# Ship in Bottle



## Longknife

Due to a work accident I had recently I won't be able to do any "proper" woodworking for a while. Organazing hardware and cleaning the shop won't be funny for long so I tried to figure out what else to do.

When I was a boy (many, many years ago) an old sea-dog showed me how to build a ship in a bottle and taught me all the tricks. I have always wanted to build one but I have never got to it. So... I decided now is the time. I even have a bottle I've been keeping for a long time for that purpose.

I'm quite confident that I'll be able to build the ship itself although it will be small, but I'm far from confident that I'll get it into the bottle successfully. Knowing in theory how to do it s one thing, quite another is to actually do it. I hope you'll bear with me if I fail.

First thing to decide is what kind of ship to build. I decided not to overdo it with a ship with a lot of masts and sails so it will be a single-masted for-and-aft rigged ship, but still an interesting one.

(WARNING: here comes a bit of a rant on the ship type - if you're not interested in that, skip this and go to next post where the build starts.)

I wanted to build a ship with some historical interest and this is what I decided on









This is a swedish type of vessel called "vedjakt". It was used in the Baltic Sea mainly in the large archipelago outside Stockholm. There are thousands of islands, islets and skerries there and vessels of this type were used to transport necessities from farms and fisheries on the islands to the city. They could carry potatoes, salted fish, hay or sand to construction sites. A very common cargo was firewood and hence the name. "Ved" translates to firewood and "jakt" is the same word as yacht. Today yacht has a different meaning in english and a more correct name of the ship type would be cutter. This leads to the somewhat funny translation "Firewood Cutter"

They were well adopted to operate in these waters with a shallow hull allowing to land in shallow bays and a large sail area making it possible to sail in almost no wind. The topsail 100 feet above the surface could catch wind above treetops when sailing in narrow straits between islands. The large sails also made them very fast in favorable winds.

Here is one sailing with a deck-cargo of firewood. 








Unloading firewood at the docks.








So welcome to follow this build,and for those who doesn't consider this as woodworking I can only say - it is built out of wood.
Weigh anchor!


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## Longknife

*The hull*

One part of the secret of getting the ship into the bottle is to build a waterline model, meaning that only the part of the hull that is visible above the water will be built. My ship's hull will be approx 60 mm long (2-3/8"). I started with laying out the shape of the hull on a 1/4" board of alder and cutting it out. 

















Next I made a rough shape of the hull









Then I layed out the hull's shape on a 1/8" board and drew a line inside of that line.









I cut out the inside on the scrollsaw.


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## Dominick

Looks cool so far. I got my eyes peeled for this one.


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## Longknife

This piece was then glued on the hull....









... and shaped to the bulwark.









The hull was then stained/painted in traditional colours. The clinker-built hull was tared and the carvel-built bulwark was painted black on these ships so I tried to imitate that


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## Dominick

That's coming together quite well. 
Thanks for sharing.


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## Shop Dad

*Sweet!*

I am all over this! Can't wait to see how it goes. :thumbsup:

Really happy that you have found a way to continue working with wood while you are mending. :smile:


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## Texas Sawduster

*Cool Project*



Shop Dad said:


> I am all over this! Can't wait to see how it goes. :thumbsup:
> 
> Really happy that you have found a way to continue working with wood while you are mending. :smile:


+1 :thumbsup:


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## robert421960

im really excited to follow this one too


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## desertforest

very nice. o please post more pictures.


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## GROOVY

I am lovin this......


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## BigJim

This is really interesting, can't wait to see more. Hope you get well soon real soon.


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## Kenbo

Okay, this one has me hooked. Great work so far. I hope you are feeling better soon and that you can get to do some of your other work, but until then, I'm going to love watching this build.


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## Brink

Glad to see you're up to something while recuperating.

I'll be watching this one...

...GEAUX KNICKS...


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## dmh

Signing up for this one also.:thumbsup:


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## mackem

dmh said:


> Signing up for this one also.:thumbsup:


 
I'm in too. :thumbsup: :boat:


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## boxerman

I'm in for this one too. Let's see more.


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## Longknife

*The hull, continued*

Okay, back to the shipyard again.

Next to do on the hull is to prepare for the rigging and that calles for some holes to be drilled and they should be as narrow as possible. The smallest drill bit I have is 1 mm (slightly more than 1/32"). That one is too small to chuck up in a drill so I chucked it in an exacto knife holder and chucked that in the drill.









With this assembly I drilled holes in the bulwark on both sides for the shrouds and the backstays. It's difficult to hold the small hull so I attached it to a stick with carpet tape.









In the bow I drilled a hole for the hawse pipe. You can also see a recess for the bowsprit on the bow.









I also drilled a number of holes from above through the hull. I'll clarify the purpose of these later. 









When all the drilling was done I glued a piece of brown paper as the deck an brushed on a coat of poly varnish.


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## Longknife

*The rigging*

When the hull is done it's time for the rigging and for that I need timber for the spars and cordage - tared rope for the standing rigging and hemp line for the running rigging.

Here is what I rounded up (a.k.a. tooth picks and sewing thread)









To get the right size and shape of the spars I chucked a toothpick in a drill and "turned" it with a piece of sandpaper.









Here are all the spars - bowsprit, lower mast, topmast, boom, gaff and topsail yard.









To the boom and gaff threads are glued on. These will be the gooseneck and the throat halyard. The threads are left a foot long to enable further work with the rigging.









Next I rigged the bowsprit with shrouds and a bobstay. I also made two eyelets on the bowsprit where the headstays will be running. You can also see the catheads I installed on each bow.









That's what I have accomplished so far. Working in this small scale is quite tiresome so the shifts are not too long. Hopefully I'll be able to do some work on the mast tomorrow.


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## aaronhl

Keep it comin!!


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## Shop Dad

This is really cool Longknife. Thanks for walking us through the build! :yes:


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## Dominick

That's awesome longnife. Your doing a great job on the tutorial. 
I'm glued to this one for sure.


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## joesbucketorust

*More Please*

Looks great so far, can't wait to see what you add to it next.


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## Chaincarver Steve

Very cool so far. I'll be following along.

I'm not aware of what your accident was but I sure hope you heal up soon.


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## tcleve4911

Thanks for sharing both your technique and the history.

I've always wanted to see someone do one of these.

We all hope you're on the mend and good for you staying busy while you're healing.

All the best
Tom


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## Kenbo

This is awesome. I'm loving every minute of it. I have to be honest and say that I have only been looking at the pictures up until now but I'm going to go back and read what's going on because you've really got my curiosity peaked. This is awesome. Did I already say that?
:laughing:


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## haugerm

This is great. I can't wait to see what you do next. Thanks for sharing.
--Matt


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## Adrenalin

In for the updates! Nice work!


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## Jesse17

Awesome! I can't wait to see how it goes in the bottle. I've always liked ships in bottles but don't have the patience to do 'little' work like that.


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## johnnie52

Looking great so far. I have always wondered how to do this so count me in as a watcher.

Sorry about the accident at work. Hope your feeling better real soon.


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## Ted Tolstad

This is very cool. Looking forward to seeing this completed.


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## Longknife

*Deck details*

Thanks guys for your interest and support.
Whoa, you certainly put some pressure on me here :laughing:. Oh well, I'm the one that put out my head here....

My plans were to start with the rigging of the mast today, but I had second thoughts about that. I think it may be easier to make the on-deck equipment without the interference of rigging details. What I will do on deck is the anchor windlass, the hatches and the cabin. I think I'll have a try with the steering wheel as well, but I'm not quite sure how to do that, as it will be extremely small (less than 1/8 dia), more on that later.

I started out with the windlass. I decided to turn the shaft out of a toothpick but realized (after a try) that I couldn't use the technique with chucking it up in a drill as I did with the spars. It's imposible to operate the drill with one hand and try to do the turning with the other, especially since my right arm is more or less useless. I also experimented with different turning tools, trying to find one small enough.

My final solution was to chuck the toothpick in my lathe and use an Exacto-knife as a skew chisel.









It took several trials before I got the hang of it and this is the final result.









I carved the sides of the windlass out of a thin stripe. Such a small piece is impossible to hold when you work on it so I shaped it before cutting it lose from the stripe. I had to redo one because when I cut it loose it snapped away and I couldn't find it. :laughing:









Here is the windlass assembled and ready for mounting on the foredeck.









It doesn't look much for a days work :no: but it involved some trial and error.
Now I hear the bell strike eight bells on the afternoon watch so it's chow time. I'll be back tomorrow.


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## Dominick

That's awesome man. I'm in awe with the way your doing this. Especially the small details. Quit teasing us and finish lunch,and head back to the shop. 
The suspense is killing me. Lol


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## Shop Dad

Don't feel too much pressure. You have friends here no matter how it goes! It's great to see how you are figuring out the issues that come up. Thanks again for sharing. Really enjoying it. :thumbup:


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## rayking49

Man this is cool. These have alsways fascinated me. May you heal fast.

Sent from my iPhone using Wood Forum


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## tcleve4911

Hey Kenbo!!!!!....this is another talented guy doing miniature woodwork.....


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## Kenbo

tcleve4911 said:


> Hey Kenbo!!!!!....this is another talented guy doing miniature woodwork.....


 
You don't have to tell me about this guys talent. I'm glued to this one too. I'm loving it and I am totally blown away. I think I'm going to have to try this. :yes:


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## Chaincarver Steve

You've come up with great solutions to the challenging task of making miniature parts. Keep up the awesome work.


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## tcleve4911

Kenbo said:


> You don't have to tell me about this guys talent. I'm glued to this one too. I'm loving it and I am totally blown away. I think I'm going to have to try this. :yes:


I thought you might....Bike in a bottle??????:laughing:


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## Longknife

*Deck details, continued*

Todays activities at the shipyard has mostly included watching paint dry. Very relaxing, anyone who feel stressed should try it. :laughing:

Anyway, I started with the cabin. On this type of vessels it's a rather simple building. These vessels were mostly sailed with a crew of just two - the skipper and a jack so the furnishing of the cabin was quite austere. Two bunks, a table and a woodstove was all.

I cut the cabin from a piece of alder and whittled and filed it to shape. The windows, door and other details were painted on. (And here the waiting for different layers to dry comes in). To be able to hold the workpiece I mounted it on a toothpick.











Next I attached a piece of cardboard as the roof and a wire cut-off as the woodstove chimney.









I also made the hatches from cardboard and painted them grey. The hatches on these ships were normally just a tarp covering the holds.

When all the deck equipment was finished and dry I assembled them on the deck.









As you can see there is a slow but so far steady progress of this build. However I have no reason to rush it and the level of difficulty will be increased from now on.
Tomrrow I'll start on the mast and if you stay tuned I'm going to reveal one of the major secrets of ship-in-bottle building


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## Dominick

We got to wait till tomorrow? 
What's up with that? 
There's still a lot of time in the day. Oh well 
Guess will have to wait.


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## Longknife

Dominick said:


> We got to wait till tomorrow?
> What's up with that?
> There's still a lot of time in the day. Oh well
> Guess will have to wait.


:laughing: Different time zones, you know. Noon at you is 7 PM here. That's when old men get tired. :yes:


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## Dominick

Longknife said:


> :laughing: Different time zones, you know. Noon at you is 7 PM here. That's when old men get tired. :yes:


Ok that makes sense lol. 
Good night. Can't wait to see more progress.


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## dmh

Longknife said:


> :laughing: Different time zones, you know. Noon at you is 7 PM here. That's when old men get tired. :yes:


:laughing: I didn't notice you were in Sweden either. :bangin:

It's looking great by the way! :thumbsup:


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## boxerman

Looking good. Keep it coming.:thumbsup:


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## Kenbo

Tomorrow?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!


I can't wait until tomorrow. You have no idea how much you are inspiring me to make one of these right now. I don't get very much shop time during the week in the winter, but this is something that I could do inside the house. Get back to work man. I need to know.




Oh, and fantastic work by the way. I am blown away.


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## Jesse17

Longknife said:


> ...the level of difficulty will be increased from now on.


Great, just when I was starting to think I could do this. :laughing:

Great stuff! Keep it coming, please, sir!


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## Dominick

Jesse17 said:


> Great, just when I was starting to think I could do this. :laughing:
> 
> Great stuff! Keep it coming, please, sir!


:laughing:hahahahaha


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## TxDade

This is really amazing. Saw this thread a few days ago and didn't bother to look at it. I am so hooked now :thumbsup:... Keep up the fantastic work! Thanks for sharing and keep the pictures coming, very interesting! Hope you heal soon!


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## tcleve4911

is he up yet????


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## slicksqueegie

Awesome Thread! very very enjoyable!


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## Firewalker

Very cool thread. I am in on this one!!!


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## Longknife

*Rigging the mast*

Yeah, I'm up. Your comments and interest is really inspiring and a bit scary too. As I said, it may end up in an anticlimax. Well, at least you'll know were it failed and can do a better try yourself.

Magicians are known for not revealing their tricks to the uninitiated. The same goes for ship-in-bottle builders, they are happy with some mystification around their builds. However, since I'm around friends here, I'm going to reveal all the tricks so any of you can put a ship in a bottle.

The most basic of course is to make sure that the hull can pass the bottleneck. Check that with a scrap piece before you start on the hull. When you plan your project you must also make sure that there is room for the masts inside the bottle.

The big challenge however is to get the masts and sails in. This is achived by folding down the masts when the ship passes the bottleneck and then raise them again inside the bottle. How that works I'll try to describe now.

I starded with gluing together the lower mast and the top mast. Then I drilled a hole through the mast near the lower end. In that hole I inserted a thin wire that I bent into a U-shape with the ends pointing downwards.









I then inserted the wire ends in the two holes I drilled in the deck previously.Before I did that I attached the threads that will be the backstays and headstays.









On the underside of the hull I bent down the wire ends and secured them with a dab of CA glue.









This contraption will act as a hinge making i possible to fold the mast aftwards.









Next I installed the backstays and the shrouds in the holes I made earlier in the bulwark. These are secured permanently and will hold the mast sideways and prevent it from going to far forewards when the mast is raised.
The forestays on the other hand are running freely through the eyelets on the bowsprit so the mast can be folded aftwards. The ends of the forestays are left long enough to reach out of the bottleneck.


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## Longknife

The backstays and shrouds are treaded through the holes in the bulwark from the outside, and then down through the corresponding holes in the hull and finally glued to the underside of the hull.









The headstays are treaded through the eyelets on the bowsprit and are running freely.









This completes the standing rigging and tommorrow I'll take on the running rigging. Thanks for watching todays episode. Stay tuned.


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## Chaincarver Steve

Man, that already looks awesome as it. I'm glued to the edge of my seat over here.


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## Shop Dad

I'm sure it's not right that I'm enjoying this build so much. But I'm not telling anyone. :shifty:

Is the next installment ready yet?!  :laughing:


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## Dominick

I'm lost :laughing: you weren't joking when you said things will get more challenging from here on out. I'll have to re-read this build all over again. Great job so far.


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## haugerm

I'm totally loving this! Great job so far, and I have total confidence that it'll turn out great. Could you maybe take a picture with the boat beside a coin or a thimble or something. I'm losing my sense of scale on this thing.
--Matt


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## johnnie52

I am really enjoying this Longknife. To think you are almost doing this one handed to boot due to your injury is amazing. 

BTW, you do know that your name was used by American Indians to describe the US Cavalry in the west because of the swords the Officers carried.... right?


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## eccentrictinkerer

Hallå, Longknife!

Thank you for your wonderful posts. I've always been fascinated by ships in bottles. Now I'm learning.

Looking forward to more info and photos.

(BTW, all of my grandparents emigrated here from Dalarna in the 1880's. My father was born in 1918 near Svea, Minnesota. My dad didn't learn English until he started school at age 7. The whole community spoke Swedish!)

Boten snabbt!


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## Longknife

Started with the running rigging today. I'll try to explain how that works. As you may remember I glued long threads to the boom and the gaff. These will allow for the main sail to be pulled out from the mast when the mast is folded down. Here Im starting with riggin the boom.









In a bit closer detail you can see the eyelets were the gooseneck and the throat halyard will run. From there they are treaded through the hole afore the mast and comes out under the hull.









Here I've made some more rigging. The gaff is up and you can see that it's held in position with another halyard - the peak halyard. This runs through a hole in the crosstrees and goes down to the hole afore the mast. There are two more threads added to the end of the gaff, these are gaff vangs and they will be fastened o the bulwark when the sail is up.









Here you can see the different parts of the rigging. The vital points allowing for the mast and sails to be folded down and raised again are the eylets at point 2. were the headstays run and the hole afore the mast at point 1. were the halyards run. You can see these lines coming out under the hull.


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## johnnie52

Its really looking like a ship now. Maybe I can't judge the scale of it from the photos but it looks like it will need a pretty big bottle....


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## Longknife

The sails are cut out from paper and the seams between the breadths of sailcloth are drawn with a pencil. The foresail and the jib are glued to the respective headstay. The mainsail is glued to the boom and the gaff and the topsail is glued to the yard. From the lower corner of the topsail a sheet runs down to the hole in the deck and hold the topsail in position.
You can also see the white ledge between the hull and the bulwark. This is made by gluing a wite sewing thread to the hull.

























Now the ship is ready to be launched in the bottle. I made a couple of dry runs to see if everything worked as I expected and I'm pleased to say it did. This is what it will all look like when i's time to enter the bottle.









Next I have to do is to prepare the bottle and I also have to invent some tools I need to manouvre the ship inside the bottle, but that I'l take on tomrrow. Thanks for watching.


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## preacherman

all I can say is this is too cool.:thumbsup: if I had the patience for this I might try it but I am pretty sure it would be total disaster.


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## Shop Dad

*Wow. Just wow!*

That ship is beautiful! At this point the bottle is just icing on the cake. SO cool to see you build this. It really looks great Longknife. :notworthy:


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## johnnie52

Can't wait to see the "invented tools for moving the ship inside the bottle. I think I'd just use knitting needles to stick in the bottle and push things around.


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## BigJim

This is just too neat, I will bookmark this thread so I can come back to it and give this a try. We appreciate all the hard work you are putting in to show us how it works.


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## Kenbo

speechless


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## Dominick

I'm with ken. Im almost speechless but, Wow man I can't even imagine me doing something like that. You've got it down.the detail is friggin sick. You could build the biggest and the best furniture out there, but that little ship in the bottle is where your craftsmanship shows. Your pics with your description is just as good as your ship. Way to go. 
I'm excited to see it in that bottle. :smile:


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## Brink

Cool! So incredibly cool!

...GEAUX KNICKS...


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## rayking49

Man, Longknife, this is so cool. Looking forward to each installment.


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## haugerm

Love it!
--Matt


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## robert421960

Incredible:thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## R.J.

Good work!:thumbsup:


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## tcleve4911

Thank you Longknife..........
I've built Model trains in 1/87th scale which gives me a great appreciation for working with small stuff.
Your scale has to be around 2000th.:laughing:

Looking at your pics, I forgot that I was looking at things the size of a pencil lead.....and there is was...the pencil lead !!!!!
Your are very talented.......


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## Longknife

Thanks again guys for your kind comments. They are very much appreciated and make this build a real joy.




tcleve4911 said:


> I've built Model trains in 1/87th scale which gives me a great appreciation for working with small stuff.
> Your scale has to be around 2000th.:laughing:
> .......


Not quite, it's around 1/500



johnnie52 said:


> Can't wait to see the "invented tools for moving the ship inside the bottle. I think I'd just use knitting needles to stick in the bottle and push things around.


I wish it was that easy. I'll need a way to hold he ship when I raise the mast, otherwise I'll pull it out of the bottle again. :laughing:

This is what I have "invented" so far. The paddle-like one is for holding the ship and the one to the right is a thread cutter, it has a piece of a razorblade attached. The other ones I'll use to push the ship in position and sort out the tangle of threads and sails.

I'll probably need some more but I'll make them when needed.


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## Longknife

Beside making the tools I have prepared the bottle. This is the bottle I will use:
I carefully cleaned it.









To make the "sea" inside the bottle I'll use window putty wich I will dye with artists' colour to a blue-green colour.









That turned out to be a real messy job......









I put small pieces of putty at a time in the bottle and was very careful not to smear the inside ofthe bottle with the tacky putty.
To do that I used the wire tools you can see in the picture.









I also used the wire tools to make waves in the sea. I made sure the direction of the waves correspond to the positions of the sails on the ship. Otherwise any person with some knowledge of sailing will find a reason for a remark on that :shifty:.









Now the putty will have to cure for a couple of days, so I put you on hold for a while before the final step.


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## robbiethewood

that is amazing so delicate i am going to keep watching this one 
robbie


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## firemedic

Awesome! Absolutely awesome!

~tom. ...GEAUX TIGERS!... ...GEAUX SAINTS!......


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## Jesse17

:boat:


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## Chaincarver Steve

Hah, I can clearly see the trap door in the bottom of the bottle! Just kidding, just kidding.

You're doing an awesome job. Just the "simple" act of getting the putty in the bottle without making a mess - then to smooth it so it doesn't look clumped together and then make waves in it - is a feat unto itself. I've been watching this build with great anticipation. And you are not letting me down. That's for sure. I can't wait to see the ship in place.


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## Dominick

Your like a brain Surgeon. I'm still in awe. Your moving along with this quite fast. 
I have to ask. Is this something that someone has taught you how to do, or something you learned on your own? 
Just wondering. Thanks.


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## rayking49

:thumbsup::thumbsup:Very cool Longknife. Loving the deep blue sea man!!


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## boxerman

That's just awesome.:boat: Don't know how your going to get that in that little hole.


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## GROOVY

I am in awe .... really like the details


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## TxDade

Is there any way to speed up the "cure" time of the puddy? I don't know if I can wait a couple days for the next step! :boat: Keep up the fantastic work! This is really something to see!!


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## johnnie52

So you make the sea with putty, and if anyone says the waves are wrong, tell them the ship is going in reverse....

The supporting scenery is sometimes more of a challenge than the model. You seem to have it together though.


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## Longknife

Dominick said:


> I have to ask. Is this something that someone has taught you how to do, or something you learned on your own?
> Just wondering. Thanks.


I learnt this when I was a boy from an old seaman who had worked as a ship carpenter. He built beautiful model ships and also ships in bottles. He showed me the whole process but I have never built one myself before. I seem to remember most of it even if it was a very long time ago. Can't say I remember much of what I learnt in school at that age though ....:laughing:.

Anyway, at the moment I'm waiting for the "sea" in the bottle to cure so I thought that I would give the steering wheel a try.

If you think that I'm overdoing things a bit here, that's allright. I am a bit concerned about it myself.... :blink:

The wheel will be very small, 2.5 mm dia (0.1"). I made a jig for the spokes and wired it with sewing thread. For the rim I made a few turns of thread on the plastic stick. I brushed diluted wood glue on the threads to make them stiff.









Then I glued the rim on the spokes









I also made the shaft with the support beam glued on









Here is the wheel assembled on the ship. Sorry for the bad picture, but that's all my camera is capable of.

Yeah, I know this is a bit stupid. It will probably not even be visable inside the bottle, but it was kind of fun to see if it could be done.


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## Shop Dad

Now you're just showing off! :laughing:

Too bad you're not having any fun with this. LOL!


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## mdntrdr

Very cool wheel! :thumbsup:


I may have to try this... as soon as I locate a 4' bottle. :huh:


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## JohnK007

mdntrdr said:


> I may have to try this... as soon as I locate a 4' bottle. :huh:



LOL! I was thinking the same thing. Only I'd need a bottle with a 4' mouth!

Fascinating project Longknife, can't wait to see more! :boat:


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## Dominick

Thanks longknife. You think your ship don't stink. :laughing: just messing with you.good memory. I guess it's the things you want to remember that are important. 
Excellent job on the wheel. I think you'll be able to see it in the bottle no problem. 
Keep on keepin on.


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## Bill Wyko

What a truly incredible project to follow. Thanks for the build process. looking forward to the rest of the journey.


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## Kenbo

A steering wheel?!?!?!?!? Are you kidding me? That's just incredible. I'm not worthy to be commenting on this thread, let alone reading it. Fantastic work my friend, fantastic work.
:thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## tcleve4911

my eyes hurt...........


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## JasonHayt

OMG I wish I could do wood work on small items such as the boat, anyone have any tips for people with huge / fat fingers lol, I was born big


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## Murphy's Law

Thank you for a wonderful build, Longknife. You're doing a great job with your handiwork as well as your descriptions. We're all holding our breath.


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## haugerm

That steering wheel is nuts!!! In a good way, or course! And what an innovative way of making it. I wouldn't have thought of that method if I had a hundred years to try.
--Matt


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## johnnie52

I am simply spell bound by the size and the beauty of this.


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## rayking49

Man, this is just too cool. I've been reading this on my lunch break every night, and all the guys I work with are in awe of this build, as I am. My eyes don't work that small, much less my hands. Loving it!

Sent from my iPhone using Wood Forum


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## thegrgyle

This is a very unique and amazing build. I am just as fascinated as everyone else on how you are able to do this. 

So how big is the jar of Lubricant, and what kind are you using to SQUEEZE that boat into that small opening? :huh: :blush: :laughing: :icon_cheesygrin:

simply inspiring.

Fabian


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## Warnock

WOW, truly awesome Longknife. Beautiful work.


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## Chris Adkins

WOW! I just went through this thread and am very impressed! I had a basic idea of how a "ship in a bottle" was made but never had a step by step demonstration. Great work and I will definitely follow this to the end. Thanks for posting!


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## desertforest

wow! what an excellent way to build that wheel. i look at this and it almost looks like an online class on how to build this. :thumbsup:

thanks for posting. if you can, get a shot by shot of when you place it in the bottle.


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## Dominick

I'm still waiting for an update.


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## Longknife

*All hands on deck!*

Can't walk around the bush any longer and the putty is cured so there is no excuse not to launch the ship in the bottle. A bit scary though as there will be only one try. Once the ship is in it won't be possible to take it out again.

I started with folding the mast down and pull out the main sail. I attached all the threads to pieces of cardboard and marked them so I'll know wich thread to pull.









Then I folded the main sail under the hull and slided it in the bottleneck.









It slided in smoothly. Pew, first critical step done. :sweatdrop:









Then I inserted my holding tool and realized that I had to redo it a little. With that done I wheedled it in under the hull.









With the ship secured in the holding tool I pulled the headstays to raise the mast and then I started to pull the halyards to hoist the main sail.


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## Longknife

When the main sail was up and the other sails trimmed to right positions I placed a dab of glue on the eyelet at the tip of the bowsprit to fasten the headstays









Then I put some fresh putty on the place were the ship will be and tweaked the ship in place. When it was in place I cut off the headstays at the tip of the bowsprit using my cutting tool (piece of razor blade on a wire).

I also cut the halyards coming out under the hull and covered the ends with a little putty.









These are the tools I used for working with the ship inside the bottle. I had to redo some of the ones I made beforehand and also make some new ones.









Here she is on her virgin voyage in a steady breeze. I named her Gerda-Linnea. I considered asking the Queen or the Crown Princess to conduct the naming ceremony but then I thought that champagne wouldn't be appropriate for a ship like this. Maybe I'll have a dram of rum and breathe into the bottle instead :laughing:









This has been a very fun build and I wish to say thanks to all of you who has followed it and encouraged me. That has been most inspiring.

_Just give me a good rollin' breeze_
_I'll play me ole squeeze-box as we roll along_
_and the wind in the riggin' will sing me a song...._


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## TS3660

Whew. I was on the edge of my seat hoping nothing would go wrong at this point. This was a fabulous thread. Have your rum. I'll have a champagne.


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## mdntrdr

Beautiful! :thumbsup:

Thread of the month? :yes:


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## Dominick

I'm still in awe about how you did this. And I still can't believe you did this, but it shows with your tutorial build. Unbelievable. Wow. Congrats. 
Thanks again for sharing what was shared to you as a child.


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## BigJim

Absolutely fantastic, I agree with mdntrdr, thread of the month.


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## Shop Dad

*O...m...g*

Wow, wow, WOW! 

Holy Mackerel! You did it! Just so cool. Thank you so much for sharing Longknife. This has really been such a wonderful gift to share with us. Thank you and very well done! :thumbsup:

:notworthy::notworthy::notworthy::notworthy:
:notworthy::notworthy::notworthy::notworthy:
:notworthy::notworthy::notworthy::notworthy:


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## iceberg

Wow! Great thread! Great job that looks awesome!


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## robert421960

this was a rally nice thread to follow.thanks for sharing and above all
WOW:thumbsup::thumbsup: amazing


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## Tom5151

awesome awesome stuff....just amazing.....

The *ONLY* thing that would have made it better was if you did a video. I guarantee you if you did one and put it on you tube it would go viral in no time...

awesome stuff....thank you:thumbsup:


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## Chaincarver Steve

Congratulations! You've made a truly awesome piece of work. Who needs pirate's treasure? Heh, this IS the treasure.

You deserve a much-earned round of applause for a super job.


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## Mose

So nice. I was on the edge of my seat waiting for it to be done. I was even disappointed when your post wasn't up this morning. One of the best suspense movies I've seen in some time. Now I can rest easy, my day is complete. 

Just beautiful work. To cool. Thanks for the thread.


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## rayking49

:thumbsup:Longknife, I've been waiting and checking in all weekend to see this. I'm so glad it went well. Awesome job on this build thread.:yes::yes:


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## boxerman

Wow that was really cool thread thanks for showing all the steps for us. What's the next cool project?:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::notworthy::notworthy::clap:


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## Scoma

I've been lurking in this one since the beginning. Now that it's done, I'm trying to find some words.....WOW! is about all I can get out. Very impressive sir, and a big THANK YOU for showing us the process step by step. I've been wondering about this since I was a kid.


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## Kenbo

Without a doubt, this is one of the most incredible build threads that I have seen on this forum in all of the years that I have been a member. A huge congratulations to you and a massive thank you for taking the time to post this tutorial and showing us all that anything is possible. You, my friend, are an inspiration.
Thank you.
:thumbsup:


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## Brink

COOL! That was so incredible. Probably one of the most amazing things I've seen in a long time.

Thanks so much for taking the time and document this build.


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## haugerm

Absolutely, beautifully, inspiringly (not sure if that's a word), awesome! This thread needs one of those 5 star ratings. Thanks so much for sharing it with us.
--Matt


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## TxDade

All I can say is WOW! That was really amazing to see how those little ships get into the bottle. You did a fantastic job, thanks so much for sharing with everyone! That was one heck of a build! :thumbsup:


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## Jesse17

What more can I say except add another vote for "Thread of the Month" !!! Just Awesome! Thank you very kindly for this which you have shared with us, and know that you have inspired many to try this wonderful craft!:yes:


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## mike1950

Very Very nice-Shows what those long winter nights will do for you. Patience!!!! :thumbsup:


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## buggyman1

Good job. Looks great. I always wanted to see how that was done. Thank u vedy much.


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## johnnie52

Now that she is all finished, just don't hire any ex-cruise liner captains to sail it and all should be well.

Longknife, I have enjoyed this build very much and all I can say is thank you for sharing this with all of us. Its a beauty and I'm sure it will make a fine addition to the home decor.


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## STAR

I have only this week gone into the project area. boy, what have I been missing.

That ship project is fantastic. I started going through all the replies and your W.I.P. Photos and got to page 2. had to stop flick through to the end to say bravo. Well done and thanks for sharing.

These are the projects I like . If you look in the main wood working section you will see my Ford T Model Fire Truck. If I new this section was here I would have put it here.

I try to enter something in our local Agricultural Show each year and had run out of ideas. maybe this is what I have been looking for. I have until the end of July to figure out how to do it.

Boy, I'm excited! :thumbsup:

Pete


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## tcleve4911

Kenbo said:


> Without a doubt, this is one of the most incredible build threads that I have seen on this forum in all of the years that I have been a member. A huge congratulations to you and a massive thank you for taking the time to post this tutorial and showing us all that anything is possible. You, my friend, are an inspiration.
> Thank you.
> :thumbsup:


When you get that kind of compliment from this guy,who is the detail master, you know you have really done something very special.
Thank you, Longknife....


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## desertforest

Well Done, Sir!. Excellent. When i saw the ship go into the neck, i can imagine what you were thinking "this is it, not going back now". 

Again, most excellent work. 



So, what's next? :smile:


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## Texas Sawduster

*Absolutely incredible !!!!!!!!!!!!*

I LOVE IT !!!!!!!!

I have been busy with work and away from work stuff for a couple of weeks so I did not take the time to keep up with this build.
Now I am kinda glad I did.
It's Awsome. !!!!
Thank you for sharing !!!
Great Job. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## robbiethewood

i had groining up as a child whit one of thees in the house. i was always puzzled how they wher made i found out later on in life but to see one beaning done is great well done:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::boat::boat::boat::thumbsup:


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## Carvel Loafer

Longknife, that was just incredible. I finally walked through the full thread and find this so cool. Thanks for sharing this project with us.

:boat:


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## Warnock

Well Done Sir. I think we ALL learned something, and for that I extend my thanks and appreciation.

Again - Well Done.


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## Billy De

Long Knife congratulations on a excellent thread well documented and well thought out considering your mother language is not English you showed a first class understanding of the terminology and can not be faulted.The skill and Patience you showed through the project is only to be applauded. I must admit that when I saw that you had drilled holes in the deck for the shrouds I thought MMM that's not going to look right but when you took them to the out board side of the bulwark and then fed them through fair leads back onto the deck,Now that my friend is cleaver.

One of the biggest complements a Shipwright ever receives is to be told he has a Shipwrights eye,you sir have a Shipwrights eye and you have every right to split the main brace.Well done.


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## Paul W Gillespie

Very fun watching the build. Great job. Thanks for sharing.

Paul


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## MastersHand

Very nice work. Great Thread idea was nice to watch the tedious work and the gorgeous outcome


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