blocks on genny track

[Tom Javor]

Anyone have information on what material and style blocks would have been on the genoa track cars for the 1964 Sailmaster 22D?

Boat did not come with any and the prior owner states he just "ran the ropes through the round parts on the slide things".......

I can go out and buy Schaefer blocks for relatively reasonable price but I would rather spend more money on what should be there than end up with an inappropriate modern piece that will need replacement.

Mainsheet blocks are both ash so I'm guessing that's what may have been on the cars - can anyone reccomend a reliable source? I've only come up with ones from Davey and the price seems out of line. Have already checked at Wickford Consignment -will head over to the Newport and Middletown ones in the next few days.

[Rachel]

I'm not sure what would have been original on your boat, but you might consider Tufnol™ (phenolic*) blocks. I think they would be appropriate for the era and could conceivably have been used originally. I've seen them on DeVries-Lentsch boats (although I don't know they were original). They seem to pretty much shrug off wear and weather, at least compared to varnished wooden blocks (not that they're in the same category, aesthetically).

The Wooden Boat Chandlery in Port Townsend, WA, carries the Tufnol blocks (and wooden ones as well). The block in the left foreground looks like a Tufnol one to me. You can't really see it here, but the fabric-grain-ness seems to be more apparent in person.



http://shop.woodenboat.org/

Rachel
*I decided I'd better look up phenolic, as although it was the more generic word that popped into my head when I was thinking of Tufnol, I wasn't sure exactly what it meant. Here's one definition I found, which did fit with my mental image of it.

Phenolic sheet is a hard, dense material made by applying heat and pressure to layers of paper or glass cloth impregnated with synthetic resin. These layers of laminations are usually of cellulose paper, cotton fabrics, synthetic yarn fabrics, glass fabrics or unwoven fabrics. When heat and pressure are applied to the layers, a chemical reaction (polymerization) transforms the layers into a high-pressure thermosetting industrial laminated plastic.

[Oscar]

. They seem to pretty much shrug off wear and weather

Maintenance free. They were the thing to have in the 60's/70's on the boats I grew up with.

[One Way David]

That's what the sheaves on the Schafer blocks on my Ensign are made of! And to think I was going to replace everything with Harken :-(
Thanks Tom, Rachel, Oscar.

[Oscar]

Someone pointed out that salt is not as friendly as fresh water to them.....although I do not recall any issues with occasional salt exposure.

[Tom Javor]

I looked at the Wooden Boat Chandlery site and then back at the Davey and Co one - this led me to their east coast distributor; RW Warehouse in New Bedford, Ma. Spent a few minutes on the phone with RW's traditional rigging department, sounds as if they have what I need. Haven't done business with them yet but based on helpfulness on the phone, knowledge of the field, etc I would give them a reccomendation as a good source. Can't be all bad, he knew what a Sailmaster is and owns an Alberg30.

[Rachel]

What type of blocks did you decide to go with, in the end?

Good to know someone who is/has patronized RW, as I've seen their ads but that's all. I'll be interested to hear how the experience goes.

Rachel

[Tom Javor]

They have two options; the tufnol ($35 +/-) and ash (120 +/-). I prefer the look of the ash, plus that's what's on the mainsheet rig. However the deadeyes, cams etc are all the tufnol. Either would becorrect but the ash comes in a stand up option, the tufnol doesn't. I don't have lifelines or stanchions, so no way to hold them up unless I can retrofit a SS spring. If they are constantly flopping on the deck I fear a problem keeping the blocks looking decent and an issue with the decks once refinished (and my feet....). It's going to depend on what looks right when I get to the shop. Would like to take a car off the track to bring along but I'm not willing to undo fasteners in the track and risk water issues.

Unfortunately RW Warehouse is strictly 9 -5, Mon - Fri so I have to wait few days. For the other other traditionalists in the bunch - they also carry spun dacron 3 strand line as well as some polypropylene substitutes for hemp. Should be an interesting trip.

This afternoon I'm trying to round up enough clamps to epoxy the seam in the boom. When I reglued the mast to the S I used giant SS hoseclamps which worked fine - the spars are round. The Sailmaster boom is rectangular in section (only some of the Weekendrs had the round) so the hoseclamps don't draw properly. I've tied them with blocking too but still no luck. Turns out there is at least 5 foot of seam to deal with (more may well open once I start injecting epoxy in place) so I need a number of clamps. Don;t want to get into the middle of it all and not have the right/enough tools at hand.

[Oscar]

If they are constantly flopping on the deck I fear a problem keeping the blocks looking decent and an issue with the decks once refinished

Oh yes, a jib flogging itself, the sheet and the block at max panic as you scurry to take it down in a hastily freshening breeze (say a nice August afternoon TRW) will wreak havoc in VERY short time.

[dee]

Tom, the previous owner of my sailmaster had replaced the jib / genny blocks with snatch blocks. In fact almost every block on the boat has been replaced. None of it matches and consist of all brands.

The red laminated tackle I believe was original on some Sailmaster / Seafarer 22's as many others. One old fellow who has owned several of these boats told me the material went by several names depending on who made the resins and material stacks the blanks from which the parts are machined from.

The rear most pair of keel studs on the 22 ( about 5" or so from the stern of the ballast keel), come up into the hull where the joint between ballast and hull is at an angle. Wedges were made of the red laminate to slip over the studs so that the backing plates for the nuts would have a base to rest on that was 90 degrees to the studs. In removing the ballast keel for rebedding I destroyed these wedges while trying to get the ballast keel off. I took a piece around to all the boat shops to locate some and everyone had seen the stuff before, but no one could remember the name of the stuff or knew where to get it. In the end I made new wedges out of green glass which worked great and I think is a better material for that job.

Micarta. Search that name and discover it's wonders.

dee

[Rachel]

I've heard it referred to as Garolite, and after reading the blurb below, I see that it's because I've been around people who order from McMaster-Carr. They say that Micarta was a Westinghouse trade-name for their early phenolics.

From Professional Plastics:

Garolite Phenolics
Garolite (phenolic laminate materials) are available in Sheets, Rods and Tubes.
Phenolic resin, dating back to 1909, is the earliest mass produced synthesized plastic polymer. Phenolics are the predecessor to modern plastics yet remain useful to this day. Micarta was the Westinghouse trade name for their early phenolic composites, now part of Norplex; Garolite is the McMaster-Carr tradename equivalent. It is important to note that McMaster Carr does not manufacture Garolite phenolic materials, they commercially use the Garolite tradename for the distribution of phenolic materials as listed below. Professional Plastics is a bulk distributor and processor of phenolic materials as produced by Norplex and other manufacturers.

http://www.professionalplastics.com/GAROLITE

[Hirilondë]

Micarta was Westinghouse's trade name for their plastic laminate (Formica).

[One Way David]

A suggestion for the "clamps. Spiral cut a inner tube into a long piece of rubber and wrap the pieces under tension. Cheap-free. Dave.