Ship maul

[bargainhuntingking]

...also called a top maul.

So I found this at my local ReStore for $2 and posted it with some other booty on the Garage sale page.

It was giant hammer about 9” long with a pointed end. RTM educated me that it was called a ship/top maul.

I dropped it into some vinegar overnight and scrubbed it with a wire brush. I was pleased to see the partial outline of a Woodings Verona symbol, and a “5”, which corresponds to the Woodings Verona catalog as a 8 3/4” 5lb ship maul.

A couple of years ago a I bought a box of 1 foot lag screws at an estate sale (for what who knows, but they seemed cool). In the box were also 5 giant foot long nails that I cleaned up and primered and currently use for car camping tent stakes in rocky terrain as they can pounded into anything without bending. I think they are actually ship nails that the ship maul is design to pound, and the pointy end is designed to sink the nail flush with the ship plank (countersunk) surface.

Any experts want to chime in?

Can’t wait to rehaft it on a burly hickory 32-36” handle and pound some stuff with it!
http://www.blackburntools.com/artic...rchives/pdfs/woodings-verona-catalogue-16.pdf

 

[Provincial]

You had better practice before you use it on anything nice! That tiny end will have to be positioned perfectly to stay on the head of the spike. I don't have that kind of hand-eye coordination!

 

[bargainhuntingking]

You had better practice before you use it on anything nice! That tiny end will have to be positioned perfectly to stay on the head of the spike. I don't have that kind of hand-eye coordination!

What Provincial, no confidence in me practicing on your wooden hulled yacht? I’m sure I could wack the footlong nail with the spike flush if you held it real steady!

I’d love to see a video of skilled shipbuilders using this.

 

[wrenchguy]

Awesome nails! Go good with hammer, hope it works out that they are nautical.

 

[bmwrd0]

They generally use silicone bronze these days, but I was watching a video of this just yesterday. There is a young man in Sequim restoring a wooden yacht originally built by Albert Strange and has been videoing the process for a few years now. And that means basically rebuilding the whole thing, and reusing what timbers he can. It is a great series, and here is the video from a couple of days ago.

 

[RTM]

There is a young man in Sequim restoring a wooden yacht originally built by Albert Strange and has been videoing the process for a few years now. And that means basically rebuilding the whole thing, and reusing what timbers he can. It is a great series, and here is the video from a couple of days ago.

A lot of my Woodworking acquaintances are in love with the Tally Ho series! Binge watching is done, they are caught up, and anxiously awaiting the next issues.

 

[1982fxr]

...also called a top maul.

So I found this at my local ReStore for $2 and posted it with some other booty on the Garage sale page.

It was giant hammer about 9” long with a pointed end. RTM educated me that it was called a ship/top maul.

I dropped it into some vinegar overnight and scrubbed it with a wire brush. I was pleased to see the partial outline of a Woodings Verona symbol, and a “5”, which corresponds to the Woodings Verona catalog as a 8 3/4” 5lb ship maul.

A couple of years ago a I bought a box of 1 foot lag screws at an estate sale (for what who knows, but they seemed cool). In the box were also 5 giant foot long nails that I cleaned up and primered and currently use for car camping tent stakes in rocky terrain as they can pounded into anything without bending. I think they are actually ship nails that the ship maul is design to pound, and the pointy end is designed to sink the nail flush with the ship plank surface.

Any experts want to chime in?

Can’t wait to rehaft it on a burly hickory 32-36” handle and pound some stuff with it!
http://www.blackburntools.com/artic...rchives/pdfs/woodings-verona-catalogue-16.pdf

Are those Craftsman boxes custom painted or factory?

 

[bmwrd0]

A lot of my Woodworking acquaintances are in love with the Tally Ho series! Binge watching is done, they are caught up, and anxiously awaiting the next issues.

Yeah, that is some of the most interesting woodwork going. So precise, and yet so free floating.

 

[bargainhuntingking]

BMW, thanks for posting that. It makes more sense for the spike end of the ship maul to be used as a nail set like in the video. Some sources say it’s also used to slam into a leaking hole and plug it...sounds risky.

1982, thanks for noticing the Craftsman boxes. Those are custom spray paint jobs. I resurrected the rusty, beat up old boxes from the Habitat/ReStore.

Here’s what they looked like originally when I got them:

 

[JBranstetter]

I learned that the top mall, like the one I have, has another use. In the novel Moby ****, captain Ahab issues the order "Stand over that helmsman with a top-maul!" In the book, Ahab is relentlessly driving the ship closer and closer to Moby ****, demanding that the helmsman "brace sharper up" and "crowd her into the wind's eye". The sails are shaking, the ship is pushed to its limits! Ahab is using intimidation to ensure his commands are carried out without question. So there you go, another use for the top mall. Not sure if I will ever use it in that way.