What was available in 1901?
 

We are trying to determine what wire rope would have been used for a boat built in 1901. Size of standing rigging about 1/4" - 5/16", running rigging, in the form of a halyard, 1/4". A designer of similar boats of the period specified plow steel for standing wire & Damascus steel for running wire. Most importantly, where could it be obtained today (without melting down some old plows or going to Damascus :))? Actually the lay of the wire & coating or lack thereof would probably suffice. This would be for a museum restoration. Also would brass sail slides & track have been in use then?
Asks,
Dock

Boats go through so many evolutions. I helped rig the old radical yawl Hutoka back in the '80s and she had wire reel winches for halyards and sheets. What a horror, especiall gybing the main. I proposed making wheel winch handles that could stay in place allowing fast trimming and palm friction easing. It was way too hard to turn the crank fast enough letting it out and handle removal and brake control both militated against that method. So put a plaque up explaining just how insanely dangerous the rig was.

Anyway, judging from those winches, the various sizes of ss 7x7 put in as replacements worked as well as the same size original ungalvanized steel cable. From what I've not too reliably heard and less reliably remember of what old timers in my childhood might have told me fifty five years ago or so, wire running rigging was just oiled and given that these were racing boats not meant to last long anyway nothing much mattered. If you put on ss, it will look right for longer than if you put on steel wire and watch it rust on the exhibit. Whatever your choice, not galvi.

G'luck

Hi Ian, Radical yawl, yikes, was it owned by a communist?:) Hmmn, despite what you say, as I recall you paid 1,000's of dollars each for 4 Merriman wire winches in the late 80's from me, so you must really like them. Oh, I suppose the 3 masts & boat they were attached to may have had something to do with why you would pay such an high price for 4 wire winches. Did I tell you about the time the brake broke on the jib halyard winch, in a gale off of Mexico, & the winch handle went flying (about 60' up)? Other than that, I really liked them. But I Digress, & we're Way off topic! The boat the original question is about has no winches & it has not evolved, only lost some pieces (like all the rigging, yard, & boom) in 113 yrs. The wire halyard (we're 95% sure it was wire) would have had a hemp line tail. We also don't worry that plain steel wire will rust, as it will be in a climate controlled space, & if it does sail again, the water will be hard. Yes, it's an iceboat, & a radical one at that, lateen rigged. Some people think it belonged to a communist too, FDR. So, the question remains, what wire was available in 1901, and where might we find same? Also, were brass sail slides & track in use then?
Asks, Dock

Well, I just can't believe that there isn't somebody on this forum that's a 130 or so years old that would remember what was available back then:confused: Anybody got an old catalog? From the one remaining photo we can tell that it does have sail slides, but we can't make out the lay of the wire rigging. Was 7x19 & 7x7 in common use back then? Does anybody know where we can find uncoated wire rope?
Dock

Hey, I found one Bill Burns @ http://atlantic-cable.com/ who isn't 130+ yrs. old, but did direct me to this 1903 Roebling (as in Brooklyn Bridge) catalog here: http://books.google.com/books?id=YCRYAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA33
Which tells me galvanized wire was available, but probably not 7x19 or 7x7. However, they are probably close enough to the 6x7 & 6x19 (with a tarred hemp core) to fool any 130 + year old folks that look at the boat (their eyesight isn't too good).
Dock
PS: Shameless plug: FDR's iceboat the Hawk will be set up & on display (missing pieces & all) as well as other complete iceboats (some 50') belonging to his uncle & other contemporaries @ the FDR library Hyde Park NY from Dec. 21 - Jan. 2.