I was just at Costco and saw these Overhead Shot Lights. They were pretty cheap… like in the mid $20’s I believe?
Anyway, I put one hook in and realized that I had no way to align up the other hook to it so I ended up pulling everything apart and while I was at it, I ended up vacuuming around the back area… all the while looking for that one Window Pane that got away from me and is still lost.
I only ordered this Sander a couple of days ago from Amazon. It came to around $99 bucks. I just finished setting it up. The quality is quite cheap, you can tell, but as long as it does the job, it’s all I’m worried about. Harbor Freight had one similar to this one for around $79 bucks. I’ve never been very impressed with Harbor Freight when it comes to stuff like this. They’re generally the cheapest of the cheap. It came with 100 grit paper on the Belt and 80 grit on the Disk. I may change it out in the future but for now, I’ll try this out as it is.
This is fast becoming one of my favorite Glues for Fabric. I like it a lot better than the stuff from Loctite.
It applies easily and catches hold pretty fast and has a good strong hold for fabrics. I like using it on the Knots and around the Blocks to prevent them from coming loose.
Standing rigging is cordage which is fixed in position. Standing rigging is almost always between a mast and the deck, using tensionto hold the mast firmly in place. Due to its role, standing rigging is now most commonly made of steel cable. It was historically made of the same materials as running rigging, only coated in tar for added strength and protection from the elements.
Most fore-and-aft rigged vessels have the following types of standing rigging: a forestay, a backstay, and upper and lower shrouds(side stays). Less common rigging configurations are diamond stays and jumpers. Both of these are used to keep a thin mast in column especially under the load of a large down wind sail or in strong wind. Rigging parts include swageless terminals, swage terminals, shackle toggle terminals and fail-safe wire rigging insulators.
Whereas 20th-century square-rigged vessels were constructed of steel with steel standing rigging, prior vessels used wood masts with hemp-fiber standing rigging. As rigs became taller by the end of the 19th century, masts relied more heavily on successive spars, stepped one atop the other to form the whole, from bottom to top: the lower mast, top mast, and topgallant mast. This construction relied heavily on support by a complex array of stays and shrouds. Each stay in either the fore-and-aft or athwartships direction had a corresponding one in the opposite direction providing counter-tension. Fore-and-aft the system of tensioning started with the stays that were anchored at in front each mast. Shrouds were tensioned by pairs deadeyes, circular blocks that had the large-diameter line run around them, whilst multiple holes allowed smaller line—lanyard—to pass multiple times between the two and thereby allow tensioning of the shroud. In addition to overlapping the mast below, the top mast and topgallant mast were supported laterally by shrouds that passed around either a platform, called a “top“, or cross-wise beams, called “crosstrees“. Each additional mast segment is supported fore and aft by a series of stays that led forward. These lines were countered in tension by backstays, which were secured along the sides of the vessel behind the shrouds.
The Shackles to the Bow was a real bear to put in for the Standing Rigging for the Foremast. I had to take that little Fife Rack off in order to do it. Primarily because my neighbors were having some kind of party next door and had their music playing blasting loud and my dog Moco insisted on being underfoot because she was scared of it.
One nice thing I found out though. I used a 1 mm Drill Bit to open up the Shackle hole wide enough that I was able to put a threader through and run a black line through it no problem. Then, I used the thinner tan line and tied a clove hitch in order to tie it off and glued it. Actually, what I did was to double the line back, glued it, then I tied it off. It made life a lot easier that way.
I also found a little loop without a Block on one of the lines hanging off the Mast. It wasn’t very difficult to put another Block on, however, I ended up losing 3 Blocks in the process! I hope I have enough Blocks to finish.
I might mention that the way I’ve been getting the Eye Pins which is connected to the End of the Shackle is to push it through the Hole. I made these Holes according the the instructions very early on. I made the holes right after I put in the Upper Deck Planks I think. Anyway, at the time, I had no idea what the Holes were going to be for? I used a Drill Bit that is a tad too big for these Eye Pins that I bought. They would definitely be too big for the Eye Rings the kit provided for sure. Anyway, what I do is to put the Pin in and I put a dab of Superglue to it. Seems to hold pretty good doing it like that.
After I get the other set of Shackles in there, I’m going to put a dab of this Thin Superglue on all the holes so that it will penetrate inside the holes. I don’t want to do it right now though because I don’t want them accidentally flowing into the other holes.
That line on the left part that comes up to the Knot. Is actually 1 line which is held by the line coming down from the Main Mast, just over the Top. The Knot I used was a Bowline, which I closed up pretty tightly around that line it’s looping. That way it doesn’t leave a space in the Knot. Then, I basically came up and tied a couple of loops around the Mast and Top Mast and tied it off with a Taut-Line Hitch and glued it off to hold it. The instructions call for me to do some sort of crazy thing with coiling the line around itself but I’m not going to do it.
I’m afraid that I have been guilty of making up Knots. Sometimes I’ll come up with a Knot that is completely funky, but it seems to work so I’ll just leave it.
I couldn’t begin anymore of the Yards until I receive my Sander that I ordered. Should be here in a few days. In the mean time, I decided to begin work on the Riggings while I’m waiting. So, I started installing the Forestays.
One thing I find interesting with these Artesania Latina instructions is that no matter how closely you think you’re following it, they always sneak something else in there to mess you up. I always seem to somehow and miraculously pull it through though, which is a satisfying feeling.
This is the hitch I used to tie the Spanker to the Gaff.
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Marline
First thing I did this morning was to pull apart the Top Pin for the Gaff on the Spanker. Because I simply was not satisfied by the height of it. That’s one thing about Artesania Latina, is that their instructions are very sparse. They don’t give you any measurements. So I ended up with it not being high enough so I pulled apart the part which was Superglue’d in and it broke the wood, which I had to glue back in place.
Now, I’m beginning work on the Yards. I’m on my second one. I’m seriously considering buying a Sander when I go back to Home Depot to return the Sand Paper I bought. It was too long for my Belt Sander.
Okay, I bought another Belt Sander Belt and it’s the proper size and everything. Unfortunately, every time I go to try and make a Yard, I always end up with an end that goes almost to a point! I’ve done it 3 times already.
Anyway, after all this, I decided to buy a Belt / Disk Sander from Amazon. I have to wait until it arrives before continuing with the Yards. I went ahead and made a Table for the Sander out in the Back Patio.
The bottom is the Aquarium Stand that my neighbor gave to me. I’ll just set the Sander on it and I can sit in the chair while I do my sanding. Also I put the Compressor for the Airbrush up on the Workbench. I realized that the Airbrush Holder was supposed to attach to it there. I think I’ll make a semi cut out box to paint in so that I don’t get paint all over the place.
I finished the Mizzenmast and the Mizzenmast Fife Rail and Base. Glued all 3 Masts into place and I believe they’re lined up pretty good.
I had to take the bottom Pin out for the Boom on the Mizzenmast because it wasn’t lined up right. I’m not sure what the name of it is. That’s a nice thing about this Aleene’s Rapid Dry glue is that you can pull it apart in the future if you need to, yet it has a strong hold.
I actually ran out of the Brass Wire that they provided me with. I needed 8, 8mm length of wires so I had to substitute Copper Wire instead which I got from Michael’s. It’s okay, you can’t even tell the difference.
I’m going to be using Metal Belaying Pins or perhaps Wooden ones for HMS Surprise, I haven’t decided yet.
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A fife rail is a design element of a European-style sailing ship used to belay the ship’s halyards at the base of a mast. When surrounding a mast, a fife rail is sometimes referred to specifically by the name of the mast with which it is associated: the main fife rail surrounds the main mast; the mizzen fife rail surrounds the mizzen mast, etc. It is one of a dozen or so types of “rails” often found on such ships.[1] Fife rails are typically horizontal strips of either wood or iron and are joined and fitted to the tops of a series of stanchions. The term apparently derives from the location where the ship’s fifer would sit and play his fife at heaving of the ship’s anchor.[2]
A fife rail surrounding a ship’s mast will contain a series of belaying pins corresponding to the sails on that mast which they belay. A mast will either have a single horseshoe-shaped fife rail surround the base of the mast on the fore, starboard, and port sides, a single straight rail directly before or directly behind the mast, or a set of two fife rails, one on each side (fore and aft) of the mast.
Each sail associated with a given fife rail will have several corresponding belaying pins set into that rail.
Although a fife rail is a kind of pin rail, the term “pin rail” is often used to specifically denote those rails containing belaying pins that are attached to the hull. Unlike these, fife rails are freestanding.[3