Making your own wire ropes for models. Winding ropes for rigging

Many BTT models that I have reviewed on numerous sites have cables. Basically, this is a cable twisted from 3 thin wires, but it does not exactly copy the real one. Some aftermarket manufacturers offer cables for modellers in their assortment, but this costs money and time, and it is also difficult to imagine how this not yet purchased cable will look on the model being manufactured. However, you can make a cable for a future model yourself and its copyability will be at a very high level. The idea was spotted by me on one of the Western sites, I just want to voice it here.

So, we need:

• Copper wire with a diameter of 0.3 mm
• 2 pieces of round stick (I used from the handle of a shovel)
• Scotch
• Clamp

The diameter of the manufactured cable will be 3 times thicker than the wire used.

First, you need to mark both sections of the stick on one side into equal sectors every 60º, then you need to drill both sections from the marked side with a thin (2-3 mm) drill in the center, then use a thicker drill to drill another hole so that these holes are connected in the center of the segments.
.
After these preparatory works, we proceed to the next stage of cable manufacturing. We measure 3 identical pieces of wire (usually I use the length of the work table for this) and another piece 2/3 of the length of the previous ones. We take this shortened piece, and pushing it into the central hole of the segment, we drag it into a wider hole on the side and secure it with tape. We do the same with the second segment. Then we take a long piece of wire and bend it in half, fix both ends to the marks of the wooden piece, and do the same with the rest. We fix everything with tape. Then we fix the resulting loops of wires on the second piece of wood, and this must be done in such a way that the parallelism of the fastened wires is maintained. The main thing at this point is to ensure that the fixed sections of wire do not get mixed up and are parallel to each other.

After this, we fix one piece of wood in a place convenient for work and, by pulling the wires, we achieve the alignment of the fixed wires (the tape will allow the wire to stretch a little). The excess center wire can be pulled under the tape. As a result, we get two wooden pieces connected to each other by seven wires. After this, we begin to twist the wire, rotating it in one piece. The main thing is to take your time and maintain the central axis of rotation. The degree of “twist” of the manufactured cable can be easily controlled visually.

After the cable is made, its edges can be twisted before being inserted into the thimbles. To do this, place the cut edge of the cable on a wooden surface and, pressing it with another wooden piece, roll it a little. The direction of rolling will depend on which direction the wire was twisted when making the cable.

I made 3 different cables from wires with a diameter of 0.15 mm. 0.21 mm and 0.3 mm The photographs clearly show the difference between a cable twisted from 3 wires (higher than a coin) and cables twisted from 7 wires.

Even if you don’t succeed in making a cable on the first try, don’t despair and try again. It took me a couple of tries to master this technique.

"for proper understanding, patience, help in choosing, and, of course, for the thread samples provided. Dmitry Luchin and Denis Kalashnikov for consultations, reviews and some materials provided from their own experience. Valentin Demin for the review.

Based on the experience of making models from kits, and from numerous reviews from modellers, it turned out that the threads included in the kit require replacement. If, of course, you want to revive the model and make it more believable, and not a toy. So, here are the main disadvantages of threads from sets:

they have a lot of pile, you have to deal with it somehow;

do not have sufficient strength, especially thin ones;

as a rule, the set of diameters is scarce;

the diameter of the threads usually does not correspond to the declared one (for example, Artesanian 0.15 mm is actually larger than 0.3 mm);

do not have a clear structure and only vaguely resemble a rope in appearance;

color does not always correspond to reality;

tend to end when not all the rigging is done.

In this regard, there is a need for independent production of ropes that are free from the above disadvantages.

How.

	This simple device fell into my hands. The principle of its operation is quite simple. Each of the 3 (or 4) threads is twisted in one direction by a cable winder, yet together they curl in the other direction thanks to the forces of nature. You can work both in the horizontal and vertical planes.
	It was more convenient for me to do it vertically. One of the disadvantages of the vertical method is the objective limitation on the length of the resulting rope.
	Turn the handle clockwise. The thread is twisted counterclockwise. The threads in the rope will twist clockwise.
	A boss (diameter 14 mm) is necessary at the place where the threads are twisted to prevent them from twisting ahead of time, and the angle of twist depends on the uniformity of the initial tension of the threads and the degree of their subsequent twisting.

How.

	We build a structure like this. There's a rope in a vice on top. Below is a load that should be large enough to prevent the threads from bunching up when twisted, but not large enough to prevent the threads from breaking. Its value is selected experimentally. In this case I used the cartridge from the Unimat 6in1 kit. In the place of lay there is a fluoroplastic boss.
	We twist the cable until the load myself will not start rotating. At this moment, the intensity of rotation of the rope handle can be significantly reduced so that the speed of rotation of the thread approximately coincides with the speed of rotation of the load.
	As a result, we get a rope like this.

What.

One of the biggest questions is what thread to use. I settled on polyester. They have several rather significant advantages compared to other threads. Not fluffy, very strong, the color palette is quite large, the strands in the finished cable are clearly distinguishable, which makes it beautiful, textured, and visual.

The main indicator of the thread size that interests us is its diameter. However, in the vast majority of cases, manufacturers use linear density as the main characteristic of the thread. The purpose of this review was to find some relationship between the linear density of the threads used and the final diameter of the resulting rope. Linear density is measured in tex and shows how many grams 1 km of thread weighs. Decitex (dTex) is also used, where 1Tex=10dTex. As you can easily guess, the more tex, the thicker the thread.

Up to 5 different cable ropes were wound from each size thread. The diameter of the resulting rope was measured as follows: the rope is wound on a rod, about 10-30 hoses are made, depending on its thickness. The resulting linear dimension is measured and divided by the number of hoses.

Tests were carried out on threads from three different manufacturers.

Note:

1/3 means that the thread unraveled into its constituent strands and a rope was wound from them;

1x, 2x, 3x - the number of heels in the strand;

x3, x4 - the number of strands in the rope;

a real rope is measured by its circumference, the diameters are given here;

The black line on the graph shows a power-law trend.

More complete information about the domestic manufacturer can be gleaned from the graphs below, kindly provided by Dmitry Luchin. The graphs are theoretical, indispensable for orientation, and in practice you can completely rely on them.

The left graph shows the dependence of the diameter of a three-strand rope of cable work (vertically) on the thickness of the heel used (type of thread brand “L”) and the number of heels (threads) in the strand (horizontally). On the right, respectively, for a four-strand rope.

A four-strand rope cannot be twisted tightly, so it may be defective. To avoid this, it is necessary to insert a core approximately half the thickness of the strand.

In addition, using these graphs, you can quite simply predict the diameter of the resulting rope for any thread depending on the number of heels. For example, by winding a 1x3 test rope (three strands in one heel), a rope with a diameter of 0.6 mm was obtained. We place a point on the plane of the left graph. It falls between the lines for 42L and 70L. From this point, in the image of the neighboring lines (42L and 70L), we draw a curve similar to them. As a result, we obtain an approximate dependence of the diameter of the rope on the number of threads of this type used in the heel.

(Brief overview of machines and devices made during the construction of sailboat models)

The purpose of this review is to organize for ease of use the information posted in various forum threads about the machines and devices I made in the process of building sailboat models.

Part 3

WINDING OF CABLES AND ROPES

The quality of the rigging largely determines the appearance of the model, so modellers pay a lot of attention to its production. To make rigging, you can use ordinary threads, but rigging made from cables and ropes specially wound (usually three threads or three strands, each of which can consist of several threads) for a specific model looks much more beautiful. To wind cables, modelers use a wide variety of machines and devices - from the simplest manually driven structures to machines with several motors; based on an electric razor and from a Lego constructor and so on. A cable winding machine (cable winder, cable winder) is a device that twists each of the threads (most often there are three) in one direction, and twists these twisted threads together in the opposite direction. The process of twisting threads is clearly shown in the animation (photo 1), which I borrowed from the Internet (I don’t remember which site).

You can get an idea of ​​how to wind real ropes by watching this videohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaHQUvG8jzA (1990, one of the English factories, very ancient but functioning equipment). You can see the winding of a rope on an old hand-cranked wire rope herehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_1zX4qv7DI&feature=related , on the same links there are several more videos on making ropes.

The machine for winding cables must ensure uniform twisting of the threads at a constant angle of inclination to the axis of the cable (40-50 degrees for a cable of three threads). If this angle exceeds 50 degrees, then the cable will curl into small loops and knots, because the threads entering it will not have enough space for uniform twisting. An angle of less than 40 degrees leads to a loose, loose twist; the cable will look unsightly and tends to unravel. Typically, to solve this problem, a block (most often wooden) sliding between the threads before the twisting point is used in the form of a cone with grooves on the surface (shuttle, bullet) located at an angle of 120 degrees. In most cable winders, the block is moved manually, but it must maintain its position between the threads. If the block moves too slowly, the cable will be twisted, if too quickly, the cable will be poorly twisted, so winding high-quality cables requires certain skills, which, however, are acquired quite quickly with each meter of wound cable.

Cable winders are divided into two main types:
- devices with horizontal layout(classical layout), the parts of which are located in a horizontal plane, and the winding of cables and ropes occurs using a manual drive or motors;
- vertical devices, in which the parts are located in a vertical plane, the threads are twisted manually or by a motor, and their twisting together in the opposite direction (actually, cable winding) occurs under the influence of a rotating load suspended from the other end of the threads.

Each of these types of cable winders has its own advantages and disadvantages: horizontal cable winders wind ropes faster than vertical ones (higher rotation speed), they have greater opportunities for adjusting the winding density, they wind ropes of large diameters better than vertical cable winders, but are somewhat more difficult to manufacture and for their operation requires more space than vertical cable winders. Vertical cable winders are simpler to manufacture and take up less space, but setting them up before winding is more difficult (the selection of the size of the load, which determines the winding density, is more critical), and the process of winding ropes takes more time. The length of the wound ropes for both types of cable winders is limited mainly by the availability of space for their installation: in our living conditions for vertical cable winders this is the height of the ceilings, for horizontal ones - the length of the room, balcony or window sill, based on which the length of the actual wound ropes for vertical cable winders is 1. 5-2 m, for horizontal - 4-6 m. However, with certain skills, high-quality cables and ropes can be wound on both horizontal and vertical cable winders, so both types of cable winders are widely used by modellers all over the world, and the choice of a specific design depends on the tasks, available capabilities and personal preferences of the modeler (for example , some are more accustomed to moving horizontally, while others are more accustomed to moving vertically).

There are other types cable motors, for example, the so-called planetary cable motor (photo 2) http://www.shipmodeling.ru/content/tooling/detail.php?ID=346 for winding an “endless” rope, which, however, has not found wide application due to the complexity of the design and control, as well as the need to reconfigure for each diameter of the thread. The use of such cable winders is advisable only when winding a large number (kilometers) of cables of the same diameter. There are also attempts to create hybrid machines (inclined cable winders, photo 3, http://marinemodelisme.blogspot.com/2009/12/la-machine-corder_18.html ), combining the advantages of horizontal and vertical layout schemes.

Photo 2	Photo 3

Having decided to build cable winding machineand after analyzing extensive information on this issue, as well as consulting with colleagues, I opted for a device with a horizontal layout. As a prototype, I chose the design of a rope winding machine by Alexey Baranov, a description and photo of which are given in the report on Panteleimon-Victoria http://forum.modelsworld.ru/topic8008.html . I liked the design for its thoughtfulness, power and durability. The machine works very quickly and reliably, provides high-quality winding (you can see photos of finished ropes and cables in the same report on Panteleimon-Victoria) and can wind ropes and cables up to 5 meters long and with a thickness of 0.4 to 8 mm.

My design is slightly different from the prototype, but also consists of three main parts:block for twisting each of the rope threads, block for twisting the rope (moving cart) and guidesalong which the trolley moves when the rope is twisted. The design uses two identical electric motors.

Thread twisting unit(photo 4-11) consists of a vertical stand (30mm plywood) and a base (15mm plywood), on which the D-25G DC electric motor (power 25 watts, rated supply voltage 27 volts, rotation speed 6000 rpm) and the drive are located. In the vertical stand, three brass cages are installed at an angle of 120 degrees, inside each there are 2 bearings (internal diameter 6 mm), through which steel axles pass with gears and hooks attached to them. Steel hooks are attached to the axles with threads and are additionally soldered to the ends of the axles. Belt from a SINGER sewing machine.

Photo 4	Photo 5
Photo 6	Photo 7
Photo 8	Photo 9
Photo 10	Photo 11

The rope twisting unit (moving trolley) is a trolley, the base of which is a perforated plate made of galvanized steel 2 mm thick (photo 12-16). The plate contains a motor with a hook on the axis, a terminal block and a spacer that allows you to “twist” the threads before twisting them into a rope, if necessary. The base is mounted on wheels made of bearings, rolling along the upper and lower surfaces of the guides and holding the cart from possible wobbles in the horizontal and vertical planes. At the rear end of the plate there is a stand to which a rope with a load is attached.

Photo 12	Photo 13
Photo 14	Photo 15
Photo 16

Guides for moving trolley(photo 17-21) are made of two aluminum profiles 2000 mm long, mounted on a board 2200 mm long, 20 mm thick and 150 mm wide. A contact connector is installed on the same board, to which wires from the power source, electric motors and their control panel are connected (separate on/off via a three-core cable 2 m long). The direction of rotation of the motors is changed by simply rearranging their power pins in the contact connector - since this does not have to be done often, I did not add additional buttons to the control panel. Power is supplied to the movable cart through a wire sliding along a wire stretched along the guides. At the end of the board there is a block through which a cable passes for suspending the load, with the help of which the tension of the threads is adjusted when winding the cable. The size of the load depends on the length, diameter and number of threads used. The shuttle with a diameter of 50 mm is made of beech. To wind ropes up to 2 meters long, the thread twisting unit is installed on the edge of the board with guides; for ropes of longer length - at an appropriate distance coaxially with the movable cart, on any suitable stand (table, chair, cabinet). During the process of winding ropes about 5 meters long, the trolley usually travels up to 1.5 meters. To wind ropes with a diameter of 0.2-0.5 mm, the supply voltage of the electric motors is reduced to 14-18 volts. Photos 22-24 show the shuttle at the beginning and end of the winding. When disassembled, the cable motor takes up little space: the board with guides is stored in a vertical position (photo 25), the remaining parts fit into a small box. Assembly and bringing the structure into working condition takes about 15 minutes.

Photo 17	Photo 18
Photo 19	Photo 20
Photo 21	Photo 22
Photo 23	Photo 24
Photo 25

More detailed information about the design of the cable run is given here:
http://forum.modelsworld.ru/topic8163.html

Threads for winding cables

The quality of the final product depends on the quality of the materials used for its manufacture - in this case, the threads used to make cables and ropes. In order to decide on the type of thread - COTTON or POLYESTER, I looked through a large number of materials on this issue, and also tried to make cables from both threads. During the search, I came across a comparative table of the suitability of various types of threads for winding cables for rigging models (photo 26), prepared by one of the authorities in this field, Gene Larson (former chairman of the Nautical Research Guild's Board of Directors), as well as his article “Thread Material Sets Rope Behavior,” in which he writes: “Look for Gutermann CA 02776 in polyester or cotton.” Beautiful rigging ropes for models M 1:48 and larger are made from cotton threads, then treated with various solutions that give the ropes a certain color and simulating impregnation. However, for small diameters, the differences between ropes made of impregnated cotton threads and polyester ones are little noticeable, and the relief of polyester ropes, in my opinion, looks even better. Considering all this, I gave preference to POLYESTER Gutermann 02776 threads (photo 27). Cables wound from these threads have almost no shine (after rubbing with liquid shellac they do not shine at all) and practically do not give fluff (do not lint) unlike many other types of polyester threads. Photos 28-30 show examples of cables wound using the described design.

Photo 26	Photo 27
Photo 28	Photo 29
Photo 30

A few words aboutdiameter of finished ropes(in this case, 3 strands). This value depends both on the type, diameter (or dTex density) and number of threads in the strand, and on the winding density provided by the cable winder. There are many different recommendations and tables for choosing threads to obtain a rope of a given diameter. Several tables of rope diameters depending on the threads used and the number of strands can be found here http://5500.forumactif.net/t97-fil-pour-cordages . However, all these recommendations are usually developed on the basis of the results obtained on a rope rope of a certain design (it is not always indicated which one) and cannot always be directly applied to a rope rope of a different design (and there are a great many of these designs). I was convinced of this from my own experience when, following a recommendation given on one French website for Gutermann threads, I tried to wind a rope with a diameter of 1 mm from 3 strands of 7 threads each on my cable machine: the result was a rope with a diameter of 0.85-0.9 mm (diameter was measured as the width of 10 turns of cable divided by 10). When I began to understand the reasons, it turned out that the recommendations concern a single-engine vertical cable winder, in which the strands are twisted into a rope under the influence of a load, and in a twin-engine horizontal scheme, the strands are twisted into a rope by a motor. Thus, for the manufacture of a cable of a given diameter on a specific cable run, the mentioned recommendations can be used only as indicative ones, requiring experimental clarification. From the experience of winding ropes using my rope winder, I can also say that it is most convenient to adjust the diameter of the finished rope by changing the number of threads in the strand, for which it is preferable to use thin threads.

About the thread color : in accordance with the well-known recommendations of Hockel, four colors of thread should be used for rigging models - black, dark brown, red and beige. Whether to adhere to these recommendations or not is up to each modeller to decide for himself, but it should be noted that there are many excellent models of famous craftsmen, the rigging of which is made of threads of one or two colors in different shades and this rigging looks great.

In the process of making rigging, cables and ropes have to be braided. There are many different devices and machines(clubber) , used by modellers for these purposes. I made a device that was quite simple in design (photos 31-38), which showed good results when braiding cables and ropes with a diameter of up to 3 mm. The length of ropes to be roped is practically unlimited, since the device allows you to perform ropes in parts up to 300 mm long, gradually moving the rope. The device consists of two 15 mm plywood posts installed at a distance of 320 mm from each other on a base of 14 mm thick laminated parquet boards. The racks are equipped with 4 bearings with an internal diameter of 6 mm. The bottom pair of bearings is connected by a steel rod with a diameter of 6 mm, on which plastic gears from an old copy machine are mounted. In each of the upper bearings, tubes with a diameter of 6 mm are installed, on the outer surface of which an M6 thread is made, and similar gears and handles are installed for rotating the rope (for right and left hands) and securing parts of the rope to them that are not currently being processed or are already slandered. These parts are clamped with a nut through a washer with a rubber gasket. There is also provision for adjusting the tension and angle of winding the thread on the rope.

Photo 31	Photo 32
Photo 33	Photo 34
Photo 35	Photo 36
Photo 37	Photo 38

More detailed information about the design of the cage is given here: In conclusion, I would like to note that when building the above-mentioned rope drive and clearing machine (as, indeed, other machines), I was guided not least by considerations of the reliability and reliability of their operation (according to the “once built and forgotten” principle, then you just use it). These considerations certainly influenced the choice of materials for construction, and the design of both individual components and parts, and the machines as a whole. and also slightly increased the time of their construction. Probably, some things could have been simplified in their design, but the principle of reliability prevailed. I use all the machines and devices described in this review as needed and so far I am satisfied with their work, but this is only one example of the possible implementation of such devices; there is huge scope for creativity here. All these units have been built since 2007. in parallel with the construction of models and if you add up the time spent on their construction, it will turn out to be quite a lot - about a year, but now I have, as they say, “a free hand” in terms of independently manufacturing almost all the main parts and elements for the models.

Author - Vitaly Radko (Harward)
City - Kyiv.

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Many BTT models that I have reviewed on numerous sites have cables. Basically, this is a cable twisted from 3 thin wires, but it does not exactly copy the real one. Some aftermarket manufacturers offer cables for modellers in their assortment, but this costs money and time, and it is also difficult to imagine how this not yet purchased cable will look on the model being manufactured. However, you can make a cable for a future model yourself and its copyability will be at a very high level. The idea was spotted by me on one of the Western sites, I just want to voice it here.

So, we need:

• Copper wire with a diameter of 0.3 mm
• 2 pieces of round stick (I used from the handle of a shovel)
• Scotch
• Clamp

The diameter of the manufactured cable will be 3 times thicker than the wire used.

First, you need to mark both sections of the stick on one side into equal sectors every 60º, then you need to drill both sections from the marked side with a thin (2-3 mm) drill in the center, then use a thicker drill to drill another hole so that these holes are connected in the center of the segments.
.
After these preparatory works, we proceed to the next stage of cable manufacturing. We measure 3 identical pieces of wire (usually I use the length of the work table for this) and another piece 2/3 of the length of the previous ones. We take this shortened piece, and pushing it into the central hole of the segment, we drag it into a wider hole on the side and secure it with tape. We do the same with the second segment. Then we take a long piece of wire and bend it in half, fix both ends to the marks of the wooden piece, and do the same with the rest. We fix everything with tape. Then we fix the resulting loops of wires on the second piece of wood, and this must be done in such a way that the parallelism of the fastened wires is maintained. The main thing at this point is to ensure that the fixed sections of wire do not get mixed up and are parallel to each other.

After this, we fix one piece of wood in a place convenient for work and, by pulling the wires, we achieve the alignment of the fixed wires (the tape will allow the wire to stretch a little). The excess center wire can be pulled under the tape. As a result, we get two wooden pieces connected to each other by seven wires. After this, we begin to twist the wire, rotating it in one piece. The main thing is to take your time and maintain the central axis of rotation. The degree of “twist” of the manufactured cable can be easily controlled visually.

After the cable is made, its edges can be twisted before being inserted into the thimbles. To do this, place the cut edge of the cable on a wooden surface and, pressing it with another wooden piece, roll it a little. The direction of rolling will depend on which direction the wire was twisted when making the cable.

I made 3 different cables from wires with a diameter of 0.15 mm. 0.21 mm and 0.3 mm The photographs clearly show the difference between a cable twisted from 3 wires (higher than a coin) and cables twisted from 7 wires.

Even if you don’t succeed in making a cable on the first try, don’t despair and try again. It took me a couple of tries to master this technique.