Harriet McGregor by Boccherini

[Boccherini]

Thanks Keith.

 

[Boccherini]

Workshop is temporarily out of action for a long overdue clean up. Time to catch up on the log.

Mizzen top stuff up

Too much time was spent making things from drawings in "Masting & Rigging......" without referencing the rigging plan. This shows a top.....without deadeyes and shrouds for the top mast. Several people kindly provided some pictures that appear to show a single shroud either side. Any attempt to magnify the pictures for some definitive answer were pixelated into obscurity. My eyesight, not being what it used to be, was not helpful.

I've run with what appears to be the easiest solution. A cut through the trestle trees just shy of the bottom left a sliver that peeled off thanks to isopropanol. Then a rebuild of the top with a single spreader.

 

 

End result is most satisfactory.

Grant.

[Boccherini]

Deckhouses:

These were built in a similar fashion to the wheelhouse

 

 

Grant.

[Tony Hunt]

It's really starting to look shippy, isn't it?  Nice save on the mizzen top.  

[Glen McGuire]

Beautiful work, Grant!

[Boccherini]

Thanks Tony,

"shippy" 😄.  What was once vacant space is quickly filling.

 

Thanks Glen.

 

Strops for blocks:

 I made a couple of "forms" out of brass to keep the strops basically identical. The "slot" in the top form is redundant, just the first version in the development of the idea. The join was always on a side, to allow for brazing the eyes on either end as needed. The eye and the top of the strop was cut through after brazing, allowing the strop to be opened up sufficiently to slide over the block. It was then pinched closed, completing the job. It was easiest to thread several strops onto a jeweller's saw, prior to clamping and cutting.  There were slight variations the size of my hand made blocks, I can live with the minor imperfections this caused. Apologies for the picture quality.

 

Attaching the stropped blocks to the jack stay created a problem, too many brazed joints in close proximity for my skill level to cope with. It worked out easier to braze only one side of the shackle, then open and close it over the eye on the jack stay. This is difficult to see without magnification, if the unbrazed joint is on the mast side of the jack stay, no one will notice.

 

 

Grant.

 

[Boccherini]

Where I'm currently at:

Note to self: stay focused while shaping masts.

This started a series of mistakes, it took 3 attempts to arrive at the finished items. The second pair were correct.....until I followed Underhill's advice to check the sizing of the mast above before committing yourself on the lower one. I'm becoming quite proficient at manufacturing masts from square stock as a result.

The "lug" on the cap for the crane caused some problems, snapping three 0.5mm bits or off centre holes on the underside while trying to drill holes for the crane pins. Drilling 1.04mm holes through the brass and brazing in 1mm tube sleeves with 0.5mm ID worked a treat.

 

 

Grant.

 

 

[wefalck]

Looking good after those challenges !

[Boccherini]

Thanks Wefalk.

[Boccherini]

It's been a busy couple of months, heaps of progress.

Pin and cap rails installed, lower masts completed, lower yards shaped.

The steps up to the poop deck don't look right from some angles, very awkward to get right as the decks run off in different directions, nothing is nice and level or square.

The size of the lower yards surprised me. They extend past the rails 5-6m either side.

I've noticed a nasty problem with the 2 lower fore stays from the main mast. The rigging plan shows them running under cleats on the fore mast then to their deck fixing UNDER the forecastle deck. Just to complicate things, there is a windlass for the stays to go over. This is what happens when you start something with no real idea of what you're doing. Another "teaching moment".

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grant.

[Ian_Grant]

Beautiful work.

[KeithAug]

Very smart looking model Grant. Excellent work.

[Roger Pellett]

Very nice

 

 

[Boccherini]

Thanks for the encouragement gentlemen.

Further progress, deadeyes and chainplates:

 

 

I'm not sure about the size of the blocks for the lower yard lifts, they look a little large......maybe? They are the correct size for the line that runs through them. It might be  hard to pick up in the picture. Any opinions?

 

Grant.