Mast Hoops and Wardware....

After 9 month of restoration work I am about ready to focus on the rigging.

A. I need to create mast hoops. Any suggestion or link to "how-to"? I would like to rivet them with cooper tacks. Also... The mast is 3 5/8. What would the the recommended inner diameter of the hoops be? There are 7 on a 11 feet luff... enough?

B. I am looking for hardware to attach the sail. See image. I cannot find them anywhere on the web. Any link to a retailer or online-store?

Thanks

Adrian

My project: http://www.woodboatblog.com/

 

I have a few of them that are 22" in diameter. I don't remember how thick the mast was, but you want the hoops big enough so they don't get hung up when you haul down the sail with pressure on it. I remember seeing some that had no hardware, there was a rope up the front of the sail that was periodically exposed and that was lashed to the hoops.

Each hoop I have are made of two strips of oak 1 1/2" wide and 1/4 - 5/16" thick, and long enough to make about 2 1/8 turns around the hoop, so I would guess they are about 140+" long. They start a little staggered from each other and finish a little staggered so most of the hoop is 4 layers thick and then where the extra 1/8 lap is they are 6 layers thick. All 4 ends are tapered about 6" and the hoops are riveted with 5 rivets, countersunk on the inside so as to not scrape up the mast.

Put "mast hoops" into a google image search. There is a lot of info there.

 

A total alternative - and used on a couple of sailing ships that I have worked on - alkathene pipe,
1.select a suitable diameter
2.cut the length required to go around the mast and allow for stretch to allow the luff to be in the correct place,
3. feed the largest diameter line that can be fed thru the pipe,
4. splice an eye in each end
5. seize to cringle / eyelet in luff of sail,

They side easily on the mast and do not chew into the mast as I have seen on poorly fitted wooden hoops, and they are also very cheap to make - we had a price of US$180 for each wooden hoop and about US$15 for the each alkathene one including line and cordage.
Just an alternative.

 

First, traditional:

Use a strip of ash about twice the circumference of the
mast ( cross sections depend on how big the boat is ) .
Take a sharp plane and make a ramp on one end about 1/6
the length , flip and do the opposite side on the other end /--------/ .
Kinda like that but more taper .
On a bench top make a set of dogs, ( 4 minimum ) in a circle the diameter of
the mast .
Now here is where you can get creative; Put a kettle on to boil while you wrap
the ash in a heavy bath towel .
When the water is boiling soak the towel with boiling water continually for 5 or
10 minutes .

Alternate one:
Cap a piece of pvc longer than the strip , have a second cap ready . You can always build a real steambox too .When the water boils, shove strip in pvc add water and cap .


Wearing gloves , quickly pull the strip from towel or pvc , take to bench ,clamp
one end to dog and bend around jig clamping other end . Over bend , as the two
ramps should pass each other slightly .
Let cool and there you are , now drill and add a couple of copper rivets after you have aligned the ramps .
That was workboat style .

Now for Yacht style , you make a longer thinner strip that would give about
three complete layers or laps and a much shorter 'ramp' .

I advise a steambox if you are making very many , I have made 2 dozen in an
afternoon .
Size ? for a 8" mast I like a 10" hoop , less clearance might be ok with smaller
masts , my 10" hoops never jammed on Blue Moon with my special attachment
method .

It is quicker to make these things than to write about it .

From: http://simplicityboats.com/masthoops.html

 

http://www.messing-about.com/gaffrig/gaffmain.htm#masthoops

 

You've got a mast about like mine. Traditional hoops are of ash and sometimes of white oak. Ash bends better and is cheaper/ more available, so I made mine of ash.
I did this: Cut stock to 1/8" x 3/4" x about 30" (calculate) or so. I oriented the wood to show flatsawn face outward.
I used a good fine 80 tooth ripping blade to get the smoothest cuts.
I then planed the last 6" of each strip down to a sharp chisel point.
I boiled water and pushed the strip into the pot until it bent (just like spaghetti). Then I passed the length through the water slowly---- it came out the other side of the pot, bending and touching bottom as it passed through.
I had a piece of PVC pipe ready, which was about 4 1/2" around. About an inch over the mast diameter. I wrapped the hot ash (chisel edge inward) around the PVC pipe. It went on tight. I secured it with a spring clamp after wrapping it to about 1/2" thickness. Then I wrapped bailing wire abound the hoop, removed it to wrap the next hoop, and repeated the process until all hoops were done.
Allow the hoops to dry overnight. When you remove the bailing wire, the hoops stay round, springing out a bit. My own method was to again wrap the hoops around the (now poly covered) PVC pipe, this time with gorilla glue on all surfaces, and again wrap bailing wire around tight. In a couple of hours the glue has set and the hoops are released. The inside surface is exactly round, but the outside must now be belt-sanded round and the top and bottom edges sanded as well.
Now the copper tacks are driven (drill for better results) and clenched below the surface on the inside. Omit this last step and the hoops will still hold up fine. The copper is unnecessary but nice to look at.
By all means omit the glue for the most genuine hoops. They will be far weaker, but real; salty looking. I didn't use tacks on mine. I varnished them and they hold up well. I rounded the inner edges to allow them to slip easily at any angle/
Good luck. The whole job of making six hoops took me two hours. make a spare of course.

Alan

 

Your second question, about attaching to sail...
There are shackles that allow attaching and detaching whenever. They are pretty small, and they have to be lashed to the hoops, but without them you'll have to slide the hoops off the mast at the bottom--- not easy of there's a cleat, for example, for a downhaul, etc.
The shackles are available from any good hardware company (like Schaefer). They are stainless. The screw goes through the sail grommets. You can also pass 1/8" line (already seized to the hoops with marline) through the grommets and tie them tight, but the shackles are far better and faster to rig.

A.

 

Thanks to all the great advice. It was a great help and I even found the sail fastener hardware. Here some pictures...

Thanks

Adrian

P.S. More on my blog http://www.woodboatblog.com/

 

Great blog, but I didn't see a description of the boat itself. What is all that work going into?

A.

 

Alan,

This is where things get a little tricky:

I was told this is a 1930ties gaff rigged 14' day sailor from Gidley Grew. My research has given me some more information. A company called Gidley Boat Works (founded in 1882) was sold in the 1920ties to Grew boats.

The Canadian company has changed owner again. Unfortunately they did not have any plans or papers left or are not willing to share them. I got a hand on some catalogs from that time through the original owner. But it does not contain my boat...

It could be possible that the boat is actually from pre-1920 but there is no way for me to tell. Unless I get a hand on the original plans. I am still working on more inquiries to museums.

Adrian