Rope Fender, the making of

[Andre van der Salm]

Hello all,


Next to my chest becket project I am also making a rope fender in the traditional way. Pictures of what I have done so far can be viewed in this album.

http://picasaweb.google.com/avdsalm1/RopeFenderTheMakingOf#

When finished I hope to make all the pictures into a tutorial for publication on the net.

Have fun

Andre

[squarerigger]

Hello Andre,

Really cool photographs and you will undoubtedly make a very "traditional" looking fender - just thought I would ask about the "traditional" use of plastic tape for making a fender??  Seriously, it is a good way of making the fender by keeping the core all together during manufacture and I applaud your sense of what an old salt might use today, but I suspect that some plain old canvas might have been the old way of making it, marled in place.  Have you thought about using a more substantial core of, say, chain to allow the re-covering of the fender when it wears out?  That way you are not relying on the suspension being worn out before the fender is - or maybe you want it that way so that a new fender is called for?  Either way - you have done us a great favor by adding these photographs to the site.  Thank you!   

SR

[skyout]

Great job, again. It's so cool that you post these for us even before the projects are finished. It's like you're giving us a chance to "catch up" with you! lol Looking forward to seeing the completed tutorials and I really hope you go into detail about the size and kind of each line used. One other thing that would be nice if you could do it is access to larger pics of your works. I just keep clicking and they stay the same size. lol These old eyes are getting worse. Thanks again!

[skyout]

OK, even though it says I'm a full member I still feel like a noobie and am unsure at times what to post. That being said I wanted to share an unrelated (I think it's called being off topic) joke that I thought of after my last post about "eyesight". It did say anything goes in Chit Chat, right??? If anyone is offended, I apologize and will delete the post or the mods can do so.

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70-year old George went for his annual physical. All of his tests came back with normal results. Dr. Smith said, "George, everything looks great physically. How are you doing mentally and emotionally? Are you at peace with yourself, and do you have a good relationship with God?"

George replied, "God and me are tight. He knows I have poor eyesight, so he's fixed it so that when I get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom *poof* the light goes on, when I'm done *poof* the light goes off."

"Wow!" commented Dr. Smith, "That's incredible!"

A little later in the day Dr. Smith called George's wife.

"Ethel," he said, "George is doing fine. Physically he's great. But, I had to call because I'm in awe of his relationship with God. Is it true that he gets up during the night and *poof* the light goes on in the bathroom, and then when he is through *poof* the light goes off?"

Ethel exclaimed, "Oh, my God! He's peeing in the refrigerator again!"

[Andre van der Salm]

Lindsey,

Yes the use of tape is a bit doubtful when talking about a traditional way of making a fender. But my excuse is that is is much quicker to use than canvas would be and also a lot cheaper. It also has the advantage of making the fender more or less waterproof so it won't get too heavy when becoming wet. (btw I like to use my canvas to make ditty bags with instead of burying it under a layer of half hitches ;-)  )

I really didn't think of using chain for a core. My thought on this was that the piece of hawser I used would be strong enough (it's synthetic material) to last a lifetime, but I think you have a point here.

Thanks for commenting

Cheers
Andre

[Takler]

Your post and especially very interesting link was very, very helpful.

Some details are lightied.

I have been asked for make a fender few months ago. The traditional fender should be done around an air-pump fender.
Now the work is in progress.

You may see the picture . . .

BTW: my fid works excellent 

Many thanks for help and advice

brgds

Marcin

[sledge]

Fantastic photo's. Looks as though I have found my next project. Thanks

[skyout]

Here a pic of some I took while on vacation in Mystic Seaport that are pretty cool. Enjoy.

[skyout]

Here's one I just found here. http://www.splinterfleet.org/sfphotos.php

[skyout]

Look how relaxed the unlayed strands in the "Making a Fender aboard a Subchaser" pic is compared to the ones from Mystic Seaport Museum. Do you think he soaked them in salt water first or how is the best way to do that? I remember reading about this somewhere but can't remember where ... TIA