Question: What material were the mast head hoops/battens made from (on real late-18th early-19th century ships)?

[3DShipWright]

Wood, iron, steel... ?

 

Thx in advance,

-Nate

[Roger Pellett]

American ships-  Wooden. Mystic Seaport has a mast hoop shop demonstrating how these were made.

 

Roger

[allanyed]

 Google Mast hoops and go to images.  There are a lot of photos of wooden mast hoops including the one below.

Allan

 

[Harvey Golden]

Dear Nate, From the image you posted, I think you are asking about mast bands (not hoops)?  You seem to be getting answers for mast hoops. I don't know the answer to your question, but I suspect what you show would have been metal.   Best, H-

[Dr PR]

The bands around mast tops were iron, The same is true of bands tight around masts as structural supports.

 

Mast hoops were used to attach sails to masts, They typically were wood and fitted loosely around the mast.

[allanyed]

Nate, Depends on the era and maybe the nationality.  From James Lees' Masting and Rigging of English Ships of War, pages 2-4 ----The head of the mast was typically left square and did have iron bands and battens.  Below the head of the masts, until 1800 there were rope wooldings with a width of 12 inches.  There were wooden hoops nailed to the mast at the top and bottom of each woolding.  Iron bands replaced the rope wooldings after about 1800. 

Allan

Edited October 5, 2023 by allanyed