mtaylor Posted May 26, 2013 Share #1 Posted May 26, 2013 The French frigates, and I'm not sure about other French ships, used a variation of the elm tree pump that the English used. It involved an hourglass shape at the top of the pump shaft to which weights were secured. This hourglass was then tied off and ran up to a lever on a post or mast. See video for the L'Hermione replica's pump in action. My question is simple yet... I'm not sure of the answer. Would the pump shaft have been metal or wood? What about the hourglass shape? It appears to have been wood. Quote Mark "The shipwright is slow, but the wood is patient." - me Current Build: Past Builds: La Belle Poule 1765 - French Frigate from ANCRE plans - ON HOLD Triton Cross-Section NRG Hallf Hull Planking Kit HMS Sphinx 1775 - Vanguard Models - 1:64 Non-Ship Model: On hold, maybe forever: CH-53 Sikorsky - 1:48 - Revell - Completed Licorne - 1755 from Hahn Plans (Scratch) Version 2.0 (Abandoned) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Ensign Posted May 26, 2013 Share #2 Posted May 26, 2013 Hi Mark, Boudriot gives quite a lot of detail about the pumps in his Seventy-four Gun ship book Volume two, too much for me to copy here. However, the shaft you can see on the video is called the spear and it is made of Fir; attached to the spear are the chocks (hourglass) to which the brake handle is attached via a rope hooked to a grommet secured around the chocks. If you need more detailed info send me a pm and I will try and expand on the Boudriot narrative. Regards, B.E. Quote Current Build: HMS Indefatigable-1794-by-blue-ensign-vanguard-models-164-scale Medway-longboat-1742-by-blue-ensign-½”-scale Completed builds: HMS Sphinx 1775 by Blue Ensign. 1:64 scale - Vanguard Models Queen-Anne-Royal-Barge-circa-1700-by-Blue-Ensign Fifie fishing boat Lady Eleanor Muirneag-1903-–-a-scottish-zulu-fishing-boat-164-scale-based-on-the-vanguard-models-zulu-kit/ HM Cutter Alert 1777 HM Cutter Cheerful 1806 18th-century-English-longboat-by-Blue-Ensign-ms-148-scale/ finished 18thc English Pinnace by Blue Ensign-Model-Shipways-1:24 scale/ finished HMS-Pegasus-by-Blue-Ensign-finished-Victory-Models-1:64-scale/ Heller Seventy-four 1:150 scale - modified Le Superbe/Le Glorieux kit after Boudriot, waterline setting with sails. The schooner Pickle, Jotika pob kit 1:64 scale, my interpretation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtaylor Posted May 26, 2013 Author Share #3 Posted May 26, 2013 Thanks B.E. I saw two pages on the web and they were different. One was modeled in metal, the other in wood. I don't have Boudriot's books on the 74...my bad. I'll be making them from wood then since this breaks the tie. Seems this is one area that most of the reference works I've seen overlook on the French ships. Quote Mark "The shipwright is slow, but the wood is patient." - me Current Build: Past Builds: La Belle Poule 1765 - French Frigate from ANCRE plans - ON HOLD Triton Cross-Section NRG Hallf Hull Planking Kit HMS Sphinx 1775 - Vanguard Models - 1:64 Non-Ship Model: On hold, maybe forever: CH-53 Sikorsky - 1:48 - Revell - Completed Licorne - 1755 from Hahn Plans (Scratch) Version 2.0 (Abandoned) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Revier Posted June 2, 2013 Share #4 Posted June 2, 2013 Mark, i think, the pump shaft is made from wood. The hourglass shape is used for fix a rope, going through a gat to upper deck, here fixed on beams for some hands to pump water. If you pull on he beam, you will pump water, if you let the beam go, the balls (iron) will punch he shaft into the pump. (Oh god, my terrible english...) I will show you a picture from a frigat ater CHAPMAN plans (XXXI and XXXII of the fabulous Architectura Navalis Mercatoria) a IMM Hamburg. You will see the principe. Two seamen pumping and you see the gat in deck for the pump-shaft. Also you can see those pumps here Best regards! mtaylor, dafi and WackoWolf 3 Quote Frigat (18Pdr) Privateer "Jupiter" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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