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Anyone do 'Fancy Work' on their rigs?

Nocturn,

You are definitely one of those who I would consider a "Master Tinkerer". Your work is very well done and thought through at every detail. Now if I can just teach myself how to do the "fancy work" my boat will begin to look like yours. By any chance can I ship my wheel to you for a lace up?

Better yet, how about posting some photos of how you start the process. Maybe someone you know has a digital video camera and you could let us see a short clip of how its done.

I for one would love to have fancy work on by ttop grab rail. It would add a look of class to the boat.

Codfish
 
Codfish, you have mail.

Here is the "Turks Head"
http://www.folsoms.net/knots/turkshead.htm

If anyone want to try it, practice on a piece of pipe or something cylindrical. Its confusing at first but practice makes perfect.

The rest of the wheel is just a long series of half hitches going in the same direction. I cant find a single "How to" on the net for Continuous Half Hitch. Amazing.
 
nocturn said:
rudderhinge,
One thing I did do was put 2 coats of Clear Epoxy on the line before the paint. It sealed it up really nice. I did it so I wouldnt need to put 200 coats of epoxt paint. Kind of simulate years of paint on a military boat..
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I here ya, I remember all the coats of paint we had to put on the Fancy Knotwork we did on the tug to make it smoother

Q: What epoxy did you use? 5 Min, 10 Min, 30 Min, 60 MIn???
Q: Did you thin the epoxy with alcohol or acetone before painting it on?
I do a lot of fiberglass repairs on radio controlled airplane wheel pants and engine cowls with light cloth and 5 & 10 Min epoxy. Thinning the epoxy fills in the voids and smoothes out rely nice.
 
nocturn said:
Forgot to add that between the clear epoxy and the first coat of paint I took a turbo torch and a bottle of mapp gas a lightly burned the "Irish Pennants" off the line. It took the fur off and makes it easier to clean (no little nooks for dirt to hide).

"Irish Pennant" Irish Pennants are loose threads that need to be tied up or cut off.Man, I haven't heard that since Boot Camp. I had to stand a extra 4 hour fire watch in bootcamp because of a "Irish Pennant" on my watch cap.
I understand what you are saying about burning the fuss off. That should make for a better looking job.
Q: I don't have a mapp gas torch. Will propane work?
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nocturn said:
I also caulked any large gaps, prior to painting, with plain old caulk. Thats right! Not Rule, just PLAIN OLD CAULK!

Am I the fist person on this site to utter the words "used plain old caulk" ???:)

I hope I dont go to Triumphowners.com jail for telling someone to use plain old caulk.:) :) :)
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I was wondering how you got rid of the gaps between the knots. I can see how this helps fill in the gaps.
Q: Did you wipe the caulking down with a wet cloth after applying it?
 
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nocturn said:
I also caulked any large gaps, prior to painting, with plain old caulk. Thats right! Not Rule, just PLAIN OLD CAULK!

Am I the fist person on this site to utter the words "used plain old caulk" ???:)

I hope I dont go to Triumphowners.com jail for telling someone to use plain old caulk.:) :) :)
Click to expand...

GO TO JAIL, DO NOT PASS THE ELASTOMERIC! GO DIRECTLY TO JAIL, DO NOT COLLECT $200.
 
rudderhinge said:
I here ya, I remember all the coats of paint we had to put on the Fancy Knotwork we did on the tug to make it smoother

Q: What epoxy did you use? 5 Min, 10 Min, 30 Min, 60 MIn???
Q: Did you thin the epoxy with alcohol or acetone before painting it on?
I do a lot of fiberglass repairs on radio controlled airplane wheel pants and engine cowls with light cloth and 5 & 10 Min epoxy. Thinning the epoxy fills in the voids and smoothes out rely nice.
Click to expand...

I used some left over West System 105 Epoxy and West System 207 Hardener. Pot time is 20 minutes, Work time is 60 minutes, and dry time was 12-18 hours. Its a pretty expensive Epoxy kit. It wont crack in UV's and outdoor applications. Good stuff but pricey.

You could probably use a 60 minute to dry epoxy.

First coat was just to seal the line to the stainless. Second coat was to smooth the line. The second coat is the most crutial so I would go for a longer set time. It will give you time to knock the drips off the back of the helm.

I didnt use any thinners.
 
rudderhinge said:
I was wondering how you got rid of the gaps between the knots. I can see how this helps fill in the gaps.
Q: Did you wipe the caulking down with a wet cloth after applying it?
Click to expand...


I caulked between the 2nd and third coat of paint. ( I was inncorrect in a previous post where I said it was between the epoxy and paint) Because of the epoxy and 2 coats of paint, 99% of all the gaps, pinholes and whatnot were sealed.

The only place I needed caulk was on the outside of the helm because of the different diameter from the inside of the helm. I can get the hitches super tight on the inside of the wheel but because of simple geometry, I cant get them tight on the outside. So a little filler was necessary.

I used the old wet finger method for caulk smoothing. :)
 
nocturn, I have been practicing on a shop broom stick and the fancy work is looking better and better every time I do it. The turks heads where a little tricky at the begining but after about five of them things started to click. The half hitches where no problem and they look good on the stick. I still haven't dressed the ends on a practice piece of work but I don't think that will be a problem. I use a lot of instant CA glues on my rc airplanes and I think it will work well on the cord/string ends. Its dries clear and holds for ever.
I also tried to find some info about Fancy Knotwork on the internet but could not find anything other than decorative knots. Found some pictures of some nice fancy work but on info with them. You would think that someone would have wrote a book or something about Fancy Knotwork.
Seems that you have sparked a lot of interest on the site. Also this goes along perfectly with my boats name "TIE ONE ON". Thanks again, Bob
 
That's great Bob. I'm glad things are looking good on the trial runs.

Its going to get difficult when you start to go around the actual wheel. The wheel being a closed (spokes) circumference.

Since you will be putting knots in the same direction, you will get to a point where you'll have to "flip" the wheel and do the hitches upside down. Its the point when the actual hitch starts to head towards the inside of the wheel. At that point, you'll have to flip the helm over and do em' backwards until the knot makes it back over to the top of the wheel. It gets REALLY tricky!

What I did to help with all the excess line while making the hitches was to wrap a Carpenters pencil with about 15' of line and add a rubber band to keep tension on the pencil/line. It keeps the line taught while you tie the hitch yet keeps it loose enough that you can pay it off the pencil. It worked well and kept the line from getting (another nautical term) "too many a**holes" in it. LOL. :)
 
I sent Codfish a PM with some pointers. I'll cut and copy it here for anyone else giving this a try:

nocturn said:
(Concerning Termination of the Turks Head)


"Well, if you recall from the thread, I soaked the line in a combo of hot water and dish soap like Palmolive.
Give the rope about 10 minutes in the mixture. Squeeze the excess water out of the line and apply the line immediately to the wheel keeping it damp while you're working it. Don't let it dry out.

The trick when you are done with the turks head is to tuck both bitter ends into the head. Don't tie them in a knot. Make sure the turks head loops are *tight*. I use a scribe tool to assist in tightening and tucking.

The knot will get super tight when the water evaporates making it unnecessary to tie a 'end knot'. And when its all said and done, the epoxy cements everything into place.

Just before I'm ready to pour the epoxy over the wheel, I turn all the Turks Heads so the area where the 2 bitter ends meet is facing away from the front of the wheel. Towards the console, if the wheel was mounted. That's what gives you a nice clean, bump/blemish free knot.

One other thing, when you start the series of hitches, make about 5 or 6 turns around the wheel with no hitches. Put a piece of masking tape over the turns then start the hitches. That 5-6 hitch free turns will be under the Turks Heads. It gives you a nice flat base for them. Be sure you do the same at the end of the hitches.

Also, pay particular attention to where you start the hitch series. If you look at my pics, You'll notice all 5 of the runs of hitches start and end at the same point. If you don't keep track, the hitches will have no continuity over the whole wheel.

There's a lot going on with this. Take your time and have a cold beer. "

Randy
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Does anyone want me to do a quick series of "Step by Step" photos/narritive on the "Hitch and Turks Head" process????

I think I'm going to do a couple runs of hitches and turks heads on my swim ladder today because of the crappy weather. If you all want, I'll take some pictures of the process and where to place what. It should be pretty easy because its a open lash unlike a steering wheel that has spokes that interups the hitches.

Let me know and I'll try to have it up later today.
 
Go for it Nocturn. That will greatly assist us visual types. I plan on buying some line today and getting started as soon as I have time.

Codfish
 
Will do Codfish.

And remember...The cold Beer is Essential in this process! Just remember, the beer or beers will make unacceptable work acceptable so wait until the next morning before applying epoxy. :)
 
nocturn said:
Will do Codfish.

And remember...The cold Beer is Essential in this process! Just remember, the beer or beers will make unacceptable work acceptable so wait until the next morning before applying epoxy. :)
Click to expand...

Is there a speed limit on the beer. What will go the fastest, The beer or the knots. They do make things look better though, just ask my wife.:D
The carpenters pencil trick sounds good. I always hated it when my ropes had got to many ***holes in them. They are hard to work around.
 
DeerHunter said:
Here is a url that someone (not sure who) posted last year on knot tying. I've used it several times. Hope it helps.

http://www.animatedknots.com/
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Cool site but a lot of "loose" information in the animation.

In his animation for a turks head he goes from this:
turksheadR10.jpg


to this:
turksheadR11.jpg


to this:
turksheadR12.jpg


I know how to tie the knot and that animation confused the heck out of me...LOL!
 
Alright guys. I did it and photographed everything I could. I started to make a "how to" but found out there was a "Dogfights" Marathon on History Channel.....sorry....gotta go!!!!
 
I did develop one question. Is the turks head knot separate from the half hitches or done as one continuous piece.
 
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