How to Rope Masts?

[mkmossop]

In the plans for my ship there are a bunch of sections of the mast which have rope wound around it, but I don't see any loose ends of the rope.

 

Is this generally done how I've done it in the picture below, or is there some technique used to hide the loose ends? I just glued each end to the mast. I think it looks kind of funny though.

[dancat]

http://books.google.de/books?id=c_sJIeR0jeIC&pg=PA29&lpg=PA29&dq=masts+woolding+how+to&source=bl&ots=S7CiaSz22T&sig=k5nwNJD74dMjrKdBC_WBdxj5tvI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=T4hXUbXzJNHHtAaItoHoDA&ved=0CEYQ6AEwBTgK

 

Check the link above, I used this way and it works very good.

 

Have fun,

Daniel

[trippwj]

Here is the excerpt from that book - hope it helps!

 

 

[RiverRat]

This is the same technique as Daniel shows, in diagram form, Used to do bindings on shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flutes)

 

http://www.shakuhachi.com/Y-BindingRepair.html

 

 

Regards,

Brian

[burke]

There are quite a few methods od doing this. I would be happy to video some methods if desired.

[mkmossop]

Thanks for all the replies!

 

There are quite a few methods od doing this. I would be happy to video some methods if desired.

 

Cool a video would be great if you have time .

 

 

This is the same technique as Daniel shows, in diagram form, Used to do bindings on shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flutes)

 

http://www.shakuhachi.com/Y-BindingRepair.html

 

 

Regards,

Brian

 

Ah cool this is great thanks. I'm a little confused at step 4... where does the second loop come from?

[RiverRat]

When the end after the last wrap is put through the loop on the right in step 3, it is pulled under the wrap, necessarily forming a loop or bight under the wraps.

 

Practice on some dowels. Or a broomstick for bigger scale.

Edited March 31, 2013 by RiverRat

[mkmossop]

Oh right ya I get it now. I feel with the rope I'm using it gonna make a huge bump in the middle but we'll see. I'll practice tonight.

[RiverRat]

Yes. There will of course be a lump there. You can diminish it somewhat by lightly hammering on it or by forceful pressing. I'm not sure how woolding is done on an actual mast, but if it is done this way, it might be that the lump is "acceptable" to have in a model.

[JerseyCity Frankie]

On page 44 of James Lees's Masting and Rigging of English Ships of War he has a paragraph about wooldings. He says they were rope until 1800, after which iron bands came into fashion. He says there was a wooden edge, a sort of shallow fence, at the edges of the wooldings and that the rope wooldings went OVER the Front Fish ( if there was one) and the iron wooldings went under in a notch cut in the back of the fish. The rope was nailed to the mast. He makes no mention of how the ends were treated and I can't imagine any other way for them to end on the real ship but for the ends to be simply nailed into place or perhaps the last two or three turns were hitched. A method I like to use is the "common whipping" which is intended for use on the ends of ropes to keep them from unlaying but which is a great way to make your two ends vanish:  http://www.surreyknots.org.uk/images/8_Common_Whipping_Variations.jpg  I use the variation at the bottom.

[mkmossop]

Hmm nailing is an option too... I didn't think of that.

 

Thanks for the image as well I'm gonna try those out. The other method I tried left a bit too big of a lump.

[Modeler12]

If that is the way it was done, it is the same as whipping the end of a line. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_whipping

It is the same idea that Frankie mentioned above.

 

For an animated version see http://www.animatedknots.com/commonwhipping/index.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&Website=www.animatedknots.com#sailors

That, incedently, is a good source for all sorts of knots.

 

If the lump is a problem, you might try to unwind part of the rope and spread out the final tie through the loop (make a couple loops). Somehow your first picture at the top seems like the rope is too thick compared with the mast.

Edited April 3, 2013 by Modeler12

[mkmossop]

I got it done with one of the methods mentioned above. It's not perfect but I'm satisfied with it... the lump wasn't too bad.

 

I'm having trouble with something else now.

 

I have to do the same thing but on some of the rigging components rather than the mast. There's a pic attached to show what I mean.

 

I'm not having trouble hiding the thread ends since it's so thin, but I spent probably over an hour last night trying to get a nice clean wrap around the rope without success. It's very difficult to do when you're not wrapping around something solid or the rope isn't taught. The wood piece would fall out or the rope would get all messed up.

 

Anyway I have a whole ton of these do to... is there a specific method to get them done?

Edited April 10, 2013 by mkmossop

[popeye2sea]

You could try a false splice. Pass the rope (strop) around the block, tuck it twice through the strands of the long end, pull the tucked end tight around the block, secure with a drop of glue and trim the excess. It will give the appearance of an eye splice.

 

I agree with modeler12, your wooldings seem a bit too thick. They would have been about 3 inch rope. At 1:48 scale that works out to about 0.02 inch diameter. Thinner line will also help alleviate the lump under the woolding from pulling the ends under.

 

Henry

Edited April 11, 2013 by popeye2sea

[mkmossop]

I tried splicing it... I think the rope is too fine... I couldn't get it to work.

 

I got what I was trying to do done though. I'm not sure why I had such trouble before. It was difficult still but I managed... I think they look ok.

[amateur]

These look much better!,

little remark: You should make sure you're blocks are the correct side up in the strop:

the little hole should in most cases be nearest to the strop.

 

Jan

[twintrow]

These look much better!,

little remark: You should make sure you're blocks are the correct side up in the strop:

the little hole should in most cases be nearest to the strop.

 

Jan

I've seen that description made before and instinctively feel it is misleading. The hole nearest the top would be used if the rope was come from below the block and returning downward from the block (as in 21 in the photo).  Conversely, when the rope was coming from above and returning above the block the hole would be nearest the bottom of the block (as in 24 in the photo).

Makes sense to me anyway.

Tom

[mkmossop]

Thanks .

 

And I put the hole further away from the strop... I don't know why. It's not a huge deal to me if it's not 100% accurate to what a real ship looks like though.

[popeye2sea]

If it helps, you can think of it this way. The rope must pass around a sheave (a grooved disk turning on a pin in the center of the block. No matter which block you look at for the tackle the throat (the hole that the rope passes through) will be towards the outer end of the tackle. In other words nearest the point the block is seized to, whether that is a spar, a stay, or a hook.

 

Henry

Edited April 12, 2013 by popeye2sea

[amateur]

I've seen that description made before and instinctively feel it is misleading. The hole nearest the top would be used if the rope was come from below the block and returning downward from the block (as in 21 in the photo).  Conversely, when the rope was coming from above and returning above the block the hole would be nearest the bottom of the block (as in 24 in the photo).

Makes sense to me anyway.

Tom

 

But in both blocks, 21 as well as 24, the hole is closest to the seizing which is used to strop the block.

 

Jan

[Bummer!]

Going back to the wooldings. Caldercraft uses a technique in their manual that has you drilling a small hole 2 mm deep in the mast, securing the end of the thread there and finishing the same way. Works very well. 

 

Bummer!

(Eric)

[amateur]

An other way for the blocks could be: tie a half hith knot, and use one seizing to tie the loose end.

But: nobody ever siad there was a quick way of doing these things

 

Jan

[Shazmira]

A lot of these blocks used eye splices to hold the block so there was no protruding ends. I use very small thread to tie these on to simulate the eye splice.If you use only a couple of knots next to the block and cut the rope close to it, it ends up looking like an eye splice and nobody can really tell the difference. This is especially true when the line is part of the standing rigging since black hides things well.

 

 

You could try a false splice. Pass the rope (strop) around the block, tuck it twice through the strands of the long end, pull the tucked end tight around the block, secure with a drop of glue and trim the excess. It will give the appearance of an eye splice.

 

 

Henry

do either of you have a picture or diagram to explain this better, I seem to understand better when I can see it in practice. I am having a heck of a time with my shroud lines around the deadeyes and then the excess lanyard line. I tried the serving technique but it seems I end up with a huge unsightly clump of thread.