Where can I get small grommets?

[Seamus107]

I am down to the last four mini-grommets from my late father’s ship modeling supplies.  Their outer diameter is 3/32, which means the hole is about 1/32.  I have looked around for a source to get more, but have had no luck.  Any ideas from this very experienced group would be appreciated.  Thanks.

 

james

Maine

[Bob Cleek]

Can you be more specific about what you mean by a "grommet?" A rope grommet is a circle of three-strand line made by unlaying a single strand of three-strand of sufficient length and then re-laying the single strand in a circle with a whipping at the point where the two ends meet. 

 

 

Metal grommets are pressed together to be set in the hems and corners of canvaswork, frequently tarps, to reinforce connection points.

Or are you asking about bronze (or brass) rope thimbles? Line is spliced around these thimbles to prevent chafing when the line is shackled to something, such as when connecting a block to a pendant.

 

 

My guess is that the above are the thimbles you are asking about. Having had the dubious pleasure of sourcing real old-fashioned bronze rope thimbles for full-scale rigging jobs myself, I feel relatively secure in saying there's nobody making them today with an inner diameter of 1/32". You will almost certainly have to make them yourself. This is done by obtaining a length of brass tubing, 1/32" inside diameter in your case, annealing the end of the tube and cutting a suitable length of tubing off the tube to provide sufficient stock for forming the rims of a grommet. The rims are "rolled" by sandwiching the tubing section between two suitably-sized ball bearings and lightly hammering the ball bearings together on a hard surface to roll the edges of the tubing section. The same can be accomplished if one has a pair of pliers, preferably vise-grips, which have or can be modified to have round points on the jaws which could be used to compress the ends of the tubing and roll the rims of the grommet that way. Alternately, of course, they can be machined on a lathe from a length of rod stock of suitable diameter. 

 

You might also send a message to Keith Aug of this forum. Keith is a master miniature metalsmith. If anybody knows another way to make thimbles, it would be Keith. See: KeithAug - Model Ship World™

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 27, 2023 by Bob Cleek

[Seamus107]

You are correct, it is the thimbles I am looking for.  I am sorry to hear that no one making miniature versions any more, Inhave found them useful.  Thanks for the clarification and information.

[allanyed]

Go to the McMaster site or similar suppliers where you can find brass tubing.  You can chuck a small piece in a drill and cut a grooves with a needle file, then cut off each piece with a fine tooth stiff back saw like those from Xacto and others.     https://www.mcmaster.com/products/tubing/?s=brass-tubing%2Fbrass-tubing  Click on the top left and a page will come up with various sizes.  Those that come up on the right look like they may work for you.   A bit of work, but not difficult.

Allan

Edited May 28, 2023 by allanyed

[Reggiemon]

James,

Here is one place that still sells thimbles. Elde-Modellbau Thimble

They may be available from some of the British ship model shops. I have been using the medium size in the rigging of my current model. 

The only other thing I have found is the small grommets/eyelets in doll house making supplies that can be easily made into thimbles..

Reg

[Seamus107]

Thanks for the suggestions and for the link to Modellbau!

[Bob Cleek]

3 hours ago, Reggiemon said:

Here is one place that still sells thimbles. Elde-Modellbau Thimble

Yes, but if accuracy still matters at such small scales, "tear drop" shaped thimbles are made for use with wire rope, not fiber rope. The round thimbles are for fiber rope.

[Reggiemon]

There is a good description of making thimbles in the Ship Modelers Shop Notes book if you have it. 

On page 176 it has diagrams of what allenyed is describing.

[Keith Black]

 

13 hours ago, Jnorton1946 said:

 I have looked around for a source to get more, but have had no luck

 James, Cornwall Model Boats in the UK has the size you're looking for in stock. The only rub is they have a $50.00 order min so you'll need to add something else along with the thimbles. 

 

https://www.cornwallmodelboats.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?WD=thimble&PN=36700-Thimble-2.5mm--Pack-of-10--36700.html#SID=67

[grsjax]

Crafty Sailor has small thimbles.  They are one of the outfits that supports Model Ship World. https://craftysailor.com/

[Keith Black]

9 minutes ago, grsjax said:

Crafty Sailor has small thimbles

 I tried finding them on their site and couldn't. I see a "we have new product" message from 2021 but when you click on the thimble picture you go to a blank screen. I went to fittings and no thimbles are listed. Please provide a link that leads to thimbles for sale.  

[Toolmaker]

I’m unsure if any kind of self manufacture is an option. This picture comes from Chuck at Syren and shows his simple method using small pieces of brass tube. Other than sawing the pieces no other machining is required. He just swages the end with a tapered punch and a hammer.

 

I hope that is useful 

Thanks

 

Paul

Edited May 28, 2023 by Toolmaker

[grsjax]

9 hours ago, Keith Black said:

I tried finding them on their site and couldn't.

Send them an email and ask when they will be back in stock. 

[Keith Black]

3 hours ago, grsjax said:

Send them an email and ask when they will be back in stock. 

 I'm not looking for thimbles, I was just trying to help James locate available stock. You send CS a email, you're the one who raised their hand saying "Crafty Sailor has small thimbles"

Edited May 28, 2023 by Keith Black

[Seamus107]

Thanks, everyone, for your help and advice.  I will attempt to make my own thimbles using Chuck’s method method.  Wish me luck!

 

james

[Keith Black]

 I hope it works out, James. If it doesn't you have other options.  

[Jimdab]

A little late to the party but I've always called them grommets. I've also seen them called eyelets. This shop on Etsy make some really small ones. I bought 1mm and I think they'll work OK. Haven't gotten there yet. 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/814100186/2mm-inner-diameter-tiny-eyelet-in-4?click_key=a5b8143e75330cff8960f1811f86e58ba18bb85f%3A814100186&click_sum=41c3a832&ga_search_query=eyelet&ref=shop_items_search_9&crt=1&sts=1