Ropewalk Scale Rope Making Tool by ME - opinions?

[rtropp]

Looking for opinions of folks who have tried the Model Expo Rope Making tool.

 

Thanks, Richard T

[rtropp]

Curious, there do not seem to be too many builders on this site who have used the Model Expo Ropewalk, or have an opinion about it. 

I wonder if that is good or bad.

 

Richard T

[fnkershner]

_{I can tell you I bought it and tried to use it. It is now in my dust bin.}

[Q A's Revenge]

_{I can tell you I bought it and tried to use it. It is now in my dust bin.}

Did you buy anything else to replace it?

[tkay11]

I don't know if you've thought of it , but you might want to build your own. There's lots of advice on how to do this in many builds on the forum, and there are downloads on how to do it if you go to the main home page and the downloads section. I made one out of a very old shaver which I bought for £4 on eBay following previous experience on the forum and it works just fine. Equally you can go the full hog and buy one of Jim Byrnes wonderful machines.

 

Sorry if you've already thought of all this!

 

Tony

[fnkershner]

In my case, my local club agreed to pool our funds and buy one from Jim Byrnes. I can tell you we are much more satisfied than that strange thing from ME. I would put it next to the loom-A-line as another useless ship modeling tool.

[bhermann]

I bought one a while back - it is still sitting in the box unassembled.  I don't know when I would ever find the time to do rope, I have enough trouble finding time to work on my build!

 

Bob

[rtropp]

Well, that pretty much answers that.  I had been disappointed by a couple of their laser cut tools and jigs.

 

I ran across some plans for building one that seemed pretty basic but the site closed down.  I did get a copy. I have copied one page below. There are more detailed pages, but this gives an idea of what it looks like. 

 

Any thoughts?

 

 

Richard T

[Q A's Revenge]

This one looks good, fair bit of work to build though?

 

http://modelshipworldforum.com/resources/materials_and_tools/ropewalk.pdf

 

http://modelshipworldforum.com/resources/materials_and_tools/14frolich_style_ropewalk.pdf

[shipaholic]

I have a Model Expo rope machine and, although a bit clunky, it works fine. It just takes a bit of practice to learn how to make good rope with it.

[amateur]

_{It also depends on the amount of rope you need. I used just to do some rope not available in the shop (main stay and anchor cable.) A simple lego-thingy worked fine.}

_{I wouldn't consider doing all the rope I need for a build on such e lego thing.}

_{Same on the more eleborate ropewalks. No need to buy a byrnes-one if you only need half a yard of rope. No good idea either I think to do 500 meters on a model-expo one.}

 

_Jan 

[rtropp]

For me the power rope machines seem to be pricy for the amount of rope I would make as an individual builder.  Building a manual one seems to be pretty cheap so using it to learn about rope making would make sense because would not be tough to discard if I decided not to use it. It seems that for short lengths you can get or build one of the hand crank types pretty cheaply, just a matter of time.

 

Bob makes a good point that rope making also depends on how much time you have.  After all, the cost of premade rope is pretty low and some of it looks really good.

 

I guess like anything else in modeling it is a question of how much you want to do yourself and what part of the build you like to do.  I am really considering a scratch build for my next attempt and so it would make sense to make my own components, but then I see the stuff that is available, for instance on Chuck's site as well as others and wonder if I could do any better any cheaper. I would not really know unless I tried. 

 

Richard T

[Q A's Revenge]

The metal one on this page looks quite simple in operation and is hand powered.

 

http://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/tips/Ropewalk/Ropewalk.html

[rtropp]

Thanks for the link.  It looks the similar in operation to the wood ones I have seen.  Really nice looking.  But, I do not think I have the skills to build the metal one... at least not yet.  I have received the prices for buying rope walks from the various sources you see on this site and all are pretty expensive.  Especially expensive when I am not sure that, as an individual, I will make that much rope.

 

Richard T

[tkay11]

Before you give up on making one, have a look at Janos' vertical ropewalk made from a shaver at http://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/999-good-ol-rope-climb/?p=15887. His is a bit more complex than mine, but he shows the details.

 

If you want to look at the one I did, it's at http://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/335-hmc-sherbourne-by-tkay11-–-caldercraft-–-scale-164-1763-a-novice’s-caldercraft-sherbourne/?p=3352.

 

There's also a nice video on YouTube showing a horizontal ropewalk in action. This one is very similar to the simple one you've already seen, but powered with an electric drill. It's at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=024aWbB2fwE&feature=fvwrel.

 

It's a pity that most of the very cheaply made ropewalks that used to be on the site were lost and not restored after the crash. They really are very simple to make and if you're not going to make much it's not really worth spending money on one -- as others have already suggested.

 

Tony

[rtropp]

Tony,

I really like the look of the two you for which you provided links.  Just think they would be beyond my skill set. I wasn't giving up on rope making, just on more building more complex versions i.e., metal or electric versions. 

 

A few days back I posted a picture from some plans for a manual, wood model that I found on another site.  The plans were multipage and fairly explicit.  I think I could add a drill to power it instead of the hand crank.  It does not show a weight so not sure if its design does not require one.

My thinking is that since it is all wood it could be built using existing tools and skills. If I decided I did not really want to make my own rope it would be no big loss.  If I did like rope making it would pay to upgrade to one of the better built models that would be quicker and easier to use. 

 Richard T

 

Here is a copy of that Oct 15th entry. It kind of looks similar to the ME model but a lot more solid and having the topper that I understand was used in the full size process of rope making:

 

Edited October 17, 2013 by rtropp

[tkay11]

Yes, I know the model. I have a full pdf set of the plans for it as I had briefly thought of making it myself. However it would have taken up too much desk space for my needs, So I went for doing the very simple vertical shaver-based rope walk.

 

A slight advantage of the vertical one to the one in your plans is that it is not rigid -- the rope can shorten as it is formed. On small distances such as on the rigid horizontal one it probably doesn't make much difference (it doesn't need a weight as it is rigid), but if you were to make longer rope it might be. I simply don't know.

 

The other thing about the hand cranked version is that when I started thinking how to build it I thought it more fiddly to get accurate with the positioning of the metal wire handles. With the shaver the whole question of having three rotating heads perfectly in sync and aligned obviously does not arise. However the speed is constant with the shaver so I can't adjust the tension.

 

As with all ropewalks there is also a learning curve for how much weight to apply, what types of thread to use and so on. For my purposes, being a real novice, I am quite content with the rope I'm making at the moment, and don't care at all if it is right-handed or left-handed. I'm just pleased that I can make anything at all! Of course, once I'm more experienced I might become a lot more picky!

 

I know that people have made very satisfactory rope with the rigid construction you are thinking of, so, as always, the thing is to try it out and see how it goes. If it doesn't give you satisfaction you can always try something else and you won't have wasted a lot of money.

 

Tony

[rtropp]

Tony,

Thanks for the input.  In deciding which way to go, having a detailed set of plans will probably fit into the decision process.  I do know that the ME Ropewalk is not the way for me to go and that the other, more expensive ones that are discussed in these forums would probably not be a first step. I also have to take into account the good quality and low cost of model rope that is sold on a couple of sites. 

 

I think I would want to try to build and use a rope walk, if only for the challenge.

 

I appreciate your thoughts

 

Richard T

[Q A's Revenge]

Thanks for reminding me Tony, I've seen that one before

Looks pretty easy to make and has the advantage of two speed and forward and reverse if you use a cordless drill.

[oldbutnotwise]

I found this, if you get past the pink and split the base and remount Cra-Z-Art Shimmer and Sparkle Twist/ Wear Fashion Maker it make a makeshift ropewalk, and at $20 it is cheap enough although being battery powered it can eat them if you are doing a lot of lengths, also iam not sure how long the ratchet will last

Edited December 5, 2015 by oldbutnotwise