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[boatmadman]

I can now categorically state that this model is better in the flesh (?) than in the pics.

Looks real nice on the water, just needs sails now - whats the delay Rob? 

Well done that man!

Ian

[rmaddock]

I can now reveal that the square stock for spar making has been ordered and is eagerly anticipated.

18mm for the mast, 14mm for the bowsprit, 11mm for the gaff and 10mm for the boom.  I was surprised at the gaff being thicker that the boom but it seems they were tapered towards the ends...not just a straight spar.

So, I shall have to get my whittling head on.  The first move, I think, will be to take each corner off the square to produce an octagon. Does anybody know if there's a quick, rule-of-thumb, type of way to mark those lines out? Or will I have to work them out?

[rmaddock]

In answer to my own question, I devine that I need a "spar gauge" as below:

http://www.pettigrews.org.uk/lm/page030a.htm


Picture courtesy of the above linked webpage.

[rmaddock]

I am now in possession of mast and spar stock! 



These have been produced specially for me, from hand selected spruce, by Mr Dennis Nixon of www.twigfolly.com. A very nice chap.  The lengths look beautifully square and straight and now I've got no excuses not to get on with it! 

Hey, it's raining again! Good thing nothing important's going on in the world this weekend. 

[rmaddock]

Ladies and other Mayhemmers, I present to you...a miniature spar gauge! 



Poorly soldered but beautifully formed   

It's made with the regulation 7:10:7 spacing. Actually, it should be 7.07:10:7.07 but even squinting I can't find that scale on my ruler 

We're off for a week's holiday soon and I thought I'd get this ready to take with me. Last time we were away, I was working on large bits of boat that had to stay at home so while the things were painting War Hammer and Isabelle was making jewellery, I got very good at thumb twiddling.    This time though, I will have the means to whittle spars with me 

Watch this space.....

[boatmadman]

Nice one, cant beat a bit of whittling to pass the time, just go easy on the beer/wine or else your spars may come out oval!

Ian

[Norseman]

and a sticky red too - ouch 

[rmaddock]

Nice one, cant beat a bit of whittling to pass the time, just go easy on the beer/wine or else your spars may come out oval!
Ian

I may not be as old as some folk on this forum Ian, but I am old enough to know that alcohol before the evening just puts me to sleep for the duration and makes me grumpy    I shall confine my whittling activities to the daylight hours.

and a sticky red too - ouch 

I think every scratch built boat needs a bit of the red and sticky somewhere in its fabric.....gives it soul, don't ya know? 

[rmaddock]

Well, we made it into Wales and back again alive!  I must say, it's a very beautiful part of the world and we had, completely randomly, picked a rather good spot in which to stay.



We "did" Snowdon...on foot, before you ask...as seen above.  We went up the Rhyd-Ddu path and, as it scared me too much, down the Snowdon Ranger path. A fantastic day out.  The sun has shone on us all week and so very little spar making has happened. 

But some did! 



Seen here on our return, I managed whilst away to use my gauge and rough cut the bowsprit to an octagonal profile. The gauge is fabulous.

Now, today, I've further roughed it to 16 sides and then a sort of round.



As I type, I'm waiting for the glue to dry on this!



A rubber clad drum to fit in the power drill.  The plan is to use it to turn an inside out sanding belt and so get a proper shape on the spar.

Watch this space........

[Artistmike]

The bowsprit is looking good ! And tell your dad he looks good in those sunglasses ! ..... 

[rmaddock]

And tell your dad he looks good in those sunglasses ! ..... 

I beg your pardon?  Do I sound that young?  That's me in the dark glasses! 

Anyway, the rubber jobby ( ) doesn't work well with my single speed drill. Far to fierce.  I ended up simply clamping the end of the sanding loop in the work bench and doing it by hand. It worked quite well.

Anyway, a little more fettling and sanding and it fits! 



I must remember to cut a slot in the outer end for a sheave.

[gondolier88]

Hi Rob,

She's looking great! I'm glad you went the right way and used square stock for the mast- you're right, she deserves to look 'just right'. The spar gauge looks very dangerous- almost like you plan to use it in the future....!

We'll have to catch up soon. It's Windermere Steamboat Rally this coming week by the way- should be a few round Fell Foot/Lakeside on Monday and Wednesday at least if you fancy a day out (check weather first!!)

Keep up the good work, she really is looking fantastic.

Happy floorspace in the basement by the way

Greg

[rmaddock]

Spurred on by my bowsprit "success", I decided to tackle the mast.  It's a thing that will make the boat...give it its finished proportions.

So, first I planed the wood down to the 18mm I wanted (I had them cut slightly oversized).  The top of the mast tapers to about half its main diameter.  I marked and then cut this taper first.



Next, as shown above, the spar gauge was employed on the tapered section. This was then carefully cut to eight and then sixteen sides as with the boom before being rounded off with sand paper.



Not bad, eh?  You can see where the hounds will be left square just below the tapered section.  The next job is to do the parallel rounding of the lower mast.

Simples! [squeek!]

[boatmadman]

Very nice, good to see there are no red stains about.

[rmaddock]

Very nice, good to see there are no red stains about.

No red stains.....yet.

A brief hiatus (again) whilst we climbed Helvellyn yesterday.  Why does the mist only ever clear when you're already part way back down again?  Still, the mid-afternoon full-English was a nice reward 



This is the Hearts of Oak's mast as it stood earlier this year..I understand that lazy Jacks have since been added.

And this is my mast to date:



I'm busy drilling for the, currently, temporarily fitted eye bolts.  The next thing will be to fit oak cheeks and bolsters to the hounds and then try to get a good shiny finish on it all.

I can't help thinking that my mast looks stockier than the real one. I suppose it is, in that I've knocked 20% off the height so as not to over-power the model.  There's also the fact that this is a gaffer and I'm more used to looking at the Bermudan rigged Marblehead in the bedroom....which is much taller in proportion (and fact).  There's no model sail plan with the hull and drawings (unless I've lost it) so I'm going to have to mock up the sail plan soon to get the CoE right. Then I'll be able to determine the correct gaff length.

Oh what a tangled web we weave...

[rmaddock]

The real boat's been on Country File. You can still see it on iPlayer: http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/b01mm6wd/

Shame they're shamelessly motoring about.

[rmaddock]

Progress is slow at the moment.  The summer has been full of "other" things to do.  I'm also angling after a new camera for my birthday and there was much sucking of teeth when I mentioned price    I am, therefore, saving my pocket money (no honestly, I'm given pocket money) and flogging stuff on a certain auction site to try and make the purchase happen.

So, meanwhile, little has been done, and nothing, spent on the good old nobby.

However, I have, just today, glued in a mast step.  It's made from ply and epoxied/pinned straight into the lead ballast.  I'm hoping that this will be solid enough.  Once the standing rigging's fitted the step wont need to do much anyway....famous last words

[sailorboy61]

Keep your eyes on that auction site for a camera.

Picked a faulty spares/repairs one up earlier this year, only needed the battery charging doah!! £100 worth for less than £15 including the postage          

[dreadnought72]

I am, therefore, saving my pocket money...

You don't have £19500 handy, do you? 

(I'm sure they'd take an near offer!)

Andy

[rmaddock]

You don't have £19500 handy, do you? 

(I'm sure they'd take an near offer!)

Andy

Go on Andy, do tell. What little something has caught your eye.

...before you get excited though, no, I don't have £19.5k lying about. Sorry.

[dreadnought72]

Click the link in my message above yours! (It's one for sale!)

Andy

[rmaddock]

Ah! Right! Links 

Yes, that's quite nice, isn't it?  I don't think people would be happy if I bought it though.

[rmaddock]

Time to make the standing rigging 

I've been experimenting with attaching deadeyes to steel cables and the result so far is this:



Now, I was thinking of splicing the wires properly but there are so many strands and it's all so stiff and fiddly that I gave up. I'm going instead for the model plane solution of wire binding and solder (solder yet to be applied).  Then I'll smooth it and bind it neatly in something like white cordage...as per....'n' all that.

Even holding them against the boat looks satisfyingly cool 

[Norseman]

It's nice to see an old favorite back

Dave

[rmaddock]

Thinner wire on order. What I've used is too thick.  I think it'd look okay visually but it's very difficult to work with and by the time all the eyes are round the mast head it'll be an inch thick