APRIL
MEETING
THE APRIL MEETING OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN SHIPWRIGHTS WILL BE HELD ON
SATURDAY, APRIL 19,AT 0930 HOURS, ROCKLER WOOD-WORKING & HARDWARE,
2553 SOUTH COLORADO BLVD., DENVER, CO.
Visitors
are always Welcome
PROGRAM:
Shop Visits. We will visit and tour the shops of John McGann and Jon
Sorensen. Meet at Rocklers and carpool to the shops. Half to each site
and then switch. Try to be at Rocklers by 9:00 am. We will depart Rockler
promptly at 9:30.
NOW HEAR THIS
- SKIPPER'S NOTES
From
all reports that I have received, the round robin was well received.
A big thanks to Bob Conover, Bob Wilson, and Terry Godwin for a great
job. The next round robin will be dedicated to carving; hand carving,
Fordom power carving and turbo carving. It should be a good session.
Remember that the next meeting is shop visits and we will carpool to
John McGann's and Jon Sorensen's. Meet at Rockler's at 9 a.m. and we
will move out as soon there after as possible.
With all the snow we have had it has been a good time to get some dedicated
ship modeling done. That is if there was any energy left after shoveling
all that snow. Yours truly tried to sit and do some work on the Fubbs
but the lathe called to me and I turned a bowl instead. All ofthis is
to remind one and all that the ship show is in October and now is the
time to finish up those models for the show.
Your Skipper, Ed Quam
GET
TO KNOW YOUR COMODORE
Jim Smith
How did it all begin??? After reading John McGann's memory rousing background
it brought back a lot of almost totally faded mental pictures. I enlisted
in the U.S. Navy immediately after high school, in the waning year of
WW-2. I, like most others, was hell-bent to see the world. After "Boot-Camp"
was sent to Quonset Point, Rhode Island and assigned to the aircraft
carrier "Philippine Sea".
Morning number two of getting acclimated, the loud speaker bellowed
the words, "All Smiths report to the flight deck". I never
saw so many guys in all my life and as is the Navy way, the newest guys
aboard line up alphabetically by 'first name'. My "see-the-world-trip"
was halted before it started. Where to, I asked, and was told I would
love the "country-club" living of South Weymouth Naval Air
Station in Massachusetts, and I'd get my real desire....to be flying...and
I was, attached to a blimp squadron, where I spent my entire enlistment....but
I did see Plymouth Rock, and Fenway Park, both from the air and on the
ground. Submarine patrol at 1,000 feet, from Maine to Georgia, and I
never had to give up my "Liberty Card". 300 civilians to run
the base and less than 100 LTA Officers, Chiefs, 'swabbies', and Marines.(LTA---Lighter-Than-Air)
To be honest..... I loved every minute of it.
Started building model ships in 1954, just prior to the birth of my
son...I thought to settle my nerves, but did I learn a lot of new words.
The first was a Viking Ship with enough shields, each hand painted,
to protect Norway and Sweden for decades. This accomplished in our apartment
in New Orleans with a very frightened wife and a very nervous mother-in-law.
It, at least, got me hooked on a hobby that I must admit I'm not the
best at, but I do love it.
Since those days I've made an attempt at many others, Spanish Gallions,
Navy Battleships, several Civil War vessels including the CSS Arkansas,
the Monitor, the Virginia,(Merrimac) and currently attempting a somewhat
detailed CSS Hunley. The biggest, and still not complete after 6 years,
the San Filipe.
Seeing, talking, and mingling with the truly gifted builders of RMS
has been, and will continue to be, an educational marvel to me. My very
strong feeling is that of a fellow named Stanley Tucci, "If you
find that thing you love, it doesn't matter whether you do it well or
not....you just need to do it".
Jim Smith, Commodore on Watch.
The following comments from Jim Smith were supposed to appear in last
months Scuttlebutt. Our apologies to Jim and to the readers.
It's
very difficult to begin a report with very sad news, but I must. As
some of you know, we lost another member, Fred Meacham. Fred was not
in good health for some time but he always made an effort to get to
the meetings from his ranch, south- west of Denver. He was the quiet
giant. So long Fred, we'll see you later.
Due to some technical error, my column did not appear in last month's
issue so I'll catch you up on what didn't appear. A little over a month
ago I made a request to all Commodores, (10 previous Skippers), to send
a brief autobiography of themselves to be put into the Scuttlebutt each
month, on their background, how they got started in ship modeling, what
areas they like the best etc. I hope that these are being received.
and you'll be reading them in the near future. I know John McGann turned
his in at the last meeting. These should be sent to Terry Godwin and
not John Sorenson, as I had suggested.
Since I volunteered to head up the Show Committee for this year, I want
to thank the five or six who have offered their help. I have also asked
Wayne Cassell for his professional help in getting material ready, with
pictures, and in color, to be sent to various publications in hope of
getting some national publicity. I say, "in Hope" because
there is no guarantee they will use the material. The important thing
is that they know about us, and they know about the show.
We have had two truly great programs so far this year. In January, Steve
Wheeler's program made us very much aware of the dedication of many
modelers in creating true reality. In February John McGann gave us a
detailed way to make your own cases for those models, and with some
examples of his that made all of us just sit back and say "ahhhhh".Skipper
Ed Quam and 1st Mate Jon Sorensen have planned a year of programs for
the club that just screams out, "Don't Miss The Meetings."
See you on the 19th.
This is your Commodore-on-watch, Jim Smith
ROCKY MOUNTAIN
SHIPWRIGHTS OFFICERS:
Skipper
Ed Quam
Purser Bob Conover
1st Mate (Programs) Jon Sorenson
Scuttlebutt Editor Terry Godwin
Mail Yoeman Ralph Buckwalter
Show Chairman Jim Smith
Web Master Wayne Cassell
RMS Web site www.rkymtnshipwrights.org
|
MAKING
A CAPSTAN:
By Terry Godwin
I
will describe the method used to construct the Capstans for my HMS
Warrior of 1781 and my Oliver Cromwell. No dimensions will be given
since actual dimension will depend on your scale.
Tools
used were the usual files and xacto knives, and drills. I also used
a Sherline Lathe, and a Sherline Mill with the Indexing attachment
P/N 3200.
In
making the barrel for the Capstan a dowel of the correct diameter
is needed. I wanted to use boxwood. Boxwood dowels are not available
so I chucked a square piece of box in the four-jaw chuck and turned
it to the diameter needed. I always make one or two spares when making
any repetitive parts like this. The set up is what takes the time.
Far better to make extras while the set up is ready than to try to
set up again and find minute dimensional differences.
Make
each dowel about 1 ½ or so inches longer than needed. This
will give you the necessary length to hold in the chuck while working
on the open end. I also turned a small diameter on the end that will
become the base. This part will be inserted into the partner to mount
the capstan.
With
suitable diameter dowel prepared, set up the Indexing Attachment (IA)
on the Mill. Attach your three-jaw chuck to the IA and chuck up a
piece of dowel. Make sure you have enough length of dowel exposed
to match the needed height of your capstan plus about a ½ to
¾ ". The extra is to allow clearance for the head of the
mill when you cut your slot. Make sure everything is tight and set
the index to O. Select an appropriate mill. Use metal cutting mills.
An exact size mill is great but if you do not have the exact size
you need then use one slightly smaller.
Do
not try to make the depth of the cut in one pass. Make several shallow
cuts to keep form splintering out the wood. Making too deep a cut
may also cause the dowel to deflect and even break it out of the chuck.
Cut a slot to the calculated depth. If you need a wider slot than
your mill, move the table in or out half the extra width needed and
cut, then move it in the other direction half the required extra distance.
Always keep track of where your zero position on the table is and
return to that before beginning the next cut. Always allow for backlash.
Now rotate the IA 60 degrees and repeat.
To
make the trundle head I laminated thin pieces together using half
widths with the grain alternating. Two pieces laminated with each
laminate composed of two pieces with grain at right angles. Then sandwich
several pieces together with a soluble glue.
Make sure the sandwich can be separated without affecting the laminated
pieces. Rough cut the sandwich to the outer diameter of the capstan
top using a saw. Hand or scroll. Leave about 1/16" over size.
This package should consist of the necessary pieces for the notched
trundle heads and the cover pieces, top and bottom, for the trundle
head
Drill
a hole in the sandwich the diameter of the inside (bottom of the groves)
of the spindle. Cut or file the inside notches to make the sandwich
fit down onto the spindle.
Make
sure the sandwich is wide enough that it is stable on the spindle
and does not wobble. Make several extras to keep the sandwich wide
and to allow for the inevitable breakage. Chuck the sandwich-spindle
in your lathe. Now take the diameter of the sandwich down to the exact
size for the trundle head. Probably best to do this with sandpaper
or files. Not a cutting tool. Remove the top and bottom pieces that
do not need to be notched from the sandwich and set aside. Mount the
sandwich onto the spindle.
Transfer
the sandwich-spindle to the IA. Now use the same process used for
the spindle to cut the notches into the trundle head.
The
end result :
Making
the other parts is pretty straight forward and does not require any
special tools.
Fair
winds and happy sailing,
Terry
NAME BADGES
All Rocky Mountain Shipwright members are encouraged to purchase a
name badge and wear it to all meetings. This can save a lot of embarrassment
to the older guys like the editor that can never remember names.
Name
badges can be purchased through Sun Signs, Inc at 4420 Tennyson St,
Denver Co. 80212. You can visit the shop or call 303-477-1594 and
have the badge mailed to you.
UPCOMING
2003 RMS MEETING DATES
Meetings are held on the third Saturday monthly at 0930 hours. Location:
Rockler Woodworking & Hardware, 2553 S. Colorado Blvd., Denver.
PROGRAM
SCHEDULE:
May 17 Sail Making - Jon Sorensen
June 21 Round-Robin - To be announced
July 19 Air Brushing - Mark Pankratz
August 16 Research - Ted Ulrich
Sept. 20 Shop Visits - Terry Godwin & Ed Quam
Oct 18 Annual Show
Nov. 15 Jigs - RMS members
Dec. 20 Scaling from Photos - Roger Hanson
Contributions
to the Scuttlebutt
This publication is dependent on contributions from the members for
its content. If you have a "how to" article, tool review,
book review, kit review, or any information regarding our hobby, please
share it with the membership.
Send
material to Terry Godwin, preferably in
Word .doc format
|