Intermediate Step After Thread Unwind/Rewind - Syren Rope Rocket

[Mike_In_RI]

SOLVED

The photo below shows my first and only try at rope making. It's 7 feet long and .022" thick and was produced on the Syren Rope Rocket. I'm quite pleased with the way it looks as it's the right color for my project and has no tendency to unravel. However, I want to make sure I am not leaving out a step. My goal is to get ~ .040 to .045", "bright straw" color, right laid whale line. These are the steps I took:

 

- Three threads of Mara 30 (right twist) unwound and rewound quite tightly with a left twist

- I did NOT stretch, apply water or apply beeswax after this rewind  >>> Should have I done that here??

- Then right twist the above tightly

- Stretched the rope, applied water & beeswax .. done.

 

To get to the thicker rope I need to untwist/retwist several threads ahead of time. Should I do that lock-in step as part of the rewind. I'm thinking .. yes.

 

 

Thank you for any tips on the matter.

 

Mike

 

 

 

[Mike_In_RI]

This try looks good as well but has a small tendency to unwind.  It is made up of 3 strands of Mara 30 and right twisted. The thickness is ~ .056". My previous posts question is still in play... should I need to dampen/wax the left twisted 3 strand rope prior to the final right twist?

 

Thank you in advance for any input,

Mike

 

 

 

[Mike_In_RI]

Looks like I don't need an an extra hardening step after an untwist/re-twist unless I intend to store the the thread.. which I don't intend at this point. In any case, I have some nice .045" right twist Mara rope with almost no unwinding tendency. Both these samples were heat treated.

 

 

Up to now I only have 7 foot lengths made so I'll scale that up.

 

Thanks for looking in,

Mike

 

 

 

[Ryland Craze]

Nice looking rope.  You did a good job making this rope on the Syren Rope Rocket.

[Mike_In_RI]

Thank you Ryland. The Rope Rocket pretty much does the work... set it up and follow the videos. I've been making short (7 foot) lengths with Mara polyester thread and am getting consistent results. Also, I found a color that is suitable for my project which was the reason I am trying to make my own rope. Some cotton thread (Aurifil) is on order for comparison so by next week I'm hoping to have the material settled and start making longer whale line.

 

Sorry I did not respond sooner. It looks like my notifications are not coming. I'll have to check that.

 

Best,

Mike

[VTHokiEE]

On 9/25/2020 at 4:12 PM, Mike_In_RI said:

Some cotton thread (Aurifil) is on order for comparison so by next week

Did you ever give the Aurifil a try? I have some Mara that I have been happily experimenting with but I am interested in giving cotton thread a try as well.

[BenD]

Aurifil is expensive but looks pretty good. Limited colors in 80wt though.  

 

here are some of my Aurifil samples. It looks better and behaves well when treated with watered down white pva.

[VTHokiEE]

2 hours ago, BenD said:

Limited colors in 80wt though.  

Those samples look quite nice. I noticed the limited colors in my window shopping (I didn’t see anything remotely close to a standing rigging color). The search continues, but the Mara is working as well (simply fun to experiment).

[Mike_In_RI]

On 10/27/2020 at 1:58 PM, VTHokiEE said:

Did you ever give the Aurifil a try? I have some Mara that I have been happily experimenting with but I am interested in giving cotton thread a try as well.

Sorry for the delay in responding. Still have trouble getting any notifications.

 

I have had one trial with Aurifil Mako 28, color "Toast", 2 threads/strand x 3 strands, thickness .027" (10 strands/10 method). It twisted nice and tight.

 

I stopped at this trial because the color was too dark for my current build. I've since got another color and will try that soon.

 

Mike

 

 

[VTHokiEE]

52 minutes ago, Mike_In_RI said:

I have had one trial with Aurifil Mako 28, color

Looks pretty nice; I was looking for a dark brown so I decided to order their "Very Dark Bark" and see if it can pass muster for standing rigging and their "Light Beige" to see what it looks like for running rigging.

[Chuck]

Nice work....I missed this topic.  Your rope looks great.   Keep up the good work.   Once you get the hang of using the Syren Rope Rocket it becomes second nature.    Remember to make a recipe card as the results will be same each time you use it.  

 

Chuck

[Mike_In_RI]

Thank you Chuck. It took hardly any time getting used to the Rope Rocket.. pretty much stuck to your video tips. Well done. I'm running a spreadsheet with about 20 trials so far with a split of about 50/50 cotton/polyester.

 

I finally found some weight 12 Aurifil and twisted it up today:

Mako 12   2 t/s x 3s   .038"  (10 strands/10 method)

Mako 12   3 t/s x 3s   .047"

 

This color is 5011 Rope Beige. Under the shop lights (LED 5000K) it is grey while under LED 2700K lights it is tan. 🤨 Notwithstanding the price, I currently favor the cotton just to avoid the heat treating step for the poly.

 

Mike

 

 

[VTHokiEE]

12 minutes ago, Mike_In_RI said:

Thank you Chuck. It took hardly any time getting used to the Rope Rocket.. pretty much stuck to your video tips. Well done. I'm running a spreadsheet with about 20 trials so far with a split of about 50/50 cotton/polyester.

 

I finally found some weight 12 Aurifil and twisted it up today:

Mako 12   2 t/s x 3s   .038"  (10 strands/10 method)

Mako 12   3 t/s x 3s   .047"

 

This color is 5011 Rope Beige. Under the shop lights (LED 5000K) it is grey while under LED 2700K lights it is tan. 🤨 Notwithstanding the price, I currently favor the cotton just to avoid the heat treating step for the poly.

 

Mike

 

 

Interesting on the color - I was not happy at all with the light beige color, but the very dark bark looked pretty good. I'm currently torn whether to continue testing other colors (I was interested in the ermine and the rope beige) or deal with the characteristics of Mara (currently leaning towards the latter).

[Mike_In_RI]

On 11/13/2020 at 11:09 AM, VTHokiEE said:

Interesting on the color - I was not happy at all with the light beige color, but the very dark bark looked pretty good. I'm currently torn whether to continue testing other colors (I was interested in the ermine and the rope beige) or deal with the characteristics of Mara (currently leaning towards the latter).

 

I should have mentioned in the previous post that, by eye in indirect sunlight, the actual color to me is a grey-beige. So it's OK for me. I think cameras, monitors and overhead lighting whether at home or in a store can really influence color perception. By now, I'm walking the rope color trials up to the room where I will display the model.

 

Mike

 

 

[BenD]

The best colors from Aurifil for tan rope in my opinion are #2326 Sand #2325 Linen #5010 Beige #6010 Toast. I even purchased the color card from them. The #5011 rope beige is just a little too grey.