Mast Hoops

[Gwyl Blaser]

I have seen many SIB's that have mast hoops.  Some of them are done really well.  For those who have made mast hoops, what did you use?  How did you make them?

 

Gwyl

[Alex Bellinger]

Hi Gwyl,

I have tried two ideas. On older and smaller models I tied a rolling hitch along the mast with the hitch line making a seam along the aft side of the mast, where the sail would join it and, to some degree, cover it. More recently, and for larger models, I've lightly hammered copper wire to flatten it a little, wound it around an armature of appropriate diameter and cut the hoops out of the coil with small nail scissors. Here are photos of both ideas, both of models of the fishing schooner Ingomar. I wonder if my "advanced" idea is really much of an improvement. The first model is 25 years old, with a plumber's putty sea, and the larger, 5 liter model is about 10 years ago

[Chasseur]

She looks good to me Alex.

Jeff ⚓️

[John Fox III]

Greetings All,

 

I usually make my mast hoops from thin, brown paper, the sort of really thin paper greetings cards are usually put in when you purchase them. I cut a 1"-1.5" wide strip about two inches long. I then find a drill bit of the proper diameter for the inside of my mast hoops. I wrap the paper tightly around the drill bit shank, then open it up/unwrap it until there is just a single wrap around the shank. Not easy, but it can be done. I then use a piece of wire to apply cyano glue to the paper beyond that first wrap, and wrap that stretch to the first wrap, then repeat the process until I have the proper thickness for my mast hoops. I then saturate the entire outside of the paper with cyano glue, remove it from the drill shank and coat as much of the inside of the tube as I can, from each end.

 

I then normally make up a wooden dowel that just fits into the paper tube, sometimes I twist the drill bit through to clean up any glue blobs from the earlier step. I sue a single-edged razor blade and a rotating motion to cut off thin slices of the paper tube, forming my mast hoops. I started out cutting right on the drill shank, but it wrecked the blade too often, using a hard wood allows the blade to cut cleanly through the paper, without damaging the blade. Only downside is that as that portion of the dowel gets cut up by cutting hoops, it can no longer be used to repeat the process.

 

As each hoop comes off I check for proper thickness, and make sure that both the outer and inner layers of paper are well glued. If I start to detect separation inside, I repeat the inside gluing as often as needed as I work down the length of the paper tube.

 

Oddly enough, I could only find a single photo taken of my process, early one using the drill shank to cut on.

 

 

Anchor's A Weigh!

John Fox III

Ladysmith, WI

[Gwyl Blaser]

Alex and John,  Those are excellent ideas/methods.  I am going to try them as I can see that each might have a specific application.  BTW, both methods look outstanding! Thanks

 

Gwyl

[Bottleneck Treasures]

In the past when I have made mast hoops I usually soak the wood in water for 3 to 4 days and then form by wrapping the wood around a jig which is the same diamater of the mast. Using masking tape to secure the wood around the jig till dry (about a day). After drying time has elapsed carefully remove the tape to expose the hoop and remove from jig.

[exwafoo]

Hi John,

 

I saw you use this technique on your superb CDs that I purchased a couple of years ago. A quick question - why does the CA glue not adhere to the drill shank?

 

Nice to be able to get even more tips.

 

Best regards

 

Alan

[John Fox III]

Hi John,

 

I saw you use this technique on your superb CDs that I purchased a couple of years ago. A quick question - why does the CA glue not adhere to the drill shank?

 

Nice to be able to get even more tips.

 

Best regards

 

Alan

Greetings Alan,

 

What I do is wrap the thin brown paper as tightly around the drill bit shank first. I then unwrap it, until there is just one layer over the shank, then start applying cyano glue for a bit, then wrap and repeat until I get the thickness I want. After wrapping and covering the outside with glue, I slide the paper tube off of the drill shank and apply cyano glue to the inside of the tube as far in as I can reach and get reasonable coverage. As I cut off mast hoops, I start to see unraveling of the interior wrap and then repeat the inside gluing job again, and repeat as needed.

 

Hope that helps explain it better.

 

Anchor's A Weigh!

John Fox III

Ladysmith, WI

[exwafoo]

Hi John,

 

Thanks for replying. Much appreciated. A very nice clarification - I was thinking that the paper was soaked in CA glue and couldn't see how it didn't adhere to the shank. I think I'll try this when I start on the rebuild of the brigantine I shipwrecked a while ago when putting it in the bottle. The nights are drawing in, so less gardening and more indoor activity.

 

Thanks again.

 

Alan

[John Fox III]

Greetings Alan,

 

It does take a bit of practice to get the gluing just right, too much at any point and it will stick to the drill bit shank. Fortunately, the paper is cheap as is the glue! <Grin> If one applies too much glue to the inside, it will no longer fit over the drill shank, or a wooden dowel of the same size. I just use the drill to carefully "core" it out by spinning it slowly with my fingers through the opening in the tube.

 

Anchor's A Weigh!

John Fox III

Ladysmith, WI