Where to buy thread for ropewalk machines?

[Ulises Victoria]

Hello all ropewalk users... where do you buy the threads in different diameters for use in your RW machines?

I have googled and searched Amazon for some time now and came with nothing, or at least, very confusing stuff.

I am looking for threads of different diameters (and at least two colors, for standing and running rigging), to make different diameters of rope, obviously.

On older machines I used to twist 2, 3, 4, etc strands of thread to make thicker ropes, but this approach seems not to work very well in my Domanoff machine.

 

Thank you in advance for your input.

 

Ulises

 

 

[Gregory]

Amazon would probably be a good place to buy once you know the size & color you want..

 

I use stuff like this:

https://smile.amazon.com/Gutermann-Natural-Cotton-Thread-3281-Yard/dp/B002762152/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1495740793&sr=8-1&keywords=Natural%2BSolids%2B3281&th=1

 

With a machine like the Domanoff, where you are limited to  four strands, you may have to use your results ( 2,3,4 ) to make larger rope...

[Dee_Dee]

Londonderry linen thread is a high quality linen thread with a smooth finish.  It's available online from Threadneedle Street, located in Issaquah WA.  It's expensive, but you get what you pay for.  Their website has numerous pages, below is the direct link for the page with the linen thread.  Scroll to bottom for colors to make rope.   

 

https://www.threadneedlestreet.com/linthrd.htm

 

[Jaager]

Should you wish to use traditional fibers - rather than repeat - do a Forum search:  topic linen yarn

 

This material is becoming exponentially more difficult to source but it scales well and has proven its stability over time.

Given the option, I go for one color:  natural -  2nd choice half bleached  - third  white.

A good quality Walnut wood dye can be dark enough to cover fully tarred standing rigging and partially tarred running

rigging for vessels prior to the late 1800's - depending on dye concentration used.

I am thinking that in the late 1800's  petro tars that are actually black seem to have become the material used.

But steel cable was also being used during this time.

[wefalck]

You don't say what finished sizes of 'ropes' you want to arrive at, but I see that you are working in a 1/90 scale. This may require some rather thin ropes in places. For these you may want to look into 'fly-tying thread' as used by the fly-fishing fraternity. They are man-made fibres. My preferred brand, due to sizes and colours available, is Veevus from Denmark. You can fish such threads in the wellknown bay.

[Ulises Victoria]

Thanks all and especially Dee Dee. Placed a test order at Thread Needle Street.

 

Wefalck: Yes I have some of those threads already. Will do some test soon. Thank you.

 

[jhearl]

I have been using DMC Cordonnet thread for years now. It comes in ecru, which works well for un-tarred rope and it can be easily dyed after the rope is made if you want a dark brown. It is a cotton thread but has no fuzz and is considerably less expensive than linen. It comes in sizes 20-100 (100 is smallest). Here's one online US source that appears to carry all sizes:

https://www.tattingcorner.com/threads-12/dmc-cordonnet-67/

(I've never ordered from them and have no affiliation with them in any way - just one source I found on the web.)

 

Sometimes, even the 100 is too large, so I use Gutermann cotton sewing thread for the smallest lines. Sometimes, you have to just use thread itself without twisting it into rope for really tiny lines. I'm not sure what kind of rope machine you have, but on mine, I can use multiple threads (such as 6 or 9) to get even thicker rope if three 20s aren't big enough, for example. When I got started making rope, I made up a sample length with each thread size so I would know what I needed in the future for a particular size finished rope.

 

Cheers -

John

[Ulises Victoria]

Thanks John.

I am using Domanoff's machine. I used to use a machine made by a friend of mine. This one worked on the principle that if you twist the threads long enough, they will start winding by themselves. This principle makes a very tight rope. In this machine I could put 2 3 4 5 6 threads to make thicker rope and it always came very tight and even. I love that machine. The only problem is that it only makes fixed lengths of rope, depending on how far you have both ends of the machine from each other. My dream was always to have a continuous-feed machine to make ropes as long as the thread you can put in the spools. Now I have 2 (Domanoff's and Byrnes') and still long for the quality of rope the first machine did. Guess you can't have everything.

I have tried to make multiple-thread rope in my Domanoff with very poor results. Dissimilar tension in the threads seems to be the problem.

 

Thanks for your input!

 

[wefalck]

This could be an inherent design problem with these 'continuous' machines. Perhaps you can unwind the individual threads and then gather several unwound threads as a strand.

 

On a machine with fixed distances between both heads, you would, of course, run multiple threads as one line, zig-zaging backwards and forwards between the heads, which automaticlly puts the same tension on all strands.