Chuck

Basically to harden the rope.... Before you remove the rope from both sides of the rope walk, After cutting one side only, you stretch the rope. Dont tug it back and forth. Just give it a gradual gentle pull until it stretches no further. Then hold it there for a few minutes or clamp it there. Do this while you still have control of the rope. If you just cut it free willy-nilly from both ends, and you havent achieved balance from the opposing tensions it will unravel and snake up and get tangled. I am sure this is familiar to many. So this is the opportunity to control the rope as it is still attached to one side of the rope walk. Gradually let it unwind until it no longer untwists. This is the point where you have achieved balance in the opposing tensions. It should hang very nicely. The opposing tension is what keeps the rope together....twisting all three strands in one direction individually firstvand then twisting all of those strands together in the opposite direction. Its hard to achieve perfect balance. But if you can keep the rope in control after cutting one side free as you let it naturally untwist into balance......you are ready to harden the rope. Hope that makes sense. I harden the rope by gently stretching and holding it there. When you eventually cut the rope completely free....no twisting and unraveling or snaking together in a tangled mess. If after you do this, you examine your rope and it is laid up to loosely...it just means you havent put enough initial twists in the individual strands. You didnt build up enough energy and tension so it keeps from unwinding to a loose lay. So the next rope you make should have more tension built up initially in the individual strands . Its trial and error until you discover the proper recipe. But once you do...you can make perfect rope every time..... and very consistently. Again..this is very hard t do on one of those self-contained automated planetary machines. Finding that balance in tension and hardening is tougher.

That would actually be a great idea.......use the thicker stuff first. That is how I taught my son to make rope. He kept breaking the smaller lines until he got used to it. Actually I was thinking of making a video...just have to convince my kids to shoot the video. Ultimately I would like to offer my new rope walk to the masses some day....but there is a learning curve and you must get the feel for it. The "feel" has a lot to do with it. Something I think only a video could most easily convey. I cant even get them to take out the garbage so its just one of those things on the "to-do List". Chuck

Thats the issue...I usually just tie it to the three/four hooks of my rope walk and spin it in the opposite direction. It unlays and then after that it lays up in the other direction. Just like that I now have left handed thread to make my right handed rope. All in one step. As it unlays initially.... the rope walk end is actually walked back...or the gap between the two actually gets wider. Before closing up again as it begins to twist in the other direction and tighten. I dont do it ahead of time as you mentioned. But I suppose you would have to in order to wound it up on those spools for the machine. The mono thread comes in limited colors....I really dont use it for my rope. I just know its out there. DMC is the ultimate best stuff readily available for rope making. The only draw back is that it has to be dyed. I used it initially before deciding that I didnt have the time to dye all of the rope I sold. It is all right handed. If I wasnt selling 1000's of feet of rope each month I would still be using it. It great stuff and I never minded dyeing it for just my own use. Rit dye is what I used. It comes in many colors...great stuff. Both lefty and righty ropes.

Ken Your rope looks great. Well done. Although folks search and search for the best material.....you nailed it. DMC Corrodent is the best stuff available retail fore rope making. I would still be using it if I didnt want to spend the time dyeing the rope afterwards. There is just too much rope to be made on my end for that. So I get mine custom dyed. Aunt Lydia's is really lumpy/fuzzy and so is Lizbeths. The later is not even a consistent size. I would stay away from those unless you need to avoid dying as well. The wax wont keep the fuzz down for ever. The 10 sizes available by DMC make it easy to make any rope size you want. No fuzzies and no lumps. Its really smooth stuff. Just one tip however. Most folks never twist the rope enough initially when doing the individual strands. The hand crank makes that work hard. I would suggest doubling the initial twists on your rope and this will create a tighter lay of rope. It just looks better. I have removed the cranks and use a hand drill on my rope walk as was mentioned. Since getting the laser cutter I no longer use the Expo rope walk. Last three months or so. Its just too cheaply made. I made my own from solid cherry with larger gears. The rope lays up nicer that way. Much Tighter and I now also have four strand capability. I start with the ends 28 feet apart. Then as the initial twisting occurs the rope walk is literally walked down the table as the thread tightens. For my larger sizes I can walk it as far as 7 feet for the initial twists. Then the three...or in my case sometimes four strands are twisted together on the other end. With my new rope walk I have created a newer rope-recipe for making rope so it lays up even tighter. DONT FORGET TO HARDEN the rope after you make it. Thats the most important part. See how tightly this rope is laid up......more initial twists are needed to achieve this affect. Since making my own rope walk I have been making it with an even tighter lay to it. This is a photo of my breech ropes with my newer .035 rope. Its four stranded as opposed to three. It allows for a neat little splice simulation on the cannon breech as just wrapping around the button looks so out of scale and clunky. This is a photo of how I quickly and not being an engineer changed the expo rope walk when I used it. I used this up until three months ago to make all of my rope. It works fine. The principle of rope making is still the same. I am no rocket scientist for sure.... but it beats cranking by hand. As mentioned I can lay up a 20-25 foot length of rope in 5-8 minutes.

Try searching for Cottolin thread or Cotolin. Venne Cottolin is a very good brand but limited by its retail sizes. Just like Coats/DMC many of the sizes are only available commercially though...that means you have to order a minimum of $300 per order and $4000 per year as a Manufacturer or Industrial Distributor. They wont sell to hobbyist. It really sucks. They wont even talk to you unless you commit t ordering the minimums. I have to buy it whether I need it or not to make the minimums each year. Colors are custom Dyed Or you could go with White or Natural unbleached. Its 60% cotton and 40% linen thread and can often be sourced left or right hand. Not sure about the smaller sizes though. You can even search for mono filament thread. Its what I use although all of my small thread is left handed when I get it. I also get two larger sizes in Right handed. Its custom made in Ireland. Not available retail. The issue with the custom stuff is you have to buy a ton of it each time. But I have seen it both ways I think online from specialty weavers and some small places. But only in White or natural unbleached mostly. And almost always in Europe although there is a guy in Canada that offers some. But its a fuzzy mess. If you dont mind going with synthetics...this stuff is really good and available in huge sizes for making larger ropes. http://www.coatsindustrial.com/en/products-applications/industrial-threads/terko-satin But again...only available commercially in the oddball sizes you would want. And the minimum orders are huuuuge!!! That being said.... The issue is primarily with the machine you are using.... Or any self-running machine vs. the old fashion kind. Using a more traditional rope walk that the tension is controlled by you is easier to reverse any right hand thread so it doesnt break. You can get a feel for just how much tension to use while walking the ends of the rope walk as the rope lays up. I have very little breakage on thinner ropes because I have grown accustomed to how much tension and how tightly you can keep the thread while the rope lays up. This is something not easily done with those self-contained machines. One day I challenged myself to try and make a 30 foot length of rope laid up using YLI 100/2 ply cotton lace makers thread. This is incredibly thin stuff. I just wanted to see what size rope would result...I doubt stuff that small would stay in tact in those machines. Chuck

Slow and steady....... Looking Good

Wonderful!!!

Its your project and you must make it look the way you would prefer it to look. I wouldnt do the chamfer thing on those planks however. That often looks pretty cheesy...especially if its not done to all of the planking. Just remember that the two planks on our model are much wider than the area on the Rogers model (which isnt really the Cheerful). It will in fact be wider than the wales I believe. Except however at the stern and bow where that strip gets narrower. This is taken directly from the original drafts. So that band of Blue would not be consistent and it would appear to be even prominent than the wales. I came very close to painting it the same way. But after using colored paper on my model to do a test I found that I didnt like it much. The odd shape with the width change just made it look like a mistake. But hey that just could have been me.....maybe you would feel differently after seeing it. I would recommend that you do the same to test how you feel about it. Take some photos and do a comparison. As far as sanding a chamfer into the edge of the plank so it would show up...That would be a bad idea. It is not something that was done in reality but it would look very deliberate as if it was. In most cases the blue will not block the fact that there are two planks anyway. That is something that would be very hard to undo after the fact as well.

That looks very good....yes it looks weird but it will all come together. Very neat planking job. Chuck

Thank you all very much.....got tired with the repetition of making cannon carriages today....soooo I had prototype keel parts cut out for a while and they were staring at me.....so one project that is slowly getting started is a kit prototype for a Queen Anne style Admirals Barge or Shallop 1700ish. I am testing some wood choices and here is a look at the keel assembly in cherry in comparison to the Cheerful for size...its 1:24 scale. Now back to those carriages...sorry to digress but I had to get that out of my system ....it was bugging the heck out of me just looking at the parts sitting on the table. Chuck

Very nice!!! Isnt the repetition fun??? I am doing teh same thing and it drives me nuts.

Thats looking excellent Pat. Nicely done Love the quarter badges!!!!

Thank you very much. My guess is that yes the cutter would have had a king plank possibly...but I have never seen one on a contemporary model or on a plan. So rather than guess what it would look like I went with a straight up center plank the same size as the others. These were very small ships so either way would work in my opinion. Chuck

Looks good Mike.....

Thanks!! That is a common misconception with carronades. Especially on revenue cutters. Along with the notion that all revenue cutters were clinker planked. You would be surprised how many variations there are.

Thanks Ken....maybe a future tech session at the club. But there really isnt much to say. Its done the same exact exact way that so many folks make them. I just wrap the rope around a dowel. I try and use the smallest amount of white glue...just on the top of the coil. Thats the real trick....try not to handle them too much and certainly less glue is better...watered down white glue. Otherwise the rope gets mashed and you stick to it and pull fuzz up from it. Keep your rope clean. Less handling is key with clean fingers. Then I take one of the hanging coils and wrap it around the top tightly to form the handle....so-to-speak. Wrap it around the coil from the inside. Twice around does the trick. By the way, none of the belaying pins are glued into position yet. These coils are just temporary placed on top of them at this point...I will eventually just pull them off and store them in a box until rigging begins. Also its just a great idea to experiment and make them well ahead of time. You will need to use more than just one size. Test them out before rigging begins. Here are the five or six coils I will eventually hang on this rail. You need to use thicker rope sometimes...how does it effect the rope its hanging next to? How do you need to bend it so it hangs nicely in front of or in back of the coils next to it? Should I vary the length of the coils a bit so its not to uniform? Does it look too messy and hap-hazard? These are the questions I am pondering at the moment. I am just fumbling through it like everyone else. The rails will fill up quickly and it gets harder to make them look natural. Better to have a test run now rather than when you have all of that rigging.....shrouds....and backstays.....in the way. Its just too frustrating then. It becomes an after thought almost. Because such a large grouping of rope on these pin rails becomes an important focal point...its a good idea to spend more time on it rater than wait. Otherwise it will detract from all of the other hard work you did. Take a lot of photos of your test run from various angles as well. Its a huge help. I am still fussin....these close-up photos are brutal. It often looks so much better just viewing the model first hand. The naked eye can never see this level of detail as shown in the macro shots. Chuck

Yes indeed its a pain....but I am happy with the overall appearance...better than most attempts. Hopefully I can repeat the process for consistency.

Rope coils take two......I hate waiting for repair guys to show up so in the spirit of trying all things to show folks different looks. Here are some less then perfect deck coils. Not too much difference but maybe enough to make it presentable.

Thanks....for all the comments. I am not a big fan of the frapping. I also dislike the french coils on deck. I prefer the simple coil on deck. Hopefully I can get in the shop soon to start the other five guns. Waiting on an electrician at the moment and then I will start back on making rope and blocks. Chuck

I am not sure I agree with you Kester. But I do think that is what makes the hobby interesting. For now the coils will stay as is. I think they look head over over heels better than most other attempts I have seen and I can live with them. There is always the next model too!!! I have never seen so much scrutiny on rope coils. I am just glad they came out neatly. Most times I see them modeled they look like they been smashed together from over handling and too much glue. Just getting a clean coil for a change is a welcome thing. Chuck

The lines I have hanging are in much larger coils and may hang more naturally...I have images of hemp rope on ships looking like that. BUT having said that...rope coils made on deck and meant to be kept neat....well that may be different and why I thought to make them tighter and more circular. Take a look at this. This is actually a training session in Maine on board a sailing ship. I believe they may have been handled differently but I agree the old rope may have been very stiff indeed. But who knows in the end. The only real way to make the coils on deck more natural would be to make them very sloppy as if a drunken sailor made them. If they coiled them like this fella it looks pretty plausible. And pretty easy to make a good circle of coils. I imagine the sailors got quite good at it very quickly. vs. hanging and my interpretation for comparison... Chuck

It depends on what your going for....Take a look at these rope coils. Odd yes but pretty typical on contemporary models. I have looked at a whole bunch and these will be easy enough to swap out....should I go relaxed or should I go contemporary??? I am still pondering. I am trying to experiment and then choose after doing some pretty serious study of contemporary examples. Rope coils for me are a challenge. But I am trying hard to give this model some of that old-time contemporary feel. Having said that....the relaxed coils on the pin rails do look good to me and would be very different if I was going to stick with these contemporary stylings. I know modern rope bends and flexes but maybe the old rope in those days was much more stiff, hence the look of these contemporary rope coils. So many contemporary models have them its hard to ignore. Click on that last image and really take a look at them. Its very different than the natural coil I have hanging on the pin rail. Which is more correct??? I have no idea. I will go with one or the other after living with it for a while. If you have Grant Walkers new book on the Rogers Collection, I urge you to flip through it and see how the rope coils look on some of those models. There are some fantastic close-up images in that book in addition to these which I got from our gallery and my own collection. I believe these are mostly contemporary but some of the Rogers stuff was rigged buy Culvers I think...back in the 20's. He was masterful. I have dozens more that look just like these. Go figure. So...relaxed coils or structured coils. Chuck

Fantastic!!! Makes me want to start one.

Had some time today to rig the carriage tackles. I used 1/8" single blocks and .012 light brown rope. I also used my 3mm hooks. These were all made off the model and took some considerable time to make. They fixed in position and the end of the tackle glue to the deck. Then a small rope coil was glued on top of that. I also took the time to experiment with a few rope coils for the pin rails. I wanted to improve my abilities here and there is no time better than now. With no rigging in the way I can experiment with different lengths and techniques and see how they will look. I think these look pretty good. I tried about a dozen different sizes and configurations. The goal of course is to make them look somewhat natural without making my crew get in trouble for being so sloppy and undisciplined. Now to go through the whole process again on the other side. Yikes.

Looks great Bob. Nice work!!! You are in the home stretch