Page 180 - The Complete Rigger’s Apprentice

Who Makes It Officially speaking, all wire sold blocks might be rope-stropped but will definitely be
in the United States must meet federally established of wood, and chainplates will be hefty, maybe bent
standards, notably for breaking strength. These are outward to clear a high bulwark rail.
minimum standards—you meet them, you can sell On the other hand, you might have opted for
your wire. In the past, it was my experience that rod rigging and gee-whiz cordage that stretches half
reputable domestic manufacturers made a wire that an inch in a mile of length. Your attendant gear will
was stronger and longer-lived than the imported almost certainly include superlight, super strong
stuff. Production standards had something to do plastic-and-alloy blocks, a multitude of two- or
with this, as did America’s “no minus tolerance” three-speed winches, streamlined upper terminals,
requirement for domestically produced wire. That and chainplates coming out of the deck frighten-
is, while importers can sell a wire that is, say, 9 mil- ingly far inboard for close headsail sheeting.
limeters, plus 4 percent or minus 1 percent, domes- No matter what design choices you make, some
3
3
tic corresponding ⁄8 -inch size must be ⁄8 inch and things won’t change. Tangs and chainplates, for
no smaller, but it can be up to 5 percent larger. I instance, should have a breaking strength at least
think of this standard as a federally provided fac- 33 percent greater than the wire that makes up to
tor of safety. But times change. The best U.S. wire them (see sidebars “Tangs” and “Chainplates”),
manufactures, like MacWhyte and Carolina, long since they must resist fatigue and corrosion far lon-
ago went out of business, and the few that are left ger than the relatively short-lived standing rigging.
do not, in my experience, seem interested in turning Bolts must be sized to match the gear they
out the best possible product. Which brings us to hold, whether it’s tangs, chainplates, cleats, or the
Korea. Some of the worst wire you can buy comes binnacle.
from Korea. So does some of the best, and at good When attaching to wood, concentrate on
prices. The wire my shop uses comes from Korea. spreading the load to as many fibers as possible; use
We get regular metallurgy and destruction test compression sleeves, finger tangs, and multiple fas-
results on this wire, and we’ve been very happy with teners.
it. No matter where you get your wire, I recommend When attaching to aluminum, drill for bolts
getting similar data on it, as well as making a visual and tap for machine screws whenever possible.
inspection to make sure that all of the yarns are laid Avoid pop rivets, using them only when the metal is
in smoothly. If possible, get break test numbers for too thin for machine screws, and then use stainless
the specific run that your wire is coming from. In rivets instead of aluminum ones, unless the load is
other words, regardless of whom you buy your wire truly trivial. And always coat any fastener with sil-
from, learn all you can about it beforehand from icone, anhydrous lanolin (see the “Favorite Goops”
manufacturers’ reps, riggers, and sailors who’ve had sidebar in the next chapter), or other goo before
experience with it, good and bad. putting it into any metal.
Leads must be fair on any boat, to maximize
strength and to limit fatigue. Make sure those tangs
MAST HARDWARE and chainplates, for instance, are pointing directly
at each other.
With running rigging (Chapter 2) and standing rig- Regardless of your preferences, it is important to
ging settled, we now have a clear idea of what the follow through your design decisions. Don’t put mod-
boat’s character, and thus mechanical details, will ern gear on a traditional boat, or vice versa, unless
be. If the standing rigging is fully served galvanized you have excellent reasons for doing so; aesthetics
wire spliced around deadeyes, and the running rig- as well as structural qualities might clash. A good
ging is Roblon, it follows that you’ll set soft eyes example is soft eyes for shrouds—a strong, simple,
around the mast rather than installing tangs. Your economical alternative to tangs for many traditional

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