Questions about rebar

[M ELEY]

Thanks as always for the replies.

Will, it's odd that you mention that because the ribbed bar is smooth and round near the 'eye' where the link is. About halfway down the bar is where it is more squarish, has the ribbing and has two seams on either side. I'm guessing that it was once ribbed all the way to the eyelet, but was hammered out to be more rounded. Note the odd thickened end piece where the spikes spread out. This doesn't appear to be brazed or welded on. It was part of the whole bar! The whole construction is fascinating and confusing at the same time. This piece is solid and not flexible at all like modern rebar.

Rick, your point is well founded. Of course something this thick undoubtedly wasn't made by twisting. I guess I was just thinking aloud. I had proposed cast, but hadn't thought about stamped iron. Still, considering its age, I'd assume cast more likely. The earliest stamping where from trip hammers used in the 1830's, I'm told It was the start of the Industrial Revolution.

[Rick]

If solely for grappling, I wouldn't think flukes would be necessary, and considering the tumblehome on most warships of the time, it would seem like a pretty heavy object to throw very far.

Can you take some better pictures of it in daylight Mark?

GIS for '19th century grappling iron' provides some interesting examples.

[fernando]

Strange beast.
Dimensions are well for a small/mid size fishing boat anchor. This morning i went lurk inside the local harbour and i saw one atypical (to me) device together with a classic anchor. I asked an old man what that was and he said: that is also an anchor, only a different type, with four 'unhas' (claws). Then i went to a local sport fishing store and saw some yatch type anchors with four flukes. They have this locker thing in the shaft that, when pulled up, allows the four arms to be folded in, to reduce its volume and agressive form. Question: would it be possible (once in time) for that section in your item shaft be also pulled up, to fold in the arms ? Another question: are the two flukes a separate piece welded to the two arms, or were the arms flattened to form flukes ?
However bizarre your example is, i bet my money on the anchor version


.

[M ELEY]

Thanks, Rick. Actually, the large grappling irons of this size were never thrown. They could be used as anchors or to hang from the spars to snag an enemy ship.


Thanks, Fernando, for your input. The large 'block-like' thickened iron neck appears to be one solid piece, the tines of the prongs are solid and don't bend and the flattened flukes are part of the tine simply pounded flat, not a second piece. In any case, an interesting maritime piece.

[M ELEY]

Hey Fernando, I hope you didn't go to all the trouble of going to the harbor front just for me! I do appreciate your efforts, though. But just in case I ever post a pic of a Somali pirate sword, don't feel obligated to sail off that deadly coast for info anytime soon!

[M ELEY]

After much persistence, I finally found an obscure article which proves rebar was around and definitely used prior to the Revolutionary War both in structures and statues. It was mentioned that the George III statue in NY was pulled down and melted into lead shot for the colonials, but there wasn't tons of lead produced. Only one gentleman pointed out the fact that lead (and even bronze) statues had some form of inner skeleton and it was usually iron rebar.

Extrapolating on this, I still hold to the premise that this giant grapple indeed dates to the late 18th/early 19th century, with perhaps the latest date being around 1850-ish. I know that today's grapples are also made of common rebar, but I'm sure this is simply a much earlier practice that just held on through the years. This is an interesting article about the difficulties of saving these old lead statues as the rebar eventually rusts away.






https://rupertharris.com/pages/the-c...orms-of-damage