mast rope

[learner johnParticipant @learnerjohn78074]

  Hi ! Can someone tell me the secret?

        How can I make the mast ropes tight for all seasons?

   I threaded the imitation rope through the top stantions ( is that the right word?) anyway superglued it at the top and the threaded it through the lower stantions, pulled it tight and then glued. All seemed O.K then I found that a couple had developed

 brewers droop!  I reckon its got something to do with the weather etc,i’ve got a theory of how to overcome the problem,but other suggestionswould be great as I tend to make mountains out of simple solutions.

[learner johnParticipant @learnerjohn78074]

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Yes, that does happen, keeping tension on rigging can be a problem. It depends what kind of boat you have. Some people use solid wire cut to length and securede by hooks at the top and bottom. Another alternative which I am just about to try myself on A Deans Marine kit, is to use elastic sewing thread. The stuff I have is called Gold-Zack picked up from my local materials/haberdashery shop but it is similar to this:

 

http://www.sewessential.co.uk/CategoryML.asp?CategoryID=799&NumPerPage=100&page=1

 

I’m told by others that it lasts pretty well and you can get it in black, grey and a sort of pinky brown colour.

 

Colin

 

 

[learner johnParticipant @learnerjohn78074]

 Hi colin! Thanks for that ….see …you beginners… it makes sense to ask a question no matter how much you may think it may seem silly…this forum is the bee’s knees.

[Mike DavidsonParticipant @mikedavidson22772]

 

 

Here’s a good trick I learned many moons ago,If you get cotton or sewing thread, and put one end into the chuck of a twist drill, you can wind it up. The next bit is best attacked as a two person operation, , after winding the thread up, grasp it in the middle andallow the two ends to come togetherroughly equi distance apart. The twist will cause the thread to wrap around itself and form a twostrand miniature rope, now put a blob (technical term ) of glue on the two ends to prevent them from unwinding. You will find that your hand made scale rope will have elastic qualities. which reminds me, the other day I met a man with a rubber trumpet, hewas looking for an elastic band. Enough of thisfrivolity, back to the rigging problem.  your newly produced scale rope will have the following properties, as it stretches, it will unwind a little, and tend to wind up again as it shrinks, very useful for keeping ropes tense in all seasons. Now you know why sailors were given an extra tot of rum when they had to splice the mainbrace I learned this in the ropery of Chatham dockyard which is a truly marvellous experience.

p.s.  You can repeat the processagain using the two strand scale rope remembering to twist it in the same way as it  liesalreadyso you don’t undo the natural twist

[learner johnParticipant @learnerjohn78074]

 Hi Mike and Colin    Found some elasticated thread on the local market..had a bit of a laugh with the stallholder when I told her what it was for….she thought I was daft….anyway it seems just the job,….will try Mikes solution on some other rigging that needs doing…once again  many thanks.

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

 

Yes, I have been trying out the elastic thread too. I found that it has a tendency to unravel off the central core if you aren’t careful. The trick seem to be to make a clean cut with a sharp blade, thread it through the eye that you are attaching it too and tie a double knot with a short tail. I have then applied some PVA type glue to the knot (I used Aliphatic) to “fix” it and when dry trimmed off the tail. Some people have used Cyano to do this but I’ve heard that it can make the thread brittle.

 

I like Mike’s idea though, would probably try that on a super scale model.

 

Colin

Edited By Colin Bishop on 17/04/2009 16:28:22

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