Material for carving was abundant (usually the tooth of a sperm whale but other materials were sometimes used) and even on a sailing ship there are awake-hours that are not filled with chores.
Scrimshaw is usually "etched" rather than a 3-D carving, but even that varied. Today, most scrimshaw are resin "reproductions" although there is still some original work being done.
Sperm whale oil was the original automatic transmission fluid. I remember a recipe for Ed's Red that I made up for cleaning boom sticks. The original had lanolin and sperm whale oil. I used cheapo auto-trans-fluid. (I don't like the initials, so I won't use them) I left out the acetone and lanolin. It worked very well on what I was cleaning. And it was much cheaper than bespoke Hoppes. When the kids were little, competitions were a serious juggling act between cost per pop and accuracy. My b-stick was a parts drawer special. But I learned a lot about it, and what worked and didn't... for me anyway.
ReplyDeleteI always wanted to try my hand at scrimshaw. I still have some cow horns I could use.... hmmmm..... Is India ink still around?
Excellent, thanks.
ReplyDeleteThanks as always ERJ.
ReplyDeleteAbout three years ago I finally read Moby Dick. It was a fascinating view into the world of Whaling, something that at one time had such impact and was the basis of its own economy, with its own practices and language. It is long, but completely fascinating.
Moby Dick was possibly based on a real event described in the book “In the Heart of the Sea” about the whaling ship Essex. Very interesting read.
Deletethat's in my reading pile!
DeleteI'd read somewhere that there were shortages of whale oil due to the civil war and that was when kerosene for lamps got it's big break.
ReplyDeleteFirst came the fuel camphene made from pine sap and alcohol. Kerosene was a bit later. Pine sap was a huge profitable industry because of it.
DeleteMrs ERJ's maternal Grandfather and Great-Grandfather worked in a plant that distilled hydrocarbons from the stumps of yellow-pine (probably Longleaf Pine) in southwestern Louisiana.
DeleteThere are some great videos on Yootoob about the pine sap and turpentine industry. I had no idea it was so big
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