Harriet McGregor by Boccherini

[captainbob]

Beautiful.

 

Bob

[michael mott]

Great clean soldering there Grant.

 

Michael

[Boccherini]

Thanks for the comments and likes, gentlemen. Finally had time to finish the capstan. I had a bit of trouble with the Blacken It, took 3 attempts to get it right. This has never happened before. 24 hours after the second attempt, there were large patches of of a pale green powder, which rubbed off easily enough, but the rubbing caused some of the blacking to flake off.

 

 

Grant.

 

 

[dgbot]

Well done.  Green powder?  What was the capstain made from? 

David B

[Boccherini]

Thanks David. The powdery residue is probably from the Blacken it, maybe I did not rinse it sufficiently after immersion. Capstan consists of copper and brass parts.

 

Regards,

Grant.

[dgbot]

Sounds like the part got a little dirty after cleaning.

David B

[Boccherini]

You're probably right, scrubbing in acetone worked eventually.

 

Grant.

[Boccherini]

I have no idea of the name for these parts added, but it's one less fiddly project completed.

 

 

Grant.

[Omega1234]

Hi Grant.  The quality of your workmanship is outstanding and a joy to see.  Well done!

 

All the best!

[Mahuna]

Hi Grant - I just came across your build log.  Beautiful work.  I'm partial to the commercial ships of the 1800's and will be following your progress.

 

Frank

[dgbot]

Nice work Grant. 

David B

[russ]

I have always heard that sort of piece referred to as a splash rail, but I am not sure if that applies to larger vessels like this. Nice work though.

 

Russ

[bolster55]

Hi,

The Harriet McGregor was also known as the red gum clipper.

The captain, from 1874 to 1888 was captain Alex Leslie. His wife was also onboard and they raised 4 of their six children on the Harriet.

The Harriet McGregor was built from red gum but the decks were from NZ Kauri.

Length of keel 121ft

Between perpendiculars 134.2ft

Beam 27.6ft

Depth 15.9ft

and registered tonnage was 331 tons.

All the above and much more from, "A Staunch Ship's Sea Story" by J.E. Philp Hobart 1934

 

Regards

[kees de mol]

Beautifull deckinlay. Nice job

[Boccherini]

Been off with the fairies for eight months, thanks for the comments, my apologies for not responding earlier. Hey bolster55, thanks for the information, is the book about the Harriet McGregor, or is she just part of it?

Pin rails were made up in 3 sections a side with scarfed joints.

 

 

Grant.

 

 

[captainbob]

Glad you're back and nice to see more work on the Harriet McGregor.

 

Bob

[Jim Lad]

Welcome back, mate!

 

John

[Boccherini]

Bob, John,

thanks, it's good to be back in the workshop.

 

Regards,

Grant.

[Boccherini]

I thought it prudent to make and install the bulwark fairleads for the sheets from the main and fore courses before fixing the pinrails. The sheaves are 1.4mm dia x 0.9mm thick, turning them on the lathe was not difficult, finishing them off proved to be quite fiddly. Holding them in a wire eye in pliers made things easier.

I am not sure as to the correct size of the fairlead assembly, lacking any specifications. I have tacked a prototype to the bulwark (prior to cutting it in), to get an idea of the proportions. Could anyone with knowledge of these things let me know if it looks about right.

Given the era (1860's), is it possible the sheave would be in an iron housing bolted to the bulwark?

 

Grant.

 

[Mirabell61]

Beautiful work on the hull Grant,

 

This is going to be a very fine ship. What did you use as plates for the coppering ? perhaps copper tape ?

Well done !

 

Nils

[Boccherini]

Thanks Nils. The pieces were cut from a sheet of copper foil and stuck on with contact cement.

 

Regards,

Grant.

[Mirabell61]

thanks Grant,

 

very neat coppering work, good Job !

 

Nils

[Boccherini]

Thanks Nils.

The cap rails are now fitted and pinned in place. Like the pin rails, they were made in 3 sections with scarfed joints. These won't be permanently fixed until the slots to accommodate the deadeye straps have been cut in. I'm thinking this might be easier done off the model.

 

 

I have made a prototype deadeye/strap assembly. Currently busy making deadeyes.

 

 

Grant.

[Boccherini]

The dead eyes are made from lemon wood harvested from a tree cut down 7 years ago to make way for an extension to the house. It was quarter sawn, the ends dipped in wax, then left to dry in my workshop. The pieces used didn't warp too much, and were surprisingly easy to roughly square with a hand plane, then finish on the table saw. 

 

 

"Rounding" the square section timber was done in a simple jig using a thumb plane. The pieces ended up as 16 sided, and rounded enough to fit into the collets on the lathe.

 

[Boccherini]

The dead eyes were rough formed with a shaped cutting tool and finished off with small files.

 

 

I initially tried drilling the dead eyes in the traditional fashion, without much success. The mill provided a solution, using the dividing head with timber posts turned to fit inside providing support whilst drilling. The top of the post are a slightly smaller diameter than the dead eyes, allowing the jaws to hold them firmly. The larger dead eyes are 4.9mm dia, and the smaller 4.1mm dia..

 

 

Grant.

 

 

[Boccherini]

It's only been 5 years. Happy new year to all. I've started on the masts. There were some other photos, but they kept uploading upside down. Anyone know why this would happen?

Grant.

 

 

 

Edited January 1, 2021 by Boccherini
Photos upside down

[Jim Lad]

Hey, what's five years between friends! 

 

Welcome home, mate.

 

John

[Tony Hunt]

Happy New Year Grant. I've long admired Underhill's plans for the Harriet McGregor, so it's great to see a model of her being built. Particularly as it is such a lovely piece of craftsmanship, too!

 

By the way, the book about the Harriet that was briefly referred to is available on-line thanks to the Sate Library of Victoria - see http://digital.slv.vic.gov.au/view/action/singleViewer.do?dvs=1609571372804~241&locale=en_US&metadata_object_ratio=10&show_metadata=true&VIEWER_URL=/view/action/singleViewer.do?&preferred_usage_type=VIEW_MAIN&DELIVERY_RULE_ID=10&frameId=1&usePid1=true&usePid2=true

 

Cheers

 

Tony

[Boccherini]

Thanks John, good to see you're still here.

Tony,

thanks. I tried the link, the only response: "An error has occurred" above a blank page. I tried going to the digital collections and searching the books name, and received a no response message. 

Looking a bit further, it appears I need to become a member. I'll go down that route later.

Thanks again.

 

Regards,

Grant.

[Tony Hunt]

Hi Grant

 

I guess the link timed out. Never mind, you shouldn't need a membership - I don't have one! 😁

 

I got there simply by typing "A Staunch Ship's Sea Story" into the Google search bar. The first link that came up took me straight to the SLV on-line version of the book.

 

Don't get too excited though, it's a pretty "old school" volume, typical of its time. Interesting, but I doubt it will help much with the model.

 

Cheers

 

Tony