Rope diameters for Block attachment

[Bob Cleek]

... here’s my system for stropping blocks; served as Allan points out.

1. Measure the length of the strop by my measuring the length of a piece of thread wrapped around the block. Divide this number by three.

2 Pick out a dowel with a diameter close to that calculated in 1. above. Using a razor saw, cut a thin slot in the end of the dowel. Also drive a very small nail part way into the side.

3. Using thread much thinner than the finished strop, secure one end of the thread in the slot, pull the thread down and make an half turn around the nail. The nail holds the resulting coil in position. Wrap several turns around the dowel. The last turn should be “sewed” around the previous turns. With the coil still on the dowel do this by threading the thread in a needle and alternatively passing the needle under and over the coil. Secure both ends of the coil in itself.

4. Without removing the coil serve it by passing a needle and thread around the coil with each loop close to its neighbor and drawn tight.

The result; a seamless served strop. As shown in the photo it’s also possible to incorporate a hook in the strop as part of this same process.

Roger

Now that's a really slick trick! Thanks for sharing it. Now, all I have to do is calculate the diameter of the strop, divide that by the diameter of the scale serving marline, take the number of turns around the dowel that will build up a "strop" core of the proper strop diameter, and then proceed to serve the bundle of turns to get a perfect scale strop! A bit more math and I can get some idea of how much thread the whole shebang will need to be cut from the spool to do the job without undue waste. Maybe the job can be speeded up by doubling the thread at the needle and serving the strop two threads at a pass? Also, I'll try a metal mandrel instead of a wood dowel to avoid the needle point digging into a wooden dowel when I pass it under the strop, too.

Thanks again for a great tip!