Can somebody explain whats this...

[MESSIS]

Can please somebody explain me what is this "fixed deck block" item nr. 69? What is its purpose and how it functions. How is it rigged?  

Edited August 10, 2018 by MESSIS

[AndrewNaylor]

I think you will find in the rigging diagram that halyards will run down to it and then up to the belay rack helping produce a mechanical advantage for the crew when lifting or lowering heavy loads. They have pulleys  built into them to allow the rope to travel smoothly and would have been well built into the structure of the ship due to the large loads imposed on it Your Rigging plan will also show blocks attached to other rigging on the ship, same purpose different attachment The one on the deck has five blocks two is about the biggest up in the rigging. 

I hope this helps 

Andy

[MESSIS]

Hi Andy. Thank you for the quick response and the wide and round explanations! Great help! That was very kind of you.

 

I am my self an engineer so it wasnt hard to get the full picture. The only thing is that my kit doesnt use that part in its rigging. It just sits there without any rigging.

 

After your explanation I came to the idea to place it into the rigging of my ship. That would be interesting I think.

 

Could you please be again so kind, if you have available any pictures, to send me some picture to see how it can be done?

 

Thank you again Andy... you ve been very helpfull

Christos

Edited August 24, 2017 by MESSIS

[AndrewNaylor]

Messis 

I would love to help you but I am away from my shipyard for another 5 weeks ( I am a yacht captain ) But I am sure that if you take 1 of the Halyards attached to either the Crutch of the Gaff or the peak of the Gaff Lead it down through one of the 5 blocks a hole might need drilling through then lead back up to pin rack 

I see that you are working on the fore mast so you will not have gaffs but yard arms possibly 3 as it looks like a t least a 2 deck ship The one I built had a set of 3 shine blocks 1 attached to the yard arm the other attached just below the crows nest and then lead down to the Turning block on the deck and then on to the pin rack

I have attached a drawing that I have just done I hope this helps 

Rigging drawing.pdf

[davyboy]

Hi Christos,

 

That is called a knight. It was used for raising or lowering the lower fore,main and mizzen lateen yards in conjunction with a rams head block. The tie started near the yard centre went over a groove or sometimes a sheave in the cap down through a hole in the rams head block then back up through the sheave or over the groove on the other side of the cap and down to the yard on that side. This should be shown on your rigging plans of which I assume is of a French ship. That is how they did it. Can't see from your pic but I'm pretty sure there will be one abaft your main and mizzen masts also. Hope this helps.

 

Dave 

Edited August 24, 2017 by davyboy

[popeye2sea]

As Dave has said it is a knight.  And it typically has three or four sheaves let into it.  The fourth or extra sheave not used for the halyard was for the top rope, which was used to raise the top masts into position.  You will notice that the knight is offset from the center line of the mast.  This is to insure that the main stay does not foul the halyard tackle.  The halyard starts at a ring bolt set into the side of the knight, runs through the sheaves of the rams head block and the knight and then belays around the head of the knight.

 

Regards,

[MESSIS]

Thank you Dave and popey2sea. You have been very helpfull indeed.Now its very clear to me what is a "knight" and what it does. 

 

As I wrote to Andy my kit plans dont include the knight into the the rigging. It just sits there, witout any rigging. But I want to include it in the ships rigging in someway... maybe just to riggied it.  

Do you have any pictures I could look at.

 

Thx again.for your help guys

Christos

[DenPink]

3 minutes ago, MESSIS said:

Thank you Dave and popey2sea. You have been very helpfull indeed.Now its very clear to me what is a "knight" and what it does. 

 

As I wrote to Andy my kit plans dont include the knight into the the rigging. It just sits there, witout any rigging. But I want to include it in the ships rigging in someway... maybe just to riggied it.  

Do you have any pictures I could look at.

 

Thx again.for your help guys

Christos

Hi Messis

Why don't you make the knight your self it is not that hard.

 

Denis.

[MESSIS]

Denis my friend... I allready did the knight. Its the rigging of the knight that I dont know how to do. 

 

Tegards Christos

Edited August 25, 2017 by MESSIS

[MESSIS]

Andy I have just seen the drwg you have send me. Great! Just what I need! 1000 times thank you!☺☺

 

Wish a pleasant sailing trip

Christos

[AndrewNaylor]

Thank you 

and Happy building attached is a picture of my current Office in the Bahamas last year

 

[MESSIS]

Great!

[popeye2sea]

Here are some illustrations that may help a bit.  The first shows an overview of the tie and halliard set up and the rest show some details.

 

 

The lead of the tie over the cap, as in figure 150 was an early method used by the French and Dutch up to about 1700.  Figure 153 shows a later variant where the tie leads through blocks hanging from the cap on pendants.  The pendants hang inside the stay but outside the trestle trees.  The English sometimes employed another variant with the ties leading through sheaves in the hounds.  The tie starts secured near the middle of the yard as in figure 152 leads up over the cap, or through the tie block, down abaft the mast through a sheave or hole in the top of the rams head block (shown in figure 155) and back up on the other side of the mast where it passes over the cap and secures to the yard in the same manner as before.

 

The halliard is reeved between the knight and the rams head block as in Figure 155.

 

The tie should be about the thickness of the shrouds with the halliard about 2/3 of the tie.

 

Edited September 3, 2017 by popeye2sea
removed duplicate picture

[MESSIS]

Thx... increadible help!