Rigging question

Regarding deadeyes - Bluejacket ( www.bluejacketinc.com ) sells excellent cast Britannia metal ones down to 3/32" in diameter.  That's what I used for the lower shrouds of my little Hancock - a 32-gun frigate on the scale of 3/32"=1': http://gallery.drydockmodels.com/search.php?searchstring=Hancock&x=2&y=2

For the topmast shrouds and backstays I used some really teeny ones that Model Shipways sold back in the Goode Olde Dayes.  They were, I believe, turned from bakelite, and were a little less than 1/16" in diameter.  They're extinct now (I think), except for the couple of dozen that I still have (which are earmarked for an ongoing project).  MS does sell, however, (via ModelExpo) some nice, imported deadeyes turned from walnut.  The smallest size in that range is a little smaller than the smallest Bluejacket ones.  The wood deadeyes are (understandably) a tiny bit on the chubby side, but neatly turned, with nice, clean grooves.  I've had to discard a few of them because the holes weren't drilled right, but that was the exception rather than the rule.

how do you tie off running rigging, say, at 1:96 scale?  Clove hitch?  Square knot?

   Running rigging:  There is a fixed end, and there is a hauling, or running end. Prototypically, the fixed end attaches to an eye bolt, ring bolt, or block strop. It can also be shackled to the aforementioned. In most all cases, the fixed end of the running rigging has an eyesplice worked in it, in the case of a shackle, the eyesplice is worked around a thimble. In 1/96 scale, I splice an eye, through the eyebolt, or ringbolt, or "around a thimble"(a stand alone eyesplice, I really don't try to duplicate thimbles in that scale). The alternative would probably be pass the line through the "ring" and then two half hitches around itself, secured with adhesive, closely trim the bitter end of the knot after the adhesive has set.  A second alternative: pass the line through the "ring", then, using a small sewing needle, pass the line through itself a couple of times, take a tension on both parts, and apply adhesive to the "stitches", then trim the bitter end. The point is to splice an eye, or make a reasonable facimile of an eye splice.  The running end: I usually set up the running end with at least two figure 8 turns around the cleat, or belaying pin, with the last turn passed under itself, and secured with adhesive. It's the turns, that hold the line, the single passunder keeps the turns from "unwinding". Remember, any hauling end in the running rigging, has to be able to be quickly loosed, and re-secured. Knots here are out of the question.  I honestly cannot remember any application, in running rigging, where a clove hitch, or square knot are ever used.  Eyes, in standing rigging are most usually siezed. In the case of wire, clamps are the usual method of forming the eyes. I have spliced wire.........I would rather use clamps.

Pete

Wow.  Good stuff here.  I like the different methods people use.  For myself, with the plastic deadeyes, I found that a simple noose works as a temporary measure while I sieze the line off. 

Keep these coming.  I love seeing how people do their work...

Here's a question, how do you tie off running rigging, say, at 1:96 scale?  Clove hitch?  Square knot?

Getting the slack out of shrouds rigged  to "fake" deadeye-and-lanyard assemblies, like the ones usually supplied in plastic kits, is actually a little trickier.

That thought has been at the back of my mind ever since starting the "Surprise" kitbash, and is the reason why I'm still considering turning and drilling my own deadeyes. My hesitation......at 1/130 scale, those are going to be some small deadeyes!!!! I'm guessing 5/64" - 3/32", 3/32" would be a scale 12" deadeye.

There have been some occasions when I've found it handy to hang a smal weight, such as a spring-type clothespin, on the end of a line to keep tension on it.  Generally, though, I find that, as Sumpter implies, the nature of the rigging takes care of the problem.  Pulling a line under a belaying pin and taking one cast around the top of the pin, with the running end of the line trapped under the standing part, generally holds it long enough to secure it.  And rigging a lanyard through a pair of deadeyes creates the right amount of friction to make the shroud stay put while the bitter end of the lanyard is tied off.  That's no coincidence.  The folks who worked out that system knew what they were doing.

This is an instance, in which, in a sense, "simplifying" the rigging actually makes it somewhat more difficult.  Deadeyes and lanyards rigged to scale usually resolve the problem of setting the right tension on the shrouds, because they work the same way the prototypes do.  Getting the slack out of shrouds rigged  to "fake" deadeye-and-lanyard assemblies, like the ones usually supplied in plastic kits, is actually a little trickier.  One solution is to use a small alligator clip (the lighter the better) to hold the lower end of the shroud in position while you seize it to the "deadeye."  Another little trick sometimes comes in handy, though it would horrify an actual rigger.  Shrouds generally are rigged in pairs, starting at one deadeye, running over the masthead, and down to the next deadeye.  The two legs are seized together to form a loop that fits snugly around the masthead.  Rig the pair of shrouds, seize them to the deadeyes, then seize the loop around the masthead last.  That will pull the two shrouds together a little bit, taking out the slack.  It's a slightly dirty trick, but it does work - usually.

I've run into that issue several times when I tie a line off, the line becoming very loose.

  In most cases, with standing rigging, it is "set up" at one end or the other, with a lanyard rove through deadeyes, bullseyes, or hearteyes. With running rigging, in most cases, the running end is made fast on a belaying pin, or on a cleat. Here, the need is to maintain tension on the running end until several turns have been made around the cleat or pin. I use a sewing needle, the eye of which has been ground down to a small fork, to guide the line around the pin or cleat, while the other hand maintains tension.

Pete