Page 567 - The Ashley Book of Knots

THE ASHLEY BOOK OF KNOTS

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3516. A gro11Tlnet fender "is merely a rope grommet grafted over"

according to Alston. Grafting is described as fit 35 57, this chapter.

The grommet should be wormed and parceled before grafting, and

may also be served with spun yarn.

35"16
3Sl1 3517. An old truck-tire fender, unfortunately, is about the most

practical fender there is. Fishermen use them naked and they are far

from handsome. But if they are ringbolt hitched with rope or large

strands from a rope, they become as handsome as any (see fit 3605

or ~3606).

3518. Scotchmen are fenders or chafing gear of stiff material that

are seized or lashed to shrouds and stays. The simplest are made of

bamboo, split down the middle, with the valves gouged out. They

are also made of other woods, of iron and of hide. Iron ones are used

( ( )( to protect the rigging from the futtock shrouds. Ashore iron pipes

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are put over telephone-pole guys either to serve the same purpose or

to protect pedestrians.

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3519. Hide Scotchmen are of pickled hide with the hair still on.

Holes are punched along the edges and they are laced into place

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with rawhide thongs. Applying them is spoken of as "hiding" a stay

or a spar.

3520. Automobile-tire Scotchmen are either nailed or laced ac-

cording to where they are placed. The edges are serrated with a

chisel and mallet and the holes arc punched. I have seen them on

;'5"19
fishermen, neatly made and aluminum-painted, and they were not

half bad in appearance.

3521. To sew two punch or sword mats together. Two marline

needles and doubled marline are required and the two selvages are

joined with a cobbler's stitch.

3522. This shows the sailor's way of securing his thread by making

an OVERHAND KNOT in the canvas itself. A first short stitch is taken

and then a second stitch of equal length crosses underneath the first

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one diagonally.

3523. In making eyelet holes in a sail, small gr011Tlnets (~2864)

3521 of the right size are first to be made, either a single strand or a full-

size piece of marline being used, according to the size required. The

ends of the grommet need be stuck but once. A hole is pricked

through the canvas, either with a stabber, which has three edges, or
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with a pegging awl, which has four. The grommet is placed on top

of the hole and the needle is stuck down at the far side of the grom.

met and up through the hole. One should always sew to the right

along the far side, and put the stitches close together, covering the

grommet completely and evenly. A number of threads are put in

the needle at a time and these are well waxed and sewed "over and

over."

Often small galvanized iron rings are used in sails instead of grom-

35"23 mets, and sometimes grommets are made of wire.

The sailor is a very proficient needleman. Not only has he his own

wardrobe to care for, but the ship's as well. The canvas is a constant

care, requiring various roping, seaming, and mending stitches. For

these purposes three-sided needles are used, which on occasion may be

fully seven inches long, and these are thrust with a leather-mounted

thimble called a palm (fit rorB). For wardrobe and fancy work

smaller needles of the same sort are used, and an ordinary uncapped

thimble is worn. It is not at all uncommon to see a sailor wearing his

thimble on his thumb.

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