Bower anchor project by Sizzolo

[Sizzolo]

Cheers! First few efforts were v frustrating until I realised I was turning it in the wrong direction for cable. Then it just became difficult until it started working. Unfortunately the part that was re-laid lost some of its perk as you can see the angle of the contlines is more relaxed. I can live with that though as when I bind it to the anchor I can tighten it up a bit.

 

Hardware for the thimble-in-thimble arrived today (steel balls of various diameters, a selection of brass tubes). Hope to get that sorted on the weekend.  I guess the interesting discovery here is that the buoy-rope thimble must have been split, similar to the modern tear-drop thimble that Trevor mentioned. Possibly identical to them as the drawing from Lever’s book above does look a lot like a tear-drop inside a standard circular thimble. The drawing also suggests the bights at both ends were not served together, nor does the text say so. 

[Sizzolo]

I’m still investigating other more obscure methods of putting a thimble in a thimble. From what I can see in my research so far is there are two principle methods. 
 

There’s the Stoner method;

or the Wizard method;

 

[Sizzolo]

Eye-splice to the 2.2mm buoy-rope.

[Thukydides]

20 hours ago, Sizzolo said:

"The three smaller strands are double-walled right-handed close to the stop, then laid up their contlines,.."

Are you able to elaborate on what you are doing with the "double wall"?

 

It appears the end bit looks like it is wormed, but you don't show that process, are those separate pieces of rope or are they the ends of the three strands you split off to make the wall?

 

This is really fantastic work. I am really impressed and am learning so much.

[Sizzolo]

20 minutes ago, Thukydides said:

Are you able to elaborate on what you are doing with the "double wall"?

I first read that to mean 'wall and go round twice' but it ended up just being a plait with nothing holding it to the main rope. I then tried weaving one under two and that didn't work. Eventually I read it to mean wall normally then another wall weaved under the first. The ends are then wormed up the original rope. If I were to do it again I'd use hair-gel on it first to help the strands keep their form. (a tip I found when watching this great channel:

) 

[Sizzolo]

Long splice on the buoy-rope:

[Kenchington]

3 hours ago, Sizzolo said:

I read it to mean wall normally then another wall weaved under the first.

The wall knot is Ashley's #671 (though he features it in multiple other places in his compendium), while a double-wall is his #675. basically, having formed a wall knot, each strand is taken under two others and over one, paralleling the strand that it ends beside in the initial wall knot. Ashley's drawing is far easier to understand than my words!

 

Trevor

[Sizzolo]

Well I was going to try it tomorrow but had a bit of a bash after work and managed to do the thimble-in-thimble!

Tools used  for making the saddle-curve: pretty self explanatory but, start with a steel ball slightly wider than the tube, give it a few bashes on each end (keeping ball still with some putty, and holding the tube in some needle nose pliers). Then go up a size for the steel ball, repeat, and one more larger ball.

 

The one in the pic was the first test. After a few more tests I managed to finish it:

I just need to add a little antiquing fluid. Annoyingly I have to undo the eye-splice in the buoy-rope and re-attach it through these parts.

 

[Sizzolo]

I tried the double wall again after seeing Trevor's reference (I think my first attempt was correct but, just not accurate and the threads got fuzzy so I could do better). This time I coloured the threads to make sure I didn't do the knitting wrong, and used hair gel on the cable to make it keep its shape better, and used Japanese wax on the thread to reduce the fuzziness occurring after all the tweezer work. I'm much happier with this effort (although I went anticlockwise instead of clockwise again which is why I didn't worm this test!). I think I'll make an extra length of cable and splice it to the end of the current buoy rope with a better buoy rope knot on it (longer buoy ropes were used for deeper waters, plus Steel's length is on the shorter end (102 cm) of other references which could result in another 40cm in 1/32 scale)

Here's the top of the buoy with the appropriate work;

Steel: "Large buoys have seven under and six riding turns smaller buoys six under; and five riding turns; the end of the seizing crossed each way, and the end knotted and crowned."

...and here's the bottom. Steel says the buoy rope was bent to the thimble whereas Lever says it was spliced.(edit - apologies - both sources say the buoy rope was bent, not spliced to the double-thimble). So logically I used Boidroit! Well - he has a nice drawing of a bend on the buoy so I went with that. Also Steel says " The rope of a buoy is passed as a sheet, and has the end stopt.". I've a feeling, given the difference in references, sailors would have had a number of options. The bend would have been more secure though in my estimation.

Anyone any reference as to how long the 'lanyard' was that attached to the top? I'm thinking roughly 5 fathoms? Perhaps it had loops in it to help when using grapnels to retrieve it? I recall reading that somewhere but can't find the reference now. Also, do you think the eye splices would be marled? I might replace the eye-splice with a stop knot - tbd.

 

Edited November 15 by Sizzolo

[Sizzolo]

Actually I’ve a feeling the sheet bend that Steel mentions is most likely the other end of the buoy in the Boudriot drawing - and that wouldn’t lend itself well to a double-thimble  setup. So - to be replaced with an eye splice I think, and I’ll probably marl it. The other end of the buoy for the lanyard - I’ll probably use the splicing that you see in the cable in my last pic - with a loop to help manage the buoy when it’s pulled aboard. 
 

Anyway, a major objective of this project was to build a decent ropewalk and become more familiar with knots etc, so that when I transition to the rigging of HMS Diana in 1/64  I can feel more comfortable. There’s nothing like hitting a wall (knot) in a major project that you’ve spent years on!

[druxey]

I'm sure that there were local differnces between English (Steel) and French (Boudriot) practice.

[Sizzolo]

I made an edit to my earlier post - both lever and Steel indicate the rope was bent to the double thimble. 
 

Steel:

Another thimble is turned into the thimble in the other end, for bending the buoy rope to.
 

Lever. 

There is often a thimble seized in the bights, round which is another thimble, and to it the buoy rope is bent. A laniard (1) is spliced to the upper eye of the slings.

But also, unhelpfully

“The other end is spliced to the thimble in the bight of the buoy slings. “

So, I read that as Lever saying if another thimble (often) was around the buoy thimble the rope was bent instead of spliced. 

[Kenchington]

I saw that your quotes said "bent" and wondered whether former usage was less specific, so that "bent" might mean "attached" and so included a splice.

 

However, on reflection I suspect that there was a desire to separate the buoyrope from the buoy, making stowage simpler. Hence, an attachment that could be tied and untied would be preferable.

 

And I am sure you are right that there was more than one way to do it. As was said during the last decades of commercial sail: "Different ships, different long splices".

 

Trevor

[Sizzolo]

Cheers Trevor. Yup, I think also I’m starting to understand that sailors were expected to apply and remove the rope-work quite frequently. I’m arriving from my modern ship-model mindset in assuming everything was fitted once, perfectly, and never aged. However, I feel it’s more likely that seizing, servings and splices were frequently removed and applied rapidly and accurately. It was likely a measure of a good sailor. (I’m having flashbacks to that scene in Jaws but you know what I mean). 

 

Edited November 15 by Sizzolo
Addd gif

[Sizzolo]

Buoy done.

I used eye splices for both ends as there were too many variables to make a decision on the 'bend'. Buoy rope has two long splices now and a re-done double-wall knot. All ropes painted with 25% Stockholm tar, 75% boiled linseed oil.

Next step - bit of tidy up work on the anchor and attach the buoy. I'll probably generate a new topic for the longboat that this lot is going to play a part in.

[Sizzolo]

Just a text update today as I’ve already got to the pub. Last steps are actually -

 

1. worming and parceling 3 fathoms above the buoy-rope knot done
2. Final details on anchor (some weathering powders)
3. another 25cm of serving on the anchor cable (soooo boring) done
4. Worm chains to anchor cable
5. bind chains every 2cm or so
6. Paint two sailors who will be working on the ropes
7. Transition to build the longboat
8. Assemble pieces and build case
9. go to pub. 

Edited November 21 by Sizzolo
completed items 1,3

[Sizzolo]

Well this is quite frustrating...  I've discovered (after trying for a few hours) that there is absolutely no way that chain was applied over served cable. It's impossible to bind it to the cable as it requires the valley (contline) of the cable to be able to get purchase. After that it's possible to bind it at points along the cable. There's also no documentary evidence to say it was applied over served cable as far as I can tell.

 

Rather than ripping off all the meters of serving which took days to do, I'll knock up an extra length of cable and splice it between the current cable and anchor. On this additional length I'll apply the chain. It doesn't change the design of the model I'm planning much as I'll just have more of it coiled in the longboat. The cable splice should be interesting!

 

V annoying though but at least I've learned something by trying to practically reproduce this blooming thing from literary evidence.

[Sizzolo]

pics of the served cable and original anchor bend (which is nicely similar to the earlier pic of his victory now).

 

[Sizzolo]

Brief update;

Almost done joining the cables and doing the link-worming.

 

Stats:

Total length of thread used:

190 meters of thread for Serving/rounding on the cable,

30 meters of thread for Worm on the cable that nobody will see,

176 meters of thread for the cable

 

Total: 396 meters. (at least another 4 meters for seizing...so <> 0.4km of thread)

[Sizzolo]

Link-worming complete. The Cable is pretty much complete but I'll tidy it up a bit when it's laid in the longboat and bent to the anchor ring. I could have probably done the model without serving all that length of cable and just doing link-worming but it was a good experience and more representative of how a working RN cable may have appeared. As previously stated, a primary objective was to build a working ropewalk and get familiar with its operation. It took almost half a kilometre of thread but I made some progress!

[Sizzolo]

Sorry for lack of updates. I’ve been painting the two sailors (helps to add scale to the final pics). Also decided to make the kedge anchor from the original source plan as it might be part of the final model (which will include the kedge anchor cable). I’m making it from brass and it’s surprisingly satisfying just using files. The original bower anchor was going to be brass until I realised how massive and heavy it’d be (hence using 3d printing for that). 

[Sizzolo]

Hi all!

Just to let you know I haven’t stopped! 
 

Kedge anchor parts done so they just need silver-soldering (which I’ll do outside to avoid burning my flat down). 
Briefly thought of you all just now as, during my research in to cable laid rope I kept finding historical reference to ‘plaited’. Look what I found outside the pub I’m in:

Plus  - it has that white thread which I saw reference to meaning it’s RN rope/cable. I always wondered how this would look and even tried a few (failed) tests. Another added benefit of the example is it clearly shows the colour difference of white vs tarred. 

I’ll try and take a pic of the end when I leave so we can see the thread-count. 

(I just spotted - note the pairs of strands are made in opposite directions - with the sun and against - good to know if you’re going to make some). 

Edited December 24 by Sizzolo
Noticed the direction of strands)

[Sizzolo]

Steel: “A white thread, twisted the contrary way, is to be laid in all the strands of the cables and large cordage; and a twine in the small cordage for the king’s mark, so as to be seen on the outside of the strands.”

 

”Mooring services are clapped on about fifteen fathoms from the end or cable splice. Large vessels should have twelve or fourteen fathoms of service, half of it rounded and the rest plaited and keckled. Upon the best bower or working cable, there should be a short service of eight or ten fathoms at the half-cable.”

Edited December 24 by Sizzolo
More references

[Kenchington]

20 minutes ago, Sizzolo said:

Look what I found

Looks to me like machine-made 8-strand mooring line -- late 20th or early 21st Century. Without examining the material directly, I can't say what it is made from, only how it appears.But how it appears is as UV-degraded polypropylene, originally glossy black. What colour the marker thread started as, I'd not want guess, though certainly something pale and contrasting with the black.

 

Trevor

[Sizzolo]

47 threads in each strand, including the white one. 

[Sizzolo]

Tbh it felt a bit nylonny. I’d does provide me with a better idea of the plaiting method and how the white thread was laid however. 

Edited December 24 by Sizzolo

[Kenchington]

The lay that works with modern machinery and what worked when sennit was laid up by hand are not the same. There's more than one way that it is done now (flexible yacht ropes have many more strands and can have cores separate from the surface layer) but there were/are even more alternatives when making sennit.

 

Trevor

[Sizzolo]

Drat. Bit confused why a modern rope would have that white strand though. Maybe it’s a modern ish RN and the white strand rule is still in place? There is a marines training base over the river. Pretty sure it’s man-made fibre btw. I guess it’d be obvious if I tried lighting the end to see if it melts?

[Kenchington]

The use of a coloured yarn as a brand mark is not unusual. Marlow used to run a black one in their ropes and maybe they still do. Then again, I think some jurisdictions require marking of rope that meets specified safety standards and the like.

 

Melting used to be a good test of man-made versus natural fibres. I don't know whether the current crop, Kevlar and the like, melt but they probably do. All of the natural fibres will char and burn but never melt, of course.

 

Trevor

[Sizzolo]

It’s definitely a plastic. I was forced to go back to the pub to get a sample, and have a couple of pints of course. 

It sounds like I might need to do some research at the National Archives on plaited rope. It’s always nice to nip in there. Cheers for the info on the extra coloured thread - good to know!