Brig Eagle by robnbill - 1:48

[rtropp]

Thanks Bill,

I am going to give it a try with some custom ground dentist tools.

Richard

[robnbill]

Good luck Richard. Perhaps between the two of us we can develop a process and tool set. I did find there is a specific type of file that is recommended for brass that it supposed to sooth it well. It is a large file but I am thinking the sides can be used for the smaller areas and the larger might be able to smooth the barrels down. We will see, anyway, the the file has longer angles in a single direction and is designed for use with lathes. On Amazon it is Nicholson Long Angle Lathe Hand File, American Pattern, Single Cut, Rectangular, Fine, 10" Length     . I ordered it and will let everyone know how it worked. I also played with my other files as well as my turning tools just to see how I could get the smoothest finish before I start the sanding and buffing process.

 

I played with spindle speed. Some things you read say slower, others say as fast as you can turn. I found faster seemed like it worked a bit better.

 

I also played with oils using WD40 and light machine oil. They both worked. The really great thing they did was kept the shavings collecting around the tool rather than slinging extra fine needles over half my shop. So that was very helpful. It might have also helped the chatter but that is too soon to tell. Reducing chatter seems to be directly related to finding the sweet spot for the angle of the cutter to the rod. This seems to be somewhere between the horizontal centerline of the brass and down slightly. Nothing above horizontal.

 

The files chew brass off rapidly and they can be placed anywhere around the shape as long as great care is used to keep them away from the chuck. That would be very bad. I started spraying the files with WD40 to lubricate them. Otherwise they tended to get packed with the brass dust and would need a brush too clean.

 

I know I thought I was going to move back to the ship and leave this a while but there is more experimentation I want to try with this before I do. I am fairly confident I can turn one Caronnade and one Long Gun, replicating them so they all look the same will be a new challenge. If this is too much for my meager skills, I may try casting them out of pewter per the TFFM.

 

Good luck in your trials. Once we have our techniques down, we might want to start a thread just on this in one of the building techniques forums.

[DocBlake]

Eagle is coming along great.  An inspiring build!

[robnbill]

I have completed the prototypes for the Brig Eagle Guns. I need to move the trunnion holes down a bit on the long gun. I drilled them on centerline and afterwards saw they would be lower on the barrel.

I do have a question on the Carronade. Should it have an elevation thread in the pommel? Most of the drawings I have seen of the carronades have them. While Crisman doesn't show a diagram of the guns in his thesis or in his last book, the first book on the Eagle shows the carronade with a ring for the breeching line and just a quoin. Since nothing was found in the wreck on any of this, the carronades should follow that done in the period on the American fleet. The Constitution's 32 pound carronades only have quoins BUT they are also mounted with trunnions.


The long gun also appears to have a ring for the breeching line where the Connie's did not.

Thoughts?

[robnbill]

Just a quick update. I have completed turning the barrels for all the guns (one side). My plan is to leave the other side open to expose the deck below. If this changes I can always turn more barrels. A few quick take aways from the experience.

 

• First, I changed from turning ⅜" stock to ½" stock. The former was large enough for the cannons but it was too small to fit tightly in the NovaChuck on the lathe.
• Just like turning wood, even after careful centering, I still needed to true up the blank in the lathe.
• Once in the headstock, I used the spindle support to hold the end to mill the end and find the center.
• Once a divot was cut into the center, I drilled the barrel. This was done with an electric drill and the lathe turning. This kept it true to center.
• I found a combination of tools that worked best. The carbide finishing tool worked well with truing. The diamond shape cut the brass like butter. Once I was near where I needed to be, I would use files, and a HSS parting tool to smooth the brass. The HSS tool left a nice finish on the barrel.
• Finding the sweet spot took time. I found pushing too hard resulted in chattering, too soft and it created small pins or chips coming off the tool. The angle was also very critical. However, when you were in it, you would get the nice spiral shavings.
• Writing down the target measurements on a sheet of paper taped to the wall in front of me really sped up the process. Still needed to stop and use the calipers as I went along, but I only had to measure the piece in the lathe, not the model barrel.
• Once the barrel was completed, I would cut the forward end first. Once parted, I would true the end then return the live center back to the barrel end.
• Then I would sand first with a 3m very fine sand pad, followed by 0000 steel wool.
• The cascabel would then be cut off.
• I used a hack saw holding it where the cut needed to be and let the lathe do the work.
• Once off the lathe, I would use a rotary tool to clean up the cascabel.
• The power buffers would start with jewelers rouge, fine, then progress through very fine and finally very very fine.

I will follow up with a more detailed description and photos.

 

[GuntherMT]

Those are some nice looking barrels Bill.

[usedtosail]

Nice job on those barrels Bill. How did that file from Amazon work out?

[robnbill]

Thanks. The file worked fantastic. The only negative thing was it was too wide to use between the rings on the cannon barrel. That was my fault for not ordering a small enough file. I have learned a great deal about files in this process. If you want to know more about file terminology there is a great pdf at Nicholson Tool Guide to Files.

 

Brass is so soft that it tends to clog the teeth of a file. I ordered a wire file brush that kept the grooves clean. So I would file awhile them clean the grooves with the brush. This made the work much easier and with a cleaner surface on the worked metal.

[robnbill]

I have been actively working on the cannon assemblies since the last post. My goal is to solidify my plans on the cannons/carronades. Once I have assembled at least one of each, I will use them to solidify my deck planking strategy.

 

There are a number of areas that I focused on. First, the carriages. I used the TFFM instructions for building long gun carriages with a healthy dose of input from Crisman's book as well as that in the Connie AOS. I also scoured the internet for examples of carronades over the period to come up with a design that might have been used on the brig. I am happy with the results.

 

 

With the carriage design out of the way I turned to the gunlocks. These were definitely part of the Brig's armament - as it was on all of the British and American ships at the time. They were mounted to each cannon in preparation for a battle then removed and stored afterwards. Since this Brig was built and fought in only one battle  when she was 30 days old, I really wanted to show them mounted to the cannon. 

 

I drew designs up in CAD based upon what is known of the locks at the time. Enoch Hidden had the contract for them. However, while there are contractual records, there are no known plans for his locks at the time. However there is at least one of his locks circa 1820's that does show his design is pretty much a copy of the British locks at the time. So I used photos of the British locks to design these.

 

I wanted to create a design that would have a 3D effect. This was a challenge given the small size of the locks. After trying my hand at cutting and filing I decided IF I was going to do this, I would either have to buy a set (not an option for my scratch build) or try my hand at creating my own Photo Etch. So after reviewing the work done by others on this, I chose the Micro-Mark Pro Etch to try my luck.

 

As the instructions (and others have made clear) the artwork is critical for this. I went through a number of iterations on this before I settled on my artwork designs. Then once I had the first set etched, I did two more in varying thicknesses to play with the layering to achieve the effect I was looking for. My design had 4 pieces. The plate over the touchhole, two sides and a center. I found that making the center out of thicker metal gave me the look I was going for.

 

Here is a photo of my first attempt. This is close to final but has the same thickness plates for all three. This is a test barrel so the ends are rougher than the finished barrels.

 

 

Once the gun locks were ready I started working on a jig for the barrels. I tok a block of maple and drilled a hole through it the size of the cannon barrel end. Then I enlarged the hole to fit the larger end of the barrel. This allowed me to insert the cannons into the jig and tap them in place and it held them firmly. Then I drilled a hole through the jig in the place I wanted to insert the trunnions. Once the trunnion holes were drilled I took a short piece of the trunnion rod, inserted it through the guide holes and held the cannon through the jig. This kept the barrel rigid and indicated the perpendicular point for the touch hole as well as held it for me to center punch the points to drill for the cascabel ring holes.

 

Here are photos of the jig with and without a barrel in place.

 

 

Also I decided to leave the brass bright. I know it will tarnish over time but am using Renaissance Wax to polish it. This has been shown to hold the tarnish at bay for as long as lacquers. At least it will be easier to remove if need be in the future.

 

 

Here are some photos of the first completed long gun barrel. It has the final gun lock configuration. The change is subtle but sufficient.

Edited August 30, 2015 by robnbill

[usedtosail]

Those guns look fantastic, Bill.

[Bobstrake]

Wow!

[robnbill]

It has been a productive couple of weeks since my last update. I completed the cannon/carronade prototype. There are still some minor revisions I will make to the final versions but I met my goals in 1) Building each end to end 2) finalizing my build processes, 3) and having prototypes to inform the main deck planking. 

I ended up also turning the carronade castors out of brass as well. They work really well in pivoting around the pin.

Once these were done I set them aside and returned to the ship. I finished planking above the wales and added the cap rail. One item that Chrisman added to the ship in his last book were a pair of timber heads on each side of the bow. These are shaped from the tops of frames N and P and required slots to be cut in the rail to allow them to pass through. 

I used Dave's excellent method of cutting the first scarf joint and laying electrical tape in cutting all the scarf joints. This made it very easy to join the rails. The bad news is the joints are tight and you really have to look for them to find them in the walnut.

Next I will continue to plank the outside below the wale. Once this is done, I will return to the main deck to plank that.

These first two shots are of the ship ready to have the cap rail attached.












This shows the Hammock battens installed on the main deck beams. I am not sure if I had included this in the other updates. 



Here is a close up of one of the cap rail scarf joints. 




This is a shot of the stern with the cap rails installed.





Of course once the rails were installed I had to see what the cannon looked like. Note - I did not build a quoin for the prototype carronade. Hence it always pointing to the sky. The final carronades will have quoins installed. I also plan on lowering the carronade a bit in the final version.








Here are several shots of the two prototypes. I put temporary spacers underneath them.







 

Edited September 14, 2015 by robnbill

[robnbill]

A short update on the Eagle. She now has her exterior planking completed and spiked. Next I will turn back to the interior and give my new Byrnes saw some exercise with the ladders and gratings.

[robnbill]

Well the shipyard was shut for a fall vacation. Now the Brig is underway again. I am now starting the focus on the main deck and stairs to the berth deck. Today I created the gratings. I used the process that Gary used along with the TFFM to make these. I used Maple to make the grates. First cutting the notches and strips using a carbide blade in the Byrnes Table Saw. I also cut notches into a block of MDF to use as a build guide.

Once all the notches were cut I changed the blade to a slitting blade with much finer teeth to cut the notched strips out. Then it was just a matter of installing the notched strips into the build guide and tapping in the strips. Once a grate was assembled, I brushed on a thinned white glue and carefully removed it from the guide. After a final tapping of the strips down into the notches I left them to dry. Once dried I used the disc sander, and rotary tool to shape them down to fit.

The grates shown have had one coat of stain. They are a bit blotchy but this will be corrected once the first stain is dry.

Next I will focus on the remaining ladders down to the berth deck.

Edited November 2, 2015 by robnbill

[Guest Tim I.]

Bill,

 

I have to say that I am really excited to see you back in your shipyard and working on the Eagle. You are doing a stellar job on it. I have had Gene Bodnar's practicum on my shelf since grad. school and hope to tackle it one day. 

I am really enjoying the detail and care you are putting into the build.

 

Cheers!

 

- Tim

[CaptainSteve]

Grate (pun completely intentional) to see you back on deck again, Bill !!

[DocBlake]

Looking forward to an update, Bill!

 

Happy New Year!

[robnbill]

Sorry, all, I know it has been awhile since I submitted an update. With the holidays, and having a procedure done on my hand, I have not had a great deal of time I could be in the shop. However work has been continuing in dribs and drabs. I developed the drawings for the masting and have begun shaping the lower spars starting with the bowsprit assembly. I need these now since they penetrate the deck. My current plan is to start at the bow and work my way aft with all the deck furniture and planking (at least that to be done). The spars will not be glued in place since the rigging holds them. However they do give me the structure I need to build the deck and furniture around them as necessary.

 

I promise to have some photos uploaded in a couple of days. Thanks for continuing to watch my log!

[robnbill]

I hope everyone had a nice holiday season. The Eagle build has not been idle so I thought I would offer an update.

My goal over the last few weeks has been to build the deck furniture necessary to allow for my decking. Items such as the Bitts, pumps, and capstan. I have also been looking at the rigging and masting in preparation for entering that phase.

For the masting, and in keeping with the general woods used on this model I plan on using maple for the masts, and walnut for the spars.

I started at the bow with the bowsprit bitts. To facilitate this, I also roughed in the bowsprit so it could be fit to the bitts. 








Next I built the fore mast bitts following the same pattern as the bowsprit bitts.







For the pumps I used Cherry for the body with walnut and brass for the fittings. India Ink was used to stain the interior black.







Lastly I tackled the capstan. I used Ed Tosti's Naiad practicum as a reference on the construction. Of course for the Naiad it was a double capstan and larger for that ship. I modified the design for a single capstan in DeltaCAD then built to that.

This proved to be a fun sub-project. First I built the platform. I used a turntable I built for the XY table in the drill press to mill out the pawl groove in the maple plate. I glued small bits of maple into the groove for the stops then sanded them smooth. Later each of these also had brass bolts/pins glued into them.

The Byrnes Table Saw proved invaluable in cutting the miters to the underside of the plate.







I used the lathe to rough in an axle.

I returned to the turntable to mill the two halves of the drumhead. The turntable also has an indexing locking pin to allow me to cut 8 or 10 slots in the plate. My design has 10 square holes. After gluing the two drumhead halves together I drilled the center out and glued it to axle. The end of the axle extended beyond the drumhead to allow it to be remounted into the lathe once the capstan blanks were glued to it.

Next I cut a plate the thickness of the whelps and slotted both sides. Whelp blanks were cut and after rounding and thinning the back edge were glued to the axle blank. A final plate was milled on the turntable and glued to the bottoms of the whelps on the axle.

This was all remounted in the lathe and shaped into the capstan per the drawing dimensions. The photo below shows the capstan during this process after initially rounding. It still needs to be turned to the correct dimensions.





Once the capstan was the correct dimension, the axle was trimmed smooth with the drumhead. I plate was milled to glue to the top. The mounting plate was bored for the axle and an initially fitting was performed with the capstan. After an initial staining, I pinned the assembly with brass and sanded smooth. I cut and shaped the pawls out of brass sheeting and attached them with larger brass wire. This I filed flat but left proud of the pawl to mimic the bolt heads.

Finally I glued the entire assembly together and did a cleanup and final staining of the unit. The following shots show the ship as it stands tonight. I assembled all the various parts currently made for her. The bowsprit, Charlie Noble, gratings, barrels, pumps, windlass, rudder & tiller are all on the ship temporarily. These will be mounted to the ship permanently once the decking is done, and the ship is mounted to it's base.

















 

[Jack12477]

Bill, glad to see you back in the shipyard. Your model is outstanding.  What are you camera (and accessories) are you using to photograph your model. The photos are as impressive in their detail and depth of focus as the model is in its construction. As an amateur photographer of some experience I am always interested in what others use.

[robnbill]

Thanks Jack. Some of the photos are taken with my iPad since I almost always have that with me. However, I try to take most of the photos with my iPhone 6S Plus. The photos taken in the shop are taken with florescent lighting. The last photos in the log tonight (which were slightly more golden in color) were taken with the iPhone and incandescent light.

 

I admit I am an Apple fanboy, but the camera in the new phone is really nice. When we took our last vacation all of our photos were taken with the phones. The cool thing with that is then they automatically synched with all our other devices through the cloud. So when I take a photo in the shop, I see it automatically on my laptop where I keep my log.

[Jack12477]

Thanks, Bill. I am amazed at the quality pictures those small phone/iPad cameras can produce.

[Elijah]

I just looked through your build log and this work is literally jaw-dropping! I really did have my jaw open when I saw this! The level of detail you have achieved is amazing! I greatly admire your build and wish to follow and learn from you. If I am ever able to build something half as good as this some day I will be very happy!

[robnbill]

I built the mast partners based upon those shown on Ed Tosti's Naiad practicum. I extended the partner for the main mast to allow for the elm tree pumps. With the installation of these I was able to proceed with the planking. I decided to deck most of the starboard side. This still leaves plenty of visibility to the berth deck. I used the equivalent of ¾" pins on the planks and a 4 plank repeat. Caulking was done by heavily rubbing all sides of the planks with #2 graphite. I found graphite sticks for artwork on Amazon and these work much better than just a pencil.

The image below shows the planking pattern and pins.





I put the the test cannon and carronade both forward and amidships to test the fit.









Once the planking was completed, I started work on the bow. The first step for this was the installation of the catheads. I turned brass down for the sheaves then mounted them into the cathead ends. I notched then handrail partially to allow the bottom of the cathead to be flush with the outside of the rail. This will facilitate the installation of the bow beams.

The image below shows the brass sheaves prior to removing them from the lathe. I sized them to be slightly proud of the top of the cathead.





Here is a shot of the catheads installed in the bow.





Lastly, here is a detail shot of the sheaves mounted in the cathead.

[mtaylor]

Nice work, Bill.  I like the way you did those sheaves and catheads as well as everything else.

[Canute]

Well done Bill. Really nice work on the cathead sheaves.

[Elijah]

The deck planking and the catheads look very nice! Are you planing on making the rigging functional? Those sheaves look like they work!

[robnbill]

Thank you all. 

 

Elijah, the sheaves do work. I am not planning on having functional rigging, but where I can make a part, I try to do it. 

[robnbill]

I added the bow assembly based upon Chrisman's last drawings of the ship. Then I pinned everything including the top rails. Once they were pinned, I built out the stern davits. 

Rail Pinning





Stern Davits





I have been giving a bit of thought to how I wanted to mount it. I wanted the baseboard to be Walnut to match the ship, and I wanted to mount it to pedestals. I created pedestals out of ⅜" brass. I kept them simple support the ship, but not pull the eye away from it. I also added 2mm brass supports amidships. I felt with the size of the model it needed some lateral support to keep the strain from the keel.

I made these out of brass tubing since the tubing is stronger than solid rod. To mount the ship, I drilled and tapped 3mm holes in the keel to accept a machine bolt. To strengthen the threads I coated them with thin CA and retapped them once the CA was dry. I found these to be pretty strong in testing. 

For the midship's supports, I drilled 3mm holes through a midship frame. The ends of the rod will be covered by the berth deck planking.

Finally I reattached the rudder before mounting the ship.  

I epoxied the pedestals into sockets on the base board. This to both to provide a firm base for the pedestals and to hide the actual glue joint. After a test fit, I applied thick CA to the tops of the 3mm midship supports as well as in the frame holes and slid the ship onto the rods and threaded the bolts through the pedestals. Lastly I used a level to level the ship laterally before the CA had set up in the frames.

Now I will start focusing on the remaining interior fittings as well as the channels.

Below is a photo of the base board once it was ready for the ship to be mounted.






Here is the ship mounted on the base.





The bow assembly.











And from above the bow.





Here is a shot of the installed rudder.





 

[Elijah]

WOW ! What an amazing job (as usual)! Everything looks great! I greatly look forward towards your next post!