Deadeyes: 1. Ancient Roman; 2. 9-10th century Viking;
3. 11-13th century; 4. 12-15th century; 5. 12-15th century; 6. 15-16th century; 7. First half of 17th century; 8. After mid-17th century.
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Block strops
Almost all blocks were stropped, i.e. they were bound in a spliced loop of rope, which formed an eye above the block by which it was fixed.
If the standing end of a tackle started at a block, then either the block was fitted with a second strop eye, or the standing end was eye spliced round the strop. Heavily loaded blocks were fitted with double strops.
The strops are impossible to splice neatly, owing to their small size, so the best method is to lay the rope loop out so that its ends are twisted into each other slightly, and then glue the ends together. The glued area is then carefully situated so that it is concealed by the seizing. If the strop is served, be sure to do this before binding the block. After placing the block ifithe loop, the excess is bound together with a seizing to form an eye.
Deadeyes
All shrouds, and some backstays and stays, were set up, or tensioned, by means of deadeyes. In ancient times the deadeyes were longish in shape, and looked very similar to hearts. In the Middle Ages they were of similar shape, with an opening at the top for the shroud, and three holes at the bottom for the tackle lanyard. In the 15th century the deadeyes were triangular and rather flat, and the shroud was laid in a groove called the score round the deadeye. From the middle of the 17th century on round deadeyes came into use; they were also more curved in profile.
The diameter of the deadeyes was half as great as that of the masts to which they belonged, and sometimes slightly larger. Triangular deadeyes are made in a similar fashion to blocks. Grooves are cut in a triangular sectioned wood strip, using a circular saw, and then filed out slightly. The deadeyes are then cut off and hand sanded to final shape.
Round deadeyes can be made from round dowel, using a similar method, although the use of a lathe makes the job much easier . If this machine is not available, your first recourse should be to the model shop for suitable items. The holes in the deadeyes are best drilled using a jig. The method of turning in the shrouds in the deadeyes is described in detail in the section SHROUDS
Hearts have been in use since the Middle Ages, if not since ancient times, if you include the earliest form of deadeye. From the late 17th century on they enjoyed increasing popularity. Until the early 19th century the hearts were heart-shaped, but thereafter mostly round. Their diameter corresponded to that of deadeyes. Hearts have a large opening in the middle, and usually 4 grooves to guide the lanyard; from the end of the 18th century hearts began to appear with 6 or
7 grooves to take the same number of lanyard turns. The hearts were stropped in a similar manner to the deadeyes.
In some cases fiddle blocks were used instead of double blocks. Alternatively two single blocks were stropped together, one larger and one smaller, and one above the other. The running part always ran first through the smaller, then through the larger block.
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