Of rope and blocks

[Andrew]

Hi again

I'm about to start making some rope stropped blocks for VAZTR (in a similar manner to the duckflats method) and have another few hunderd questions :oops:

What rope should I use for around the blocks? I'd like to make the rigging look 'olde worlde' if you know what I mean?

I was thinking of using manila, but am a little worried about its propensity to rot. I have heard of a synthetic manila called 'lexoflex' or 'synthflex' from Denmark, I'm not sure how much it costs though :? I have also seen some BLACK poly rope that is supposed to be UV stable and rot resistant etc.

I seem to remember that Phil Gowan or Barry used some good looking rope on their boat.

Also, is there a substitute for the tar used on the twine that creates the grommet on the strop? I was thinking of just using non-coated twine and then 'painting' the twine with epoxy - so it never moves again!!!

Thanx for the help

Andrew

[Jacob]

Andrew, you might try: http://www.pragdata.com/philboat/ConBlocks.html but the link for the article in duckworks is down,but http://media5.hypernet.com/cgi-bin/UBB/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=000596 has some helpful information,hope it helps.

[Barry Pyeatt]

I'm using the 3/8" English Braids Buff Polyester on most of them from

http://www.woodenboat.org/store/folder_alternate.asp?f=213, but have also used the Black Polyester from West Marine. Both work well and look just fine on our type of "Classic Yacht". The hair gel works great to keep it laying ok while you are working with it. It rinses out just fine after the grommet is made. I have also had good success just taping the ends of the strand with electrical tape to hold it together and keep it from untwisting as I lay up the grommets. Tape it tightly on both sides of the cut before you cut it and they lay the way they were in the rope.

I tried some "Yacht Rope" Manilla that had been replaced with new rope and it worked well, much better than "new" rope. Long fiber rope that had seen its way around the boat for a few years. Very nice stuff to work with. Often times some of the Marine/Fishery supply houses will have lots of the stuff laying around from jobs they have. Pretty cheap stuff and works great, without any of the "fuzzies" or hard laying fibers. Nice to work with.

Round thimbles either from www.Sailrite.com or you can make them from copper pipe or brass tubing and two ball peen hammers to flare them out. Heating the brass tubing a little with a propane torch first helps to keep it from splitting when you wack it.

I rather like the shape of the blocks from The Marlinspike Sailor a bit more than the "rectangular" blocks that are more commonly seen. They are somehow a bit more "Classy Nautical" to me. But they don't work any better or worse. I laminated a contrasting strip of Black Walnut the width of the sheeve between the Elm cheek pieces which also adds a bit of an interesting touch.

I've used UHMV Poly for sheeve material cut withh a hole saw and a 3/8" microplane to form the groove in the sheeve. Then two thin UHMV washers to space it from the cheeks and keep it turning freely. Brass rod for the shaft.

Sailmakers twine works great with just beeswax. Will last as long as the blocks probably. If not, just replace it.

One little tip. Make them one size larger than the line that will be run thru them. If it is 3/8" line then make them for 1/2", if 5/16" line then make the blocks for 7/16" line and so on. You'll be happy you did.

This is really a lot of fun to while away the time when it is too cold to do much of anything else productive in the boat shed. And they really sound great compared to metal or plastic blocks.

Have fun, I wish I had some of the great hardwoods that you have down under to work with.

[Phil Gowans]

Andrew, I'm using the exact stuff Barry is. That English Braid is nice stuff. It is made to look classic. I replaced all my line with this 3 strand, just for looks. Of course you need 3 strand for gromets. I looked around a bit and woodenboat.org had the best supply and prices.

The article that was in Duckworths is for sale on CD. The author gave me permission to use any of his pictures etc. and I copied the web pages all off. However, Duckworths may have some legal right to them. Since he gave me permission I don't think there would be a problem e-mailing them to you. Let me know if you want them. You might also try the way-back-machine.

Good luck, I really love my rope stropped blocks.

[Andrew]

Thanx all

Phil, I managed to download the duckworths article from their site prior to it disappearing WHEW!

I've been practicing my rope skills on some old sisal I have in the shed (its pretty awful and 'hairy' as ropes go). I've found that it's not too hard to strop a 'blank' block (read 'square piece of scrap wood').

I'll have to have a look around for the English Braid - I'm sure it exists in OZ, but probably under a different name!! - Living so far from any real water is also a hinderance - no one stocks much 'boat' stuff.

Ah well that just means I'll have to travel to the coast for Xmas

Andrew

[Barry Pyeatt]

Andrew,

Brian Toss of "rigging" fame offeres "tarred seine twine" on his website.

https://satsop.olympus.net/wkstone/webkeystone.py?UserID=biz_briontoss&Profile=[shopper:publicprof/opProdShowPage.prof]&idCard=FiNzEBvrAHzUOdRLOeTqGpU7FcW2K9H5_2026&rawQuery='Series20-'&title=Rigging%20Materials

I've not ordered anything from him, but he conducts classes on making "Rope Stropped Blocks" here in the Pacific Northwest. It comes in several different weights so you might ask what he would recommend.

[Dave R1]

Duckworth?

[Andrew]

Dave

I just realised that its DuckWORKS (http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/). Didn't duckworths use to be a motor oil in the 70's :? :?

Andrew

[Andrew]

OK so now that I'm a GENIUS at stropping :roll: I was thinking of using the black poly rope to make mast hoops.

Does anyone see this as being a problem?

thanx

[Frank Hagan]

OK so now that I'm a GENIUS at stropping :roll: I was thinking of using the black poly rope to make mast hoops.

Does anyone see this as being a problem?

thanx

You just have to deal with the friction. Rope by its nature is made so it has a lot of it, and you want none of it on your mast hoops. You don't want it snagging on the way up or down.

I don't know if you could epoxy it and make it less apt to snag.

[Barry Pyeatt]

Another article with good photos and a good CAD drawing for dimensions is available for the Blocks. The dimensions are for Dingy blocks using 1/4" line but will work OK for the smaller blocks on a Weekender or PC. Easy enough to scale them up with a photo copier for larger line.

This builder used 1 1/8" square stock for his blocks. 3/4" stock could also be laminated together to get thicker material and it is easier to find.

http://www.eclectica.ca/boatbuilding/blocks.php

Probably the best wood for long life would be Lignum Vite with either Locust or Elm a close second. All of these woods are sold regularly on ebay and can be picked up for minimal costs on occasion. Advantage to Lignum Vite is its self lubricating quality and its strength. It finishes out to a very rich looking multicolor wood. (It is one of the most dense/heaviest of the hardwoods and does not float.) Elm has very good strength and is not likely to split under stress as it grows with an interlocking grain. Locust, once dry, will last longer than either the sheeves or the boat that it is going into. Both Elm and Locust are very hard woods with good strength and are not prone to split. Both wear well and finish out well with just a good soaking in lindseed oil. Some other hardwoods that are used commercially to make up wooden blocks are Teak, Ash and Beech.

But for the small size blocks needed for these boats most any hardwood will provide a solid block for stropping. Half the fun might be in using some exotic woods with colorful grains. I would only avoid Red Oak and Poplar as nither of these woods hold up well when exposed to the weather.

[Tidmarsh]

I built some rope-stropped blocks for my small catboat.

I used Douglas fir for the bodies, UV-resistant VHMW polyethylene for the sheaves (cut & shaped with holesaw & Microplane rasp as Barry describes), and 3-strand Dacron line from Hamilton Marine. I also pressed oilite bushings into the sheaves, which turn on short pieces of brass rod.

Instead of using grommets, however, I used eye splices to make tail blocks.

Here are the finished halyard blocks that hang from a thumb cleat at the masthead:

These were the first two I made. I liked them so much better than the brass blocks I made, that I made more wooden blocks for the mainsheet as well. I rounded the edges more on subsequent blocks and finished them with a teak oil finish instead of glossy spar urethane. I think they look better, but don't have any good photos handy.

You can kind of see one in the background here: