Leathering for Rigging

Marlinespike Seamanship Sa evr,
By Ted Walsh aa
Leathering for Rigging Ames
Any place that you have a bight of standing rigging that Caran ee naa og
is looped over a masthead, gaff, or boom, there is potential for
compression on the outer surface and/or chafe on the spar, as well
as on the service of the standing rigging. Good yearly treatment Take a nail, or awl, and punch holes everywhere you
with “blacking”* for the service will help maintain the condition have made your marks (I prefer a long finish-nail and a hammer
of the service on standing rigging, but it will do nothing to protect _ to do this).
the spar from compression as tension caused by the working of You are now ready to stitch the leather onto the bight.
the rig comes onto the spar. For a large bight, hang the bight you are going to work
The typical solution to this problem is to cover the on at about head height from a branch or rafter. A smaller bight
t service with leather. The leather spreads the load slightly over _ can be put in a vice or clamped to a table.
both the spar and the service on the rigging and acts as a chafe Place the leather where you want it to go on the bight
guard to protect varnish or paint on a spar. with the seam facing the outside of the bight. You may want to
use a couple of pieces of blue painters tape to hold the leather
roughly in place as you get started.
Blue painter’s bean aA ears
ce YX Start here
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You will need leather, line to stitch with, two sail makers gS / :
needles (#14 or #16), some blue painters tape and I recommend a Pe /
pair of surgical clamps (hemostats or needle drivers). if —<_ Say, For leather, I recommend 3 02, or 4 oz upholstery leather , a a ra (you can use sail makers leather, but it will stretch a lot more and — not last as long). Upholstery leather is usually sold in “hide” sections, a quarter hide should be enough to last you for a while. . To apply leather to a bight with service, follow these ihe suteh) used steps: to attach the leather is a First measure the diameter of the wire and service to be _T0ss-stitch,or “baseball” | covered. A good trick is to cut a scrap of leather and wrap it _ Stitch. around the piece to be leathered. Cut a length of Next, cut a strip of leather the length of the section to be line (I find that two leathered and slightly less wide than the diameter you have fathoms is the greatest measured (you want to leave room for the leather to stretch while length I can work with stitching). without getting a tangled of ) Now tack the strip down to a piece of scrap wood so that mess). I recommend 451b | . it is stretched tight and smooth, but not so tight that it is distorted. braided nylon squidding . I] Measure 14” in from each side of the leather and mark the length _ line for the stitching. ! at 4” intervals. Thread a needle on both ends of the line, and then pass one end though two opposing ————— holes in the leather, now SEERA SREP EEE nets alternate stitches as you SSS — would if you were HA replacing shoelaces in a shoe. Snug everything down every few stitches. -5- A couple of tips: one is that if you have a long piece to leather and you want to be sure that the finished piece sits = symmetrically on the bight, start the stitching in the middle of the —oe leather, work down one side and then go back to the middle and aN work down the other. You don’t need to do this with a smaller bight. La Another tip is, that if you can get a couple of surgical
make yourself finger guards for the joints of your index and aa
smallest finger (you might want one for your thumb too— see
how it goes). Just make up tubes of the same leather that fit
snugly over the fingers mentioned. You will be able to snug the / |
line down tightly without damaging your hands and you won’t /
lose any dexterity. You can wear sailing gloves instead, but the
finger guards will give you more dexterity and your hands will get
less tired. By
Leathering will extend the life of your service and the 4 el
paint and varnish on your yards, especially if you rub it down 7] with saddle soap at the start and end of each season. Having said y
that, remember also that all leathering is temporary. You need to yf
be comfortable cutting it away and replacing it from time to time “4
(In New England every three to four years) otherwise it will , 7
simply cover problems that may be developing in the service or in y
the standing rigging itself. WY
Material sources: y
For leather: “4
Leather Unlimited www.leatherunltd.com
If you are on a budget they sometimes have 31b bags of upholstery
‘scraps at a very reasonable price, you just wont be able to choose colors.
For needles and line: S
Hamilton Marine www.hamiltonmarine.com, West Marine www.
westmarine.com, Jamestown Distributors, www.jamestowndistributors.com.
* For a “blacking recipe go to www.dovetails. wordpress.com and 7
click on FSS Newsletters in the right hand column, look for the article on Boat
Goop