 

 

First on a .005” brass strip I used for a template, I drew a 1/8” diameter circle and located three .020” holes.  My second try looked OK.  I had a scrap of hard wood, (I don’t know woods but I think it is rosewood.) 1/16” thick, I drilled a tight fit 1/8” hole in it to hold the deadeye while drilling the lanyard holes.  All this was mounted to a piece of scrap wood.

 

The first wood I tried for the deadeyes was too soft and fell apart after drilling.  So I turned a piece of straight grained walnut (I do know some woods) before my lathe quit, to 1/8” and it worked fine.    Being held together by a single screw you drop in the blank, pivot the holder over the base and drill one hole.  Then, I found out the hard way, put a pin in that first hole to hold the deadeye in place as you drill the other two holes. 

 

That’s it, and now I have to do it again.  I need four .09” diameter deadeyes.  Oh well.

 

Bob

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jim Lad]

Way to go, Bob!

 

John

[dgbot]

Way to go. I hope your lathe is not down permanently.

David B

[russ]

Bob:

Nice work on the deadeyes. That is a lot like the one I use, but yours is much nicer.

 

Russ

[Paul Salomone]

Hello Bob,

 

Your schooner is getting along quite well.

 

The brass pieces are very neat indeed. Just one question. What method do you use to bend the brass?

[captainbob]

Thanks Paul.  It’s nice to see you back on the forum.

 As for bending the brass I mainly use three tools.

1. A pair of Jeweler’s pliers with a smooth clamping face so it does not mar the brass. 
2. A pair of round nose pliers that I modified by filing down one side to a smaller diameter. 
3. I made a hammer from a 3/4” diameter piece of delrin plastic. 

Bob

 

 

 

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[dgbot]

Nice techinique.

David B

[Mirabell61]

Bob,

 

nice method of doing the deadeyes, respect, but lots of spanning, drilling and Fixing work....

Question, why do These yourself, is it because of "throughout scratch build" ?

 

Nils

[Paul Salomone]

Good evening Bob, 

 

Thanks for the tip. Can surely use your technique on my build, especially for the rigging.

 

You will be very surprised with the amount of rigging, the Scharnhorst had. Nobody would ever image it, when considering that it was a WW2 heavy battle cruiser.

[captainbob]

Nils,  Ah yes, why?  I could have bought them off the web for a lot less than the time I spent making them.  I guess there are two reasons.  First I didn’t have any the right size and didn’t want to wait to receive them in the mail.  And secondly it was just to see if I could.

 

Paul, glad I can be of help.

 

Bob

 

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Edited April 10, 2014 by Cap'n'Bob

[popeye the sailor]

that's a cool way of making dead eyes.......I could have used that for the 3.5's for the goth..... I guess it's much in the same way I made the hearts for the goth.....and very much for the same reason.

[michael mott]

Very nice work on the dead eyes Bob.

Keith thanks for posting those links about the pilots.

 

michael

[Mirabell61]

Nils,  Ah yes, why?  I could have bought them off the web for a lot less than the time I spent making them.  I guess there are two reasons.  First I didn’t have any the right size and didn’t want to wait to receive them in the mail.  And secondly it was just to see if I could.

 

Paul, glad I can be of help.

 

Bob

Nice answer Bob,

 

that ist he true model builder speaking...

well done !

 

Nils

[captainbob]

Popeye, Michael, Nils.  Thank you all.

 

Bob

[Walter Biles]

Hi Bob, I was just catching up in your Lettie C Howard log.

 

Most of your pix are missing from what I could see.  I thought you'd like to know. 

 

Best of the day to you.   Walt

[captainbob]

Walt,

 

Thanks for letting me know about the pictures.  I think I have them fixed now.

 

Bob

[captainbob]

Ah, the problems we create for ourselves in this joyous game we call ship modeling. 

 

Now I needed to make the chain plates and deadeye straps to go with the deadeyes I made last week.  That was the problem.  I tried to soft solder the wires for the deadeye straps, but as I bent the wire around the deadeye the solder joint broke.  I needed to silver solder.  I had not silver soldered since I was a teenager.  So I dug out a torch, some silver solder and some flux and melted a few inches of wire.  Finally, like riding a bicycle, the memories returned and I soldered the rings.  I bent the wire with the solder spot in the wrong place.  Placed the wire around the deadeyes and fastened them to the chain plates.  The more I looked at them the more I didn’t like them.  The solder spots were harder than the wire and did not bend the same and as I forced them around the deadeyes the deadeyes started to fall apart.  What a mess!  So, as I had told so many others, it was time to start over.

 

I went back to the start and made a new jig to drill the deadeye holes.  Rather than evenly spaced I placed the holes, two on the diameter and one at right angle to them.  I also made them out of harder wood.  This time when I soldered the wire I used less solder.  And when I bent the wires I was more careful as to where the solder spot was.  These were much better.  These I can use.  So I did.  I mounted them with only one pin at this time so they can pivit to the correct angle when I do the rigging.  Then I will put in the second pin.

 

The first two pictures are of the bad parts.

 

Bob

 

Solder spots in the wrong place.

 

You can see the flats on the wires crushing into the deadeyes.

 

Good parts

 

Jig for shaping straps

 

Good assemblies

 

Mounted

[russ]

Good looking chain plates. I am in the process of doing the same thing for my current project. Nice work on yours.

 

Russ

[michael mott]

the perseverance pays in the end, nice work Bob.

 

Michael

[Jim Lad]

Perseverance pays off!  Nicely done, Bob!

 

John

[Bedford]

That's the joy of scratch building isn't it?

 

Nicely done.

[Walter Biles]

Glad to see you back at the table Bob.  Keep working away at it.  Hope all is well with you and the Admiral.  I have been busy with other things these past weeks.  Of course XP was all of my systems, and the only one upgradable was too broken down and slow to put more money into.  Then the New in-expensive Windows 8 has already gone into the Shop condition-wise, so it wasn't so inexpensive after all.  My son, on my pleading, is coming up next weekend to hopefully fix and stabilize the new one.  He has been in that business for many years now, starting with Microsoft just awhile out of school.  Anyway, I have been too busy to do anything on my boat(s?).  I have been doing some reading on the Constitution book.  There is an awful lot in that Anatomy of a Ship book.  I was doing some CAD updating on my boat, but that is about all.  Keep up the good work, Bob.

 

Walt

Edited April 22, 2014 by Walter Biles

[dgbot]

Similr to the way I did mine good job.

David B

[themadchemist]

As I contemplate the construction of the upper chain and deadeye interface for my build I worry about the exact problem you had.

I'm so glad to the members of MSW that are willing to share the struggles as well as the solutions around those problems, It makes life easier for those of us doing it the first time.

 

Not that I'm saying I'll get it on the first try now, but rather it instills the cold hard fact that in scratching an assembly that even the masters of this art with many wonderful builds under their belt, still have issues and do-overs are just a part of a learning curve that just seems to be an integral part of this hobby.

 

Thanks for sharing, I like the design of your chains. It makes me wonder if I should reconsider how I construct mine. 

[Mirabell61]

Bob

 

lovely to read your own comments on your Trial and then mastery built deadeye straps. They look great and besides that you dicovered and used the silver solder procedure again....

Well done !

 

Nils

[captainbob]

Russ, Michael, John, Walt, David, Keith, Nils,

 

Thanks to all of you, and thanks to the likes.  Long ago I was told by another modeler, “If your scrap bin doesn’t outweigh the boat you’re not trying hard enough”.  As for the silver solder I used to enjoy it and I’m glad I was forced to use it again.

 

Bob

[popeye the sailor]

nice work with the straps and dead eyes. they look great on the ship

[captainbob]

Thanks Popeye.

 

Bob

[Elia]

Bob,

 

Very nicely formed strops and chainplate assemblies. Those are some details and smartly complement your schooner.

 

Cheers,

 

Elia