Harriet McGregor by Boccherini

[Boccherini]

Lower masts are ready for next step.   I'm hoping the pictures load right way up this time.......which they did. It seems which side of the camera is up makes all the difference.

 

Grant.

 

[wefalck]

Just discovered this log - beautiful wood- and metal-work indeed. Will keep following further progress !

[Boccherini]

Thanks Wefalk.

started working on the tops. At least one of the pictures is the right way up. I need to figure out why the pictures get inverted between my folder and the uploads.

 

Edited February 12, 2021 by Boccherini

[Tony Hunt]

Lovely tight joinery!

[Boccherini]

Thanks for your interest Tony.

I've planked the tops, and made an ''iron'' rim for the mizzen top.

The rim was awkward, I brazed one end whilst flat on a fire proof sheet, then set the rim in a vice with wire to hold everything in place to complete the joint. Ended up having to re solder the opposite end to obtain the extra length to get it to fit the top. It's a good thing there was a bit spare to allow the adjustment.

I've ditched the phone and replaced it with my trusty, old 8MP Canon, so no more weird uploads.

Grant.

Edited March 15, 2021 by Boccherini

[Tony Hunt]

Looking good. Worth the trouble!

 

[Boccherini]

Thanks for your comment Tony.

I've decided to make a batch of blocks, there is a need for some for the bunt lines under the tops. There is still a reasonable supply of the lemon wood to work with. All the preliminary work was done with the mill, the rest is just old school: file, sand, cut and sand. The end result is not too shabby.

One of the "problems" with this hobby are the rabbit holes. Just when I get on a roll, I start to wonder if an additional piece of machinery might help. Work then stops to accommodate the new fixation.......in this case, a block tumbler.

 

Edited May 3, 2021 by Boccherini

[wefalck]

I know these rabbit holes all too well ...

 

Looking good the blocks, so the tumbler works. If you have a file fine enough, or some diamond-coated round fret-saw blade or a very sharp chisel, I would round off the edges of the holes to simulate the sheaves. It looks better, when the ropes don't come out of the holes with a sharp bend.

[Boccherini]

Wefalk,

thanks for the suggestion. I've previously tried a home made chisel (from the shaft of a broken 0.5mm drill bit), I found it awkward to use effectively. The diamond  coated blade sounds like a good idea. None of my jewellers files are small enough. The tapered tips are ok, but they become too large too quickly for comfortable use. Any suggestions on where to purchase the diamond blades? I've found some blades for a jewellers fret saw, though they appear to be a rare item.

The block tumbler has worked out quite well. I based the design on Grant's (gjdale) version, with a few variations. There were a couple of flanged bearings (left over from a rope walk built several years ago) that came in handy. 65mm sewer pipe and some glue on caps provided the body and ends. The caps are not permanently fixed, the pipe ends were sanded down to allow the caps to 'slip fit'. I've used 3 grades of sandpaper: 180, 240 and 320. The drill powered set up with miscellaneous bits of packing and a vice for support will be temporary.....eventually. I'd rather be modelling.

 

 

 

Edited May 5, 2021 by Boccherini

[wefalck]

The shackle looks nice as well !

 

I meant this kind of saw blade: https://www.ebay.de/itm/201975383662?hash=item2f06abc66e:g:GC4AAOSw-29ZWxFd

 

It is sold by the metre in various diameters from 0.26 mm upward for fretsaw work on semi-precious stones. They are not cheap though, 8€ to 10€ the metre, but you can hold it in an (older, as diamond may mar the jaws) pin-vise.

[Boccherini]

Thanks for the information Wefalk.

[Boccherini]

Further progress. Not sure of the correct terminology for the top two pieces, they support the gooseneck for the spanker boom. The other piece is the lower mizzen spider band.

[Boccherini]

The spider band for belaying pins created some difficulty. Forming the rings and stem out of 1 piece of wire didn't work out well. The 2nd attempt was kinda complicated, but it worked.

 

 

 

 

It required an 8mm thick piece of steel to act as a heat sink to protect the rest of the assembly whilst soldering the rings.

 

 

A comparison between the 2 methods.

 

 

Cleaned up, blacked and in place with the rest of the mizzen "iron work".

 

 

 

I'm now officially fed up with my trusty butane torch, controlling the flame/heat is too difficult for this work. There were moments when it appeared everything was about to melt. I'm starting to look at a Smith Little Torch or one of the cheaper copies.

 

Grant.

 

Edited July 12, 2021 by Boccherini

[wefalck]

How are you going to make the belaying pins ?

 

I am going to have the same problem in the not too distant future - but an order of magnitude smaller I gues. What I have been thinking of, is to turn the belaying pins and their sockets in one piece - this safes me drilling the tiny (0.25 mm) holes for the pins. The belaying pin then will be cross-drilled half-way for the stems and the stems soldered in. Not sure, whether I can hard-solder such small parts with equipment without melting everything.

[Tony Hunt]

It's looking really good Grant. A beautiful little model of a beautiful little barque.

[Boccherini]

Thanks Tony.

Wefalk,

I don't envy you working on such tiny stuff. My belaying pins are 0.5mm for the pins and 0.8mm for the head. I tried drilling 0.5mm holes in 1mm wire using the Proxxon mill. It cost 3 drill bits to do 30 pieces. The next batch will be done on the lathe, might work better. After brazing the bits together, I intend to try and shape the head with files holding an extended head piece in a collet on the lathe. I have no idea how well this will work as yet, as it will be a delicate operation. Apologies if I've not explained this process in a way that's clearly understandable.

Underhill filed his belaying pins while his friend was working a hand drill. I expect he was using wood rather than copper. Thank God for reasonably priced, mass produced power tools, I don't have any friends that obliging.

I've decided to purchase a genuine Smith Little Torch, too many potential problems with the Chinese knock offs.

 

Grant.

[Boccherini]

This hobby can be frustrating at times. Two issues have recently set me back, i) the need to be several steps ahead in your thinking, ii) check your measurements (a variation on measure twice, cut once).

I made the assumption the gaff was hauled up. It is in fact meant to be fixed in place like the boom, the shrouds obscured this detail on my plans. I had, of course permanently fixed all the pieces on the mast, making it an awkward job.

I forgot to check the wire diameter for the mizzen deadeye strops, and used .6mm wire instead of .5mm. It doesn't sound like much, but it looked way out of proportion.

The gaff blunder and fix:

 

 

 

Re doing the strops turned out to be a great way to become familiar with the latest addition to the workshop, a Smith Little Torch. The ability to control and localize the heat makes this work easier, uses less solder and makes a neater job.

 

 

 

 

[Boccherini]

A happy and prosperous 2022 to all and sundry.

I have entered the terminal phase of life.......retirement. I celebrated this by staining the starboard side (this will be the "dark" side when it's finally displayed) of the hull, the result is quite pleasing. I won't have to paint the inboard bulwark planking white as there was no bleeding through the planking.

 

 

I've been dragging my feet over cutting the slots for the mizzen chainplates, not being sure about how to proceed. Finally settled on taking one section of timber out, rather than seven small notches, I think the repair this way is probably neater and easier. Mr Underhill suggested the other option.

 

 

Regards,

Grant.

 

 

[Tony Hunt]

Congratulations on your retirement Grant, I just took the same plunge. Happy days!

 

Harriet M is looking good.

[Boccherini]

Happy days indeed. Thanks. Congratulations to you also.

[rwiederrich]

Beautiful work indeed.

 

Rob

[Jim Lad]

Just catching up.  She's growing into a really beautiful model.

 

John

[Boccherini]

Rob & John,

thanks.

 

Regards,

Grant.

[Boccherini]

Chain plate cleats.....

My initial thought was to cut/file them from 0.25mm brass sheet. Fiddly, awkward and an inconsistent end product. Browsing EdT's Young America build provided some inspiration. The technique is a work in progress, about half of the first batch are acceptable.

The brass discs were turned from scrap brass, found some scrap copper wire of the correct diameter late in the process. All the pieces are 0.5mm thickness.

 

 

The pieces were brazed together using a solder pick thingy to stabilize the assembly.

 

 

 

My thanks to EdT for his filing gauge idea.

 

 

I used too much solder paste. It ended up adding an additional 0.2mm to the width of the copper piece between the discs also to the diameter of the discs.  Cleaned up, drilled, bent and blackened.

 

 

The process needs some adjustments, the next batch should be better.

 

 

[Boccherini]

I've had a productive 7-8 months, enjoying being retired. I'm currently out of the workshop for a couple of weeks, recovering from a hip replacement, I'll use the time bring the log up to date. Apologies for the dodgy photography.

 

Deadeyes, strops and chainplates.

All the pieces were made at various times over the last year or more.

I needed a jig to hold the assembled pieces while securing them.

The pins were cut off 0.5mm past the strop, then centre punched to spread out the end,

then domed by using a small diameter nail punch.

The finished assemblies after touching up the blacking.

It is hard to pick up the "cheat" used to fix them together. The strops are loose enough to allow the deadeyes to rotate as needed.

 

Grant.

 

 

 

 

 

[Boccherini]

Installing the deadeyes/chainplates for the mizzen mast had been holding  up progress for some time. The only option was to cut slots and hope the damage could be hidden.

I was not happy with the first batch of chainplate cleats, the new ones are significantly better. Domed fixings for the chainplates/cleats proved easier than expected. 1mm copper tube with an internal diameter of 0.5mm brazed onto 0.5mm wire, trim/file down to 0.5mm thickness.

 

The dome was created using a small nail punch with the fixing held in a steel plate.

It all worked out better than expected.😁

Grant.

 

 

[wefalck]

Quite a way of making round-head pins ... I used to chuck up brass pins into my handheld electric drill and shaped the head with files (now I do it on the lathe ...).

[Boccherini]

Wefalk,

interesting idea, I'll look in to that. I tried using copper wire in the lathe, epic fail. Most bent under the pressure of the file. This is reasonably idiot proof. Heating something then hitting it doesn't leave much room for error. The only drawback is limited size options.

Balustrades and rails

After spending the time and effort in making the first profile, I re-discovered Rule #1 for profiles: it must be a "negative". I used part of an old hacksaw blade for the profile. The dowel in the collet is 4mm, turned down to 2.9mm prior to shaping. The first 10 or so self destructed before I got the hang of the process.

All the pieces were cut off slightly longer than required, sealed with a coat of poly and drilled to take a 0.5mm copper wire pin.

I made a cheap nasty jig to hold the pieces while squaring the ends and making the lengths identical.

And another jig to give the balustrades the correct angle top and bottom. The copper wire was epoxied into the balustrades at this point.

I really do like laser levels.

The back board is perpendicular to the keel, the vertical lines helped to set vertical in the other plane. It's not 100% with my eyesight, but acceptable. The hand  drilled holes in the lower rail were slightly larger than the wire to give a bit of wobble room, aided by the flexible copper wire, everything worked out ok. They could only be done in pairs, I had to wait for the epoxy to set before moving on. Slow process.

Quite pleased with the end result.

Grant.

 

[wefalck]

Yep, jigs are a 'professional' approach to making and installing things (though personally I am often too lazy to do it ...).

 

Copper wire is indeed too soft normally to be turned. One can try to strech it to 'work-harden' it by holding one end in a vice and give it a jerk with pliers. However, it general it is difficult to work on leghts greater than two times the diameter. The same applies to most brass. I found that using small brass-nails as starting material helps - the nails are sort of drop-forged and this hardens the material.

 

The general recommendation is to not turn unsupported pieces that overhang more than three times the diameter. With steel you can get away with more, with copper a lot less and brass or wood are somewhere in between. For longer workpieces one needs a dead centre in the tailstock or a fixed steady.

 

A question: did you use the template to form-turn the balustres or just to control the shape, while turning with a normal tool? I am asking, because you seem to have it mounted to the rear.

 

[Roger Pellett]

My technique for turning very small items.

 

1. My standard material is brass.  A brass belaying pin painted brown looks much better than an over scale wooden one.

 

2. I use collet chucks to hold brass rod.  I let the unused portion of the rod pass into the hole in the headstock spindle.  Although expensive, I find collet checks to be necessary for the work that we do.

 

3.  I feed a very short section of rod to be turned from the collet and turn it to the required diameter.  I then turn off the lathe and feed out a little more to be turned to the same diameter.  By turning the rod in very short steps, you are never trying to turn long unsupported lengths of material.

 

Roger