Echo by Maury S - FINISHED - Cross-Section

[TomShipModel]

Well done Maury.  The workmanship is beautiful.  I will get to mine at some point but between yours and Jim's I'm getting the urge to drop my present project.

[Maury S]

Now that we have more instructions and plans, I'm back to work on the section.  The sanding jig is a great idea.  The beams and arms all  have the same round-up shape top and bottom.  Cutting the tenons on the beam arms before they are cut to rough shape is easy on the table saw.  I assume we will cut the matching mortices on the beams the same way on the saw.  That way, they are all the same depth.  Careful marking will be very important when the time comes.  The second pic. shows the beams and arms at this stage.  Next comes marking the height of the ceiling planks, then trial placement.  Setting the beams in place is easy once you get the spacing jig cut right.  Next is drilling the ceilings for tree nails.

Maury

[Trussben]

Really nice work Maury, nice to see how you executed these parts.

 

Ben

[jml1083]

Hi Maury. I'm with Ben, very nice work indeed.

[dvm27]

Spot on work, as usual, Maury!

[druxey]

Good going, Maury. She's shaping up nicely.

[Maury S]

I finished the drilling for the treenails on the ceilings.  Two coats of Rustoleum Matte finish (water-based) Poly.  The reason for doing this now was discussed earlier.  I'm only going to put a few actual treenails in place for support.  Most holes are to be filled with MinWax colored putty and that would stain the un-finished wood.

I carefully lined up the tenons on the beam arms to cut the mortices in the beams.  Everything measured from the center-line...the inner ends of the arms are at a different distance from the center-line on the aft beam from the mid-beam according to the plan sheet.  Same technique as Greg recommends using the table saw and finishing with small files.  It took more filing than I thought (the saw blade was not quite high enough).  Good fit in the end.  There is a little extra tail on the arms so I have to measure carefully the final length.  I drilled holes in the arm tenons (barely visible on the upper arm in the photo) and will use black monofilament line to simulate bolts.  BIG Question for Greg...do we glue the arms to the beams now, or wait? 

Maury

[dvm27]

Hold off on gluing them in place, Maury. There's still much work to be done below. Having the upper deck beams and beam arms ready to go will help guide the placement of the various elements of the lower deck when the time comes

[druxey]

Greg is right: resist the temptation to permanently fix anything too soon. You mentioned that when cutting the scores in the beam arms the saw blade was too low. Much better to file the scores deeper than had the blade been set too high!

[Maury S]

Greg & Druxey, Thanks for the guidance.  I used my measuring stick to get the approximate length of the beam arms but I won't glue them yet.  Upper deck ceilings now treenailed and installed and ready for testing the fit of the beams.

Maury

[dvm27]

You are certainly set for the next installment, Maury. David and I will have to work faster!

[Maury S]

I'm patient. 

M

[Maury S]

Time to get back to work on the Echo Section.  First thing is to modify the well with ventilation holes per the new instructions.  Support is necessary behind the boards, so I cut a piece of scrap lumber to the inside dimensions of the well and then drilled 2" (to scale) holes.

Maury

[Trussben]

Great to see you off and running again Maurey!

 

Ben

[Maury S]

Thanks for all the "Likes".  Please feel free to offer any helpful hints as I go along.

I permanently installed the well, the three lower deck beams and the spirkiting (first plank above the waterway).  I cut a scrap as a test and a filler for the waterway.  I started with a beveled edge on one side then with the table saw ate away at one face to bring the thickness down to deck plank thickness (which is not given in the instructions but seems thinner than the 3" called for on the upper deck).  I over-did this part (took too much off) but that's what the exercise was for.  I sanded the angle on the waterway where it meets the spirkiting so everything fits well.   I also made and installed the pillar at the dead-flat.

On to the bitts!  These will certainly be a challenge.

Maury

[dvm27]

Very sweet work, Maury

[druxey]

I agree with Greg. Your model is progressing very nicely, Maury.

[Rustyj]

Beautiful work Maury. Well done.

[Maury S]

Bitts:  I'm going to use the Byrnes table saw for much of the bitts construction.  Planning is important!  I printed out the new Bitts Illustration page from Admiralty's web site at 200% scale.  This is so I can take better measurements from the plans, then convert to scaled inches.  See the picture below.  I measured every "critical" element (height of section, width of section, depth of cut, etc. so when I start to actually cut wood I can set up the saw fence and blade depth properly.  The order of cuts might be important as well.  This will be a good exercise and I'm going to cut extra pieces per Greg's suggestion.

Maury

Edited January 19, 2014 by Maurys

[Maury S]

Cutting the bitts...

Starting with 1/4" square stock, I sanded to 10 1/4" square.   I cut the tenons at the tops of the bitts by running all four sides over the saw blade set to a proper  blade depth and fence setting.   I think I need to cut the tenons down a bit still. 

The jeer bitts do not have a tenon on the bottom and the brace bitts need special attention.  Because of the taper on the brace bitt, the tenon is not centered on the 10 - 1/4" stock, but centered after the taper.  I ran the pieces over the blade for the sides, but the fore and aft sides were done by reducing the depth of cut on the aft-side  and increasing it on the fore-side.  (I love the flexibility I get with the Byrnes table saw and I'm using Thurston slitting blades for the first time!).  I then cut the notch at the bottom of the jeer bit, and put them on the model so I could measurre from the lower deck beams to the uppers and mark the notches over the beams.  They were cut, then I made cuts at various depths to mark the ends of the several tapers.  Planning ahead really helps here.  Next step is to cut the tapers.  I made one mistake in cutting the ends of the tapers and had to re-do two of the brace bits...more experience.

Maury

 

Edited August 22, 2015 by Dan Vadas

[Maury S]

I drilled the holes for the sheaves (.04") and the axles (.02") while the bitts were still 4-square.  Then I paired the bitts in the vise and cut the tapers with a chisel, finishing off with 100 and 220 grit sand paper.  More work needs to be done on the sheaves.

Maury

[dvm27]

Very nice Maury. The bits are an excellent exercise in planning, machining and hand finishing. A lot of though goes into the sequence of construction.

[Maury S]

Thanks Greg.  A lot of planning, measuring, and trial cuts were involved.  I messed up a few, but I got better in the process.  (love that saw).  I took on the cheeks this morning follow Greg's illustration.  I cut a strip to size, sanded it to thickness and then took a series of small progressive cuts to make the top design, then flipped it over to mortice out the slot for the sheaves.  All done with a -032 thick slitting blade.  It meant many passes to cut the mortice, but probably less time than changing to a ticker blade.  I now have apiece 8" long to cut four sections less than 1/4" each.  Now to make the sheaves.  I don't have a lathe so it will be some pieces spun on the end of a drill.

Maury

[Maury S]

The sheaves were cut from a thinned-down piece of 1/4" dowel.   Glued in the mortise and then set on the bitts at a point above the allowance for the 3" deck planks.  The sheaves in the cheeks do not line up with the ones in the bitts.  I'm guessing that is an error in measuring along the way.

Maury

[mtaylor]

You can point out the problem... I see none.  But this still deserves a "wow!!!". 

[Maury S]

Thanks Mark and all the "Likes".  If you look at the bitts on the right, the axis of the sets of sheaves does not line up.  Not sure whether this is an error, but I expect the sheaves inside the bits and the ones in the cheek would be on the same axis.  Comments?

Maury

[dvm27]

They should indeed line up. Maury. The bottom of the cheek block should be 3" above the beam and would sit directly onto the 3" deck planking. Perhaps you placed the sheaves for the main brace bit pins too low?

[Maury S]

As I suspected.  I took measurements off the plans and did not adjust for the inevitable variations in the model.  Re-doing the brace bitts making those adjustments.  Thanks for the input.

Maury

[Maury S]

Bitts are re-done.  Sheaves line up on same axis.  This time I drilled and cut the sheaves in the bitt after I installed the cheeks.  Cheeks are 3"+ above the top of the deck beam notch to allow for the planking.

Maury

[druxey]

Worth the time to re-do, Maury! Those look much better.