Continuous Rope Walk

jamiebradley426

jamiebradley426

Joined
Jul 24, 2022
Messages
79
Points
78

Hello all,
As most of you know this hobby can lead you down many rabbit holes. Aftermarket this, homemade that, and everything in between. My latest rabbit hole is rope. And while there are many quality scale rope makers out there, I wanted to try and build my own continuous rope walk. I actually have already purchased some rope from Syren Models. Very nice rope and a pretty reasonable price. But I'm a tinkerer. I love my 3d printer and I love modeling parts and working through interesting projects. I have went through many iterations, mostly due to clearance and making the parts move smoother within itself. A lot of the design decisions were made based on parts and hardware I had left over from other projects. M6 bolts and bearings, M4 machine screws and 8mm round bar and powered by an old laptop power supply. It's been an interesting learning experience and I'm glad I gave it a go. I think the rope is tight enough, it sure looks like rope to me but I still would like everyone to have a look and let me know their thoughts as well.

So far I have used Gutermann thread and the kit supplied thread for my testing. The only rope I have made is 1x3. I can't seem to locate my calipers, but it appears to be 1mm for the Gutermann polyester thread and 1.5mm for the kit supplied cotton thread. I have made rope 3ft (1m) long and I have made rope over 40ft long (kit supplied thread was 42ft (13m) but the longer the rope the more difficult it seems to be to work with as it comes off the spool. As it spins out of control pretty easily. There is a lot of energy stored in that rope.

From here more studies will be required to make thinner and thicker ropes. I don't know much about it now, but I will by the time this is over

My questions will probably need to go to the rigging section beyond this, but since it was a "tool" I figured I would start here.

My latest revision and some ropes.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by.


Untitled.jpg20221009_181442.jpg

20221009_005527.jpg

20221009_181412.jpg

20221009_181407.jpg

20221009_181601.jpg

20221009_181448.jpg
 
Last edited:
Hello Jamie,

That rope looks really good and that machine looks quite professional! Have you tried making right-hand rope? All of the stuff in your photos is left-hand.

How Noisy is the machine during operation? I've tried one like this but didn't quite like it. That's the reason all of my ropes are only 6 meters.

Welcome to the rope makers club. Thumbsup
 
BenD said:
Hello Jamie,

That rope looks really good and that machine looks quite professional! Have you tried making right-hand rope? All of the stuff in your photos is left-hand.

How Noisy is the machine during operation? I've tried one like this but didn't quite like it. That's the reason all of my ropes are only 6 meters.

Welcome to the rope makers club. Thumbsup
Click to expand...
Hi Ben, and thanks for the warm welcome. Right hand twist is standard isn't it? I still have a lot to learn here. I do have the ability to reverse the motor for right handed rope. And I guess this is where my learning begins. I made my machine based on the Domanov version which twist the thread clockwise but the carrier spins counter clockwise. I did make a sample of RH rope, but noticed that the thread would unwind before actually twisting into rope. So, I thought I was doing something wrong. But I suppose that explains why Chuck says the rope will get longer before getting shorter. Here is my only sample (for now) of right hand lay.
(edit) the machine is not too loud. it's not quiet but in my opinion, acceptable.

Right Hand.jpg
 
Last edited:
Very nice machine, like people whe make their own tools and present them here.
In this topic you can find everything you need to know about making rope.

Make your rope on a rope walk

I did a lot of research on how to make rope on a rope walk and build my own rope walk. I love to share my experience with you. The quality of the rope delivered in your kit is not always of high quality. Fluffy, badly made so that you can better use it to tie up your old paper than to rig your...
shipsofscale.com
I also agree with @Y.T. and @BenD my ropes are 3,5 meter long but a lot is possible. I like your machine. I once make a design for a professional to make rope of 5000 meter, like to see your approach.
 
Steef66 said:
Very nice machine, like people whe make their own tools and present them here.
In this topic you can find everything you need to know about making rope.

Make your rope on a rope walk

I did a lot of research on how to make rope on a rope walk and build my own rope walk. I love to share my experience with you. The quality of the rope delivered in your kit is not always of high quality. Fluffy, badly made so that you can better use it to tie up your old paper than to rig your...
shipsofscale.com
I also agree with @Y.T. and @BenD my ropes are 3,5 meter long but a lot is possible. I like your machine. I once make a design for a professional to make rope of 5000 meter, like to see your approach.
Click to expand...
Thanks Stephan,
I have been through your thread (pun?) and it has a lot of very useful information. I'm studying it now trying to decide the types and color of thread I need to order. Your skills are exceptional. I like the rope walk and the serving machine. That will be my next project.

on another note, I suppose it's worth mentioning that I built a continuous rope walk to maximize my space. It's not that I need a lot of volume as much as it is that I need to be able to do it in as small of space as possible. I can make 12m of rope in 1m of space.
 
Great looking machine! :-) About the rope, the ONLY left handed rope is a cable, standard is right handed hawser.

I invite to read here :-)

The Myth of left-handed hawser rope [in Ship Modelling]

ABSTRACT There seems to be much confusion amongst model-makers over the ways in which rope was laid for various functions in a ship. The three general ways (hawser-laid, shroud-laid and cable-laid) ar
forum.dubz-modelling-world.com

> I did make a sample of RH rope, but noticed that the thread would unwind before actually twisting into rope.

Only for the very small diameters you need 3 x 1, usually X x 3 x 1 is the way to go. Then there will be no unwinding.

cheers

Dirk
 
Ok, first of all thanks in advance for your patience. But I think I did this right. Or I just a happy accident. (thanks Bob Ross)
I ran some of the LH laid rope into the machine and ran it with a RH twist.

Is this the proper way to make 3x3 RH rope on a 3x1 machine?
Or does the rope twist the same direction as the original twist?

Again, thanks for your patience in my new adventures.


This is 3x3 RH rope now right?



20221010_172117.jpg
 
Last edited:
So, if I understand this correctly,
I can only make "rope" if all the strands are twisted at the same time....the FIRST time I wind it.
Everything else is "cable"?
I can't twist rope on top of rope and it look right.
Since I only have the capability to run 3 strands at a time, the only way to make thicker, "proper rope" is to start with thicker thread or toss the machine..... ROTF
 
I really invite you again to read my link (see above), everything about rope and laying directions is explained there :-)

Illustration of generic post-medieval machine-laid cordage construction (D. Sanders, after Try...png
cheers

Dirk
 
Believe me when I tell you, that I have been through your thread and Stephan's thread. I have never been good at reading comprehension so I have to learn "hands on". Having dyslexia doesn't help either. And seeing we are working on different machines makes my learning curve even steeper. I'll get there. But it might take a minute.
 
Take your time :-) Did you read my pdf article?


One of the problems might indeed the design of your great machine and that the russians tend to use the wrong laying direction.
Anyway it usual now to do lots of testing to find your receipts with your machine. Just document everything! :-) Soon you will have your own made great rope!

Dirk
 
This probably won't help Jamie, but I have a continuous rope walk that I ended up not using for precisely the reason you are now encountering. It doesn't make small diameter right hand ropes particularly well. I believe that when Chuck says you need to unravel the right hand source threads (gets longer before it gets shorter) he is talking about using a vertical or horizontal (old fashioned weighted) rope walk. At least that's the way I ended up making my small diameter ropes. You can't unravel the right hand source threads on a continuous rope walk - at least I was never able to it it successfully.

One work-around is to just make left hand ropes. It's not correct but the only people who will know the difference are on the forum. No one who visits your ship in your man-cave will notice - and if they do - show them the door!

But please listen more to Dubz or Ben or Stephan. I have managed to make ropes for my current build - but I'll abandon that effort for future builds. After you've made the first 500 meters of tiny rope the charm comes off - at least it has for me.
 
dockattner said:
This probably won't help Jamie, but I have a continuous rope walk that I ended up not using for precisely the reason you are now encountering. It doesn't make small diameter right hand ropes particularly well. I believe that when Chuck says you need to unravel the right hand source threads (gets longer before it gets shorter) he is talking about using a vertical or horizontal (old fashioned weighted) rope walk. At least that's the way I ended up making my small diameter ropes. You can't unravel the right hand source threads on a continuous rope walk - at least I was never able to it it successfully.

One work-around is to just make left hand ropes. It's not correct but the only people who will know the difference are on the forum. No one who visits your ship in your man-cave will notice - and if they do - show them the door!

But please listen more to Dubz or Ben or Stephan. I have managed to make ropes for my current build - but I'll abandon that effort for future builds. After you've made the first 500 meters of tiny rope the charm comes off - at least it has for me.
Click to expand...
Doc,
This may just be the best thing I have read.
Thanks.
 
The adventures in rope walking continue.
Seeing that I can only run 3 strands through my machine at a time, more testing was required.
I ordered several different sizes of thread and began taking notes.
Below is what followed.
Gutermann Skala 360 3x1 yielded .14mm rope. Although it just looks like thread to me
Gutermann TEX 70 3x1 yielded .56mm rope.
Gutermann TEX 100 3x1 Yielded .8mm Rope
And Finally,
Gutermann TEX 200 yielded 1.5mm rope.
I'm having some issues with equal tension on the bobbins for the TEX 200 thread but I think it looks promising.

I think the next test is to order some TEX 25, 35 and 40 to see their yields.

Skala 360 1x3.jpg

Tex 70 1x3.jpg

TEX 100 1x3.jpg

TEX 200 1x3.jpg
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top