Attaching sails with brass rings

[OldeManToad]

Just wondering how folks here attach their sails with brass rings to a mast. I have done this on my OCCRE Albatros build and was not happy with result. There has to be an easier method. The instructions don't have you install these 8mm rings on the mast until after the masts have been constructed and cannot simply be slid onto mast. My method was to open the rings until the opening was big enough to fit around the mast. Then I made holes in the sail cloth and inserted rings in sail so that the gaps in the rings all faced away from the sail. I then slipped all the rings around the mast and crimped them close with pliers. This worked except the rings are no longer round and loose around the mast and cannot be easily moved up or down the mast. Is there a better way to do this? Is there a tool that lets you open and close brass rings while maintaining their shape? I also had problems when attaching sails to a stay with the smaller 3mm brass rings.

Here is a photo of some of the rings. Sorry about it being sideways. See how some are not closed and they are misshapen. Any ideas on how to do this easier? Thanks.

 

[AllanKP69]

Just wondering how folks here attach their sails with brass rings to a mast. I have done this on my OCCRE Albatros build and was not happy with result.

As this is a fictional ship with no specific time period any kind of ring might work. On a real ship, wooden hoops were used, nothing like what OcCre designed. Making wooden rings is easy, See pic below that shows a spiral ready to cut into rings, and rings on a mast. When it is time to add the sail, it was tied with rope through grommets appropriately spaced in the luff and to corresponding rings. The rings do not go through the sail. Wooden mast rings were used for centuries, into the 20th century.
Allan


Fishing schooner wooden mast rings.