Sawin' up the cotton

May 10, 2020 4:46 PM

Shipwright Louis Sauzedde demonstrates the art of ship plank caulking. I had no idea that caulking could be done with anything besides the caulking that comes in a tube. The world is an endlessly fascinating place!
posted by KleenexMakesaVeryGoodHat (35 comments total)

Louis!! I first learned about him from Metafilter a few years ago from his original skiff-building series. It sucks that Jamestown dropped him as a sponsor, the internet is a poorer place without his videos.
posted by saladin at 5:00 PM on May 10, 2020 [1 favorite]

I had no idea! That stinks!!
posted by KleenexMakesaVeryGoodHat at 5:05 PM on May 10, 2020

Oakum was a material used for caulking, historically. It was such a pain in the ass to manufacture that it was a common task for prisoners.
posted by notoriety public at 5:06 PM on May 10, 2020 [6 favorites]

Sauzedde previously:

As Shipped: Shavings to Starboard, Plugs to Port
Looks a lot more like it does now than it did before
posted by zamboni at 5:08 PM on May 10, 2020 [2 favorites]

Can't decide which I like best: the technique, the explication, or the accent. Three way tie most likely.
posted by gwint at 5:10 PM on May 10, 2020 [5 favorites]

When they refurbished the Charles Morgan, Mystic Seaport blogged about it. There's plenty about cauking, etc...

https://www.mysticseaport.org/morganblog/2012/05/a-bit-on-those-big-planks/
posted by mikelieman at 5:13 PM on May 10, 2020 [2 favorites]

I've been googling, trying unsuccessfully to find the history behind the design of the caulking mallet. Why the elongated head? Any ideas?
posted by KleenexMakesaVeryGoodHat at 5:23 PM on May 10, 2020 [2 favorites]

I am so disappointed that Oakum has nothing much to do with oak trees!

I was imagining it was mashed up acorn hulls or something.

And now I also have a new perspective on the heretofore puzzling profession, encountered in Dickens novels, of "ragpicker":

Oakum was at one time recycled from old tarry ropes and cordage,[1] which were painstakingly unravelled and reduced to fibre, termed "picking". The task of picking and preparation was a common occupation in prisons and workhouses,[1] where the young or the old and infirm were put to work picking oakum if they were unsuited for heavier labour.

[from notoriety public's link]

I'd be surprised if that stuff wasn't pretty carcinogenic, too.
posted by jamjam at 5:33 PM on May 10, 2020

I think ragpicking is a general term for a kind of old-school recycling agent, Rag-and-bone man
posted by notoriety public at 5:43 PM on May 10, 2020 [3 favorites]

In Alone in the Wilderness, Dick Proenneke uses oakum to insulate the log cabin he builds, with similar technique.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 5:44 PM on May 10, 2020 [3 favorites]

trying unsuccessfully to find the history behind the design of the caulking mallet. Why the elongated head?

Tool design is quite interesting. Here is an interesting discussion of the caulking process that talks quite a bit about the mallets, but doesn't get much into the shape of the head. From my blacksmith training, we would use hammers with an elongated head to direct the more force in the direction of the blow. They are wooden mallets hitting a steel wedge, which would be significantly harder, so presumably this head shape would allow more mass, and therefore momentum. But the discussion is very interesting, and talks quite a bit about the steels and their shape and use, as well as variation between mallets in the UK and the US.

My favorite bit from the link:

(T)he meaning of the slots and drill holes in the heads of caulking mallets used in New England deserves some commentary. These purposely made and modifiable slots were not, as commonly thought, to prevent splitting of the wooden mallet heads. The teams of caulkers working on large whalers and merchant ships could comprise 20 or 30 men. When a steel caulking iron is struck with force by a wooden mallet against a hollow hull, the sound is a loud, sharp “ping,” that becomes sharper as the caulking proceeds and the hull tightens up. The cumulative noise from a vigorous crew of caulkers is loud, and potentially discordant and annoying. To allay this discomfort, the caulkers modified their mallets, by creating or extending the slots in them, and by drilling holes in them. The effect was to “tune” the mallet, putting it, as it were, in the same “key” with others on the crew and making the noise more musical.

posted by kaelynski at 5:46 PM on May 10, 2020 [23 favorites]

I think ragpicking is a general term for a kind of old-school recycling agent, Rag-and-bone man

That's what I've been assuming, but I now think it's more likely that that name comes from what you have to do after acquiring the rags, because it's kind of hard to see what one would otherwise do with a bunch of old rags that anyone would want.
posted by jamjam at 5:49 PM on May 10, 2020

Another rationale for the elongated caulking mallet is that the head is hollow so that the worker can hear if the caulk is suffucently deep in the seam.
"Caulking mallet. Is a wooden mallet with sound boxes. The mallet has a head on both sides of the handle and is designed in such a way that you can apply a great deal of force on the point that you hit, without having to hit very hard or having to use a very heavy hammer. The purpose of the sound boxes is to allow you to hear whether the hemp has been knocked sufficiently hard into the joint." From here.
posted by Zedcaster at 5:49 PM on May 10, 2020 [4 favorites]

This thread about caulking mallets has some pictures at the bottom showing the slots on the head of the mallet.

It also includes this comment;
The slots serve two purposes. First they allow the wood to dissipate energy that would other wise result in rebound of the mallet. This essentially creates a form of dead blow which allows the cotton to be driven with less effort from the caulker. They also allow the tool to create the harmonic chirp that is characteristic of a well made mallet The chirp, itself, makes a suble change in sound as the cotton is driven home allowing the caulker to hear the end of the drive. Not all black misquite will make a proper mallet. I have built two that were duds. The best mallet I ever used was made of live oak.
Jay
posted by ActingTheGoat at 5:52 PM on May 10, 2020 [5 favorites]

what one would otherwise do with a bunch of old rags that anyone would want

That’s where paper came from for a lot of history. Also cheap clothing was made of rags minimally unraveled and rewoven - the noun for the result was `shoddy'.
posted by clew at 6:21 PM on May 10, 2020 [2 favorites]

cocking? cocking from a "tube"? cocking?

Oh wait. Nevermind.
posted by hippybear at 6:35 PM on May 10, 2020 [1 favorite]

It may be a weird thing to say, but a putty knife is my favorite tool.
posted by Catblack at 6:38 PM on May 10, 2020 [2 favorites]

So. Much. Knowledge!
posted by eggkeeper at 6:53 PM on May 10, 2020 [2 favorites]

cocking? cocking from a "tube"? cocking?

There's a point early in the video where he says "You can see it sucking the caulk down"; there must be a point in that line of work where you don't even notice the jokes anymore.

But jokes aside, the video is great; it is neat to see what I've mostly just read about in historical naval novels.
posted by Dip Flash at 7:44 PM on May 10, 2020

My father, a theatrical carpenter, died a year ago May 12th. I unabashedly love this man and his videos and he make me miss my father so much. He would've spent hours watching these. Awesome post, thank you so much.
posted by nevercalm at 7:44 PM on May 10, 2020 [7 favorites]

In other news, I've spent my evening bawling my eyes out over a man from Rhode Island building boats, so this truly feels like a standout moment in living my best life.
posted by nevercalm at 7:54 PM on May 10, 2020 [10 favorites]

What a great video! I spent 10 minutes of mental pingpong in my head before I came up with the Dutch words for it: 'breeuwen' or 'kalefateren'. It beats me why we had to learn this as 10 year olds in school, but I'm glad I remembered.
posted by ouke at 11:19 PM on May 10, 2020 [2 favorites]

"What fool uses cotton, it'll crawl I tell ye!"
posted by boilermonster at 11:34 PM on May 10, 2020

There's a point early in the video where he says "You can see it sucking the caulk down"; there must be a point in that line of work where you don't even notice the jokes anymore.

For the benefit of people who don't see why it should be funny, see my comment on the cot/caught merger from 2015.
posted by Joe in Australia at 1:02 AM on May 11, 2020 [1 favorite]

Following up on Joe in Australia's comment a bit, the caulk–cock pun works in western parts of the US, but not in Virginia where I'm from, and probably not in New England either.
posted by nangar at 2:52 AM on May 11, 2020

Fascinating, thank you for posting this!
posted by carter at 3:27 AM on May 11, 2020

Yeah I hear the L when he says it! Dunno if that's my brain filling in what it wants to hear or what.
posted by freethefeet at 3:53 AM on May 11, 2020

There's a point early in the video where he says "You can see it sucking the caulk down"

I hate to break it to you but he’s saying “sucking the cotton” not “the caulk”. My Rhode Island ears know this.
posted by fancyoats at 4:53 AM on May 11, 2020 [2 favorites]

Do you people not pronounce the L in caulk? Savages, the lot of youse.

I'll bet you skip the "r" in February too.
posted by bonehead at 6:31 AM on May 11, 2020 [2 favorites]

I hate to break it to you but he’s saying “sucking the cotton” not “the caulk”. My Rhode Island ears know this.

I had to relisten to that bit three times to be able to hear it, but I think you are right. The way he is saying those words, on my computer speakers, sounds almost the same to me.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:32 AM on May 11, 2020

I'll bet you skip the "r" in February too.
I most certainly DO pronounce the "r" in Febyouary, thank you very much.
posted by xedrik at 7:17 AM on May 11, 2020 [3 favorites]

the caulk–cock pun works in western parts of the US, but not in Virginia where I'm from

With some rhyming words also, I remember just after I first moved to California and in a discussion with a native coworker, he used the word "balk" and I couldn't understand, even though he repeated several times. He pronounced the word as bok, or bauk, or bawk - no L. The lights didn't come on until he wrote it down.

Oh and thanks for the video - fascinating.
posted by Rash at 11:12 AM on May 11, 2020 [1 favorite]

Wooden shipbuilding is a wonderous art full of amazing characters, ancient skills passed down through generations, traditions, tools, techniques, materials... all of which help remind me every day why we have a steel hull.

But it's beautiful to watch, when you're not paying for it.

Wooden hulls man, not even once.
posted by automatronic at 3:28 AM on May 12, 2020 [1 favorite]

What accent does the guy in the video have, by the way? I don't recognize it.
posted by Canageek at 9:34 AM on May 13, 2020

What accent does the guy in the video have, by the way? I don't recognize it.

As Rhode Island as a coffee cabinet.
posted by zamboni at 10:13 AM on May 13, 2020 [1 favorite]