shipwright tools

[pitch pine]

I recently bought some tools from a shipwright in a Newcastle yard. Some of them belonged to his late father so they could go back a few years. Some I recognise (caulking mallets and irons, adzes) but some I don't. There is a metal spike around 20 inches long stamped "G I". It goes from just under 1 inch diameter down to 1/4 inch and flattened like a slotted screwdriver. I was thinking it was a draw pin, but there is no eye on it to help remove it. The thick end is flared suggesting it is hammered, but not heavily as it isn't badly mushroomed. It had some tar on it. Any ideas anyone? It just has an interesting look to it.

Also one of the adzes is made by a Birmingham maker, all the others I have seen have been made in Sheffield.

 

[jimmy_s]

It sounds like a tool that my father used to use for splicing wire rope - was called a marlinspike. The end was flattened and was (I think) hammered) between the strands as required to form a splice. The one he has was made from stainless with a mushroomed end. Might be one of those?

 

[MusicMan]

yes, looks like a rope splicing tool to me too (I used to have and use one).

 

[pitch pine]

Thanks for the replies. I think i might have seen a Marlinspike in a small museum in New Quay in west Wales. Gives me something to google to find out more.

 

[AndyT]

It would be really helpful if you could post some photos.

20" sounds very long for a marlin spike. I wonder if it has been adapted from a broken auger bit of some sort? A shipbuilding yard would have had its own blacksmith on hand. Do the initials GI look like a trade mark or an owner's identification?

For reference, here are the shipwright's tools from the 1938 Marples catalogue, which shows a wire rope splicing tool with a screwdriver-like tip and ordinary size marlin spikes.

PS - who's the Birmingham adze maker? Elwell? Brades?

 

[Cheshirechappie]

In his (beautifully illustrated) book 'From Tree to Sea' about his apprenticeship building wooden trawlers in Lowestoft around the time of WW1, Ted Frost states that the shipwrights of his yard preferred a Gilpin No 2 adze. Gilpin were a midlands maker (Cannock, I think) but there were a few others to add to the list. Andy's mentioned a couple, but there's Cornelius Whitehouse (hedgehog brand) as well.

 

[pitch pine]

I would post a picture but I am having problems with flickr. I will keep trying.

 

[AndyT]

I would post a picture but I am having problems with flickr. I will keep trying.

picture-posting-guide-t63716.html#p1206828

 

[pitch pine]

Thanks Andy, but the problem is logging in. Once in I know how to do it. I am stuck at a Yahoo page.

 

[AndyT]

Ah, can't help you there.
I went off Yahoo and Flickr when they signed me up for an account even though I had decided NOT to press the Submit button on the online form.

 

[pitch pine]

Is there an alternative to Flickr I have already changed from Photobucket?

So the adze is made by Chas Thomas & Co. It has two numbers stamped on it No.38A and No.0. There are the remnants of red paint on it.

Thanks for the book recommendation Cheshirechappie I will look out for a copy of that.

Andy thanks for the scans of the Marples catalogue. I didn't know it but I have a sail pricker as pictured, but my spike isn't like those pictured (no eye just a swelling). I think I also have a couple of mauls. It is interesting that the caulking mallets are down as "London Pattern" which I have come across before but used to describe saw handles.

 

[Tasky]

20" sounds very long for a marlin spike.

Marlin spikes could be up to 2' long, depending on what you're working with.
Alternatively, it could be a Fid - Kinda the same thing, but used more for non-metalic wires and ropes. Fid length is generally about 21 times the diameter (or 7 times the circumference) of the rope you are working with, so could be up to 68" if you're working with 3¼" rope! Generally they keep things to a workable length for the task, though.

 

[El Barto]

Post some pics! Shipwright tools are lovely. I use imgur.com to host photos.

 

[pitch pine]

This should work:

DSCF0414 by nick tasker, on Flickr

 

[pitch pine]

Another:

DSCF0411 by nick tasker, on Flickr

 

[pitch pine]

DSCF0412 by nick tasker, on Flickr

DSCF0416 by nick tasker, on Flickr

 

[Tasky]

Yeah, I'mma vote for marlin spike, it being metal and the sharp point likely more useful on metal/wire ropes and cables. I'm wondering if the point has been altered to be sharper, as it looks a little uneven.

 

[Orraloon]

A marlin spike it is. Generally speaking its a seaman's or riggers tool. (Shipwrights build and repair boats) For splicing wire rope and of course got used to undo shackles, turn bottle screws, open paint tins and all kinds of other tool abuse. Someone mentioned a fid. They were used for fiber rope and were usually hardwood. Lignum Vite being the choice for good ones.
Regards
John

 

[Yorkshire Sam]

Marlin spikes come in various sizes from around 9" up to around 3 feet and used for splicing wire rope. The pointed end was often ground flat to help 'getting in' between the strands. Like every other seamans tool it had other uses, levers, undoing screw shackles, etc. As a shipwright it would be unlikely that he would be doing much splicing specially wire rope., but would be using it as tool to unscrew shackles which he would do regularly on ships boats, etc. That doesnt look like a regular marlin spike though as it is not tapered enough to help in splicing. Probably something made to be used as a lever or fulcrum.

 

[pitch pine]

So that explains the D shackles that came in the same lot., thanks. Someone must have thought this was valuable to them to stamp GI on it.