Build log · Phase 12, Upper deck guns

Gun tackles with 2.3 mm blocks

8 January 2023 · How-to

By now all the breechings are made and fitted, and I am busy with the gun tackles. The idea is to frap them this time: no coils on the deck, but the fall bound around the tackle itself. Here is the first attempt.

The first gun tackle, with the fall frapped around it instead of coiled on the deck
The first gun tackle, with the fall frapped around it instead of coiled on the deck

To show a bit of the process: the jig I use to make the gun tackles. Two wooden blocks in the vice, each with a small hook, and I stretch the tackle between them. That keeps the blocks and the rope taut while I join them together, and leaves me with both hands free.

The blocks are only 2.3 mm wide, and they are self-assembly blocks, so made from a kind of card. That makes them very delicate and a real chore to make. But with a lot of patience and after a lot of rejects it seems to be working.

The jig: two blocks in the vice with a small hook, the tackle taking shape between them
The jig: two blocks in the vice with a small hook, the tackle taking shape between them

Ten guns means a fair pile of these things still to come. For now, just grit my teeth and carry on.