Hello Everyone, First off, thank you for all the likes, feedback and support. It really does make a difference.
I was so happy to find extra counter pieces to replace the ones broken that I almost started to rework the stern, but decided to focus on the stem, as it was my first inclination and with me usually the right choice.
With new found energy, I've logged 14
hours cutting out the different elements of the stem, all from Swiss Pear, with the exception of the decorative inlayed element, which I fabricated both from Swiss and regular Pearwood. As we've seen many stem elements cut and pieced together as a puzzle on the site, I will not spend a lot of time photographing every step. Just a few photos where I think there are distinctions between Le Fleuron and other ships.
Photo below shows the decorative inlayed piece (regular Pearwood)which I fabricated in both regular and Swiss Pearwood. The regular Pearwood is ah, less pink, whiter in shade. I should have done a side by side, but it is too late now.
I thought maybe a contrast would be appealing. It was not. I opted for the Swiss. The decorative slots are just that, decorative. They serve no function on the ship. I milled them on the Sherline mill.
The next photo shows the stem element that contains the gammoning holes, which were also milled on the Sherline. For this type of small milling work I just use a chuck to hold the end mills as it is very light work and much faster change process compared to a mill end holder, which I use for heavier wood work and metal work.
I've already finished the first stage of finished
sanding as you can see on the piece above. I highlighted the word "sanding" as I did not really sand every edge. In order to get tight fit on the joins between pieces, I used a scraper with each piece being held in a vice. The understanding is the edges of each piece need to be sharp and as close to 90 degrees (perpendicular) in order to achieve the thin tight join we are looking for. This, for me at least, is almost impossible to achieve sanding the pieces as sanding tends to result in rounded edges.
Quite some time ago I experimented with different join methods shown by many modelers to represent calking between the pieces. Some use black paper. Some color PVA glue with black or brown dyes or water based paint. Others use graphite powder with PVA, while some few even use soldering irons with very thin tips to burn a thin line. The last option is for those with the steady hands of a surgeon, not my 67 year old arthritic sausage fingers.
So that option is OUT!
I didn't like adding water based dyes or paints to the PVA. It resulted in diluting the PVA and weaken the PVA's adhesion properties and the joint itself. I liked both the look of black paper and graphite, but under stress the paper join was considerably weaker than that of the join using graphite + PVA. So that's what I settled on.
I opted for the materials below. Ratio used, 1 part graphite, 4 parts PVA. It did thicken the PVA slightly, but to it was still very workable. It yielded a nice look and very strong join. The stem is currently in being cured to accelerate the process. I will share in a later post.
While the stem is drying and I have some time, I decided to work on the decorative elements on the stem. The floral discs are quite straight forward. The decorative rings are not quite as much. I've also decided to make 3 versions of the rings for appearance variations only. The first in Holly, which you can see already in the small storage container. The others in Swiss Pear (left) and Boxwood (right) in the photo above. I will only fabricate the Starboard side rings for each wood. Once I decide which to use, I'll create the remaining Port rings.
The stem of Le Fleuron is not the most complex, but it does have a pleasant look to it. Below, as shown in the plans you can see the different elements, functional and decorative.
The new energy I've found, along with a lot of coffee has fueled the 'spurt' in my progress that has given me some real satisfaction. What seemed like 2 hours working was actually 14 hours. They flew by.
Again, thanks for all the support and for following my journey.
Till next time...