Coffee bags from Duncan Doughnuts "Box O Joe" also work well.
T think Chis meant T nuts not well nuts.
I wouldn't trust the neoprene things.
I have been pretty happy with 3/16 pins or shoulder bolts( if you can find them) for spreader attachment.
The hounds can be a 1/4" stud between two marine eyes with nylocks on the outside.
Or you can use aircraft eves and drill and tap them for 1/4 28 thread and wind them on directly.
In any event you want the clear threads all the way through the spar. The nutted solution is slightly stronger because the shrouds themselves are not hanging on a tread.
Van Dusen puts some patching in the hounds area, but you probably want to add some more.
I like T terminals, but have concerns about how they hang in the mast. I want all the wires to land at more or less the same height, but don't want that many holes in one place. I've also had both good and bad results with the conventional installation, so I do something differently
IC hounds detail.jpg 148.51K
29 downloads
The backing plates are tacked to a tube the same diameter as the mast. A laminate is packed over the top. This sleeve is released, trimmed sanded and then bonded to the mast. The holes for the t terminals is then cleaned out. As you can see I am not consistent about whether or not to rivet. This maximizes the bearing area of the backing plate, adds laminate around the holes and is easier to do than carefully cutting the holes, and pulling the T terminals into place.
Rod rigging is an art project, I do it because I have the rod and the rest of the stuff. It isn't really necessary. I would probably just use 1/19 if I didn't have a ton of the stuff left over from C Cats.
SHC
13
