dafi

The tulle has much more the problem, that it is to rigid ...
 
There is hexagonal ones which should be avoided and the square/diamond shape ones, which are much more suitable.
 
As they are polyester, they are neither fluffy or fuzzy but difficult to colorise. Markers work well and fast, but do not know how long this lasts. 
 
For my small scale it worked well, I introduced a small frame to ease fixing and painting.
                                          #102                         
 
The garlic nets i tried too, but they are too unstable in the form as they are elastic.
 
All the best, Daniel

HMS Victory
1:96 Scratchbuild Project
Part 13 – Ropemaking
Posted to MSW 8/28/10
 
There is a lot of rope needed to rig Victory, even without the rigging for the staysails, jibs, and studding sails, which as mentioned earlier were not modeled because without sails this is not practical. The rope ranges in size from the 27” circumference (9” diameter) anchor hawsers, down to 1” for flag halyards. All rope size is designated by circumference and I will refer to sizes on the model this way, using full scale measure. The picture below illustrates some of this diversity of sizes and types.
 
 

 
The largest line in the picture is the forestay, which is in a loop around the dense stack of shrouds above the foretop. This rope is 18 ½” in circumference. It has a bump in it called a “mouse”, which stops an eye splice. The stay is “served,” that is, wrapped with yarn, in this case very fine thread, from below the mouse around the masthead down to and including the eye splice. The smallest lines are the ratlines which are 1 ½” in circumference and tied around each of the shrouds with a clove hitch. The shrouds are 11” left handed, four strand cables, in pairs looped over the masthead. They are served from the masthead down below the height of the main yard. The first shroud on each lower mast is served over its full length. The sheets, which took the stress from the lower corners of the sails were among the largest lines in the running rigging. The end of the fore topsail sheets were 8” hemp. In this picture they rise up from blocks at the end of the yard where, in the absence of sails they are connected by a seized overhand knot through a loop of rope to the twin eyes of the clue line blocks, waiting for some miniature foretopman to untie them and make them fast to the corner of the foretopsail. . The standing rigging is black and the running rigging is hemp colored. The variety and complexity of all this adds a lot of interest to the model – and the modelmaking.
 
The Ropemaking Machine
 
 
Ropes down to 4 1/2” were made on a ropemaking machine, or model ropewalk, from small size linen thread. Sizes below 4 ½” were of mercerized cotton polyester thread. I will say more about this sizing and thread selection later, but first I will focus on the ropemaking machine itself. Longridge does a good job describing the ropemaking process and the machine needed and I have seen several good articles on this as well. I will describe what I did. Below is a picture of the heart of this machine.
 

 
You can see from this that I was robbing my kids’ toy chest in making this. First, the bed of the machine is a 2X4 about 10 feet long into which two slots were routed lengthwise to take two 1/8’ wide rails. At each end of this there is a sturdy pylon with adjustable eyebolts that stretch a strong steel wire taut about a foot above the bed. The rails carry the Lego cart, which holds one end of the rope strands in a spinning hook. This cart moves forward toward the headpiece as the rope is being twisted up. The “high wire” supports a rolling device that holds a slotted mandrel to keep the strands separate and feed them into the forming rope. The string trailing behind the cart drops over the other end of the 2X4 and has small weights attached. These weights put tension on the strands to keep the strands from tangling together. They also resist forward movement of the cart to give proper tension in the rope as it is made.
 
The headpiece component, shown closer below, consists of a central large gear with four planetary gears each with an extended shaft fitted with a stiff steel wire hook.
 
 

 
The central shaft has a hand crank and is fitted with a timing belt sheave for connection to a motor drive. This drive (not shown) is made from an old sewing machine motor with an adjustable speed foot pedal. It can be attached differently to yield right or left hand rope by reversing the direction of rotation. Either three or four strands can be tied to the planetary gear shafts to make three or four strand rope.
 
To make this machine, two aluminum plates were marked out and drilled accurately in a drill press to take the five shaft bearings at the right centers for the five gears. The gears are delrin on brass shafts and the bearings are brass sleeve thrust bearings. The two plates are spaced with shimmed wood blocks and bolted securely. The center gear is larger, I think 3:1, so, one turn of the crank gives three turns to the driven shafts. This assembly is securely bolted to the end of the 2X4. The last key component, and in some ways the most critical to getting good results is shown below.
 
 

 
On the cart are two hooks, one for large and one for small rope. These need to be as free turning as possible. This helps get the twisting up started and keeps it going at a uniform rate. For very small work friction can be a problem. The small hook, made from a round-headed pin, is used for most of the rope. To the right is the mandrel, a smooth piece of wood shaped to a bullet point with four evenly spaced grooves around its circumference. These grooves come to a point allowing the strands to converge freely together when being twisted. I used the four-slotted mandrel to make all rope. An interchangeable three slotted version was made and is better for three stranded rope, but I seldom took the time to change them out.
 
 
Making Rope
 
Even with all this apparatus, I found that making small ropes is still an art form as opposed to a scientific repeatable process, especially in the small sizes. I will outline the steps and highlight the critical factors involved in getting successful results, but this is very much a trial and error, learn as you go process.
 
First, a strand of linen thread is tied to the hook on one of the four shafts on the headpiece. I will discuss thread selection and size later. The cart is moved about seven or eight feet back and the other end of the thread is tied to the hook on the cart. The cart is then pulled back to put enough tension on the strand to make it straight and held in place with spring clamps placed in front of the front wheels. If four strand rope were being made I would loop the strand through the hook and take it back and tie it off to another on of the four shafts. Then a second strand is tied to one of the four shafts and taken through the hook and back to the headpiece where it is tied to another hook, trying to make the tension in all the strands as even as possible. Equal strand tension is the critical factor in this step.
 
Next the three (or four) strands are distributed into the grooves of the mandrel, which is brought up to within an inch or so of the hook on the cart. It is important in this step that the height of the mandrel is the same as the hook.
 
The crank is then turned by hand, or more normally, by the motor to start twisting the strands. Depending on the direction of turning, the linen strands may at first unwind before starting to twist up. Note that the clamps are still holding the cart. As the strands begin to twist and tension builds, the rear wheels of the cart will begin to lift. At this point the motor is stopped and the clamps removed. The tension on the weighted string at the back of the cart now becomes the critical factor. If weighted correctly, when the motor restarts the strands will continue to twist and the cart will soon begin moving toward the headpiece. Rope will begin forming between the cart hook and the mandrel, which will move toward the headpiece at a faster rate than the cart.
 
When the mandrel reaches the headpiece, it is swung aside. The rope will now be about four to five feet long. feet long – 65 to 80 fathoms in real length. The rope end is held between two fingers and the strands are clipped off the hooks. A knot is then made in the rope end and the rope is tied to one of the four hooks. The hook on the cart is then stopped from rotating with a clamp and the motor is run again. This process tightens up the rope.
 
The motor is then stopped and the rope is grasped at the cart end and pulled taut to help lock the rope fibers. It is then disengaged from the cart and pulled harder to tighten it further. It will stretch, but if it breaks you’ve pulled too hard. The rope is now made and stretched and can be removed from the machine. It will not unwind. It is now ready for the final step, coloring.
 
Standing rigging was black and running rigging hemp colored. Right after the rope was made, it was dyed in one of these colors, stretched to wring it out, and hung up to dry. When dry it was stretched again, re-dyed and dried again if needed, and wound onto a labeled bobbin. Rope was dyed black with a diluted acrylic liquid artists color. Hemp coloring was mixed from acrylic designers guache then diluted. Acrylic artists colors are made from finely ground pigments, so unlike dye, they will not fade. With the diluted mixtures there is no noticeable stiffness in the rope from the acrylic polymer. Both colors were diluted enough so that the rope would show some contrast, with the crevices being darker. Black is not black black. Same with the hemp. Where thread alone was used, colors were selected to be close to the linen dyed hemp. The black thread is black black.
 
 
 
Rope Sizes
 
 
I used primarily two sizes of linen to make all the rope. Other materials could be used and I made some nice rope with other materials – cotton, polyester, etc. I was concerned about stretching, but after a couple years there has been none on the made rope or even on the plain thread that was used for smaller sizes. Based on this I would consider using other materials if doing this again, mainly because linen thread, even the higher quality type I used, has imperfections – bumps – which sometimes show up in rope. Below is a picture of some of the leftover linen rope.
 

 
In this picture, on the end of one of the bobbins, you can see information about the rope on that spool – number of strands of which thread, right or left hand, and size. Here is a close up of some of the hemp rope.
 

 
With only two sizes of thread, there were limits to the sizes of rope that could be made. The variables were, number of strands, size of thread, number of threads in a strand. The smallest made rope was 4 1/2” and was made from only two strands of the finest thread (1684). To set the sizes, rope was made by all the different combinations available, then each was measured with a micrometer and each size needed was assigned the nearest combination. The card below shows the assignments for the smaller sizes.
 

 
This card was used throughout the rigging process to select the best size match for each rigging line. Below 4 ½” there are merely thread types, with their diameters. The larger sizes show the number of strands of which linen thread. The above sizes make up the bulk of the rope needed. Sizes above 9” were were listed on another sheet and made to size with more or bigger thread.
 
In the next part I will discuss serving and the serving machine.
 
Ed Tosti

Good luck for your back and not just you is going mad waiting for news on this place!
 
Daniel

And what does one do if one has almost a cable length of anchor rope and some movable manger boards ? Of course one tries out things :-)
 
And what? The last pictures show the anchor rope tight and well clear the manger boards. Usually with the guns run out, everything looks neat, tidy and spacious. With the guns lashed it becomes already more tight.
 
But what with the cables prepared for throwing the anchor? Hihihihihihihi...
 
So here we go ...
 

 
... the tensioned anchor cables clear above the manger boards. But some time ago, I already did put up some heretical questions:
 
- the boards of the manger are not constructed in a way that a heavy anchor cable can rub over them.
- several sources claim the manger´s boards to be removable for what purpose?
- for what purpose were they taken out?
- why are they usually shown as a permanent fix?
 
While preparing came out Goodwins new book Victorys "Owners´ Workshop Manual" that gives a nice describtion on how to prepare to throw an anchor
 
- Clear the deck. But I kept the guns lashed (Lets suppose we have a heavy sea and do not want to unleash them).
- The sides of the manger were taken out! HA!!! That is why I made them removable, I knew it!!!
- The starboard side anchor cable is stored on the port side because of handling. So bring it up the gundeck and flake it out in long loops along the deck, in a way that it can´t get jammed. HA!!! That is why I made my cable that long!!!
- When the required length is laid out, fix the rope around the bitts and add some stoppers in front and back of the bitts (missing in the pictures still)
- If not done yet take a smaller messenger cable and get the cable through the hawser holes to to be fixed on the anchor.
 
Then comes a series of sailing manouvers . Then the anchor is let go and the rope can run out the hawser holes and uncoil easily throughout the deck without rubbing against any manger boards. Like this it makes finally sense to me :-) 
Finetuning still welcome!
 
And this is how it looks like: Starboard manger boards taken out ...
 

 
... uand the long hanks down the deck. This is almost a cable length.
 

 
And some more pics for pleasure and fun.
 

 

 

 

 

 
And suddenly, it doesn´t look that spacious and clear any more ;-)
 
As a guide the length of the cable should be 3 times the depth of water if I understood right. The free end of this cable shown here on deck is 150 meters, so the water shoud be 40 to 50 meters deep. The Cable length of about 183 meters came out of the length of the old ropewalks. If longer cables were needed for deeper water, two cables had to be spliced together. Than we would have had about 9 hanks instead of the five here shown on the pictures. I think this should be still possible space wise.
 
Sincerily, Daniel

Welcome to dafi´s world.

Being in the middle of IAA, one of the worlds biggest fairs for the automotive industry, what did dafi discover?
 

 
Our clients, what did they see? Naturally some Calamary-Amuse-Gueules.
 
But what did dafi see?
 
He only saw these great bamboo-sticks, marvelous tool to apply superglue :-)
 

 
I felt rather sick afterwards after eating that many of those to rescue the sticks ...
 
 
Sodele and jetzetle, 
 
being back home I was finally able to work on something, that I was dreaming of for the last four weeks ...
 
... it started all innocently on the lath and then came something that you can find on the market-places of many german wine villages, a nice spindle:
 

 
And then came a long box with spikes underneath, drilled from the top...
 

 
... having a nose inside ...
 

 
... to scew the spindle in with love.
 

 
Finished with some iron loops it looks like this :-)
 

 

 
And now the the holy question: What is this little engine about? Data would have said "fully functional", if you know what I mean, hihihihihi ...
 
So this is the next riddle, after the guy with the big hammer is still waiting for what job he is meant to do ;-)
 
Sincerily, Daniel

And as the shrouds are up I took the chance to try out the ratlines. Now I know why I kept the Heller ratty machine ...
 

 
... the lower 4 lines have the given circumference of 1,5 inch, means 0,12 mm :-)
 
On top of it I tried 3 sets of four lines, once thinner, once thicker in black and once thicker in tan in case for optical reasons other thicknesses could be more appropriate.
 

 
Against the light the differences stand out quite clearly, I will most possibly stay with the "original" size, means 4 strands of 20/0 Caenis.
 

 
And now the difficult topic, tarred or tanned ratlines:
Discussions running wild on the net, so I decided to get a more pragmatic approach. Many sources report "hands employed blackening the shrouds". I do strongly believe, that the ratlines were not taken down for that, so the knots and the adacent areas would get their fair share of tar too. The middle in between surly darkened fast too because of the tarred feet of the hands, so the difference if a light or dark line was underneath would soon have disaperead.
 
Even though I wanted to see how a blackened light line could look like ...
 

 
... but the effect is that minor in my scale (see the Tic-Tac) and the paint spoiled the color of my shrouds, so I stay with the black line to facilitate things, leaving the lower four ones as my personnel choice :-)
 

 
And see, the little sailor was taking good care in his training and puts the hands to the shrouds for that 
a - nobody steps on them
b - he has something stable to hold on in case of the ratline breaking :-)
 
Best regards, Daniel

Second Course
 
Next curse is about the nippers ...
 
 
 
... here shown the newer version, a long rope, that links the anchor cable with the messenger. The older version is shorter with a small plate on the end, but apparently more difficult to unlock.
 
The system is simple: 3 turns around the messenger, three around both cables, there around the anchor cable. There were more complicated versions, but I hope, this one will do. The ends are not knotted, so I believe the end was to be stretched by a hand. This is why my little shipyard worker was helping out - What a smart nipper he is :-)
 
And here are the details: The messenger is pulled on the starbord side and running back on larboard.
 
At the bows the messenger is running loosely around the rollers ...
 

 
... and will be nipped straight after the manger. 
 

 
Both cables run over the horizontal parts of the riding bits.
 
 
 
On larboard the eye splices are to be seen, then it goes just straight ...
 

 
... before the nipping is taken off for the anchor cable to disappear in the orlop deck. The starboard cable is stored on the port side and vica versa for handling reasons.
 

 
Of course the grating should still be taken down, but unfortunately it was glued in to professionally in my dim and distant past ...
 
The messenger still has to finish its turn round the pumps, on starboard over the stanchion´s roller ...
 

 
... and finally running round the capstan to proceed bowwards.
 

 
And if you have a close look, you will discover our mysterious Mr. Thor swinging his mighty hammer :-)
 
 
 
His duty was to make shure, that the incoming cable does not jump over the turn lying above it. And we see Jack, Ben und Phil pulling free the outgoing cable.
 
Here a overview from the back, one can see the space above the elmtree pumps ...
 

 
... also interesting the turns the cables take on the pulled side, both horizontally and vertically ...
 

 
... and from the front.
 

 
...hihihihihihi...
 
*runningbacktokitchen*

Oh Mark, I am sooooo sorry ;-)
 
XXXDAn
 
PS: Thanks for referring to my build, this is worth more than an award!

Damn... Daniel beat me to  it..    Got to get pretty early around here, I guess,

Brain,
The messenger would not have gone from the upper deck to the lower.  All the lower capstan, in this case, would have done is provide additional manpower for the upper capstan as they were mechanically linked.
 
For a good overview of the messenger, take a look at Dafi's Vic build starting about here: http://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/76-hms-victory-by-dafi-to-victory-and-beyond/page-9

Another of your great builds, wonderful to see, Daniel

HMS Victory
1:96 Scratchbuild Project
Part 18 – Eye Splices and Strops
 
 
Cyanoacrylate Glue
 
CA glue is one of my least favorite substances to work with. Its difficult to remove from skin, it runs where it is not wanted, its difficult to apply in measured doses, excess can be impossible to remove, it sometimes adheres where desired, but always adheres where not desired. However, I do not believe Victory’s complex rigging, at this scale, could have been modeled very well without it.
 
I once spilled quite a bit of a bottle of this stuff on my workbench. Believe me; that will never happen again. Below is a picture of the simple holder that I always use when using this glue.
 
 

 
I do not use the applicator tip on the bottle because dosage can’t be controlled with it and it immediately plugs anyway. I use a homemade brass wire applicator like the one next to the bottle above. A close up picture of the end of this is shown below.
 
 

 
To make this, a piece of .030 inch brass rod is slit down one end with a fine blade on a jeweler’s saw, the end is then de-burred and shaped as shown above. The idea is to get it to work like an old style drafting pen, holding a limited amount of liquid. A bit of trial and error is necessary to get the amount it holds right, but it is capable of delivering a very small amount of CA, which is what is needed for rigging at this scale. The applicator is just dipped into the open CA bottle. Two or three of these are needed because they quickly get gummed up. When that happens, I drop them into a tall closed jar of acetone and take out a clean one ready for use. Keeping the jar tightly closed is important. Acetone is hazardous to health and flammable, and the vapors in the closed jar help dissolve the glue above the liquid level.
 
I used the thin grade of CA on all the rigging work. All you really want to do with this is get the rope fibers to stick to one another in a knot or a simplified mimic of a splice. CA was never depended upon by itself.
 
 
Eye Splices
 
There are relatively very few actual knots in Victory’s rigging. Almost everything is fastened together with spices of some sort, usually eye splices. These were then fastened with seizings or lashings. So, there were very many eye splices to be made.
 
For the very largest lines like the main and forestays, actual splices were made for the model, but that was impractical for anything smaller. So the following process, or some variant of it was used for virtually all the splices.
 
In the first picture below, the rope is untwisted enough to insert a needle, with an eye large enough to take the rope, through the strands. For small, unmade rope, the needle is merely pushed through the center of the thread fibers.
 
 

 
The short end of the rope is then threaded on to the needle (which can be pulled mostly through to save rope), and the rope is pulled through itself as shown below.
 
 

 
In the next picture the loop has been placed over a piece of stiff wire the size of the desired opening in the eye splice. The short end has then been pulled up tight and the long end has been twisted to tighten up the rope.
 

 
The short end is then lapped over the long leg and the splice touched with a small drop of CA as shown below.
 
 

 
Before the CA has had a chance to completely cure, remove the splice from the wire and clamp it in pliers to give the splice some shape as shown below.
 
 

 
The next picture shows the final result after the short leg has been clipped off with scissors. I use small sharp embroidery scissors for this clipping. They, too, need to be cleaned in acetone from time to time to remove CA.
 
 

 
Eye splices from large sizes down to the smallest, 1½ inch (.007 diam.) rope were made this way and have withstood rigging tension without any failures.
 
Stropping Blocks
 
There are very many different types of block strops on the model – too many to cover here. Many required some innovative application of the techniques discussed below. Some of the larger blocks, like the jeer blocks, were done completely differently and much more authentically.
 
The following process, or some near variation was used for the great majority of blocks.
 
First an eye splice is made in the rope as described above. For very small lines I just tied double overhand knots to make the loop around the wire post and wet that with CA. In the picture below, an eye has been put in the rope by the method above. Because the stropping process requires at least three hands, the surgical clamp shown below is an essential tool.
 

 
With the block held between the fingers by the surfaces with the sheave holes, the rope is pulled tight so the splice is down on the top of the block. The rope is then pinched together just below the block with the fingers. The strop is then clamped to the sides of the block with the surgical clamp as shown below.
 
 

 
In the next picture the clamp is laid down so the bottom of the block is up. An overhand knot, simulating a splice can then be tied across the bottom. This is then pulled tight and touched with CA.
 

 
In the picture below the finished block has had the excess rope clipped off and is shown attached to another line with a seized overhand knot, one of the many different ways used, depending on the line.
 
 

 
Another method, used on larger blocks is shown below.
 
 

 
Instead of the simulated splice, a seizing is put around the rope to form the eye. The eye is then put over the wire as before and the overhand knot in the thread shown above is pulled tight and pushed right up to the wire.
 
 

 
A second overhand knot is then added. Perhaps we should call it “an underhand knot,” because it is tied from below to avoid a knot-like appearance. This can be followed by another overhand knot on the top, and so on, depending on the size of the block and how large a seizing is appropriate. A small drop of CA is then applied to the seizing. If the drop of CA is too large in this step, the rope won’t bend around the top of the block. The bottom splice is then applied with an overhand knot on the bottom as shown below.
 

 
I think we’re getting close to the end, but not quite yet. The next part should wrap it up.
 
Ed Tosti

Hello friends,
I have a mistake of the rope from the Cathead to the three block-in.
Change takes place coming soon.
 
Vielen Dank an Günter Ulrich für den Tip.
 
Regards Karl

Got something for you:
The original blocks from Götheborg that they excavated from the wreck site. These are the real deal!
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Eric

I posted pictures of the skis a while ago........yea.....it's been that long John
 

 
I found them on page 11.    the Denny-Zen is finished.........the skis are all thats left to the Phylly C.   I thank you for the good word. 

thanks Frank.......got one toe over the finish line a we speak!  thanks for the good word
 
yea.......Andy reminded me of how the dome should look........they look the same on our tractors  {truck}.    they look good enough for me.....I'm just going to leave them as they are.  they won't look like that in the future,  I assure you
 
the skis are a tough nut to crack......I thought of going out....buying some  "barbie shoes".....and cut them up to make the bindings.  I have been looking at images of skis,  so I have a good idea of what I have to do.  I was going to make them out of brass {sheet} and paint them, but it sounds like a pain,  so I'm creating some material.
 

 
this is sail cloth soaked in diluted white glue.   when it is dry,  I'll make a jig so I can fit the material into what I need.  perhaps Froyd wouldn't mind coming over so I can check for fit.......hee.....hee. 
 
I made up the wipers for the both of them.   the way I did it was pretty neat......I was going to cement a thin strip of brass on the arm and paint it flat black....but in seeing how they looked,  I didn't bother. 
 

 
the blade is soddered on the end of the arm at an angle
 

 
the dry fit showed that I needed to alter the angle a bit.  but once they were adjusted,  the blade was painted flat black.
 

as you can see,  some of them need a little help.  I can fix them though.....I began the task of sanding them......lots of sanding.
 


 
keep an eye on that sawdust pile
 

 
I got six of them sanded down.....I could go a little more,  but I'll do that later,  when I go to install them.  I worked on getting the others done first.  I couldn't get a decent picture of them,  so I set them on a piece of flat stock,  to see if that would help.
 



 
I got a couple more of them.
 

 
.....until I got them all.....I didn't lose a single one!
 


 
the sawdust pile grew to be quite large......I'm saving some,  so I can make some home made filler.
 

 
I wouldn't suggest to anyone that they should do this......it took me a couple days to do this.   it was just an experiment to see if this would be a viable alternative.   the only thing I can see,  is that it might have been better to use smaller stock........1/32......or even 1/64.  these would be suited for the larger grates, the kit provides the smaller ones......it might be best if I used them......but you never know,  I might try it.

I do have one more bit of progress to pass on to you.   I would have posted this,  but this was when the site went down.....believe it on not.....so this is fairly recent.   I had ordered a grate kit from the place where I had ordered the 3.5mm deadeyes for the Gothenborg.  it was taking so long to get them,  I canceled the order.   while I was waiting though,  I thought about how many of those kits I would have to order...and the cost involved.  I decided to try and make them.  I bought two packages of 1/16 square stock and cut them into short lenghts.  with just a tiny bit of cement on the ends,  I cemented ten of them down onto a small piece of wood,  spacing them equally {1/16 wide}.   placing another layer on top of them, spacing them the same way,  they form a cross - thatch pattern.





 
third row
 

 
fourth row
 


 
fifth row
 

 
I was running out of the strips......and only half way as high as I want to go.   the only recourse at this time,  would be to cut this in half,  fit it together the best position possible,  and glue it together.   so, I finished with what I had and did just that.
 




 
when this was dry,  it was sliced into wafers.   they will be sanded flush,  making them thinner in the process.   there were some of the tiny pieces that broke free.   they were repaired and set aside to dry,  I would just pick up another one and work on thay one in the meantime.
 


 
for some reason,  I got eleven of them........I thought I'd only get ten.   a bonus.

more

more

more

more

HMS Victory
1:96 Scratchbuild Project
Part 14 – Serving Rope
Posted to MSW 8/29/10
 
 
Some of the very first lines to be rigged required serving. Creating served lines on the model is simplified from what was done in real practice. Standing rigging that was subject to wear from rubbing or required additional protection was wormed, parceled and served. Worming refers to wrapping a rope of smaller size into the grooves in the main strands of the rope. The only lines on the Victory model that were wormed were the anchor hawsers and the mainstay. Others were too small for this. The next step, parceling, involved wrapping the wormed rope with tarred flannel – like tape. None of this was done on the model. Finally, the wormed and parceled rope was served. This involved wrapping it tightly around its circumference with small sized yarn. Many lines on the victory model were served – stays, lower and topmast shrouds, stay collars and all but the smallest that were specified for the treatment in the rigging schedule. None but the largest block beckets were served.
 
The Serving Machine
 
Some sort of device is needed to facilitate the serving process. Below is a picture of the machine I made for this. The basic principle of this machine is that a rope stretched and clamped between the two lower shafts, would be rotated in the same direction and at the same rate from both ends to avoid twisting the rope. Fine thread could then be closely and uniformly wrapped around the rope from a spool as the rope was turned.
 
 

 
This is a closer view of the internals of the head end of the machine. A crank turns the shaft with the larger gear. This shaft is connected by a thick wire jackshaft to a large gear of the same diameter at the other end. These two gears rotating at the same speed drive smaller gears at each end on shafts to which rope is clamped. One turn of the crank gives, I think, three turns to the rope. Rope is held at the end of the shaft by jaws formed at the ends. The jaws are made tight on the rope by a threaded collar with a screw, which is slid forward. The screw is then tightened to hold the rope on the shaft centerline. At the other end, after clamping, the rope is pulled tight by sliding the shaft at that end backwards. With the right tightness on the gear set screw this can be done without having to tighten the set screw every time. Only enough tension is needed to keep the rope reasonably taut.
 

 
The serving yarn used was very fine cotton thread. The spool was given its own shaft so it can unwind as needed.
 

 
The Process
 
First, the portion of a line to be served was marked out with a white chalk pencil. Often this was done by putting the line in place on the ship to get this right. Small sewing needles are passed through the rope between the strands at each ends of the area to be served. The rope is then clamped into the machine, which was clamped in a vise. This is shown below in the following demonstration.
 

 
The end of the thread from the spool is then passed through the needle at the right hand end. It is then pulled through the rope and the needle is set aside.
 

 
After being passed through the rope the thread is passed through the eye of the second needle and that needle is pulled through to a point where the thread is close, but not yet into the rope. The purpose of this is to keep the thread alongside the rope for the first part of the serving process. This is shown below.
 

 
The next picture shows serving in process. The crank is turned so the thread gets laid over the top of the rope where it can be seen better. This helps assure that the turns are tight up against each other.
 

 
After about ten or fifteen turns, the crank is stopped and the thread that runs along the rope to the other end is clipped off with small scissors as shown below. That end of the thread is now securely fixed under the first turns, leaving a nice neat beginning to the served portion.
 
 

 
The serving then continues right up to the second needle at which time the thread is cut off as shown below, while maintaining a hold on the thread.
 

 
The loose end is then passed through the eye of this needle and pulled through. It is then clipped off. The fully served line is shown below before being removed from the machine. I usually wait for the line to be installed before clipping this right up close. At that point the line is taut and in position, so it’s safe to put a tiny drop of CA on this end before that final clipping off.
 

 
Eye splices were served by marking out just the loop of the eye itself. The needles were set at these points as above and the area between them was served exactly as above. Then the line was removed from the machine and the eye splice made. I will describe how this was done later. A needle was placed at the end of the area to be served below the eye. The eye itself was then clamped in the machine and the thread was tied to the bottom of the eye loop. The line was served up to the needle and finished off the same way.
 
Where needed on stays, a mouse was formed in the serving machine in a much simpler way than the original. Thread was fastened at the mouse location and a bump was built up in the shape of a mouse by winding the thread over itself and touching it with a small drop of CA a couple times as it built up in diameter and shape. It was finished off with a clove hitch to secure the end of the thread.
 
In the next part, I will describe how blocks and deadeyes were made.
 
 
 
Ed Tosti

HMS Victory
1:96 Scratchbuild Project
Part 15a – Making Shape Scrapers
 
 
Since putting up the Victory log I’ve had a few requests for more information about the scrapers used to make moldings and block profiles, specifically about how to make them, so in response I am inserting this post into the series. If this does not answer all questions, let me know.
 
 
Using Shape Scrapers
 
Generally, I have made these as needed, without too much forethought, getting the shapes perfected by trial and error. They are easy to make and produce surprisingly good results.
 
There are a few different ways to use these, depending on what is being shaped. The pictures below illustrate some examples. In all cases multiple light cuts should be used.
 
 

 
In this picture a wide strip is being shaped for a molding. When the shaping is complete, the molding will be ripped off on the circular saw. This method assures that the molding will be of uniform thickness if more material is removed at one end or the other. Also, some moldings will not be thick enough to work with the cutter. Its best to keep the stock at almost right angles to the cutter vertically and at a right angle horizontally. More tilt over the cutting edge can be helpful at the start, but by the end of the cutting the wood should be at right angles to get the true shape from the cutter.
 
 
 

 
For shapes where the strip needs to be cut to size first, for example on blocks where all four sides need shaping, the cutter would be used this way – but hopefully more at a vertical right angle to the work. For this application the pattern should not be cut too deep in the plate, but it’s always a good idea to have enough depth to provide entry of the stock before the pattern is reached. The sides should also confine the wood so it cannot get off the track of the pattern. For blocks, the rounded vertical shape of the block can be cut into the scraper, which can be cut deep enough to reach the center of the block body. Uniformly rounded blocks can be made easily this way.
 

 
Here’s another picture where the right angle rule could use a little more application. If the pieces are short and can be accommodated in a vise, this approach works well. Here the sheave groove for a single block is being cut. Note the rounded sides on the cutter.
 

 
Simple grooves of very small size can be cut with scrapers where saw blades or files are too big. Using the clamping device in this picture as a fence allows one cutter to be used for several different groove locations by varying the distance from the cutter. The clamp is made from two pieces of 1/8” carbon steel, rounded off on their edges which a file, then drilled and tapped to take a tightening screw.
 

 
This is pretty much the collection used on Victory.
 
After scraping, avoid using sandpaper on the shapes. It will obscure the detail. A buffing with very fine steel wool or fine grade non-metallic 3M abrasive pads, will polish up the shape nicely.
 
 
 
 
Making the Cutters
 
My cutters are made from scrap pieces of 16 gauge stainless steel, only because I happened to have some. Most cutters have limited use, so they could be made from plain carbon steel or even hard brass plate.
 
If you are going to use hardened steel plate, say, for example a carbon steel saw blade, then that will need to be stress relieved to make it soft enough to cut with a saw or file. To stress relieve hardened steel, heat the piece with a torch until it is “cherry” red, then allow it to air cool. It can then be worked with files and saws. Hardened steel can be worked as is with abrasive wheels in a motor tool, but this might limit the profiles that can be made. I would recommend avoiding this by finding a piece of roughly, 16 gauge (1/16” or 2mm) plain carbon steel scrap.
 
For moldings, where the final shape can be sliced off after shaping, I would start by cutting a square slot the width of the molding, then lightly rounding the side edges of this, so the wood will slide within the sides without scraping. The pattern can then be cut on the bottom face of the slot.
 
The pattern should have crisp edges where it will be scraping away the wood. When cutting the pattern, cut at a right angle to the plate. An angled knife edge is not needed, just a sharp unrounded corner.
The pictures below show a cutter being shaped using just a jeweler’s saw. Very fine patterns can be cut with this tool tilting the blade to one side or the other. For fine detail this is the tool of choice.
 

 
Use the jeweler’s saw to cut on the pull stroke. Blades in many sizes down to the very finest are inexpensive and easily replaced when they break. Get them from a jeweler’s supplier – or even Amazon.com. A jeweler’s saw frame can be had for $20, or so, and is a good investment – for this and many other modeling tasks.
 
Where the shape requires smooth curves the pattern can be dressed up with very small files. Just be careful not to round off the cutting edges. Small files in various shapes are available from suppliers of modeler’s tools. Sharp edged files for sharpening Japanese style saws are very good for narrow slots. I usually try to avoid using files on both metal and wood because they can leave metallic smudge on the wood. Separating these uses is not always easy. I still prefer the jeweler’s saw for most of the work.
 
The best way to know if you’ve got the right shape is by trial and error. Careful marking out with a scriber is a good way to start, but I have found that sooner or later testing the width or the pattern with a piece of the wood stock will need to be done.
 

 
Ed Tosti

HMS Victory
1:96 Scratchbuild Project
Part 16 – Shrouds and Ratlines 
 
 

Shrouds
 
The shrouds for the Victory model were made from multiple strands of linen, twisted up on the ropemaking machine as described earlier, except for the topgallant mast shrouds, which were too small.  A heavy black mercerized cotton polyester thread was used for these.   All the shrouds are laid up left handed and are four strand if the size could be obtained that way.  If not, three strand rope, though not historic, was used. 
 
The lower and topmast shrouds are all served over some of their length.  The first shroud in each set was served over its whole length, because of the rubbing it took from the yard and other rigging.  All these shrouds were served where they wrapped around the masthead.  The following picture shows the served portion of shrouds just below the foretop.
 

 
 
The next picture shows the served shrouds where they are wrapped around the masthead above the top.
 

 
Once served, the shrouds go over the masthead in a specific sequence.  Shrouds are generally paired in twos and after draping around the masthead are lashed together with a seizing.  Some of these lashings can be seen in the above picture.  For appearance sake, care has been taken to place these pairs neatly on top of one another and have them oriented so they do not twist over each other as they descend to there proper deadeye.
 
Once all the shrouds were lashed into their positions at the top, the next task was to secure deadeyes to their bottom ends.  These needed to be secured at the right length or the deadeyes would not be aligned when the shrouds were pulled tight by their lanyards.  The following sketch, shows how this was accomplished on the model.
 

 
 
This picture is a composite showing a number of separate steps to attach the shrouds to their deadeyes.  First a thin piece of rectangular hardwood about 1/32” thick was cut to be used as a jig for lashing up the shrouds.  This was placed on the channel just behind the bottom row of deadeyes, which were installed earlier.  Spots were marked at the bottom of this on either side of a few of the deadeyes. The wood was removed and small holes, to take thin copper wire were drilled on these marks.  The wood was then returned to the channel and the wire twisted around some of the bottom deadeye chains as shown.   A horizontal line was then drawn on the wood at the desired line for the top row of deadeyes.  Each shroud was then pulled down to its bottom deadeye and a line drawn at the location where it passed over the horizontal line.  The wood was again removed and two holes were drilled at roughly the spacing of deadeye holes on the horizontal line either side of each shroud line.  Thin wire was then used to secure each top deadeye to the wood as shown above.  The wood was then returned to the channel and secured as before.
 
Having done this, each shroud could be connected to its proper deadeye, assured that it would take its final place along a neat horizontal row with its mates.
 
To secure each shroud it was pulled with moderate tension around the deadeye and clamped back on itself higher up.  The short leg of the seized shroud should always be to the right when viewed from the outside. Once tensioned and clamped each shroud was seized with three lashings as shown and the excess clipped off.  The shrouds remained attached to the wood after it was removed from the channel to avoid mixing up the shrouds.   Starting at the front they were then removed one at a time, first one side then the other, for installation of the lanyards and initial tensioning.  All lower and topmast shrouds were installed in this way.
 

 
The above picture shows the finished fore channel.  The various stays that were installed between the lower shrouds were rigged up individually, not part of the above process.
 
Rigging of the lanyards was straightforward.  A knot was put in one end of a lanyard rope, to which some beeswax thinned in turpentine had been applied and rubbed off.  The other end was wetted with CA and clipped at an angle with scissors to give it a sharp end.  This was then threaded from the back through the top left deadeye hole, down through the left front hole on the lower, then from the back through the middle hole in the upper, and so on until all the holes were filled and the lanyard had emerged from the lower right hole at the back.  This loose end was then pulled up to put some initial tension on the shroud.  This process was then repeated, side to side, front to back, until all the lanyards were installed. 
 
Final tension was applied when the forward stays for the mast were installed and tensioned.  Each shroud was then tensioned in turn and the end of the lanyard secured in what was a somewhat sloppy, if historical way – as follows.  The loose end of lanyard was brought through the small opening between the top deadeye and the first seizing on the shroud.  It was then wrapped several times around the shroud and secured to the shroud above these turns with its own seizing.  It was very hard to get all these loose ends to look relatively uniform.
 
Here is another picture.
 

 
 
Once the lower shrouds were installed, futtock staves made from blackened stiff wire were lashed to each shroud some distance below the top.  A number of horizontal catharpins were then lashed to a shroud on either side at this stave.  It was important to get uniform initial tension on these catharpins because they are part of the system of lines, which secures the topmast shrouds.  If they are too tight the lower shrouds will be pulled inward. If they are too loose tension on the topmast shrouds transferred through the futtock shrouds will pull the lower shrouds outward.  The following picture shows how these lines interact with each other. [/size]
 

 
 
Here, the lower, futtock and topmast shrouds are all installed, including their ratlines.  The horizontal futtock stave across the shrouds on one side and the catharpins lashed across between them can be seen.  It can also be seen that the topmast shrouds transfer their tension through their lower deadeye chains (which are not secured to the top platform), down through the futtock shrouds to the catharpins.  Also, the forward lower mast stay is putting forward tension on the lower shrouds.  All this required a bit of care in tensioning.
 

 Ratlines
 
The ratlines are relatively easy to install but it is a repetitive and somewhat tiresome task, especially higher up where arm fatigue can set in.  The ratlines are much smaller rope than the shrouds.   They are set 13 inches apart.  On the prototype they were lashed through eye splices at both ends to the outer shrouds and tied with a clove hitch to each shroud in between.  On the model all the shroud connections were done with clove hitches.  The process is shown below.
 

 
First, a card with lines 13 inches apart was mounted directly behind the shrouds as a guide.  Then thread was tied to the leftmost shroud with a clove hitch and touched with a small drop of CA.  The thread was passed over the front of the next shroud, the end pushed behind the shroud, pulled out from the left of the shroud under itself, pushed behind above itself and then pulled out through its loop with tweezers.  I’m sorry if this is complete gibberish, but after a few knots this process became quite mechanical, and so many knots were done that I can recall the exact process easily after three years. 
 
Once the knot was loosely formed, the end was pulled to straighten out the ratline between the last shrouds, then gripped at this point tightly with the tweezers and the knot pulled tight.  This last step is shown below.
 

 
After tying off to the last shroud, tension was examined and, if necessary, adjusted by loosening and resetting each knot, before applying a final drop of CA to the last knot.  With practice few adjustments were needed.
 
One last task to be done on the fore lower shrouds was to install the tiny boxwood shroud cleats, which were used to belay a number of lines.  Space for belaying points was scarce in the on the forecastle and there were many lines to be belayed in this area, hence the use of shroud cleats.  These were carved individually and lashed to the shrouds with fine thread.  They are shown below.
 

 
 
The rigging experience will continue in the next part.
 
 
Ed Tosti