Making an 1.00mm block

[modeller_masa]

I really didn't want to come back to this rabbit hole again.

 

If the blocks must be perfect, the ropes also must be perfect. Before I began making 1mm blocks, I made appropriate ropes using my customized ropewalk. I won't comment on the details of rope now, and will focus on making an 1mm block. Here are today's goal and ropes I made for the blocks.

 

 

The 4th rope is the thinnest rope I can mass-produce at a low cost. However, it is painful to build the rope, so I don't use it for "fun builds".

 

Under 0.10mm is a really pricy world. 0.001mm silver wire isn't economical. I have Veevus 16/0 and Uni-caenis 20D mono-filaments, but they are not rope. I'll use these ropes only, so the hole size of the blocks is bigger than 0.13mm.

 

 

(Source : https://syrenshipmodelcompany.com/boxwood-rigging-blocks.php )

 

Next. What kind of block should I make? There are thousands of different types of blocks.

 

This is a common single block of HMS Bounty. (AotS book, p107) The hole size (black circle) is approx. 25mm or 1 inch.

 

I made the single block in three different sizes. (2.00mm, 1.00mm, and 0.80mm)

 

It is digital carving time.

 

It took 5 hours... I'll print it tomorrow... zzz

[allanyed]

13 hours ago, modeller_masa said:

What kind of block should I make? There are thousands of different types of blocks.

What ship and year?   Blocks from the 18th century are very different from blocks of the later 19th century for example.  Your photo shows externally stropped blocks as well as internally stropped blocks which came later.  There is also the matter of single stropped and double stopped blocks, clue blocks, sheet blocks &c.  For blocks up to at least 1860 pages 162 to 167 in James Lees Masting and Rigging English Ships of War there are very good drawings of many types that you might need to buy or make.  Lees also give dimensional ratios for some blocks.

 

Allan

 

 

Edited March 17 by allanyed

[modeller_masa]

The block picture is from Anatomy of the ship-HMS Bounty (or Bethia 1784 ). I checked the book. I have no idea about differences, but it looks like another interesting rabbit hole.

 

I think it is the beginning of building a digital library for modellers. As many people build 3D modeled blocks and contribute them, more modellers will download them from the catalog and build better models.

 

 

My 3D block model is based of the 10" plan. Let's assume the block size is 320mm or 12.5". The block size is 2.00mm when the scale is 1/160.

Copy and paste

 

The result was incredible. The details exceeded my expectations. They look like commercial 3D printed blocks, and they are also functional.

The 2.00mm block looks great. I pushed the performance of the 3D printer to the max. It is 3 times slower than the default setting, but it is worth the price of time.

The hole was closed when the size was under 2.67mm. I don't like finishing work, so I enlarged the hole.

 

The external size is the same as the original. There are more ways to modify the hole.

 

I tested the 2mm block again.

 

Thanks to the new design, it has a clear hole. Not all the blocks have clear holes, but I can clear the half closed hole with 0.35mm PCB drill without force. The first 2mm blocks needed pressure to clear the hole.

 

The size of the 3-stranded brown rope is ticket no. 70.

 

 

I would say that my new 3D printer is enough to show every detail of blocks above 3.00mm size. All I need is to order black and brown resin.

 

2.00mm is bare limit, but it doesn't require significant modification.

 

As I expected, I'm struggling with the 1.00mm block. I'm heavily modifying the 3D block model, and it is getting more and more like a box. I may show the 1.00mm result tomorrow.

Edited March 17 by modeller_masa

[allanyed]

Your blocks look nice and they bring up a couple questions for me.  What is a good paint to coat resin (if these are resin) blocks?  Also, can these be treated in a sanding drum like wooden blocks can be shaped with a sanding drum to reduce or eliminate the flat areas?

 

Allan

 

Edited March 17 by allanyed

[modeller_masa]

That's easy question.

 

It depends on the size of the block (or tiny fitting parts). If the size is bigger than 4.00mm, people can notice the difference between wooden blocks and matt-colored plastic blocks. I would like to go to Syren's CNC wooden blocks when I build 1/48 scale ships.

 

If the size is under 4.00mm, the adhesive affect the color of the block. The wooden block absorbs some adhesive and darkens like water. When the tiny wood part goes dark, it is hard to tell if the block is made of wood or plastic. That's the sweet spot of the 3D printed resin blocks.

 

Because of this, I'll simply use the black or brown colored resin if the block is small enough. Painting isn't necessary. If I have only grey or transparent resin, I would have painted them with lacquer spray.

 

1 - Plastic - supplied by kit maker.

2 - AL's stock wood block

3 - DIY Paper block

4 - 3D printed + brown lacquer spray

 

Hanged before spraying.

 

 

 

The Syren's wooden blocks look good, but I may need to sand laser burn, and flatten the edges of it. I think this is what Allan said. Unfortunately, I don't want do it if the block is small. I'll buy Syren blocks bigger than 5mm. They are big enough to sand by hand, so it won't be a big problem, in my opinion. Small blocks are hard to sand, so I gave up and went to a 3D printer.

 

[modeller_masa]

After several attempts, I took a picture of dust similar to the shape of a block. The size is 1.00 x 0.50 x 0.71 mm. It is impractical to use the 1mm block. The material isn't strong enough.

 

I would say that 2.00mm is the minimum size for average use.

 

Thank you for reading my experiment, and I hope you liked my answer.

[wefalck]

Thanks for taking up my challenge 😄

 

OK, for the time being 2 mm seems to be the limit. One has to accept that. Printer technology evolves fast ...

 

I don't know what modelling software you used for the blocks and what it's limitations might be, but I am wondering, why you made the slots in the block square? Normally the ends are rounded. If you can model that, it should give you also more clearance for the hole. If you can also model the the groove in the sheave, this should give you extra clearance without making the slot wider.

 

I think building up a library of blocks might be a good idea and a nice service to the community 👍🏻

[modeller_masa]

Unfortunately, there won't be a cheap and accessible 3D printer under 0.010mm resolution within several years. The cheapest $150 resin printer uses LCD screen of a smartphone. The 0.022mm resolution is the edge of "commercial and economical" technology for now. We will see an upgraded resin printer when the Iphone's resolution goes to 8K, and then 1.50mm block will become feasible.

 

The 3D cad software is sketchup, which is not able to render curves.

 

The last picture, which has an exaggerated groove, isn't my last 3D model. I just reused the picture to show mass-production.

Here is my factory. The new blocks from 2.00mm to 6.50mm will last for years.  I don't know where the "slot" is. I haven't seen a real block, so I drew it based on the AotS book.

 

There are so many blocks in the Anatomy of the Ship books. It isn't difficult to build an accurate 3D model of the blocks. It is just a time and labor consuming job. I said that I spent 5 hours on the new model. I can't build and replace all the blocks at once. I'll collect various blocks one by one as I build more ships.

Edited March 19 by modeller_masa

[wefalck]

You are on the right road 👍🏻

[Gregory]

Have you tried Fusion 360 free version for your curve problem?

[modeller_masa]

I use an old sketchup because it was familiar to me since Google made it freeware. Several years ago, the company was independent, and the newer version is paid only. 🤨

 

I considered moving to the F360, but Autodesk has changed the terms of service. The license for enthusiasts was downgraded to a personal license. Who knows what's next?

 

I have a plan to use Blender, which is completely open source freeware. I'm so lazy that I didn't open my textbook for blender.... zzz

[Gregory]

Autodesk Fusion 360 is free for hobbyists, non-commercial use.

It's a little hard to find where they say it is free, but it is still there.

[allanyed]

18 hours ago, modeller_masa said:

I haven't seen a real block,

Not sure if you were joking, but there are hundreds at RMG.   One example.....  https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-257672

Allan

[modeller_masa]

There are many reference pictures online, and I have good books, including the AotS series, but they are mostly 2D plan pictures.

For example, I don't know the depth of the center metal rod for pulley wheels. I just highlighted the rod by giving it a swallow hole. It was lucky that my guess was similar to the RMG image.

 

Those tiny details and hidden parts, including the structure, make me uncertain.

[wefalck]

The axle goes through from side to side and should be flush with them.

 

I am not sure when this was instroduced, but sometime during the 19th century the bearing area was reinforced by diamond-shaped brass plaques that were recessed into the side (cheeks) of the blocks.

 

If the blocks were externally strapped with iron bands, these bands became the bearing surfaces.

 

Around the middle of the 19th century internally strapped blocks were introduced, where the wood just became a shell to prevent the metal from chafing rigging and sails. Internally strapped blocks have a higher load-bearing capacity than externally strapped ones, because the axles are supported right next to the sheaves.

 

In the course of the 19th century it also became less common for blocks to be made from single chunks of wood, but were built up from layers that were rivetted together using metal rivets. This made their mass production simpler, because no specialised machinery was needed. In 1802 the RN had adopted the complex block-making machinery invented by Brunel (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portsmouth_Block_Mills). Some of the machines are preserved in the NMM and the Science Museum in London. They are the first examples of curve-controlled production machinery. 

Edited March 20 by wefalck

[Jsk]

I'm late to the party (as normal) but I don't think you need to be concerned that Sketchup doesn't do curves. I don't believe *.stl format does either and any model intended to be 3d printed need to be triangulated when exported to a format the printer will accept. I think the resolution of the printer determines how small (and hence how smooth) the triangles can be. I could be very wrong on this as I have intentionally avoided getting a 3d printer. (I simply don't need another hobby!) But that box of blocks is very tempting!

 

If you're looking for other modeling software you might give Wings3d a look. The learning curve is much less than something like Blender and it would probably speed up you modeling pipeline quite a bit. I've modified *.stl files in Wings and had them printed so I know it's capable of producing printable files.

 

 

 

[Chuck]

Your blocks are looking great.   I imagine they take a while to print.   But that is something that cant be avoided.   My CNC blocks take forever to make.   But the good thing is no laser char as you mentioned earlier.  They are pretty crisp.  

 

I just now started packaging up a new batch of singles that were completed today.  It takes a very long time as the cnc machine is insanely slow.   But I would suggest that you try just using some white and yellow ochre weathering powder to make them look like wood.   You could also go darker if you prefer.  But I find the weathering powders cover the gray easily and you cant see any build up or brush strokes.   No loss of detail at all.   

 

Here is a picture of the pile that I am just now packaging up.  no gluing them up or laser char.