Rigging finishes

[Stanage]

I'm renovating a 1940s family heirloom and have some queries on the rigging material and finish (close up attached), if anyone can help, please.

 

The rigging appears to have some sort of finish applied. Is this normal, and any idea what it might be? It seems to make the rigging have a glistening, golden finish.

 

Frustratingly, I also found that it come off with Murphy's Oil Soap. I'd like to reinstate the bit that's lost its coating, and also treat replacement rigging in the same way.

 

Many thanks

[AON]

It may have been bees wax to get rid of the stray wild fibres.  I do not know how to tell for sure.  Possibly some others might know.

 

I take it you are attempting to clean the model.

 

I know there are people here that have done that and I suspect they do not use Murphy's Oil Soap but rather saliva on the end of a Q-tip to remove dirt and dust.  It is  long and arduous work but I am told is a better way.

 

Possibly someone more skilled can confirm.

 

Alan

[Stanage]

3 hours ago, AON said:

It may have been bees wax to get rid of the stray wild fibres.  I do not know how to tell for sure.  Possibly some others might know.

 

I take it you are attempting to clean the model.

 

I know there are people here that have done that and I suspect they do not use Murphy's Oil Soap but rather saliva on the end of a Q-tip to remove dirt and dust.  It is  long and arduous work but I am told is a better way.

 

Possibly someone more skilled can confirm.

 

Alan

 

Many thanks. I had successfully been using baby wipes and wished I hadn't tried Murphy's Oil Soap  

 

I'd be interested to see if there's a way of telling if it's beeswax. I assume that if I warm it, it will soften, so I might try that on a bit of rigging that's already broken and needs replacing.

 

 

 

[Bob Cleek]

Murphy's Oil Soap may be good for washing hardwood floors, but it does leave a greasy residue if not rinsed off well. I'd stick with a bit of Windex window cleaning liquid in water on a cloth or Q-tip. The Windex and water solution (not more than 10 or 20 percent ratio at most) works better than spit and trying to work up enough spit to wet Q-tips gets old rather quickly unless you're chewing tobacco!

 

The finish coating on the rigging is quite likely orange (brown) shellac. It would be a certainty if the rigging is somewhat stiff. In any event, orange shellac will do the trick for you. Early coats that soak in will be flat, but when further coats are applied on top of dry coats, the finish will become glossy. There are two kinds of shellac, "whte" or "bleached," and "orange" or "natural." These terms refer to the tint, or lack thereof in the shellac. "Orange" shellac isn't exactly orange, and, as additional coats are built up, will progressively become darker and darker. It's relatively inexpensive. Buy it in the can at hardware stores. (Don't buy the rattle cans of it. Overpriced and not suitable for this application.) Shellac is thinned with and brushes are cleaned with denatured alcohol. Even if the shellac coat is completely dry, an application of alcohol will dissolve it. Shellac is also handy for all sorts of similar finishing applications. It is completely non-toxic, other than the denatured alcohol, which will make you sick if you drink it.

 

 

[Stanage]

16 hours ago, Bob Cleek said:

Murphy's Oil Soap may be good for washing hardwood floors, but it does leave a greasy residue if not rinsed off well. I'd stick with a bit of Windex window cleaning liquid in water on a cloth or Q-tip. The Windex and water solution (not more than 10 or 20 percent ratio at most) works better than spit and trying to work up enough spit to wet Q-tips gets old rather quickly unless you're chewing tobacco!

 

The finish coating on the rigging is quite likely orange (brown) shellac. It would be a certainty if the rigging is somewhat stiff. In any event, orange shellac will do the trick for you. Early coats that soak in will be flat, but when further coats are applied on top of dry coats, the finish will become glossy. There are two kinds of shellac, "whte" or "bleached," and "orange" or "natural." These terms refer to the tint, or lack thereof in the shellac. "Orange" shellac isn't exactly orange, and, as additional coats are built up, will progressively become darker and darker. It's relatively inexpensive. Buy it in the can at hardware stores. (Don't buy the rattle cans of it. Overpriced and not suitable for this application.) Shellac is thinned with and brushes are cleaned with denatured alcohol. Even if the shellac coat is completely dry, an application of alcohol will dissolve it. Shellac is also handy for all sorts of similar finishing applications. It is completely non-toxic, other than the denatured alcohol, which will make you sick if you drink it.

 

 

 

Thanks Bob - much appreciated.

 

I've got some broken bits of rigging so I'll see what happens to those if I warm them or put them in denatured alcohol (apparently the UK name is methylated spirits, or just 'meths'). Shellac shouldn't melt, but beeswax should.

 

The more I read and learn, I'm wondering if the original finish may have been beeswax, as the lines are very brittle and apparently beeswax can degrade lines over a long period of time. We'll see after a couple of experiments.

 

[Bob Cleek]

2 hours ago, Stanage said:

I've got some broken bits of rigging so I'll see what happens to those if I warm them or put them in denatured alcohol (apparently the UK name is methylated spirits, or just 'meths'). Shellac shouldn't melt, but beeswax should.

 

The more I read and learn, I'm wondering if the original finish may have been beeswax, as the lines are very brittle and apparently beeswax can degrade lines over a long period of time. We'll see after a couple of experiments.

Yes, denatured alcohol and methylated spirits are the same thing. "Meths" will certainly dissolve shellac. Very effectively, in fact. Shellac is simply flakes of shellac dissolved in meths. I would think that a decorator model such as you have would not have had its rigging coated with beeswax. Beeswax is soluble in organic solvents, such as acetone, xylol, benzene, and ether. You will probably have better success dissolving beeswax with acetone than with alcohol. The easiest test to identify between the two will be that beeswax will melt and so soften when heated, while shellac will not.

 

Beeswax itself is generally considered to be a very archival material. However, the technical term "archival," meaning "long lasting," is a relative one. Beeswax is about 8% fatty acids, so there's grounds for some concern that over time it may contribute to the degradation of thread. On the other hand, beeswax has long been used to coat fabric to make the fabric waterproof, so who knows? (Sailors' "oilskins" were originally canvas material coated with beeswax.) The effects of environmental factors, notably acidity, are greatly dependent upon the "combination of ingredients," so it's difficult to predict in many cases. The acidic beeswax may last forever, but the material with which it comes in contact, perhaps not so much.

 

We are fortunate to  have a couple of the best professional ship model restorationists in the world on this forum and perhaps they will weigh in here at some point. While the considerations of addressing deteriorating rigging on a three hundred year old ship model in a museum will involve going to great lengths to preserve the original fabric of the model, your model does not present those preservation demands. (It's a rare three hundred year old museum model which retains its original rigging. Most have been re-rigged over the years, often several times.) For all intents and purposes, in the case of your model, I would say that if the rigging line has lost its strength to the point where it breaks easily, replacement with new line is necessary. It may be possible to strengthen parts of it, such as lashings, etc. by applying thinned shellac, thereby forming a stiff matrix of improved strength, but, really, when thread has deteriorated beyond the point of reliably serving its intended purpose, it needs to be replaced. Your challenge then becomes sourcing material that is identical in appearance to the original rigging which can be retained. This problem is much easier solved if the model is re-rigged entirely, of course.

 

 

Edited November 9, 2020 by Bob Cleek