Posted 11 years ago
C.Edwards
(1 item)
Hello my name is Christopher. im a commercial fisherman. i pulled this up in the dredge over the summer and have had nothing but problems trying to nail down a time for this piece. i was told its called a deadman. back in the day sailors didnt have pullies so they carved holes in "blocks" of wood and used them in thier rigging. i believe its from the 16-1700s. but would really like to know more about it. the green lighter in the photo is a lg bic to give you an idea of the size. i caught it 24 miles of point pleasant nj
Actually, they were called a DEADEYE. Pulleys have been around for thousands of years including block & tackle or compound pulleys. Actually pulleys would have been surely used to put the right tension on a shroud/stay on a mast before it was secured with the deadeye. Yours lasted a long time because they were usually made of lignum vitea . Could be from around 1900 to much earlier. Now you can use the right name for search & it is all there.