An Account of the Manner of bending Planks in His Majeſty’s Yards at Deptford, &c. by a Sand-heat, invented by Captain Cumberland.
By Robert Cay, Eſq;
The place, where the Planks lie to be ſoftened in the Stove, is between two Brick-Walls; of ſuch a length, height, and diſtance from each other, as ſuffice to admit the largeſt, or to hold a good number of the ſmaller Sort: the bottom is of thick Iron Plates, ſupported by ſtrong Bars; under the middle of which, are two Fire-places, whoſe Flews carry the Flame towards the Ends.
The Planks are laid in Sand; the loweſt about ſix or eight Inches above the Iron-Plates, they are well cover’d with the Sand, and Boards laid over all, to keep in the Heat. The Sand is moiſtened with warm Water, (for which purpoſe they have a Cauldron adjoyning to the Stove) and if the Timber be large, and intended to be very much bent, ſo that it muſt lie long in the Stove, they water the Sand again, once in 8 or 10 Hours.
When ’tis judged to be ſoft enough, the Sand is remov’d; and the Workmen carry away their reſpective Planks, to the ſeveral Places, where they are to be us’d; and having firſt nail’d a thin Board upon the out-ſide, to preſerve the Plank from Bruiſes, they fix one part in its proper place, and bring to the others, by any power they can moſt conveniently apply.
This Work ſeems to be perform’d with wonderful Eaſe; notwithstanding ſome we ſaw were ſo knotty, that the Builders aſſur’d us, they cou’d not have brought them to that Curvature by the former Methods. Thoſe we ſaw put in between others, very exactly fitted the Spaces they had been cut for; and Workmen told us, they had made no Allowance either for ſwelling, or ſhrinking of the Wood.
This Method excells that of burning the Planks over an open Fire in ſeveral reſpects: particularly, that no part of the Wood is destroy’d, but remains of the ſame Dimenſions; at leaſt very nearly; a Plank of the breadth of l6 Inches being ſaid not to alter above 1/20 part of an Inch. The Edges of the Plank are preserv’d; and conſequently the Work muſt be much firmer, and the Caulking laſt longer.
The extraordinary ſoftneſs of the Wood, while ’tis warm, makes it eaſily bend to any Figure neceſſary in Ship-building, which it holds very well, if they have occaſion to take it off again after it is cold. whereas the Plank bent by burning, would ſtart when looſened; and could only be fixed to the Timbers by ſuch a force, as was able to overcome the Reſiſtance occaſion’d by the Spring of the Plank. It likewiſe adapts it ſelf very readily to the Surface of the Timbers, if they happen to be uneven.
They ſhew’d us the Gun Deck-Clamps in a Ship of the Second Rate; which are very large Planks, bent and twiſted in ſo peculiar a manner, that they never could by any other Method, bend them into that Form, but uſed to cut them into Shape. The whole Operation is perform’d with much leſs trouble to the Carpenters, as well as at leſs Expence; and they hope the Wood will be more durable; as tis evident, from the deep Tincture the Sand receives, that a conſiderable quantity of Sap comes out of the Oak, while its in the Stove: and a large Plank was obſerv’d by the Workmen or Officers of the Yard, to weigh ſome Pounds leſs, when it was taken out.
A Plank five Inches thick requires five or ſix Hours to make it fit for bending; and the Time requiſite for others, ſeems to be in a Duplicate Proportion to their thickneſs.
Explanation of the Figures.
Fig. 1. Repreſents a Plank, in the Buttocks of a Second Rate Ship, whoſe length from A to C. is three Feet, and thickneſs (AF) 4¼ Inches, the end C, of this Plank was bent 12 or 13 Inches from the ſtreight Line AB
Fig. 2. and 3. are Sections of the Stove.
A.A. the Fire-places.
B.B. the Aſh-holes.
C.C. the Flews under the Iron bottom.
D.D. the two Chimneys.
E. the place for the Planks and Sand.
F.F. the two Brick-walls.
G.G. two inclin’d planes, for the Men to ſtand on, &c. when they put in, or take out Planks, or water the Sand.
h.h. the bottom of the Stove, made of Iron.
i.i. the Grates to lay the Fewel on.
The Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London.
Vol. 32 – Jan 1. 1722
—Jeff Burks
Imagine the vast quantities of first class oak that would go into building a ship those days. And that at some heavy dimensions as well. 5 x 16″ sounds like a nice slab of oak to me.
Thanks for digging this text up Jeff.
Brgds
Jonas
I grieve the loss of many things, and chief among them is the skill and knowledge of the shipwrights that build the great 18th century naval fleets of the world. It boggles the mind, and makes a harpsichord or a carved chest or a great mansion in the country look like playthings. Then to take the whole beautiful, graceful work of art pell mell into battle to have it smashed to bits, then repair it all and do it again – sounds like my ideal personal Valahalla.
” makes a harpsichord …look like playthings.”
I suggest you do not spout off on things you know not much about.
As it is, the text is fine for shipbuilding but cannot be taken as holy scripture on bending wood in general. Many trades were and are adamant about NOT using moisture while bending, e.g. harpsichord makers but also wheelwrights. Basically anywhere a bend must retain it shape even if it gets wet (not that harpsichords get wet but skis do). Old-fashioned solid wood skis were always bent dry. Several very old wheelwrights who made skis before the war told me this independently. They were both amazed and pleased to see that I or one bend my harpsichord bentsides that way, too.
I don’t think that Idle Prentice was talking specifically about bending wood, but was looking at the larger world of forgotten arts and crafts.
Fortunately for all of us, there are some very smart, talented, and clever men who are working feverishly to reclaim much of what has been “forgotten.” I am thinking specifically of men like Richard Endsor, author, artist, and historian, who has fairly recently documented the comprehensive history of the Lenox, a 70-gun third rate (ship) of Charles II’s Navy. His book _The Restoration Warship_ is a stunning presentation. Ensor states that “Lenox represents the pinnacle of English shipbuilding practice and in many ways typifies all third-rate ships of the period. They were by far the most numerous class of warship in the seventeenth century and formed the backbone of the English fleet. Lenox was ordered as the first of the King’s ‘Thirty Ships’ building programme, a series of beautiful and powerful warships that were intended to reflect the glory and majesty of the monarch. Their graceful lines and ornate decoration made these ships ideal subjects for study, drawings of which were made by the famous artists the Van de Veldes, the fathers of the English marine painting genre. Unsurprisingly, the ships remain a source of fascination for historians and ship modellers today. They were constructed at the end of the Anglo-Dutch Wars and midway through Louis XIV’s massive expansion programme for the French Navy. I have employed extensive primary research to produce a detailed building and career history of this vessel. Every aspect of Lenox is covered in great detail, from initial design and construction to armament, fitting out and her later career. The book provides a broad picture of the day-to-day workings of Deptford dockyard, including the techniques, trade and tools of the shipwrights, sail-makers and boat builders. It also gives an insight into the workings of naval administration, as well as including social history from the accounts of the people involved with Lenox. Construction of Lenox and her sisters was largely down to Samuel Pepys, the famous diarist and Secretary of the Admiralty, who considered the Thirty Ships programme to be ‘the greatest achievement of my career’.”
Forgive my enthusiasm, but I hope that it’s helpful to point out that all is not lost to the sands of time and that even in the hoary world of ancient shipbuilding, the skills and knowledge of the shipwrights are not completely gone. There’s even a project in the works to build a replica of the Lenox at Deptford dockyard using most of the original woodworking techniques.
Rebuilds of large scale can be really impressive. The Swedish SOIC (Swedish East India Company) had a ship named Götheborg that was famous because it sank at the entrance to Göteborg after returning home from a 2 year trade trip.
This ship was rediscovered in the 80’ies (as far as I remember), and in 1995 they started making a copy of the ship.
It is at present the worlds largest sailing wooden ship (according to their home page).
The following is a link to the english home page of the project.
http://www.soic.se/en
Happy New Year
Jonas
To Kelly Jons in particular, I am a Deptford boatbuilder and director of a community interest company that, with Richard Endsor’s aid is seeking to build a full size replica of Lenox on the site of the former Royal Dockyard here at Deptford. Despite the best efforts to the contrary of the Chinese developer and Rupert Murdoch http://www.buildthelenox.org