Chain Plates @ 1:64 Scale

[mikiek]

Channels & chain plates and I will be ready to start rigging.  The Niagara plans call for 0.016" material for the largest chain plates. Even thinner for the smaller ones. I don't have any brass rod that small (0.02 is my thinnest) and my calipers are telling me that 0.016 would be about 27 gauge wire. That's pretty darned thin. While there may be a few of you out there that could, I doubt if I could do any type of soldering on that - to close loops, etc.

 

I did take some 26 gauge wire and wrap it around some nails and came out with the proper shape piece - just wire with a loop at each end. I then hammered it a bit which of course widens the wire and seems to close the loops somewhat.

 

This is my first build so my first rigging too and what I don't know is this. When the rigging starts how much stress is actually put on the chain plates from standing rigging? Granted in real life there would be a lot. But in our modeling? Will the hammered loops be sufficient?

 

Here's a sample part.

 

 

 

[mtaylor]

Mike,

 

I'd solder the loops.   There's nothing more frustrating (well.. there probably is....) than to have some bit of rigging come flying off due to pulling too taut, bumping it, etc.  

[DaveRow]

Hi Mike,

Agree with Mark, close them up.

I was not good at hand soldering.

 

I went all out and bought a "resistance welding unit"

This is a AB Superchief 250 from

www.americanbeautytools.com

The manufacturer is in the USA.(I don't have shares in them)

 

How the RW works

http://resistancesoldering.com/site/

 

 

Cost a fair bit to convert to 220v and import to AUS.

Worth every dollar to get neat joints, and no burn marks.

 

I made these dead eyes recently.

Takes a fraction of a second to solder each leg.

All in the prep. 

 

 

 

Dave R

[mikiek]

Mark, Dave - OK you talked me into it. I do have a resistance unit. It's rather frustrating. The pincer electrodes (like in Dave's pic) work only about half the time. The rest of the time it does nothing. Can't figure out what's wrong.

[6ohiocav]

Mike,

 

You can check my log, but I chose to solder rings of 26 gauge wire, and then bend them around the deadeyes. I kept the soldered end on top of the deadeye.  If I were to do it again, I would put the soldered end at the bottom of the deadeye since it would be hidden by the wood rail. that would have eliminated the need to touch up the silver solder with black paint.

 

The straps that bolt to the hull were created with round brass wire that I flattened on the each end with a small punch. I then drilled holes.  Those look great on the ship and were very easy to make. I blackened them when completed.

 

Here is a photo of the completed parts.  They have held up very nicely.

 

I have been working hard on standing rigging.  I am going to post a practicum when I complete the fore mast and jib boom rigging.  I am solving all kinds of challenges that I will be able to share with you.

 

Good luck friend.

[mikiek]

Darrell - I have the deadeyes down. At least I did. There are some already installed on my mast tops. If I can just remember how I did them.    Hopefully there are notes in my log too.

 

It's the other pieces that I was trying to get away with not soldering, particularly the the one that mounts to the hull. I was also hammering 26 gauge wire. I'm OK with the look, just hoping that hammering them would close the end loops enough to hold.

 

But while I've got you, the 26 guage was for the largest chain plates. Did you go thinner for the smaller ones? I really don't feel comfortable using 28 or 30 guage wire for this process. I have my doubts as to the durability when some tension is put on them.

 

Also the plan is not real clear on the next plate up from the hull mounted one. It sort of looks like it just hooks into the upper loop of the one below it. Not really fastened.

Edited October 13, 2016 by mikiek

[DaveRow]

Mark, Dave - OK you talked me into it. I do have a resistance unit. It's rather frustrating. The pincer electrodes (like in Dave's pic) work only about half the time. The rest of the time it does nothing. Can't figure out what's wrong.

Mike,

I found then surfaces need to be clean to allow the power to flow through easily.

Pincer Electrodes:

I clean(spear them into steel wool) the pincer electrodes nearly every time just before I do a weld.

A little time consuming, however I reckon it helps create a clean contact point for the power to run through. 

I position the pincers either side of the joint, if that makes sense, so the solder fills the gap up.

and >

I assume you use a flux on the surfaces that you want joined. I use a white paste, it sticks onto the surface, doesn't run until the power runs through, and the solder goes to where the flux is/was.

And I got a tip from one of our Aussie modeler's, use thin low temp. silver solder - 2 types.

That made another difference.

 

A pic of some earlier ones for Mizzen dead eyes.

Bit of a file to clean em up.

 

I am bias, I am a fan of resistance welding.

 

PS The hardest part is getting the copper wire to the shape, consistently, a jig works.

 

Dave R

[mikiek]

Dave - good thought on cleaning the electrode tips. I need to get some backups. Those things seem to break real easy.