Mast Hoops

[Maury S]

Chapelle, in The American Fishing Schooners 1825 - 1935 devotes a full page to the sizes of mast hoops.  I recall some recent discussion, but can't find it in a search.  I've been saving planed shavings from the edge of 1/16" Swiss Pear for this purpose.  I waxed a piece of dowel that is about 25% larger than the maximum diameter of the main and foremasts.  I then carefully loaded a coil onto the dowel, dampened the shaving and built up about 3 - 4 layers using dilute white glue to hold the shaving in place on itself.  Pretty good result.

A light sanding on the edges will bring them to the specified width.  28 more to go.

Maury

Edited August 25, 2019 by Maurys
typo

[davyboy]

Hi Maurys,that's very labour intensive. Get a dowel of suitable diameter wrap it in clingfilm then glue several turns of

brown wrapping paper around the dowel. When dry slide it off the dowel,you can then slice off the number of mast 

hoops you need,then give them a couple of coats of clear varnish or paint if required.

 

That's how I made the mast hoops for my Cheerful build. Much easier and quicker than using wood shavings.

 

Dave 

Edited August 26, 2019 by davyboy

[Maury S]

Thanks Dave,  What about the acid content of wrapping paper?

M

Edited August 27, 2019 by Maurys
added question

[Bob Cleek]

Try using a wider piece of wood to plane so that your shavings are much wider. An inch or an inch and a half is good. make sure your iron is sharp. Roll them around your dowel (with plastic wrap beneath, so they won't get glued to the dowel) and put a rubber band around them and let the glue dry. When dry, cut the hoops to the desired width while they are still on the dowel and then slide them off the dowel. You can in that way get four or five hoops from a single laminated shaving. If you have a lathe, or even a drill press, spinning the dowel and cutting them with a jeweler's or other fine toothed saw makes it a piece of cake. Very little sanding is required after that.

[davyboy]

Hi Maurys,I can't believe there would be any acid content in brown wrapping paper. Not much use for wrapping things then is it ? Anyway,my mast hoops haven't rotted my mast yet 

 

Dave 

[JerseyCity Frankie]

1 hour ago, davyboy said:

...”I can't believe there would be any acid content in brown wrapping paper”...

Certainly brown wrapping paper is non-archival due to its acidic nature, as is any paper that contains wood pulp. Newspaper, paper bags, gift wrapping paper, butcher paper,and likely any colored paper marketed towards children or school use will contain too much wood pulp to be considered as an archival material. Fortunately there’s a WORLD of paper available that IS archival and acid-free available at art supply stores.

its my view that laminating non-archival paper would greatly extend its useful life so probably the Mast Hoops built as described above could have a very long life, but still not as long a life as any acid-free paper would.

[wefalck]

I am guilty of having used brown packaging tape (the type you need to moisten, not the self-adhesive one) wrapped around a metal rod in several layers and then soaking it in shellac. Spinning it on the lathe allows you to easily slice off rings with a cutter - a lathe cutting tool would fray the edges. This kind of tape is also used to seal the back of framed paintings and have such paintings that were framed well over a hundred years ago without visible signs of deterioration.

 

If you are concerned about acidity, you can test the material before use by pulping it and sticking indicator paper into it.

 

It is important to remember, however, that these hoops were not seamless, but had overlapping ends that were lashed together. The lashings go through holes drilled some distance from the ends. I represented this by making the hoops slightly larger then needed and splitting them obliquely with a scalpel. This also allows you to put them - prototype-fashion - onto the mast after the rigging is installed. The ends are glued together and will come under the lashings of the sail.

Edited September 2, 2019 by wefalck

[harlequin]

picture gallery tape is neutral. I use it to frame my pastel pictures to prevent dust and insect incursion. one of my other hobbies....shown here an old paratrooper.

 

[paul ron]

very cool idea.

[druxey]

Sorry, but brown gummed paper and brown paper do become very brittle with time due to acid content. Check the back of old paintings and framed prints! Only archival (read 'acid free) papers have longevity.

[wefalck]

druxey, you are right in principle and I also have been an advocate of 'permanent' materials. On the other hand, I have a roll of gummed packaging tape that by now may be a hundred years old, considering the way it came into my possession, and it is still good as new. Perhaps over a 500 year time-scale things may be different ...

Edited November 14, 2019 by wefalck

[harlequin]

On ‎11‎/‎14‎/‎2019 at 2:26 AM, druxey said:

Sorry, but brown gummed paper and brown paper do become very brittle with time due to acid content. Check the back of old paintings and framed prints! Only archival (read 'acid free) papers have longevity.

the paper I use is archival