shel
Junior Member
Posts: 63
|
Post by shel on Dec 15, 2013 23:24:07 GMT
To Clayton or anyone:
Hi Clayton
Your pictures shows port & stbd. leads for tensioning the split Mizzen Top Mast Stays and those leads pass through blocks attached to the rearmost main shrouds and then drop towards the deck. Do these leads terminate at belaying pins? My bulwarks have fife rails in good position if they do.
Where does the Main Top Mast Stay lead terminate when it reaches the deck?
Technique questions if you have time. Do you apply any cement to fix the shroud/ratline knots? A photo shows you wait to attach all or many ratlines before trimming the ratline ends, why? Best regards,
Shel Urlik
|
|
|
Post by Clayton on Dec 16, 2013 19:35:47 GMT
Hi Shel!
This is correct. On my model, the leads for tension control of the two halves of the mizzen topmast stay are belayed at this row of belaying pins on each side. There was a debate awhile ago about this rack of belaying pins. The plans show it like this, but no belaying rack was found with the wreck that fit there, so the museum staff were unsure about whether it was really a belaying rail. If I remember right, further study of miscellaneous parts showed this to be more of a kevel rather than a rack of belaying pins. (Please correct if I am wrong Fred)
It is an interesting thing, actually, because on my model I didn't find much more for lines that needed to be belayed in this area, so a one-line belaying device such as a kevel might have been more logical.
I actually had to look at my model to be sure about your next question. The main topmast stay terminates with a block and tackle. The upper end of the block and tackle is a larger block and a smaller block stropped together, with the smaller one below the bigger one (kind of looks like a fiddle block). The lower end is a single block that is stropped to a ring in the deck that is just forward of the foremast bits, and to the port side. The tackle is then belayed to the bits.
Yes, I do apply something to the knots on the ratlines to seize them up. I use clear fingernail polish. I left the ends of the ratlines long while the polish sets up, and once fast and solidly attached to the shroud, I cut them off with a razor blade.
Hope all of this helps!
Clayton
|
|
|
Post by ulises on Dec 29, 2013 11:31:49 GMT
Hello Clayton. I am in the process of making the shrouds/ratlines in my Vasa. I use diluted white glue to fix the clove hitches in my ratlines, but I'm always open to new things. Does the nail polish dries completely clear AND flat? No shinning spot? Thank you and happy New Year to all here.
|
|
|
Post by Clayton on Dec 29, 2013 23:46:44 GMT
Hi Ulises. Diluted glue works too. I don't think that you ever apply enough to make much of a shine. The polish soaks into the fibers of the line and is clear so not much if any shine shows up. There are some pictures of my Vasa in various stages of rigging here, and there is virtually no shine: sites.google.com/site/clayton707/swedishwarshipwasaYou could experiment with a short piece of ratline line tied around a scrap of what you are using for shrouds and see if you like the result. I get strange looks sometimes when I buy the polish though...haha.. Happy new year to you too!
|
|
|
Post by fredhocker on Jan 7, 2014 8:33:49 GMT
The lower end of the main topmast stay is a bit of a mystery, since none of the iron hardware at deck level survived and the plank it should have passed through in the fore top does not survive. Clayton's reconstruction make use of the data we have, which is a bolt in the deck which could have been a ringbolt, as well as a certain amount of logic. We have adopted this solution in our reconstruction.
Fred
|
|