Method I use for making sail eyelets

RickNoyes

RickNoyes

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Mar 4, 2021
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Location
Newcastle, NSW, Australia
Below is a method I use to make eyelets for sails.
1. place brass tube in drill and cut to length using mini tube cutter.
3mm tube in drill.jpgcut tube to length.jpg
2. place eyelet blank on firm metal surface and using a tungsten carbide punch, taper one side.
eyelet and tung carbide punch.jpgPunch in taper 0.jpgtaper side 1.jpg

3. Flip over and repeat punching operation. The completed item now has a middle radius that your rope can be attached to that wont slip off.
Completed eyelet.jpg
Note if you want to blacken the surface with brass black be sure to emery /sand the surface prior cutting.
 
Thanks for your post Rick. Can you tell us the smallest OD tube available in brass? I prefer copper as it is softer and easier to work and can be blackened instantly with liver of sulfur and will not stain surrounding materials such as cloth or wood but it only goes down to 1/16" outside diameter.
Thanks again
Allan
 
Hi Allan

I have bought brass tube from my local hobby shop with an outside diameter of 0.91mm (.036in). I cant remember and couldnt tell you or measure the bore dia. Im guessing if you go on ebay, amazon or similar youll find the size you need.

IMG_20241223_123114_HDR.jpg
 
For American modelers, the usual source for copper and brass tubing is K&S Engineering. They sell on Amazon and from their own website. Their smallest brass tubing is 1/32” diameter.

Roger
 
Thanks Rick and Roger. K&S does not offer copper tubing smaller than 1/16 (1.62mm) so brass will be a good substitute. Thanks again.

Allan
 
This is also a great way to make thimbles for your block rigging. Some master modellers I have reached out to use it for rigging blocks. It takes experimenting and even when you're good your success rate isn't 100%, but it looks fantastic after blackened along with the hook.
 
No need to cut brass tube, commercial brass eyelets can be used. These are inexpensive and available on-line from haberdashery stores, sold by the 100 with grommets. I believe the size ranges from 2mm upwards. Made of easily worked fine gauge material. Perhaps smaller sizes can be found with some searching. Punches to suit can also be found on the same sites. Using eyelets, one rim is already formed leaving one to be flared (partially closed with punch) to complete the cringle. The success rate is less than 100% but acceptable .The eyelets can also be used conventionally in for example sail clews and other applications where eyelets are used in normal rigging. Be careful when ordering as not always clear what the specified measurement refers to. If possible contact the seller to verify the item is what you think it is. 2mm may mean ID bore size or overall length, depending on the vendor.

Hope this is of some use.
 
qeequeg said:
size ranges from 2mm upwards.
Click to expand...
Is that the ID or OD? Sounds like a good idea for scales of 1:12 or maybe as small as 1:24. The use of metal grommets seemed interesting as I had worked mainly on models that would have had sewn rope grommets which are easy to simulate. I did a little research and found that plain metal grommets were introduced around 1830 to replace sewn eyelets, and in 1883 William Wilcox developed the spur grommet, which then became the standard for maritime use.
Allan
 
Thanks your informative reply Allan KP69. I wrote ID meaning inside diametre. There is much confusion in the vocabulary concerning eyelets and grommets. I would consider an eyelet as an item of flanged metal work piercing a cloth held in place by being flattened over a purpose made washer, often erroneously referred to as a grommet. A grommet in sail-making is essentially a continuous long-splice made to the diametre required (I have made many) and sewn in place . I am aware that these terms are often used interchangeably, often meaning different things in different trades and even in the same trade. I am not too fussy with the terminology as the context usually defines the meaning.
The original contributor to this thread is describing a technique for producing Cringles to be inserted as eyelets. I have used this method myself before coming accross haberdashery store eyelets. Cringles are round and were also used to strengthen potentially weak points on sails, for example, spliced/sewn into sail bolt-ropes to reinforce the clews etc. Cringles should be distinguished from Thimbles which are of the same profile but heart shaped.

Just my musings, not intended to start any arguments or endless e-mail exchanges.
 
Ill probably buy a bag of the small dia grommets to have on hand, but I find the process/challenge and problem sovling (make due) rewarding sometimes. In the case I'm working on I ony need to mqke 11 of these. If it were very large number I'd reconsider.
 
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