jo conrad
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Everything posted by jo conrad
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No, John, he´s having the fun and the sweat, and we´re having the joy and a bit of disbelieve, while we´re snugly stowed atop of our perfectly balanced and ergonomically well-designed office-chairs and watch his efforts on our screens, a cup of coffee or a decent mug full of beer in reach - birds and bees and sun and my squealing two cats in the garden, under the trees, reporting that spring is around the corner after all - and just stare. I admit a bit of grudge, but only a tiny bit. Next thing I´ll be after - such is the way to megalomania !- will be a good, old-fashioned cast-iron lathe, that´s for sure ! By the way: isn´t there a list somewhere of the shackles needed for this smack, where he/we could take the proper sizes and then scale them down to 1:8 ? Greetings, and have a sunny spring, all of you. Germanus
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That´s it, Michael, perfect. These hempen lanyards, shrouds and stays have been protected and greased with a time-honoured, dark-brownish dip of stockholm-tar and boiled linseed oil, a nasty mixture for the hands and clothes of the ship´s boys, who had to do this job from their monkey-swing, lowered all the way down from truck to channels. The dead-eyes themselves got their share of that blackish grease as well. So a black rope for the lanyards and black thread for the shrouds will look alright. Germanus
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Hi Michael, if you turn these crack deadeyes through 180° ( the holes for the middle loops to be at the uppermost and lowermost corner of this triangular setup) they will work and look properly. At least that´s the way I´ve always seen them rigged. Must have to do with the stability of the wood itself. My chapeau to your work, man. Nosing into your log has become one of my daily treats. Germanus
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Hi Michael, I´d suggest the runner enter and leave the block from (and back to) that beautifully done guiding score, as your last picture with the 4 inch block shows well. That will keep the working rope from chafing at the block´s shoulder. Parcelling and serving the block-strop, as John wrote before, is necessary for extended durability against the strain by the running rope, at least in this layout. By the way: didn´t these cutters at their time carry wooden-shelled, iron-stropped blocks with hooks or eye-bolts ? You used a modern roller-bearing at your first block, but stropped it in the old-fashioned way, with rope, splice and thimble. As far as I know blockmakers after 1875 switched to making blocks with steel strops inside, that carried the bolt of the iron sheave. They dropped oak or lignum vitae sheaves in hollowed, solid wooden blocks, and took to roller bearings, steel - or at least iron - pins and strops. The feet, the two shells and the shoulders were - and still are - made of hardwood, but the trailing load was on the metal parts : sheave, roller-bearing, bolt, inside metal-strop; and so it is in use to this day. This arrangemant gives the blocks a smooth look on the outside. And while we're at it : Its a delight to follow your thread ! Germanus
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