ccozewith

Thanks to everyone for their replies. I thought there was more to the mechanism than shown on the plans but kenchington's explanation of how it was hand cranked plus the photos he posted has cleared the air for me. I am building a model of the yacht Kathleen (1904) shown below in the collection of the San Francisco Maritime National Park. I just learned there are some photos available and if I can obtain copies of the deck fittings I will post them here.

I came across another drawing of a bitts mounted windlass that also omits the actual mechanism that turned the barrel which is the information I am looking for. I guessing there must have been another post to support the cranks. My build is a yacht from 1904 so I'm guessing it was hand operated. Any ideas?

Here is a jpg version of the figure showing the windlass in question.

Does anyone have design details for a windlass of the type shown in the figure? The axle is mounted on the Samson post and attachments for the brake are shown but not how it would be supported or where the pawls would be located. Thanks.windlass.tif

The time has come to dispose of of my maritime library of 100+ books. I will be listing them for sale in batches over the coming months. The books are priced below the lowest price I could find online. Sale conditions are as follows: 1) Condition is listed as like new, fine, very good, and good. Good condition books are fully intact but exhibit some wear. 2) Shipping in U.S. only. 3) Payment by check only. Sorry, but I don't do online payments. If you are interested in buying a book please contact me via private message. Also, if there is a book you are looking for, let me know as I might have it. Here are the first ones for sale. See below for descriptions: Merchant Sailing Ships David MacGregor Naval Inst. Press 1988 Fine Condition $12 plus $6 shipping French Warships in the Age of Sail1786-1861 R. Winfield and S. Roberts Naval Inst.Press 20 Like New Condition $18 plus $7 shipping Fast Sailing Ships David MacGregor Naval Inst Press 1988 Very Good Condition $15 + $5 shipping The Sloop of War 1650-1763 McLaughlan, Seaforth 2014 $65 plus $5 shipping From the Anatomy of a Ship series: The Schooner Bertha L. Downs Greenhill and Manning, Naval institute Press 1995 Fine Condition $23 plus $5 shipping CSS Alabama Bowcock, Naval Institute Press 2002 New Condition $75 plus $5 shipping The Hudson Bay Company Steam Ship Beaver McKay, Vanwell 2001 New Condition $10 plus $5 shipping NOTE: HARDCOVER BOOK ONLY. BOOK GIVES SHIP HISTORY, DESCRIBES FITTING OUT AND EQUIPMENT, AND PROVIDES PARTIAL PLANS. SEPARATE PLAN SET NOT INCLUDED.

I am a long time reader of MSW posts, but now have joined the group. I've been ship modeling for about 45 years and have launched many scratch builds from my bench top ship yard ranging from a Roman merchantman, circa year 0, to an American sloop of war, circa 1830. At age 85 I am no longer modeling large 3-masters but am staying busy building small sloops and schooners that can be completed more quickly. Recent builds include the pinkie Dove from the plans in Chapelle's "American Fishing Schooners" and under construction is the pilot boat Achilles from his plans in "Search for Speed Under Sail".