Help! Need to redo topmast shrouds...

[jdbondy]

 

Help! I just realized that when I painstakingly installed the topmast shrouds, I took them way too far up the topmast. They need to end at the level of the uppermost pair of blocks that are installed on the topmast. (Picture is attached.) The shrouds are each seized to the topmast, and of course they each terminate at a deadeye at the crosstrees. I am afraid that when these were installed, I applied CA glue to the seizings (I have since stopped using CA on seizings).

 

I am ok if we think I just need to cut them and start over, but before doing that, I wanted to see if anyone has any other ideas. If they were not glued with CA, I could just shorten each shroud at the deadeyes. But I haven't tried moving anything yet to see what happens.

 

Once I'm done with that, I'll need to move those 5 pair of blocks off the topmast and seize them to the shrouds, like the plans said I should have done in the first place...

 

 

[GuntherMT]

Acetone will dissolve the CA, so you could just cut them at the top, use acetone to remove the glued bits, and re-seize them at the appropriate location.  If that fails, there is always the old fall-back of just re-doing them.  

[jdbondy]

Thanks Gunther. Without having to apply any acetone, I was able to loosen the seizings at the top of the shrouds and then cut them free. I have re-seized each of the shrouds at the correct level on the topmast, which of course leaves tons of slack at the level of each deadeye. Now those seizings I cannot free up. I think I did them differently than the seizings at the top of the topmast. So, I have cut one of them loose and plan on re-fastening it to the deadeye. One nice thing is that the deadeye lanyards remain intact, so getting the tension right should be pretty easy. I'll post some pictures when I get them moved to this computer.

 

All in all, less work than I anticipated (thus far)...

[jbshan]

Dratted plans, anyway.  Just when you got things looking nice you check the plans or get a new book or something...

[druxey]

Hmm. Yet another reason for not using CA in future. I feel your pain at having to revise your work, but when you do, the gap between upper and lower deadeyes look far too wide. Look at photos of other examples to see what i mean.

[jdbondy]

Will take a look at that deadeye spacing, druxey. Although the perspective is skewed, I have attached a pic of the rigging I took a few years ago. See what you think.

[JerseyCity Frankie]

Nail polish remover is easier to find in stores and does a fine job of dissolving super glue.

[jdbondy]

Progress has been made. As I mentioned earlier, I was able to wiggle the seizings at the top of each shroud loose, without using acetone or other chemicals. I think that's because I had used flat topcoat on them rather than CA. I then cut them free.

 

Since then, I have cut two of the shrouds where they were attached to the deadeyes, and brought the slack portions of the shrouds around the deadeyes. I have re-seized the 2 shrouds to the deadeyes using 6/0 Unithread, and I am trying Flexament cement (as I have mentioned in a separate post). The process of re-seizing the shrouds to the deadeyes has gone pretty smoothly; I put a prelim seizing on the shroud, scooting it up the shroud away from the deadeye, and then apply the proper amount of tension to the shroud and lanyards. Then I tie the final seizing so it is right up against the deadeye. At this point I am not adjusting the length of the lanyards between deadeyes, so that it remains fixed while I repair the shrouds. I'll try to send more pictures later today. 

[jdbondy]

Repair of the topmast shrouds is complete. I was able to move the top of the shrouds down to the lower level, and take up the slack at the deadeyes. I redid the lanyards securing the deadeyes to more accurately reflect how they are on the actual vessel. They are wrapped twice around the shroud where it is seized to the deadeye, then brought back down to one of the lanyard strands between the deadeyes and seized to it.

 

Some of the deadeye spacing is still pretty wide. I had to live with that when I ended up cutting the shrouds a little prematurely. But overall the result is an improvement.

 

Making good use of that Flexament fly tying cement for securing the synthetic thread to the Morope. No, I don't own stock in the company...

[jdbondy]

Oh, and now I have to migrate those 5 pairs of blocks from the topmast to the shroud, to which they should be seized. If anyone has any suggestions on how to securely tie the blocks to the shroud without allowing them to slide, I am all ears. The blocks have strops (probably not the right term to use) of varying length, that increase as you go toward the top. The stropping line forms an eye that I am currently using to tie the block to the shroud.

[GuntherMT]

Oh, and now I have to migrate those 5 pairs of blocks from the topmast to the shroud, to which they should be seized. If anyone has any suggestions on how to securely tie the blocks to the shroud without allowing them to slide, I am all ears. The blocks have strops (probably not the right term to use) of varying length, that increase as you go toward the top. The stropping line forms an eye that I am currently using to tie the block to the shroud.

 

I had a couple of those connections.  I just stropped the block to have a small eye at the end where it would connect to the larger line, and then seized them together with thread.  I don't seem to have a very good picture of it, but maybe you can figure it out from this.  I do not remember where I read about doing it this way, so no idea if it's even remotely accurate.

 

[jdbondy]

Gunther, glad to see that you did essentially what I am doing.

[druxey]

If the blocks are paired port and starboard, usually they are eye-spliced into a long strop and then the strop clove-hitched to a stay.

Edited October 1, 2016 by druxey

[jdbondy]

Thanks, Druxey. The end loop of my long strops are each closed, since I had first fastened them to eyebolts. So I can't tie them to the shroud with a clove hitch, but I am working around it. Essentially, I am tying a very small knot with my finest thread to the shroud, to serve as a "shelf". After that has been secured with glue, I am tying the blocks with their long strops to the shroud just above that shelf knot and gluing that, so as to keep it from sliding down the shroud.