Ferris Wood Steamship Model Shaping

 10 May 22:

The Chief Engineer put in a requisition for a wooden model of a 1917 Ferris wooden steamship, he provided patterns and I supplied scrap 4x4 pine and a variety of wood butchery tools.

Full breadth profile traced with carbon paper.

Profile.

I smashed the 4x4 through our little Delta bandsaw.

The model was made to a smaller scale, so it would not dwarf the wharf on the model railroad layout. The intent is to get the illusion of a large ship, and let the viewer's brain make the adjustment. Had we made it to the HO's 1:87 scale, it would have been over 4 feet long. Deck gear and paint will be added by Engineering.

The random orbital sander and our new set of old Japanese chisels were used for finals shaping. Guess which tool(s) were more fun to use? Hint: Look for our upcoming book Zen and the Art of Small Small Boat Restoration.

Boat Model

09 May 22: 

The boat shop tools will be corrupted into service to make a boat, a model boat. The plans for a 1917 Ferris wood cargo ship will be traced onto a scrap 4x4 piece of pine. We'll start with the profile and full breadth diagrams to get the basic shape.

The Ferris ships have an interesting history, built out of wood, steam powered, coal burning and designed to carry cargo. This design allowed steel and oil to be concentrated on warship construction. The Great War ended about the time the first 100 ships were built, and more continued to be built for a few years. Eventually they were sold for scrap, several times, but the scrap contracts were never lucrative for wooden ships. Hulks were dragged into Mallows Bay, MD and burned, but remnants remain today. Turns out the lack of fuel and oil pollutants allowed the local marine habitat to flourish. The area is now a National Marine Sanctuary.

(Image: fossilguy)

FMI:

Theodore Ferris

NOAA Mallows Bay Sanctuary

Maryland Department of Natural Resources