Vol. 64, No. 4 winter 2019


368 machine. A number of machines can be found for sale on the internet that will help make the job much


simpler. I use the Syern Serv-o-Matic ship model rope serving machine and will be providing examples of line service using it. (Figure 1)


To serve a line using this machine, one places the line through the holes in the center gears and secures it to the nails with clips. Any length of line can be served, but the line should be taut in the machine. T e thread used for the service should be the smallest weight possible and fuzz-free to give the best appearance on the line. T read counts used are 50wt (weight), 60wt, 80wt, & 100wt. T e 100wt thread is the thinnest and will give the best appearance but is very thin to work with.


T e thread is then secured to the line. I use a clove hitch and just a dab of clear nail polish to glue the thread to the line. Once the glue has set I then clip off the shorter end of the thread line and start serving. You will need to turn the handle slowly so as to make your serving as tight and close together as possible. Once you have your desired length, again tie the thread line onto the served line and glue.


Making wooden thimbles or


rollers By William E. Sproul


Probably every sailing ship of war used copious numbers of wooden thimbles or rollers up until about 1830 and almost all wooden sailing ships afl oat today continue to use these same wooden thimbles or rollers to secure gaffs, booms, yards and lines; nothing has really changed. Thimbles replaced blocks in some cases but were more often used as a means to redirect rigging lines out of the gun crew’s way and to reroute the various lines coming to the deck from the tops and alongside the masts to appropriate belaying points on deck. (Figure 1) Wooden rollers were used in parrels of various types by almost everyone. (Figure 2) Their popularity was in part due to the fact that they were easy to make, cost little, could be made from scrap


You can create eyes in your served line by removing the line from the machine, forming the eye the size desired, knotting the eye with a clove hitch, and placing the line back into the machine to serve over where the eye would be spliced.


T e machine is fun to work with, but be sure to take your time to get the best-looking service possible.


References:


Ashley, Cliff ord, T e Ashley Book Of Knots. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1944. (p.539).


Chapman, C. Piloting, Seamanship and Small Boat Handling. San Francisco: Hearst Corporation, 1972


Darcy Lever, T e Young Sea Offi cer’s Sheet Anchor, or a Key to the Leading of Rigging and Practical Seamanship, reprint edition. Garden city, New York: Dover Publications, 1998. (Section 3).


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