6/19-30/2012: Bolt-Ropes

Began working in earnest sewing the bolt ropes on the rest of the sails. The main was done by the 21st, then the fores'l on the 26th and 27th, followed by the fore-stays'l on the 28th, and the jib and fore-tops'l on the 29th. There's two more sails to do; the main tops'l and the flying jib.

The boltropes are some white nylon cord about 1/16" in diameter, that I've had for years. I used it on Constellation's sails as well. It's nice stuff for this application. Each sail gets and eye, or cringle at each corner and at other spots around it's perimeter such as reef cringles. Each eye is crossed over itself and reenforced with several turns and a half-hitch through the eye and on either side of it. This keeps the eye from pulling closed as well. Every two inches or so along the bolt rope, two turns and a half-hitch creating a stopper whip which keeps any stitching that may break from coming undone along the entire edge.

In the mean time, I bought a couple of spools of Dacron sail thread to make rope with; one in black, the other in "oyster" which is a light gray. I've needed to motorize my ropewalk for some time, and this became the time. I have an old 6 volt cordless drill with a useless battery. I sawed the grip off and attached it to a base. The center gear axle of the ropewalk head went into the drill's chcuk, and everything was fastened together. I got a model railroad power pack to operate the ropewalk as it would provide variable speed and direction, but it didn't output enough to run the drill. I wound up using Pride's 6 volt battery to run the ropewalk.

My first try with the new thread was 2 threads to each strand of the black. This netted a line .05" in diameter which I'll use for topmast shrouds, backstays, stays, bowsprit rigging, foot-ropes, and other standing rigging. In "oyster" this will be used for most of the running rigging on the boat.

Next I made up line with 4 threads per strand. This produced a line of .0625" of 1/16" This I'll use for the shrouds, fore-stays, bob-stays, and other heavier lines of the standing rigging.

8 threads per strand gave me a line .1" in diameter. I'll use this in "oyster" to make the anchor rode. Finally, 1 threat per strand produced a line .0312" in diameter, which I'll use for flag halyards, reef-points, rat-lines, and anywhere else lighter line is needed.

The clew of the mains'l is attached to a ring that rides on the boom and is pulled by an outhaul the goes through a sheave in the boom, over a lift block that holds it off the boom and clear of the ring, to a block and tackle that belays to a cleat on the starboard side of the boom behind the jaws. I first made this ring from some brass tube, but it's more a figure-eight sort of thing, so I remade it from brass rod, shaped and soldered.

7/1: Blocks

There's a lot of blocks on this schooner and there's a few things I can't move forward on until I have blocks in hand. There will be three basic sizes.
The largest will be 1/2" long x 5/16" wide and get used for tops'l sheets, main sheet, peak halyards, etc.
The next size is 3/8" long x 1/4" wide and are used the jib sheets, running back-stays, buntlines, clew blocks on the square, heads'l halyards, etc.
The smallest will be about 5/16" long x 3/16" wide and be used on little things like the flag halyards.
There's a few double blocks in both the larger sizes for throat halyards, main sheet, etc.
Most of the blocks will not have working sheaves in them as they don't do much on the model. The ones that do, such as the yard brace blocks and main sheet block will have working brass sheaves installed.

The blocks are made much the way real ones are, except I worked on a strip of 12 of them at once. Two strips will make the side shells for a dozen blocks. Some bits of 1/16" thick stock get glued onto the division between blocks and form the spacers between the shells. 1/16" thick slices of dowel rod represent the sheaves, but are glued in and don't turn. Then the other shell is glued on and clamped up. A bit of sanding kncoks off whatever is sticking out and rounds the side edges, then each block is cut off. More sanding and shaping and eventually it's ready to be painted and stropped.

A dozen 3/8" single blocks were made the same way. There's more shaping and sanding to do, which means I need to make a sanding drum to get them the way I want.

7/2-11: I've been invited to display the model at the Fells Point Visitor's Center in Baltimore on the 22nd, the anniversary of the first seven letter-of-marque privateers to sail from Baltimore during the War of 1812. Toward that end, I've been working to get the model in some sort of displayable condition; that is, put the sails up without clothes pins. I got the foot ropes onto both yards, clew blocks on the tops'l yard, sheet blocks on the corse yard, all the throat halyard double blocks, and the peak halyard blocks for both gaffs. Forestays'l and jib halyard blocks attached to their sails. The fore tops'l is lashed to it's jackstay and the fores'l and mains'l are lashed to their gaffs.

I'd really like guns and carriages made in time, but I don't know if I manage that. I've been spinning line like a crazed spider to strop blocks but I need to make several long lengths of 8-10 feet for shrouds and stays. There's more blocks to make, several with working sheaves like the brace blocks and main-sheet blocks. Today I'm getting the bolt-ropes on the remaining two sails.

7/13: Yesterday the main tops'l got it's bolt rope and was lashed to it's jack-yard. Today the flying jib got it's bolt-rope and halyard block.

7/18: So, the day at the Fells Point Visitor's Center was changed, and I can't do the new day - so much for displaying the model.

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