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Burton Pendants Guidance Please


markjay

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Hi all, in preparing the mast before attaching yards and stepping. I'm confused by these pendants, once served with an eye splice, is the main stay passed through the splice and back down to be secured? Or is a hook attached to the stay and attached to the eye slice loop. I'm trying to get needed all standing rigging on the masts in place so when the yards are hung any additional standing and running rigging (stays and back stays) will be easier to install.

Hope this is clear.
Thanks for your help in advance.
I wish you all and all those near and dear to you a joyous season.

Mark

Mark
Phoenix, AZ


Current builds;


Previous builds, in rough order of execution;
Shipjack, Peterbrough Canoe, Flying Fish, Half Moon, Britannia racing sloop, Whale boat, Bluenose, Picket boat, Viking longboat, Atlantic, Fair American, Mary Taylor, half hull Enterprise, Hacchoro, HMS Fly, Khufu Solar Boat.

On the shelf; Royal Barge, Jefferson Davis.

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Hi Mark, the Burton Pendants have nothing to do with the Main Stay.

 

They are the first item of rigging over the mastheads and are used to attach tackles for heavy lifting. This can be by a thimble spliced into the end of the pendant into which a tackle is hooked, or by a block spliced into the end.

 

They are followed over the masthead by the shrouds, back stays where appropriate, and finally the stays.

 

Hope this helps.

 

B.E.

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Hi Mark;

 

The burton pendants were the very first item of rigging to be put over the masthead,  but they have no connection with the mainstay,   or other stays.  You are correct in that they have an eye-splice in the end,  around a thimble (after 1780)  but this was used to hook up a tackle to raise and lower heavy weights when needed.

 

Burton pendants were fitted to the topmast heads.  Their counterparts at the head of the lower masts were called pendants of tackles.

 

Before 1780,  the upper block of a tackle was seized into the end,  with the tackle made fast in the top below,  or to the shrouds,  when not in use.

 

The mainstay has an eye-splice in the end,  which is passed around the mast-head;  the other end of the main-stay is passed through this,  and made fast to the top of the stem.  The loop around the masthead is prevented from pulling tight around the mast by a specially-shaped object,  called a mouse,  made by many turns of small diameter rope being taken around the main-stay.  It looks pear-shaped when completed,  with the thin end tapering upwards along the stay,  and the thicker,  rounded,  end pointing down towards the bows.  The finished mouse is then served as part of the serving of the mainstay.  The eye-splice then sits snugly against the thick end of the mouse,  and can slide no further up the stay.

 

Before being served,  the stay was wormed and parcelled;  although as only the serving was seen in the finished stay,  for models these processes are normally omitted.

 

Hope this helps to clear things up a bit.

 

All the best,

 

Mark P

Edited by Mark P

Previously built models (long ago, aged 18-25ish) POB construction. 32 gun frigate, scratch-built sailing model, Underhill plans.

2 masted topsail schooner, Underhill plans.

 

Started at around that time, but unfinished: 74 gun ship 'Bellona' NMM plans. POB 

 

On the drawing board: POF model of Royal Caroline 1749, part-planked with interior details. My own plans, based on Admiralty draughts and archival research.

 

Always on the go: Research into Royal Navy sailing warship design, construction and use, from Tudor times to 1790. 

 

Member of NRG, SNR, NRS, SMS

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Hey there Mark,

 

Your inquiry was very timely for me.  I just assembled the Burton Pendants required on the Niagara last evening and posted photos on my log.  There are an odd number of shroud lines on the Niagara.  The plans call for the forward shroud line to be lashed with a Burton Pendant, it being the first line to be placed over the mast head.  I served the entire shroud and with a whipping, created a simple thimble.

 

Not sure if this is the correct method, but it is what is called for in my less than clear plans. 

 

Hope this helps.

Edited by 6ohiocav
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When there are an odd number of shrouds, the first has a cont spllce in it over the mast head so one leg goes to port and the other to the starboard side. The Burton pendants have to go on first (also cont spliced) or how can one haul up that first heavy shroud to the mast head?

Be sure to sign up for an epic Nelson/Trafalgar project if you would like to see it made into a TV series  http://trafalgar.tv

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Thank you gentleman for clearing up the issue. Darrell the images were a great help.

Mark
Phoenix, AZ


Current builds;


Previous builds, in rough order of execution;
Shipjack, Peterbrough Canoe, Flying Fish, Half Moon, Britannia racing sloop, Whale boat, Bluenose, Picket boat, Viking longboat, Atlantic, Fair American, Mary Taylor, half hull Enterprise, Hacchoro, HMS Fly, Khufu Solar Boat.

On the shelf; Royal Barge, Jefferson Davis.

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I'm skeptical a burten pendant could be one leg of a shroud as shown in the above photos. It won't matter in terms of usage on a model and will be buried under the rest of the shroud gang, but I can not believe a shroud and a burton pendant could be on the same bit of line. Shrouds are under constant tension and the lashing forming the eye would not, in my opinion, be strong enough to allow you to turn your back on it. It would render over time on a real ship.

Edited by JerseyCity Frankie

  

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 Niagara USS Constitution 

 

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Hi Frankie;

 

Don't be too hard on Darrell;  he does say he is not sure if this is the right way to do it,  it's what his plans show.

 

As Druxey says above,  the burton pendants were cu(o)nt-spliced over the masthead. 

 

So in correct usage,  your scepticism is well-based,  and there was no connection between the shrouds and the pendants.

 

All the best,

 

Mark P

Previously built models (long ago, aged 18-25ish) POB construction. 32 gun frigate, scratch-built sailing model, Underhill plans.

2 masted topsail schooner, Underhill plans.

 

Started at around that time, but unfinished: 74 gun ship 'Bellona' NMM plans. POB 

 

On the drawing board: POF model of Royal Caroline 1749, part-planked with interior details. My own plans, based on Admiralty draughts and archival research.

 

Always on the go: Research into Royal Navy sailing warship design, construction and use, from Tudor times to 1790. 

 

Member of NRG, SNR, NRS, SMS

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I don't think I'm being too hard on anyone. I feel it's our place to point out mistakes or misunderstandings in the context of this website, and I hope MY mistakes and blunders will be pointed out too. I will be great full for it.i will also add that I very rarely say in effect " I know you're wrong", I always say, in effect, here is why I THINK your wrong and then I explain my point of view. >Edit< I have just had a look st the Niagara plans and the only reference to the burton pendants I could find was this sketch in the corner of the main rigging plan. The sketch could certainly have been more clear about how the pendant is made, they only illustrated half the bit of rigging the pendant is made of which as we see is creating confusion.

post-3035-0-76530100-1482577835_thumb.jpg

Edited by JerseyCity Frankie

  

Quote

 

 Niagara USS Constitution 

 

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Hi Frankie;

 

You are quite right,  that we are here to guide and learn where needed.  I hope that if I am wrong I will be corrected,  as I would much prefer to be correct,  just as you say. 

 

No offence intended;  and you are,  after all,  right about the burton pendants not being part of the shroud. 

 

My only thought was that if some members only read the last few posts,  they may not realise exactly what Darrell was unsure about.  Your post of that part of the instructions does make that clearer.

 

All the best,

 

Mark P

Edited by Mark P

Previously built models (long ago, aged 18-25ish) POB construction. 32 gun frigate, scratch-built sailing model, Underhill plans.

2 masted topsail schooner, Underhill plans.

 

Started at around that time, but unfinished: 74 gun ship 'Bellona' NMM plans. POB 

 

On the drawing board: POF model of Royal Caroline 1749, part-planked with interior details. My own plans, based on Admiralty draughts and archival research.

 

Always on the go: Research into Royal Navy sailing warship design, construction and use, from Tudor times to 1790. 

 

Member of NRG, SNR, NRS, SMS

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Gents,

 

Thanks guys for setting me straight. You are all right, and I was wrong and appreciate the clarification. I have removed my photo from this post so as not to perpetuate the error for future viewers.

 

I apologize to MarkJay for sending you in a wrong direction.

 

Frankie, your reference to the Niagara plans points us to the upper shrouds, and I followed those directions completely. The upper shrouds have an even number of shrouds, and I created the Burton Pendant separately as set forth in your highlighted section of the plan (although I did not use a cont splice - way to difficult at this scale and above my pay grade).

 

My confusion however came from the lower shrouds, and the fact that there is an odd number of shroud lines. There is no diagram in my plans that tells us landlubbers what to do with the odd line, and the large rigging sheet creates the illusion that the odd shroud line is "tipped off" with the burton pendant. I posted a question in my log about the lower pendant before I chose the method I did. It is a reasonable conclusion to a "modeler." However, after considering your note, and Druxey's, and thinking about it, It makes perfect sense that this was wrong for a real ship, which is what I am realistically trying to recreate.

 

I can add another obscure bit of information in my growing bag of 19th Century shipwright knowledge.

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The reference photo above is for the LOWER shrouds. I have never seen burten pendants on Topmast shrouds,I do not think there is such a creature. You CAN get an odd number of shrouds, you just use the cut splice for your odd shroud. For five shrouds you need two pairs of shrouds with a seized eye ( and both legs come down to the same side of the ship) and one shroud with the cut splice (in which each of the two legs go to opposite sides of the deck).

  

Quote

 

 Niagara USS Constitution 

 

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The plans Darrell is working from show the first shroud and a runner pendant as the first 2 put over, one port, one starboard, on the lower masts.

 

Lever shows a pendant and shroud combined also, as the first two, fig. 168, on the lower mast, and pendants on the topmast, fig. 190

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Your photo is NOT from the lower shroud. The Upper shroud has two pairs of lines as shown in your photo.  Here is the diagram for the lower shroud. It clearly shows that the first shroud, the ODD shroud, is tipped with a burton pendant.

 

 

 

post-23352-0-51302100-1482936584_thumb.jpg

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Hi everyone,

 

I'm not sure what period or type of ship that Mark is working on, however, there is a burton pendant that leads down to fish tackle on clipper ships. It is located on the topmast crosstree. The burton pendant and fish tackle are for helping to cat and get the anchors on board.  

 

 

The end of the pendant has an eye or shackle that running end of the line runs through making a loop.      This pendant is looped is located over and around the finished forward topmast crosstree. An example is the Cutty Sark. The pendant and tackle could be easily removed for stowage once the ship was out at sea.

 

As to the fore stays, if this ship is a clipper, the burton pendant and fish tackle run between the stays when the stowed, with the hook of the fish tackle blook attached to the pin rail before the bowsprit or to an eye attached to the bowsprit itself.  The Cutty Sark has a dedicated eye on the bowsprit just above the deck.  When the rig is being used it was led over the fore stays to the side of the ship it was being using.  If you look on youtube there is an educational video of the Star of India raising the anchor using the burton pendant and fish tackle.

 

Maybe this helps.

 

 

Thanks

Marc

Edited by keelhauled
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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi guys, I should have been clear on what I'm working, it's the HMS Fly. The plans are not clear between the preventer stay, fore stay and burton pendent. Not near my plans now but will attach image of plans to help clarify.
Good discussion and Happy New Year.
Mark

Mark
Phoenix, AZ


Current builds;


Previous builds, in rough order of execution;
Shipjack, Peterbrough Canoe, Flying Fish, Half Moon, Britannia racing sloop, Whale boat, Bluenose, Picket boat, Viking longboat, Atlantic, Fair American, Mary Taylor, half hull Enterprise, Hacchoro, HMS Fly, Khufu Solar Boat.

On the shelf; Royal Barge, Jefferson Davis.

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All the shrouds and burton pendants go over the lower mast head and trend toward the sides.  The shrouds go down to the channels and deadeyes, the pendants hang loose, perhaps lashed to a shroud to secure them.

After the pendants and shrouds, the stays go around the masthead but are held higher up by cleats and go forward, encircling but not in contact with the upper mast.

 

There is an excellent series of books by David Antscherl about building your class of ship, using the Swan class as example.

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Ah ha, here are the images that confused me; Because I work in a slightly different order then the plans are numbered. I mistook the preventer and fore stays for the burten pendents. There are no burten pendents as shown in the third image the yard is hauled with tackle.
I work off model competing yards, set upper shrouds, attach lower shrouds to mast held in place with tape around the mast add rig yards to mast, then set mast, stays, rigging etc., then set lower shrouds.
So in short I was messed up.
But I certainly learned allot from everyone.

post-2062-0-80430100-1483822283_thumb.jpg

post-2062-0-54607700-1483822304_thumb.jpg

post-2062-0-30406100-1483822334_thumb.jpg

Mark
Phoenix, AZ


Current builds;


Previous builds, in rough order of execution;
Shipjack, Peterbrough Canoe, Flying Fish, Half Moon, Britannia racing sloop, Whale boat, Bluenose, Picket boat, Viking longboat, Atlantic, Fair American, Mary Taylor, half hull Enterprise, Hacchoro, HMS Fly, Khufu Solar Boat.

On the shelf; Royal Barge, Jefferson Davis.

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