Beginner - Rigging Tools

[nheather]

Hi,

 

Totally new to model ship building, but plenty of other model building experience under my belt (plastic, wood, metal).

 

I have a Vanguard Models Sherborne wrapped up and under the Christmas Tree (well in the place where the Christmas Tree will be).

 

One thing that will be very new to me is rigging and am wondering which tools I should consider.  I already have a variety of fine tweezers and a pair of micro shears/snips.  But what about the rat line jigs like the Amati ‘Loom a Line’?  Also I’ve seen a variety of rigging tools which are handles with different style hooks at either end - do I need these and are there any guides showing why and how you would use each different shape of hook.

 

Many thanks,

 

Nigel

[kurtvd19]

Nigel:

We have some meetings where we bring our favorite tools to discuss.  The Loom A Line (LoL) has never once been brought to a meeting as a favorite tool.  In fact one meeting night I added a sub topic "Bring a tool that should never have been made or purchased.  Three (3) brought Loom A Lines!  For a very good reason - it is useless.  Better to set up a jig to hold the mast with space below for the dead eyes and aligned as per the plans.  They are most of the time at angles - at the most only one shroud will be directly line up with the dead eye's position per the plans using the LoL.

There is one other jig for doing what the LoL is supposed to do and that is the jig available from Model Expo that has adjustments for the dead eyes as well as height adjustment.

I stick with doing the rigging off the model but using the actual mast and locating the dead eyes below per the plan.

Kurt

[brunnels]

When I rigged my last model, 80% of the rigging work was done with some fine tweezers.  I have that 5 piece rigging tool "minature fingers" set that micro mark sells and I actually found them to be very useful for belaying lines around belay pins and cleats that were in hard to reach areas.

 

I use a set of forceps from time to time for spots where my small tweezers wouldn't fit.  These are the ones I bought.  

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MXEN7OY?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

 

Another tool I use are cuticle trimmers, they are fantastic for snipping line close to knots when you don't want to leave any excess line showing. 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07J6B3W12?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

 

I would also recommend something like some "helping hands" to hold lines while you tie knots off ship.  Rigging is one of those tasks where you always wish you had a second set of hands to hold something.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C1ZZ9Y2V/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

I would also recommend a pack of small alligator clamps, they are very useful for clipping to a line if you need some weight to hold it in place.  

[tlevine]

Take a look at the build log for the NRG rigging kit.  The second fanciest tool is a fan showing the distance between ratlines.  The two things you need to acquire are information about which lines are served and a serving machine.  Of the ones commercially available today, Syren's is the best by far.

[Dziadeczek]

10 hours ago, nheather said:

...Also I’ve seen a variety of rigging tools which are handles with different style hooks at either end - do I need these and are there any guides showing why and how you would use each different shape of hook...

You mean, something like those?

I made them from large size needles (from "Joans" or similar places...) and made appropriate cuts with a Dremel tool and cut off wheel. For handles I used turned dowels, but you might also use handles from old artist's brushes.

Or you might be able to purchase them factory made from places like Micro Mark...

These are very helpful when you work on rigging and cannot reach the spots with your fingers through a thick spiderweb of other ropes that you might damage in the process. They help you with reaching those spots, bringing ropes (lines) towards you or taking them away from you, or even for such tasks like attaching ropes to belaying pins, kevels, bitts, or similar. Without them I wouldn't have been able to do all those tasks for my French double decker of 1780 from Boudriot, I finished last winter.

Edited November 12 by Dziadeczek

[nheather]

10 hours ago, kurtvd19 said:

Nigel:

We have some meetings where we bring our favorite tools to discuss.  The Loom A Line (LoL) has never once been brought to a meeting as a favorite tool.  In fact one meeting night I added a sub topic "Bring a tool that should never have been made or purchased.  Three (3) brought Loom A Lines!  For a very good reason - it is useless.  Better to set up a jig to hold the mast with space below for the dead eyes and aligned as per the plans.  They are most of the time at angles - at the most only one shroud will be directly line up with the dead eye's position per the plans using the LoL.

There is one other jig for doing what the LoL is supposed to do and that is the jig available from Model Expo that has adjustments for the dead eyes as well as height adjustment.

I stick with doing the rigging off the model but using the actual mast and locating the dead eyes below per the plan.

Kurt

Thanks for the advice.  I was questioning the value but for a different reason, that the Sherborne only has two rat lines so maybe a rat line tool is over the top, but your advice has added another reason not to buy.

 

Thanks for the advice, I will save my pennies.

[Thukydides]

17 hours ago, nheather said:

Hi,

 

Totally new to model ship building, but plenty of other model building experience under my belt (plastic, wood, metal).

 

I have a Vanguard Models Sherborne wrapped up and under the Christmas Tree (well in the place where the Christmas Tree will be).

 

One thing that will be very new to me is rigging and am wondering which tools I should consider.  I already have a variety of fine tweezers and a pair of micro shears/snips.  But what about the rat line jigs like the Amati ‘Loom a Line’?  Also I’ve seen a variety of rigging tools which are handles with different style hooks at either end - do I need these and are there any guides showing why and how you would use each different shape of hook.

 

Many thanks,

 

Nigel

Welcome to MSW. The advice everyone else has given you is great and I would heartily endorse it. Tweezers, sheers and maybe a small sewing needle are all you really need for sure. The only addition I would make is some sort of serving machine if you plan to serve some of the lines (e.g. the syren one).

 

I will just add a few things that I learned rigging my first model:

1. The hull will take a while so there will be plenty of time to consider the rigging as you get closer to it. I changed my mind so much on things over the course of the build that I think it is best to wait till you are much closer to actually doing the task before purchasing things. In general I have found a good rule of thumb is not to buy a tool until I have a task I am working on that I need it for. Don't buy tools to solve hypothetical problems.
2. Everyone goes about rigging a little differently. There are lots of tips and tricks you can pick up from others, but some of the tools are a function of what you are trying to do. Fore example, I was doing a lot of false splicing and so created a small hand tool using machine sewing needles to help me do this. For me it was one of my most used tools for rigging (along with the serving machine), but if you are not interested in doing that sort of detail then it would be useless to you.

[Keith Black]

 For myself, the best line/thread cutting tool I've found is flush wire cutters. Years back I bought a cheap ten piece pack off Amazon, five flush cutters were designated solely for cutting line/thread and the other five were designated for cutting wire. I marked the handles so I wouldn't confuse between the two.  

 

 I like flush cutters due to the flat profile. I use high magnification glasses (6X) when modeling and depth perception is a problem. Flush cutters allow mw to get into those tight spaces between lines and make cuts with less fear of making a mistake. I find cuticle trimmers to be much more cumbersome.  

 

The link below is for a five piece pack, searching "flush cutter" you'll also find singles both expensive and cheap.  

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09V7ZSJGM/ref=sspa_dk_hqp_detail_aax_0?sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9ocXBfc2hhcmVk&th=1

[wefalck]

A variant of the adapted needles mentioned by @Dziadeczek would be crochetting needles. These days the really tiny sizes don't seem to be available anymore commercially, but I enherited a small collection from my grandmother.

 

Perhaps a more advanced investment would be so-called Castrovejo micro-scissors as used in eye-surgery. They are very sharp and should only be used on fine threads.

 

Otherwise, as for all tools, it is a good idea to wait until a challenge arises and then buy the tool for the job, even if that interrupts your work, rather than kitting oneself out with tools that one perhaps never uses.

 

Edited November 12 by wefalck

[Toolmaker]

Only this week have I finished rigging my HMS Cheerful so I am still running warm.

 

I see lots of good advice above, especially about not buying tools before you have a specific need. You will certainly need 1 and likely 2 pairs of longish narrow tweezers and something to cut the line. I did most of my work with good quality small sewing scissors. My choice of make was fiskars. I also used a scalpel when rigging blocks off model.

 

I used a helping hands system extensively and would find life more difficult without it. Used for stropping blocks etc. For serving I used the Syren version with some modifications, but I didn’t bother with serving on my first two builds.

 

I use the same modelling clamps for adding tension to hanging ropes as I use during the build.

 

The only thing I haven’t seen listed above which I like to have on hand are collapsible eye needles. They make threading through blocks a real breeze. The link is a uk one but I am sure you will find them anywhere in the world.

https://www.thecuriousgem.co.uk/needles/beadalon-collapsible-eye-needles-assorted-sizes.html?srsltid=AfmBOoouysXEk_rNhhoVnaP66KHRpxEinAGwkJmAlkwoT-bk1JPEYrgt

 

Enjoy the hull build first, then you can concentrate on the needs of the rigging.

 

Good luck

Paul

 

Edited November 13 by Toolmaker

[wefalck]

Apologies for slightly disagreeing with the last suggestion. It seems tempting to use a tool to pull rigging line through a block. However, if a folded line can pass through the hole, the hole is too big for the line. If you look at prototype blocks, you will see that the sheave is only a fraction thicker than the rope it is meant for. There is very little clearance betwen the rope and the block.

 

Thus, not really a tool but rather a material is some fast-drying solvent-based varnish with which one can stiffen the end of lines to fiddle them through blocks. The same varnish can also be used to secure splices and knots. Some people use CA cement for that, but I would advice against it, because it is messy and you cannot dissolve, if needed, afterwards. Knots secured with varnish can be unravelled with a drop of varnish, which you may find helpful.

[Tim Moore]

Hi Nigel - enjoy your upcoming build in the new year!

Have to agree with toolmaker Paul’s suggestions, decent tweezers and particularly those collapsible eye needles have been exceptionally useful in practice. 

[tlevine]

I find size 10 crochet hooks to be very useful with rigging.  Readily found in sewing stores and Amazon.

[paul ron]

check out this tool...

i saw this posted on another site. the inventor cut off a small piece of a vaccination needle and secured it to a stick. i did the same but epoxied the needle to a dental probe. its a handy tool for getting lines under belaying pins, especially when working between other rigging.

[Keith Black]

Neat tool, Paul.

[GrandpaPhil]

Don’t forget the beeswax to coat your rigging line!

 

It makes the rigging line easier to handle and keeps it from fraying.

Edited November 15 by GrandpaPhil