What can be used for fine rigging line?

Traditionally, linen thread has been proven in use for hundreds of years.

I went through the same thing and finally found the answer: nylon monofiliment fishing line. Use 1lb test and drag it across the top of a permanent ink marker to blacken it, then attach it w/super glue. You get the tension, it won't pull loose (well, not easily) and it looks great!
{Alexander Ishii}

Mono fishing line is available in different colors, including "black" (no real need for using the permanent marker). Generally, however, the various colors are more expensive than regular fishing line; particularly, if the color is only available as "tippet" material (a particular kind of fishing line).

You can also use fine wire. One source I've found locally (silicon valley) is a "pulse transformer"...these use copper wire .005 (more or less). They are frequently encapsulated in epoxy, but the shell can be broken off and the wire salvaged.

I've not used it, but I understand that tungsten wire is made for light-bulbs in sizes down to .0005 inch! I also understand that it is dangerous to work with, because it is so strong that the possibility of amputation is very real! The ultimate in "paper cuts". Anyway, one might be able to get a couple of feet of this from a light-bulb manufacturer and try using it. Of course, how do you cut it?
{John O. Kopf}

Yesterday I went to a fly fishing store to get some rigging material. They carry a product called "Tippet line" or something like that. Its a monofilament and you can get it in various widths. I bought two spools; one was .003" (8X) and the other .005" (6X). The spools at the place I went (Kaufman's Streamborn in Seattle) cost US$3.75 each and carry 30 meters of line per spool. In other words: enough.

I wandered around the store some to see what other things might be good. I found lead wire of various diameters there also. I bought two spools of that; one .01" the other .02" for US$1.50 each.

Check out your local resources or Kaufman's has a mail order service. You can call them at 1(800)442-4359 or FAX (503) 684-7025.
{Stephen Tontoni}

There is not one supplier of ship model rigging line that sells appropriately sized line for ratlines; it is all too heavy! The only source I have found for ratline material are the shops that cater to the fly fishing folks that tie their own lures. There is a thread on the market that is composed of a synthetic fiber that comes in varying diameters down to .004. It also comes in a variety of colors inclusive of black and ecru. The brand name to ask for is UNI-THREAD. It makes great looking ratlines and is pre-waxed.

Over the years there has been much discussion about the use of silk thread for the rigging of ship models. It was always the same old story; it will rot, decompose or deteriorate. Until I found out about this new UNI-THREAD, I had been using silk fly tiers thread for ratlines. This is about 35 years of dead serious and active ship modeling! Not once did I ever have a problem with fiber deterioration! If you have an opportunity to pick up some fine silk thread for ratlines and seizings, don't hesitate, It will serve you well.
{Dana McCalip}

Silk will depolymerize if it has been exposed to tin or, especially, iron in its manufacturing process or by later contact with those metals (generally in the presence of some type of solvent -- to include water). For this reason, museums are very shy about silk in their displays.

The fashion of the 1700s and 1800s was to use weighted silks for clothing. This was silk that had been treated in a hot bath of metal salts -- tin, lead, etc. and was sometimes also called leaded silk. This added greatly to the weight per square yard of the silk, which was sold by weight. Such weighting or leading also made the material very stiff and allowed the puffy dresses of that period to be constructed. The use of iron pots in such processes greatly accelerated the silk depolymerization process. There is no evidence that such weighting methods were planned obsolescence done by the garment industry -- it seems that it was just a fashion of thetime and the result of such treatment was apparently not understood then. Weighted silks were used in many historic flags -- especially the regimental colors used on land -- many with elaborate oil-painted designs.

Unfortunately, however, such weighting processes are very harmful to the longevity of such silk fabrics (and possible silk rigging line) and many museum displays of such historic silk artifacts, so treated at their origins, are now rapidly deteriorating and are extremely fragile -- if they have not already completely disintegrated.

Un-weighted, or un-treated, silk seems to have much greater longevity.

I would also caution against using CAAs (super glues) to fix the knots on rigging line (silk, linen, cotton, etc.) -- there are growing numbers of recent documented cases of spontaneous fracture of rigging lines on scale model ships at such CAA rigging knot bonds. Some of those failures occurred under near-ideal display conditions of the models. The exact mechanism for those spontaneous failures is presently not well understood.
{Ray Morton}

I boil my rigging as soon as I purchase or make it to remove a lot of the stiffness in it. While doing this I also dye it to the right colour I want and then hang it off a long pole in my back yard. (those living in apartments can hang it out of a window with a weight on the end of the line. Once dry, I get the fluff off of it by steadily passing the line through a candle flame. Experience denotes the rate of feed.

The rigging is installed onto the ship and over a period it will expand naturally to give a nice sag. If after six months say and the rigging has yet to sag, enough twist tension in the rope should have disappeared to enable the lines to be slackened off slightly allowing gravity to take over.

I have discovered over the years that as I build working vessels, the wind and rain do play a part on bellying sails and slackening rigging as the boat is being used in the environment it was intended (albeit for a few hours a week) and therefore slowly takes on the characteristics of it's prototype. On many of my models I am now at the point of tightening rigging as this sagging or slack rigging thing to me has become a pain in the neck.

BTW.., to get ratlines to stay sagged (and they don't need a lot of sag), roll them between your fingers before tensioning the clove hitch on the shrouds and gently pull the knot tight without twisting the line. A very minute drop of CA, cyano, super glue applied sparingly to the inboard side of the knot with a cocktail stick will secure it in place forever without cracking the shroud or ratline after a while. Too much glue - and if applied with gusto will leave a horrible mess and a shiny surface on the ropes.

In summary, the secret behind slack rigging to my mind is to boil it in soapy water first to soften the material up. I use dish washing liquid for this as it removes all the grease and wax the manufacturers put in it to make it look nice and keep together, then after a good rinse, a decent clothes conditioner in the final boil helps a great deal also. A final rinse to get the excess conditioner out and its off to the 'hanging pole' to dry it out. Just one other thing to remember. When winding it from the pole to storage bobbin, turn the bobbin to load the rope to keep the twist or lay straight as to wind the rope onto the bobbin will twist it all up again. To this end, I made a winding machine with a handle to turn the bobbin. To get the last bit of twist out of the rope when winding, I hang the rope from the pole via a fisherman's spinner which often spins violently when the bobbin winds the last bit of rope up.
{Mike Taylor}

I lucked into a good set of rigging lines: tailor's coat-button thread. This stuff is silk. It comes in skeins of thread (about 250 yards). Already waxed, but very lightly so that that the individual strands are not obliterated. Comes in a variety of colors: black, brown, white, tans, dark brown, light brown, reddish brown, etc. and a variety of useful diameters. I bought about 30 skeins of all the colors and diameters that might be useful for future modeling work at a garage sale from a tailor's widow for about $10. It is all three-strand thread, of course, albeit laid the wrong way .. but I'm not that particular. If I hadn't lucked into this find, having used it, I would pay the full price. It is still much cheaper than regular scale cordage.

I found that no one vendor can meet all needs. Model Shipways, Amati, and Bluejacket all make excellent lines. You have to be careful though, because some lines work well for one thing and not another. For example, for my whaleboat, I found some very nice, small diameter, butcher string that worked beautifully as cable laid in the boat's cable tubs. For my current project, a junk, I found some large diameter Amati line that looked really cruddy and rough-hewn -- a good approximation to Chinese bamboo cordage. I don't like some of the scale cordage, especially that made of 100% nylon or polyester. It has a very shiny surface rather than a matte finish and looks all wrong.

Embroidery thread is useful. It comes in a variety of colors and diameters. Beading thread is strong and useful for modern, braided lines. For rigging more modern ships, several diameters of scale wire-rope is essential. The best source is model airplane U-control wire. These come in a wide variety of diameters, two or three lines to a spool. But so few people fly U-control models these days that you'll have to special order it at most hobby shops. Typically stainless steel, and very shiny. But a few seconds of heating with a torch fixes that and converts it into nicely weathered black iron.

The idea is to build-up a stash of different cordage over a period of time. I always go the "sewing" section of yard sales and flea markets and buy up whatever has the slightest chance of being useful in the future. I then measure it and mark the spool with the diameter.

The trick to measuring thread diameter is to not attempt to use a micrometer or caliper directly. Take the line and make 20 or so close (touching) turns around a small diameter dowel (e.g. 1/4" to 1/2") measure that width and divide by the number of turns. Don't make it too tight lest you flatten the thread too much and over-estimate the diameter.

I keep threatening to build my own ropewalk and go into the rope business, but so far, I've managed with my garage sale stash and occasional store-bought cordage.
{Boris Beizer}

Back?