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Little One

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Hi,

Lately, I have been dabbling with rope work. I have been using Synthetic Hemp for the mats and white cotton for the Turks head. 

My problem is I found that when working with the white cotton that the strands which make up the 3 strands become very lose fast, which when trying to make as cabin string the crowning looks uneven and a bit messy. I ordered some White Polypropylene Rope, but this looks very plasticy.

What is the best type of rope should be used for the cabin strings? It needs to be a white.

 

Thank you in advance :) 

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White cotton line is the norm. In the past, I’ve put a temporary whipping on the end of each of the 3 strands using masking tape to stop them from unlaying. I have a source of the stuff, a supplier in the north east, happy to share if you need it.

Dave

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Yes please, may I have the suppliers details. 

I wonder if the rope I was using was just bad quality. The stands just seem to unravels themselves. Even after wrapping the ends with eletrical tape. As I was crowning they just seem to be very uneven. Maybe it's something I'm doing. I'm following written instruction on how to make the side cabin string, i'v not done much rope work.

What size rope would you recommend. I'v been using 8mm at the moment.

 

Cheers

 - Rachel

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Hi Rachel

12mm is often used for cabin strings, mast droppers and lambs tails, I’ve used 8mm for Turks heads on Butty tillers. My suppliers were

Rope Services UK, based in Houghton le Spring, probably Durham or Newcastle area.

www.ropeservices.com, phone is 0191 584 2709

25m of 12mm cost me about £30, including delivery, a couple of years ago.

Cheers

Dave

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4 hours ago, dave moore said:

Hi Rachel

12mm is often used for cabin strings, mast droppers and lambs tails, I’ve used 8mm for Turks heads on Butty tillers. My suppliers were

Rope Services UK, based in Houghton le Spring, probably Durham or Newcastle area.

www.ropeservices.com, phone is 0191 584 2709

25m of 12mm cost me about £30, including delivery, a couple of years ago.

Cheers

Dave

Website is http://www.ropeservicesuk.com/

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Will see what I can find. If I do find cabled laid I will let you know!

I found it very hard to find instruction on how to make cabin strings. There is very little out there.

After a week of playing with test rope tonight I worked out where I was going wrong making the cabin string. I was crowning the wrong way.

Practices makes perfect. Defentily need more rope now.

IMG_20180212_192634.jpg

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6 minutes ago, Graham_Robinson said:

I found it very hard to find instruction on how to make cabin strings. There is very little out there.

 

Knots for the Cut...................Ben Selfe.........................Cabin Strings

Brillant Thank you! I already have a knot book, but it didn't really have much traditional work in it. 

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4 minutes ago, paddy r said:

If your going to the "port" at Easter I'll show you ,if you struggle to find the book.

Yes will be going to the port at easter. Very happy to be taught any sort of rope work, and how to improve it. - Thank you :)

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The Ashley Book of knots is a fantastic book to get, although it’s becoming hard to get at a sensible price now.

Cable laid cotton line is also near on impossible to find as well as I don’t believe there’s any rope walks in the uk still making it 

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It depends on what you are defining cable laid. There's ordinary lay and langs lay, and they can be laid left or right. Langs lay is more common in hoist and crane work (wire ropes) where ropes are wound onto drums. Ordinary, otherwise known as cable or hawser lay, is more common in fibre ropes. Those Turk's heads in the first post are ordinary lay. Unless someone knows different?

http://verope.co/en/technology/langs-lay-and-regular-lay/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wire_rope

http://www.generalcargoship.com/lay-of-ropes.html

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There were a wide range of cotton lines used on boats, as the list made for Lancashire Canal Transport in the 1920s shows. The following letters give some idea of length, though this varies with use. The tow line was heaviest as it was used for towing boats in the docks and across the Mersey. The amount of twist also varied with use, and those used on textile machinery, such as on mules for spinning, were probably tighter than that used on boats, though the latter would also be fairly tight. There were numerous ropewalks around Lancashire where the warp yarn left on beams after they were removed from a loom was the usual raw material. Cotton rope was used in coal mines as it did not create static, and these two uses, mining and textiles, were possibly the mainstay of the industry, with rope for canal use just a side line.

1920s ropes.jpg

1950-2-6 ropes.JPG

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5 minutes ago, Pluto said:

There were a wide range of cotton lines used on boats, as the list made for Lancashire Canal Transport in the 1920s shows. The following letters give some idea of length, though this varies with use. The tow line was heaviest as it was used for towing boats in the docks and across the Mersey. The amount of twist also varied with use, and those used on textile machinery, such as on mules for spinning, were probably tighter than that used on boats, though the latter would also be fairly tight. There were numerous ropewalks around Lancashire where the warp yarn left on beams after they were removed from a loom was the usual raw material. Cotton rope was used in coal mines as it did not create static, and these two uses, mining and textiles, were possibly the mainstay of the industry, with rope for canal use just a side line.

1920s ropes.jpg

1950-2-6 ropes.JPG

This is amazing, its very interesting too see the different lengths an thickness the used for straps and other thing. 

It gives an real insight to the olden days boating. It's brilliant what you can find when you start digging through archives.  

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2 hours ago, Little One said:

I have bought some 12mm cotton rope from http://www.ropeservicesuk.com/. 20 meters worth. Hopefully it is here before we set sail Friday to head to Audlum.

Will have a look and see if I can find The Ashley Book of Knots. The more books the better :)

 

If you'll be in Audlem, I am pretty sure Audlem Mill, just up from the Shroppie Fly stocks Ben Selfe's book "Knots for the Cut". 

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16 minutes ago, colinwilks said:

If you'll be in Audlem, I am pretty sure Audlem Mill, just up from the Shroppie Fly stocks Ben Selfe's book "Knots for the Cut". 

Sadly on their site it says the are closed till the end of Febuary :(

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1 minute ago, Little One said:

 

Sadly on their site it says the are closed till the end of Febuary :(

Oh well, there's always Amazon. Nice to look before you buy though, but I'd recommend Ben Selfe. His cabin strings will be almost up to Andrew H's standards!

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According to my 1967 issue Admiralty Manual of Seamanship, on the subject of  fibre ropes (wire ropes are something completely other)  Cable laid rope is made up of 3 strands laid together and Hawser laid rope is three cable laid ropes laid up together.

There is a good ropewalk at Chatham Historic Dockyard if you want enough or a special or there is another in Hawes, where I obtained my cotton lines.  www.ropemakers.com

 

N

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1 minute ago, BEngo said:

According to my 1967 issue Admiralty Manual of Seamanship, on the subject of  fibre ropes (wire ropes are something completely other)  Cable laid rope is made up of 3 strands laid together and Hawser laid rope is three cable laid ropes laid up together.

There is a good ropewalk at Chatham Historic Dockyard if you want enough or a special or there is another in Hawes, where I obtained my cotton lines.  www.ropemakers.com

 

N

I remember visiting rope makers in Hawes when I was a child. Never thought at that point I would be interested in rope or even living on a boat!

Looks like a trip is to be planned. Just want to learn as much traditional boat work as possible. 

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