wefalck
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You may also note that the method of rigging footropes changed with time. From about the middle of the 19th century on they were attached to a second jackstay (the first one is for attaching the sails) running a bit behind the top of the spar. This jackstay was an iron rod held by eyebolts screwed into the spar. From the last quarter of the 19th century on the whole foot-rope/stirrup assembly was made from wire rope. Particularly the foot-rope needed to be wire to reduce wear, as seamen began to wear shoes/boots more commonly. Electronic shops sell copper wire from 0.05 mm on spools or you may look into this on-line-shop for a more consistent supply of wires. You can also make the stirrups from a rope stiffend with varnish, attached with a fake eyes-plice to the jackstay and with another fake eye-splice at the end for the foot-rope.
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It is an almost unavoidable physical phenomenon that wood or ropes darken in colour when soaked in something, be it water, glue or varnish. The liquid changes the way how light is reflected out of the pores. So the answer is to use as little as possible and to try to avoid soaking it completely. I am using fast drying solvent-based matt varnish for the purpose. This has the advantage that you can soften it with a drop of solvent in case you are not satisfied with what you did. Using PVA or CA, you basically have only one shot. The wetting properties of solvent-based varnish are also better than those of (diluted) PVA.
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speed of serving and rope walks
wefalck replied to richardpepi's topic in Masting, rigging and sails
I would always install a speed-control. You may be working with different materials that require different operational parameters. For a serving machine it is important that you can control comfortably thread while it is wound around the rope to be served. So, it should not be running too fast. I also would install a foot-switch for the machines. This leaves your hands free for all the manipulations. While I generally prefer on-off foot-switches on my machines in order to allow me to pre-select speeds, in the case of the serving machine, a foot-operated speed-controller may be useful. It allows you to slow down or speed up (as on a sewing machine) as may be needed.- 1 reply
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Metal vs. wood files - how to tell the difference
wefalck replied to rtropp's topic in Modeling tools and Workshop Equipment
There exist diamond-(honing)files for metal, but they tend to be rather expensive, as their manufacturing process and construction is different from the cheap chinese diamond-studded tools. There are also diamond-studded sharpening and honing plates for knives, cutting tools, and gravers on the market. wefalck -
No Ratlines on Revenue Cutter Dallas?
wefalck replied to RichardG's topic in Masting, rigging and sails
Many traditional fishing boats with gaff-sails and -topsails don't have them. Even when they have a square foresail (which would be lowered to the deck for furling/unfurling. It is a question of how often and how many men you would need in the mast. If the gear is small enough that one, or may be two men are sufficient to sort out gear aloft, the bosun's chair is probably a safe and fast option. It would be needed mainly if something fouled aloft in a way that gaffs or other spars and sails cannot be lowered to the deck. In this case the work is likely to be done close to the mast. wefalck -
Metal vs. wood files - how to tell the difference
wefalck replied to rtropp's topic in Modeling tools and Workshop Equipment
OK, I am not a professional mechanic, but I never heard of files made from HSS (or tungsten carbide). Files are made ('cut') by driving (mechanically) a chisel into the soft steel that raises the teeth in a pre-defined pattern. The steel then is hardened and tempered (to straw colour, if I remember correctly). This process would not be possible with HSS or carbide. Perhaps the teeth could be formed by grinding, or in the case of carbide during the sintering process (still requiring grinding). A rasp for wood has single, sort of triangular teeth, while metal files have ridges of teeth, rather than single teeth. Finishing files have the ridges in only one direction, while roughing files are cross-cut in two or even three directions. I have used diamond-impregnated nail-files on wood long before diamond-files came onto the (modellers) market. They work well and give a good finish, but are not so easy to keep clean. I would use them only for finishing, not for removing significant quantities of material. wefalck -
No Ratlines on Revenue Cutter Dallas?
wefalck replied to RichardG's topic in Masting, rigging and sails
I don't know anything about these specific vessels, but ratlines would only be needed, if crew had to go into the mast on regular basis for working the sails (e.g. for furling them). On smaller boats all the sails would be operated from the deck, so there is no need for ratlines. In an emergency, a crew would be aided/hoisted up in an bosun's chair, just as it is done on modern yachts. wefalck -
Wish they would do them down to 0.3 mm diameter or so … difficult to modify existing pliers in that way. wefalck
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I am not that familiar with these cutters, but believe they had ports for sweeps installed, so that they could be rowed in the absence of wind. The sweeps were stored in such crotches. wefalck
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In full-scale practice one would finish one strake (usually) from bow to stern, alternating port and starboard. Otherwise, it would very difficult to maintain symmetry. Where one started with the planking is a question of time in history and type of vessel. Typically, the garboard strakes were laid first. Then often wales very fitted and the rest filled up. The reason for this sequence is that it defines and fixes the shape (and the components) of the vessel at an early stage. Up to the 17th century, the entire ship may have been built up from the keel, reflecting northern practices that date back to the shell-first method of the Viking-Age. My impression is that in this particular case the planking was left incomplete to show the internal structure of the hull. I would agree that in the process the planking at the bow didn't turn out quite right. wefalck
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In principle yes. In my home country it is sold as Zapon Varnish and was used in the old days as fast-drying varnish for metals, such as brass or silver. They are nitrocellulose-based and quite similar in composition to the traditional nail varnishes (I believe that today also acrylate solutions are used in that trade). If the rigging is black, I also use black satin enamel paint. Using varnish has the advantage that you can use the respective solvent to loosen and re-adjust knots, if needed. wefalck
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I don't actually see the problem. The prototype 'ratline-hitch' is easy and fast to do with two pairs of tweezers. At the first and last shroud you use two half hitches instead so that the ratlines turns back on itself. In the protoype, the ratline would have an eye spliced into each end and the eye would have been sewn to the shrouds. Do not secure the knots until you have done all the ratlines, as there is almost certainly some adjustment to be done. Once tightened and secured with a drop of lacquer, you can clip-off the ends with a pair of micro-surgical scissors without fear to do damage to other parts of the rigging. wefalck
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Colouring mono-filament line for seizing line on blocks
wefalck replied to tkay11's topic in Masting, rigging and sails
You may want to look also into threads for tying fly-fishing flies. It comes in may sizes and colours, which perhaps does away with the need to colour the threads. The threads are made up from several strands and could also be plucked apart to provide material for seizings. wefalck -
Here I am discussing how to turn polyurethane resin and various metals into wood: http://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/68-zuiderzee-botter-by-wefalck-artitec-resin/page-3 wefalck
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Setting flags - which way does the wind blow?
wefalck replied to rodgerdodger's topic in Masting, rigging and sails
Flags point in the direction of the 'apparent wind', see e.g. http://www.google.de/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sailingcourse.com%2Fkeelboat%2Fimages%2Ftrue-apparent-wind-2.gif&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sailingcourse.com%2Fkeelboat%2Ftrue_wind_calculator.htm&h=678&w=682&tbnid=fhlqbg3bXztHlM%3A&zoom=1&docid=tYl5Fc7fuXy6PM&ei=eRt7U9DhFqWK0AWk0oCwBg&tbm=isch&iact=rc&uact=3&dur=2026&page=1&start=0&ndsp=16&ved=0CFgQrQMwAA. wefalck -
I got a cheapo (around 120 €) one about a year and a half ago and never use it. I struggled with setting it up properly (you can set the eye-distance, the angle of the optical axes to each other and the inclination) and then found that the working distance is about 400 mm - which forces me to sit rather upright at my worktable. Perhaps it is good for my posture, but I had to have the chin on my breast to see the area, where I am normally working and worked with almost stretched-out arms, which was tiring. I gather they are indeed designed for dentists and chirurgical work that is mostly performed when standing above the patient. I recently bought a pair of safety glasses that have a x2.5 magnification and these seem to work better for me. Plus they protect the eyes when working with machines. wefalck
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I need advice on a rotary tool
wefalck replied to jdiven's topic in Modeling tools and Workshop Equipment
Don't have any of these fancy things, still using the primitive drill (12V motor in an aluminium tube with a brass collet-holder screwed onto the motor shaft) I bought some 30+ years ago. The collets take the ubiquitous 2.4 mm shaft tools, as well as the 3.2 (1/8") mm shaft ones as used in the Dremels. The same applies to the PROXXON tools, their collets take whatever is on the market (there are also drills and burrs with 1 mm and 1.5 mm shafts). I also have the PROXXON pen-sized grinder, but don't use it too often, because it doesn't have a lot of power and stalls quickly. It also only takes 2.4 mm shafts and nothing else. I improved it by installing a sort of thrust-bearing (a simple round steel plate) at the far end of the motor. This greatly improved its performance. Most of my power-tools are started from non-locking on-off foot-switches. This allows you to keep the speed-controllers set a specific values and to disconnect the power-supply quickly, when needed (in an emergency). wefalck -
Question about shaping/sanding with files
wefalck replied to Jwvanost's topic in Modeling tools and Workshop Equipment
Files are meant for metal (though I use them on wood myself sometimes). Their cutting angle is too blunt for wood (in theory). Because of this, you can blunt them on wood quite quickly. And yes, I learned that chalk-trick from my father, who presumably learned it from his father, who trained as a mechanic (and later became a torpedo-mechanic) - but rarely actually use it The acid-treatment does two things: if it is an oxidising acid, such as sulfuric or nitric acid, it would dissolve wood; hydrochloric acid would just dissolve any small burrs on the teeth of file, leaving their main shape behind, which is the cutting shape. Of course, if the file is so worked down, that nothing of the original tooth shape is left, this treatment would be futile. I don't know of any US american brands, but here in Europe Vallorbe, Grobet and Dick are the best. The first two particularly cater for watchmakers. wefalck -
If I am not mistaken, there is a model in the NMM that has such 'sword-mats' fitted (as pictured in James Lees' book on rigging). Ships on long cross-ocean passages rigged all sorts of (usually unsightly) chafing gear, when they expected to be sailing on the same bow for weeks on end. Protection against small-arms fire and boarding seems to me the most likely explanation of the strange arrangement on the picture shown. The seamen's hammocks were used for this purpose until the end of the last quarter of 19th century. wefalck
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Acetone should do the job. Don't soak it too much, or the cement will be touched. Too much rubbing may also affect the patina. wefalck
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Apart from www.wires.co.uk, who also sell pre-tinned copper wire and a lot of wires made from other metals, you may want to search for NiCr- or -Konstantan/Constantan wire. These alloys are used for heating devices, thermo-constant resistors (hence the name), and for thermo-cutting saws (for cutting polystyrene foam). The diameter goes down to 0.04 mm. I got a small supply of various diameters through ebay. These wires also come as flat wires, btw. wefalck
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Plated Iron Hull
wefalck replied to Pete Jaquith's topic in Building, Framing, Planking and plating a ships hull and deck
While Bristol board in principle is a nice material, I don't think that you would find thin enough sheets. My peference would be copper foil, which also allows you to impress rivets where needed and you can joggle plates. I have done this on a 1:60 scale tug model. wefalck -
In addition to artists' fixatives that also often have UV-filter built in, there are 'mounting' spray-glues. Not sure how long these will last though. I also believe that there are self-adhesive films for mounting. Another option are films impregnated with melting-glue - you can iron-on your drawing etc. While I have some 3M mounting spray-glue, I can't point you to any specific products for the latter two options. Finally, if the copy is made with a laser-printer/-copier, it may be possible to mount it with some plain wallpaper glue. It is important to press it while drying and depending what the backboard material is, you may need to laminate its back also in order to avoid warping. wefalck
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Somehow missed this log as well. The sails come on nicely. How are they done ? I don't seem to have seen an explanation. wefalck
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Depends on the scale and what material is being used. There are many methods for making sails and making them look worn. Real cloth, though usually is not a good starting point for scale appearance ... wefalck
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