How do I measure my rigging blocks and dead eyes if I need to buy more?

[kearnold]

I want to buy assorted items for my current build (1:80) but I still can't figure out how to measure my dead eyes and blocks (and cannon and wheel and bell and lifeboat, etc)

Do i measure the long side or the short? thickness or length might be a better way to say it for the blocks.  do i measure across the circle for the dead eye? 

 

[Keith Black]

 Measure length for blocks and diameter for deadeyes. 

[allanyed]

K,

For blocks and deadeye, it as Keith posted. 

 

What ship/year/nation?  Blocks are sized for the line size which is based on a formula involving mast size, hull size and so on.   It is not as hard as it sounds as there is a spread sheet here at MSW that will crank out everything you need once you put in the few initial figures.

 

Same goes for cannon and ship's boats. It depends on the nation, size of the ship and era.  If you can indicate which ship, the answers to your questions are not really that difficult to find.

 

Bells varied a bit as well and I for one would love to know if there was a regulation in the past for various nations as there has been for U.S. Coast Guard regs in recent years:  §83.33 Equipment for Sound Signals (Rule 33)

 

Allan

[shipman]

Allan, do you have a link to the section where these spread sheet here at MSW?

[allanyed]

Hi Shipman

Just do not use it for ships built from 1670 through 1710 as Danny used his own formula and it is useless for those years.  Otherwise it is good to go as it is an easy version of the David Lees formulas used in The Masting and Rigging of English Ships of War, 1625-1860.

Go to the articles database in the upper ribbon here at MSW or just click --> https://thenrg.org/resource/articles and scroll down to the spreadsheet by Danny Vadas in the Masting and Rigging section, then click on it and it will open.

Allan