Proper way to make rope hanks

[glennb17]

I find a light coat of dilute PVA works well. It soaks in and does not form a glue film. I also think it depends on the material your ropes are made of. I owls not saturate the ropes.

Rob

Thanks Rob, much appreciated. Maybe I just need to experiment more. I'll set up some trials with different concentrations of PVA and give the shellac approach a shot. The nice part about PVA is that it is so safe and fumeless compared to things like shellac. My fire cabinet is filling up with solvent-based finishes and whatnot. But it's whatever looks best (within reason).

 

[Bob Cleek]

I bought the smallest thing they had but it's still too large for ship modelling. It seems to be prediluted but there are solvents other than ethanol. I bought thinner as well but it might be more of the same.

I don't think Zinsser Bullseye shellac comes packaged in anything less than a quart can. It's running around $25 a quart these days. It has a good shelf life if you seal the can tightly. Just in case I didn't explain it well enough, the "thinner" for shellac is alcohol. Just plain old denatured alcohol. Buy it at the paint or hardware store. It's a staple solvent and has lots of uses around the shop. It's inexpensive. It's mixed to a three-pound cut straight out of the can, which is fine for modeling use. That's "thinned shellac," actually. You can thin it more with alcohol, if you wish, but it's not necessary for the purposes we're discussing.

 

[Tim Green]

a good book on ship modeling.

Ship Modeling from Stem to Stern | Milton Roth | скачать книгу

Ship Modeling from Stem to Stern | Milton Roth | скачать книгу | Books Catalog - Download books for free. Find books

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View attachment 562265

I have that book. Maybe I should look at it, if I can find it.

 

[ConsNZ]

Thanks Rob, much appreciated. Maybe I just need to experiment more. I'll set up some trials with different concentrations of PVA and give the shellac approach a shot. The nice part about PVA is that it is so safe and fumeless compared to things like shellac. My fire cabinet is filling up with solvent-based finishes and whatnot. But it's whatever looks best (within reason).

Not sure at what stage your at with the Shellac but a little bit of advice from a really really old friend. Pore the shellac, I presume your purchase was in a mixed form, into a glass jar. Cover the top with grease proof paper then replace the lid. This will ensure the shellac does not corrode through any tin/metal something that will happen but after quite some time and spoil the shellac colour with rust contaminents. To purify, or clear the shellac from an orange to a clear, place the jar onto a window sil or in a situation with as much sun daylight as possible. You'll see the difference within days as the orange settles lower. The shellac clear at the top becomes the finishing coating for French Polishing. Good shellac should be branded as ABTN (Angelo Brothers Truly natural) which is a brilliant brand name for the Lac Insects Sh*t. Not sure about where you reside but down here denurtured alcohol, methylated Spirits, or SD Alcohol is normally a purple colour to give a yuk taste that prevents some from drinking the mixture. The purple'ish haze will also be visible on finished surfaces in given light angles. Isopropyl Alcohol is your go to mixture for Shellac and is also an excellent cleaning agent (eg windows) for various surfaces. Shellac is a wonderful sealer for wood and oily timbers and can be overcoated with numerous types of surface coating products. Want eveidence? check out museums, antique stores etc and see the wonders of shellac/French Polish finishes. Its the only sealer I personally use on all my wooden hobby projects. Hint, if when applying shellac it turns white it means the product is too thin (body it up), the ambient is too cold or the humidity is above 60% (warm the premises or wait until humidity drops and/or temperatures increase.) Shellac whether in its orange or clear form is non toxic, has extensive uses from glazing chocolates, sweets, pharmaceutical pills, glazing of fruits during photographing sessions etcetera etc etc. If you go ahead experimenting with diluted white H2O based glues then also experiment with Shellac. BTW if the product is too thin leave the lid off the container, the alcohol will evaporate and leave a thicker solution. Apologies if I interrupted your quest for the perfect hank(s) best of luck and cheers.

 

[Bob Cleek]

Not sure at what stage your at with the Shellac but a little bit of advice from a really really old friend. Pore the shellac, I presume your purchase was in a mixed form, into a glass jar. Cover the top with grease proof paper then replace the lid. This will ensure the shellac does not corrode through any tin/metal something that will happen but after quite some time and spoil the shellac colour with rust contaminents. To purify, or clear the shellac from an orange to a clear, place the jar onto a window sil or in a situation with as much sun daylight as possible. You'll see the difference within days as the orange settles lower. The shellac clear at the top becomes the finishing coating for French Polishing. Good shellac should be branded as ABTN (Angelo Brothers Truly natural) which is a brilliant brand name for the Lac Insects Sh*t. Not sure about where you reside but down here denurtured alcohol, methylated Spirits, or SD Alcohol is normally a purple colour to give a yuk taste that prevents some from drinking the mixture. The purple'ish haze will also be visible on finished surfaces in given light angles. Isopropyl Alcohol is your go to mixture for Shellac and is also an excellent cleaning agent (eg windows) for various surfaces. Shellac is a wonderful sealer for wood and oily timbers and can be overcoated with numerous types of surface coating products. Want eveidence? check out museums, antique stores etc and see the wonders of shellac/French Polish finishes. Its the only sealer I personally use on all my wooden hobby projects. Hint, if when applying shellac it turns white it means the product is too thin (body it up), the ambient is too cold or the humidity is above 60% (warm the premises or wait until humidity drops and/or temperatures increase.) Shellac whether in its orange or clear form is non toxic, has extensive uses from glazing chocolates, sweets, pharmaceutical pills, glazing of fruits during photographing sessions etcetera etc etc. If you go ahead experimenting with diluted white H2O based glues then also experiment with Shellac. BTW if the product is too thin leave the lid off the container, the alcohol will evaporate and leave a thicker solution. Apologies if I interrupted your quest for the perfect hank(s) best of luck and cheers.

Take it from another really, really, old friend, what he says is spot on. Learn to use shellac for the many various applications for which it is suited and you will be a happier man. The thing about getting old is that you learn to work smarter, not harder. Shellac is your friend.

 

[glennb17]

Not sure at what stage your at with the Shellac but a little bit of advice from a really really old friend. Pore the shellac, I presume your purchase was in a mixed form, into a glass jar. Cover the top with grease proof paper then replace the lid. This will ensure the shellac does not corrode through any tin/metal something that will happen but after quite some time and spoil the shellac colour with rust contaminents. To purify, or clear the shellac from an orange to a clear, place the jar onto a window sil or in a situation with as much sun daylight as possible. You'll see the difference within days as the orange settles lower. The shellac clear at the top becomes the finishing coating for French Polishing. Good shellac should be branded as ABTN (Angelo Brothers Truly natural) which is a brilliant brand name for the Lac Insects Sh*t. Not sure about where you reside but down here denurtured alcohol, methylated Spirits, or SD Alcohol is normally a purple colour to give a yuk taste that prevents some from drinking the mixture. The purple'ish haze will also be visible on finished surfaces in given light angles. Isopropyl Alcohol is your go to mixture for Shellac and is also an excellent cleaning agent (eg windows) for various surfaces. Shellac is a wonderful sealer for wood and oily timbers and can be overcoated with numerous types of surface coating products. Want eveidence? check out museums, antique stores etc and see the wonders of shellac/French Polish finishes. Its the only sealer I personally use on all my wooden hobby projects. Hint, if when applying shellac it turns white it means the product is too thin (body it up), the ambient is too cold or the humidity is above 60% (warm the premises or wait until humidity drops and/or temperatures increase.) Shellac whether in its orange or clear form is non toxic, has extensive uses from glazing chocolates, sweets, pharmaceutical pills, glazing of fruits during photographing sessions etcetera etc etc. If you go ahead experimenting with diluted white H2O based glues then also experiment with Shellac. BTW if the product is too thin leave the lid off the container, the alcohol will evaporate and leave a thicker solution. Apologies if I interrupted your quest for the perfect hank(s) best of luck and cheers.

Awesome, thanks! Didn’t know about the photo trick, pretty cool!

 

[AllanKP69]

Ultra blond shellac works well as it won't have much, if any, effect on the color of the rope as described above. An alternative that is matte medium. Another alternative is white PVA diluted with water.
Allan