bartley

A method which I found somewhere on this site is to make a wooden "mouse shaped" former with a hole in the center for the rope and then cover this with fine gauze like surgical type.  Paint it black  and it gives a woven look and to me looks pretty authentic.
 
John

Post 19 - Treenails
 
I used Chuck's method of drilling and filling. I used 1.3 mm tape to ensure that the holes were in line and corresponded to bulkheads and predicted positions of frames
 
 
 
 
I then used a sharp HB pencil to line the holes ans simulate tar.  I found that care was needed here.  If I was too aggressive there was excess graphite around the hole which made the filler darker resulting in a variation in the colour of the treenails
 

 
The result is quite subtle - as I believe it should be.  The treenails can only really be seen from up close
 


 
 
 
When I was a boy two Dutch children arrived at my school - no English, but it didn't take long
 
 
After a year or so their father built a house for the family.
 
 
This house was unique for two reasons:
 
 
1. It was varnished - in those days all houses in our town were painted.
 
 
2. It was claimed that he used no nails.
 
 
It turned out that all of the external weather-boards were attached to the studs with wooden pegs - treenails! (although I didn't Know the term then)
 
 
When I visited the house after getting to know the Dutch children I found that from the road there was no evidence of any pegs..  It was only when one approached within a meter or so that the begs became obvious,
 
 
I don't know if he had worked in the ship building industry but the point was that the effect of the wooden pegs was quite subtle.
 
 
John
 
 
 

Post 18
 
I have now completed the planking. Not in Chuck's league by any means - there are a few places where the planks could be tighter but on the whole it looks OK. Its all a learning exercise for me.

 
 
 
 
 
 

 
Time to move on to the treenails now
 

A method which I found somewhere on this site is to make a wooden "mouse shaped" former with a hole in the center for the rope and then cover this with fine gauze like surgical type.  Paint it black  and it gives a woven look and to me looks pretty authentic.
 
John

Justin,
 
Yes, disposal is always an issue.  I am a professional chemist and so disposal is part of our trade.  Sparex once dissolved is essentially sulfuric acid. So to dispose of it you should pour it slowly into bicarbonate.  It will fizz so do it slowly.  Once the fizzing stops the Sparex is neutralized and you can dispose of it down the sink,  The blackening solution is another matter.  This, when fresh, is selenious acid.  When you use it it is converted to black selenium metal  and copper sulfate That's the blue colour.  But you cant neutralise or destroy the selenium. or copper.  So a spent solution contains selenium in one form or another and copper sulfate.  Neither of these is too good for the environment but you only have small quantities.  You shouldn't dispose of it down the sink so absorbing onto paper and burying it is probably OK.  Over here we can take such things to a toxic chemicals disposal site.
 
John

I actually posted this elsewhere but it is probably more appropriate here.
 
This is an example of a blackening problem which others may have experienced without knowing the reason.
 
These belaying pins were sold as being brass so on the right I used my usual technique of treating for 5 min with sodium hydrogen sulfate then blackening.  Even after about 1 min the result was poor.
On reflection they were very shiny so were probably lacquered. So on the left the treatment was: - rub with steel wool, soak in acetone for about 1 min, 5 min in sodium hydrogen sulfate then blackening. After only for 10 sec the result was excellent.
 

 
Incidentally, Sparex is just a very expensive packet of sodium hydrogen sulfate. So if you have access to the chemical itself it is much cheaper
 
John
 

Lego works well as well.
 
John

Lego works well as well.
 
John

Lego works well as well.
 
John

I don't think so.  At least not the way I do it.  When I make the octagonal shape using a V jig there is no taper.  I establish the taper during the sanding.  I calculate the diameter about  5 or six times over the length and then keep checking with a micrometer as I go.
 
John

This my home made wood lathe. 
 

 
The plate contains a roller blade bearing and there is a ledge on the back so I can clamp it to the table.  The id of this is about 10 mm . for narrower spars I insert a wooden "washer".  I have two of these boards and for long masts I place one in the center to add more support.

This my home made wood lathe. 
 

 
The plate contains a roller blade bearing and there is a ledge on the back so I can clamp it to the table.  The id of this is about 10 mm . for narrower spars I insert a wooden "washer".  I have two of these boards and for long masts I place one in the center to add more support.

It also helps to reduce the spar to an octagon first and then apply any of the methods described above.  There are several reports on this forum about how to produce a regular octagon.
 
John

I don't think so.  At least not the way I do it.  When I make the octagonal shape using a V jig there is no taper.  I establish the taper during the sanding.  I calculate the diameter about  5 or six times over the length and then keep checking with a micrometer as I go.
 
John

I don't think so.  At least not the way I do it.  When I make the octagonal shape using a V jig there is no taper.  I establish the taper during the sanding.  I calculate the diameter about  5 or six times over the length and then keep checking with a micrometer as I go.
 
John

This my home made wood lathe. 
 

 
The plate contains a roller blade bearing and there is a ledge on the back so I can clamp it to the table.  The id of this is about 10 mm . for narrower spars I insert a wooden "washer".  I have two of these boards and for long masts I place one in the center to add more support.

This my home made wood lathe. 
 

 
The plate contains a roller blade bearing and there is a ledge on the back so I can clamp it to the table.  The id of this is about 10 mm . for narrower spars I insert a wooden "washer".  I have two of these boards and for long masts I place one in the center to add more support.

This my home made wood lathe. 
 

 
The plate contains a roller blade bearing and there is a ledge on the back so I can clamp it to the table.  The id of this is about 10 mm . for narrower spars I insert a wooden "washer".  I have two of these boards and for long masts I place one in the center to add more support.

No, I haven't tried any of these products on synthetic rope.  The rope I show is Syren rope.  I am sure the effect will be different on polyester rope.  The fly tying cements hold quite well but they are an expensive option and as Bob says, shellac is pretty cheap.
 
John

It also helps to reduce the spar to an octagon first and then apply any of the methods described above.  There are several reports on this forum about how to produce a regular octagon.
 
John

No, I haven't tried any of these products on synthetic rope.  The rope I show is Syren rope.  I am sure the effect will be different on polyester rope.  The fly tying cements hold quite well but they are an expensive option and as Bob says, shellac is pretty cheap.
 
John

Yes indeed, Bob.  I should have mentioned that one as well.
 
John

When rigging our ships we all have a need to secure knots to stop them loosening.  There is a range of products available for this purpose so I thought that I might express my opinions on the subject.
 
 
Here are some of the products available:

 
As with most on this forum, diluted PVA is my “go to” for stiffening rope, attaching rope to blocks etc.  The only comment I would make is that I think on rigging one should use a non-acidic product (pH7).  The pH of Titebond for example is about 2.5 (very acidic) and I would be concerned about the long-term effects of this on natural fibre rope.  However for securing knots (on ratlines for example) I am not sure that it has enough " holding power".  Many use CA for this purpose. I am not a big fan of CA.  I don't like its toxicity (although we are only using small quantities rather compared to industrial use).  However, my main objection is that it forms a rigid, sometimes brittle, bond.  It often discolours the rope and is glossy.  My “go to” for this purpose is Hypo Cement.  For those who do not know this product, it is a fabric cement used primarily by costume designers and appliqué artists and so it forms a flexible almost transparent bond.  
 
 
There is also a range of fly tying cements – some solvent based and some water based.
 
 
Below I show some knots treated with various products.  I know that only a small drop is needed to seal a knot but here I have covered the whole knot in order to try to demonstrate the differences.  Unfortunately the differences are not so obvious in the photographs
 
 

 
 PVA.                                                                                                          CA
 

Hypo Cement.                                                                                       Fly tying Cement
 

 Water based Fly tying.                                                                        UV activated Fly tying
 
Amongst the fly tying cements the water-based version seems to be the best and while the UV version is attractive, it seems to darken the rope and is rather glossy.
 
John

It also helps to reduce the spar to an octagon first and then apply any of the methods described above.  There are several reports on this forum about how to produce a regular octagon.
 
John

No, I haven't tried any of these products on synthetic rope.  The rope I show is Syren rope.  I am sure the effect will be different on polyester rope.  The fly tying cements hold quite well but they are an expensive option and as Bob says, shellac is pretty cheap.
 
John