MorganTyre

The palms on that website are (I believe) WM smith which can be bought in the US through a company called Bainbridge which any sail loft is likely to deal with. The wooden fids are a quick and easy project on a lathe - just find a nice wood you're happy with. Lignum Vitae is ideal but not necessary. The mallet I was talking about before and most other mallets as well as serving boards and mallets and seam rubbers also fall into the easy carving or turning category. Caulking irons make good first blacksmithing projects. A rigging knife similiar to the one on that website can be made by grinding down an old file. The nice thing about some of the old maritime tools is their simplicity of design - the dual advantage of which being both their easy of construction and their flexibility of use. It's these features that brought up my original question - seeing as they are as simple as simple can be and were put in the hands of people who had a TON of time on their hands - working in an industry that even by the GAoP had more than a thousand years of evolution I'm wondering just how far back most of the tools mentioned go.

Thanks for the prompt reply. I'm not looking for a "regulation" mallet though it would be neat if such info still (if ever) existed. However, today's caulking mallet is a highly specialized tool with an extra-long head (the one pictured below is has a longer head than handle) of dense heavy wood (lignum vitae for british, live oak or black mesquite here in america) that has been slotted to provide a spring like action to help recoil the mallet and reduce effort on the wrist. The hole is banded with tool steel to add weight and hold the whole together. In fact, as mallets go they are rather hefty as driving caulk can be fairly heavy work - much more so than one would think. However, with their thin - long head and short handle one has almost infinite variation in power being delivered to the iron simply by choking way up on the grip. My main question is how far does this go back? I know the design dates from at least the late 18th century but how much further back? I'm having to make one regardless and if all it takes to make it more GAoP acceptable is change the design slightly I'll gladly do it. If the basic design as it currently stands is completely out of period I'll just make a "modern" (read 19th century) mallet for my caulking needs and leave it good and seperate from my pirate gear next to my aluminum fids and nylon marline.

This is a little late for GAoP but it does fit in with the hand-tool thread (though back to maritime tools)... Navigational instruments, ship details and rig details, etc. are easy to find histories on but the actual tools of the trade such as the palm, the steel sail needle (with triangular cross section), the caulking mallet, steel marlinspike, wooden fid, and the like are damned hard to find references to. Does anyone know at what point the "modern" caulking mallet became the standard tool for that job? I'm always adding to my collection of tools and am currently considering making a caulking mallet - a tool I actually have a need for at the moment. Does anyone have any general dimensions or descriptions? Also, does this tool date back far enough to include in my kit or should it be confined to my toolbox?

One thing that has certainly changed from GAoP to the 1760's is the rig of the boat. I should have some details from that general era at home somewhere I'll see if I can't find it and post.

Try posting in your local yacht club. Also, if your just looking to learn see if there is any local club racing going on and see if you can hop on one of those boats. Depending on where you are in the world there may be a large fleet somewhere near you. Most (but not all) cruisers want to bring someone with some experience but racers frequently just need another body on board for weight. Once you get on make it clear that you are interested in knowing more and soon you'll be learning all you can stand. While sailing schools are nice (especially if you are looking for more traditional sailing) they are generally out of reach if you have little to no money. However, club racing can generally be done for free and in my mind is a better learning environment than what a school can provide as the ratio of teachers to students isn't 1:20 but more like 5:1 and you can see the direct cause and effect of every action as it relates not only to your own boat and crew but also how it makes the boat respond vs other similar boats. Also, the focus and specialization that having one job to learn at a time (sail trim, helm, foredeck, etc.) rather than trying them all out at once will teach you how that job effects each other position in turn - if you are making another crew member's life difficult they will let you know.

I also don't believe the sail myth but for a different reason. Why destroy goods to get from point A to point B? If all you need to do is descend quickly slide down a halyard. That said, remember that it's modern american's that generally weigh over 150lb's but people of the time were a little smaller, much more undernourished, and much much more physically fit and climbing is a professional sailor's element. There is a japanese obstacle course game show where a commercial fisherman managed to get much further than nearly anyone else (including professional gymnasts) for exactly these reasons. So yes, I don't believe the sail cutting myth, but no I don't think the physicality of it rules it out.

I know there was a lively discussion of the whole eye-patch issue in another thread. Last night they were advertising the pirate mythbuster for next wednesday. From their site: Episode 71: Pirate Special Arggghhh, me hearties! Jamie and Adam plundered the seven seas in search of pirate parables and maritime myths. The result? This 2-hour spectacular episode! And, with four stories of hijinks on the high seas the action is thick and fast. Playing with more firearms, the guys try to figure out how deadly cannonballs really are versus the splinters sprayed from a mighty broadside blast. Kari, Grant and Tory on the port side decode the mysteries of the ol' pirate eye patch: why would a pirate wear a patch over a perfectly good eye? And if that isn't enough, the gang tops of the show with rum, knives and sails ... whaat? This one's for the books! Premiere: Jan. 17, 2006

I think Foxe is looking for evidence that that is actually a period myth. There is question (or seems to be, this isn't my area) as to whether pirates actually wore earrings or whether this is just an image from popular fiction.

I just took a closer look at your palms. It looks like both are seaming palms. Is this correct? What are your thoughts on a roping palm? I have a couple of seaming palms but am wanting a roping one as the backside of my right thumb is typically cut or bruised from continuously heaving threads home.

What's your source on those larger roping needles? The tin is a very practical solution for the needles but I have to say, I'm surprised you don't have a traditional needle case for those. That being said, I don't either.

Forgot to mention in my previous post - very cool collection. I'm jealous!

Though not period, I thought a comparison of traditional vs modern implements might be interesting. These aren't in any way a complete set but it's what I had on hand while doing a couple of splices this morning. The rest of my gear is sitting at work I'm afraid. A) The ubiquitous multi-tool. The knife, scissors, and pliers all get a regular workout. B ) A sample piece of spliced line. This is 3/8" (was supposed to be 5/16" but I was sent the wrong material) Apex which is a dynema/polypropelene blend which is ultra-strong, low stretch, and floats. This particular line is part of a vang on a J24. The splice is a locking brummel. C) Samson fids. Not my favorite implement for splicing but readily available, inexpensive, and functional. I also frequently use a tool similar to Brion Toss's splicing wand (not pictured). D) Two pushers for the fids. The larger one is made by samson and while functional isn't great. The smaller I made out of an old antenna. That one is ideal for smaller lines. E) Sharpie marker for marking measurements. F) Typical long-D shackle. I guessing this one is a sea-dog. 1/4" pin. G) Cheap tape-measure. A tape measure is a tape measure for this sort of work and I'd rather have a dozen cheap ones ready at hand than a good one I can't find. H) Icepick. This is for getting in the tiny places I cant get with a normal spike (not pictured). Also useful for poking holes in canvas, leather, etc. I) Needles. These are WM Smith reduced edge. Good needles are worth their weight in gold. More than any other general rope-work tool, these need to be of the best quality. J) Little Ronstan becket single block, fixed loop eye. K) Wooden fid, useful for a thousand purposes but used today to stretch the eye in the apex splice to work in that black plastic thimble. L) Another splice I did today. 1/8" amsteel - an all dynema 12 strand. This is another locking brummel onto a harken microblock. This will be part of a jib cunningham system on a J24. M) Whipping Twine.

I also got the Sail Makers Apprentice as well as "The Lo-tech Navigator" by Crowley as well as Brion Toss's "Working Rope Book 5". I plan on doing a review of all three here on the forum soon.

What's the shipping weight of that 1in line? And how do you ship? UPS ground?

Wow, them there are bigun's! Hmmmm..... Might be something to consider. Speaking of which, I'm going to be turning some fids this weekend I hope. Will probably throw a small serving mallet together as well. I'll be making them out of mesquite. Not exactly a traditional wood but it's hard as hell and abundant around here.

Seems you just recently got those. Are these the same fids? Did they not work out? Is the metal bandedn one available also? Anyway, nice stuff.

Yes I know that a sheave in a spar is WAY out of period - that's why I specified "nevermind GAoP" I was just curious about the term pulley in traditional rigging (and a slot cut into a spar - especially a dumb sheave in a small boat masthead goes way back) as it's more or less absent from modern rigging terminology. As a side note about dumb sheaves (for those who don't know) - this is a hollow groove cut into the end of a solid spar. The line bears directly on the wood and there are no moving parts, hence LOTS of friction so it's effective only for small rigs such as a shoulder-of-mutton on a Jolly-boat in which case it would be appropriate for it's simplicity, ease of stowage and maintenance and bulletproof reliability. Though I have no direct evidence of this extending back into the GAoP it's simplicity (far more so than a block) leads me to believe the idea is probably pre-biblical. Incidentally, thanks for the links on the rope stropped blocks. Very cool.

This may not extend to traditional rigging but in the modern vernacular sheaves that aren't in a block but do serve as a pulley are just called sheaves - such as the masthead sheaves a halyard runs through. In traditional terminology (nevermind about as far back as GAoP) would one refer to this sort of arrangement as a pulley?

One could always hope.

Here are some neat links showing it in motion. Neat mechanism but WAY more advanced than anything available (again) until the 20th century. http://www.etl.uom.gr/mr/index.php?mypage=640x480 http://www.math.sunysb.edu/~tony/whatsnew/...0400/kyth5.html

Thanks. That's a good start but I was looking more for period (approx GAoP) descriptions and/or period illustrations.

Does anyone have a reference or references to period beliefs in sea monsters? What types were genuinely thought to exist at the time (mermaids?, the kraken?, serpents?) and which had already fallen out of favor. Also does anyone have any good sources of period illustrations of sea monsters?

Mast rake changes the driving centers of the sail plan affecting balance and performance at difference points of sail. It also changes the dynamics of the standing rigging. Also, a heavily raked mast can be used as a crane of sorts for loading or unloading cargo.

One minor correction to the link above. The difference between a sloop and a cutter isn't the number of foresails (though that is how it's distinguished now-a-days) but by the relative fore or aft position of the mast. This is why you'll see photo's of old boats (such as the friendship sloop) with a large array of foresails and yet still called a sloop. Note that the mast is very far forward. That's what defines it as a sloop. Of course it doesn't need to be THAT far forward to be a sloop. 1/3 or so of the way aft of the bow qualifies. As the mast approaches the half-way mark or so it becomes a cutter. Note that a sloop may carry multiple headsails but I don't think (emphasis on think) that a cutter may be rigged for only one. Here's another rig comparison website - Ships and Rigging

Is that one on the left a bronze? I would think copper would be far too soft for it's intended purpose. Depending on the alloy, some freshly cleaned bronzes can look very coppery.