Bower anchor project by Sizzolo

[Sizzolo]

Hi all. 
I’ve managed to distract myself with another project, unfortunately delaying my HMS Diana build but improving my skills.

 

I bought the fantastic Ships Longboat 1690-1780 from Ancre.fr so that I could better understand the rigging for my HMS Diana boats. In the book is some great detail on how the boats were used when anchoring.
 

So - I picked up two more lovely miniatures from Vanguard models but in 1/32 with the intention to show a scene involving a Bower anchor, a longboat, and a lot of cable - helping me with my rope making techniques!

 

I designed the anchor in Blender (3d software) and outsourced the print as I have no printer. I copied the dimensions of a bower from the archives (attached). The stock is carved from African Blackwood. At this scale it’s possible to build the float from 1mm thickness cork which is perfect (then dipped in Stockholm tar… it stinks!). Here’s the progress so far:

Edited Sunday at 11:47 AM by Sizzolo
altered image sizes

[Thukydides]

Seems like an interesting project. I look forward to seeing what you do with it.

 

One thing that stands out to me from the plans (though not strictly related to your project) is the use of the iron stock for the kedge. Do you know if this was common practice for the kedge?

[Sizzolo]

Hi mate. 
yes I think so. I’ve seen them in a few of my books and just walked around one at Bucklers Hard last wk. 

[Sizzolo]

I should say though that, I haven’t researched them so they could be specific to English ships or a particular short period of time. 

[Kenchington]

Perhaps a transition over time, with iron stocks appearing first on kedge anchors (presumably for the ease of handling them with the stock stowed parallel to the shank) but later becoming almost universal. ("Almost" because fishing schooners continued to carry wood-stocked "banks" anchors long after large ships had moved on to stockless designs.)

 

Trevor

[Sizzolo]

Forgot to say - the anchor is of the size found on a 74 gun ship, late C18th.

Holes bored and trenails made: Found a nice image showing the middle 4 were bolts and the outer 6 were 'trenails'.

Edited Sunday at 11:46 AM by Sizzolo

[Sizzolo]

Assembled. I included the 1.5" gap which was included on originals to allow for shrinkage (also lets you see the bolts and trenails).

Next will be the puddinening (?) around the ring which I'll do once I build a new ropewalk so that'll be a while. 

Edited Sunday at 11:45 AM by Sizzolo
added picture

[Sizzolo]

Update on the ring;

 

New ropewalk built and I’m extremely happy with the results; (19cm diameter 1/32 Cable)

 

Edited Sunday at 11:45 AM by Sizzolo

[Sizzolo]

Ring is likely going to be replaced - tbc. Seems a little too thick once wrapped. 
 

wrt the cable - would this not have been wormed and tarred? I’m probably going to do that but can’t find any specific references other than a couple of pictures of HMS victory having a wormed and dark cable a while ago, and the uss constitution model at the Peabody Essex museum in Salem having the same. 

[brunnels]

I'm impressed with your anchor and blender skills. I tried to make one in blender a couple weeks ago to replace the crappy ones that came in a kit, I used the same blueprints you used and have failed terribly haha. It was more complicated to model than I was expecting but I am still learning blender. 

Edited Wednesday at 09:23 PM by brunnels

[druxey]

The gap in the stock was for drainage as an air gap - not for shrinkage. Looks good.

[Sizzolo]

Cable now wormed. Gonna have a think about it over a pint but I might use thinner rope for the worm before I apply tar. 
 

Edited Sunday at 11:44 AM by Sizzolo

[druxey]

I agree that the worming looks a little thick.

[Kenchington]

6 minutes ago, druxey said:

the worming looks a little thick

But only a little

[Sizzolo]

I made the mistake of using trigonometry to calculate the perfect diameter. (Can send workings when back home…having pint time now!). 

The issue is - nothings perfect. A slight looseness to the cable causes the worm to pop out more. If it was rock sold it would be perfect.

Made lots of rope though and the new ropewalk is perfect. It’s super relaxing. 

[Sizzolo]

I’ll eyeball it based upon this pic of Victories old cable. 

Edited Sunday at 11:44 AM by Sizzolo

[Kenchington]

Might want to go a bit larger than that image shows. The idea when worming shrouds (before parcelling and serving) was to get a smoother surface, so a ruler placed along the wormed rope ought to touch both the worming and the strands. Worming a cable was a bit different. I think the idea was that the worming should take the abrasion on the seabed, leaving the cable itself less damaged. If so, that imaginary ruler should touch the worming but not the hawser-laid parts that make up the cable-lay. Then again, the length of cable nearest the anchor could have extra chaffing gear applied (though that is rarely, if ever, shown in models).

 

The image does give a lovely example of the way the anchor ring was prepared!

 

Trevor

[Sizzolo]

Hmm. Choices choices. So maybe my first cable correct.

 

I’ve looked for specifics of the worm  diameter and can’t find any mention of what you’re referring to. Do you have any references to support the idea that the anchor cable would have slightly pronounced worm? It works for me but I’m a bit of a stickler for original references. 
 

In theory the c*** line filler should be level with the highest points of the cable, no higher or lower. 

[Kenchington]

1 hour ago, Sizzolo said:

Do you have any references to support the idea that the anchor cable would have slightly pronounced worm? It works for me but I’m a bit of a stickler for original references. 

Very wise of you! I was working more from logic and the purpose of worming the cable -- which is no substitute for contemporary evidence.

 

However, a search of my shelves led to one entry in Darcy Lever's "Sheet Anchor" (p. 67 and referring initially to practices in coasting vessels, which needed to anchor frequently, of course):

 

"The working Cable has always the Services kept on, of which there are three, viz. the short or windward Service at about forty-five Fathoms [...] From the anchor to the short Service, the Cable is wormed with twice-laid Stuff, sufficiently large to project above it, which is a great Preservative against its being damaged by foul Ground. It is then keckled, and rounded with Plait. [...] Men of War and East Indiamen have about seven Fathoms of Keckling, four of Rounding, and four of Plait."

 

I haven't checked secondary sources, though I expect Boudriot, Lavery and others have given their interpretations of warship practices.

 

Trevor
 

[Sizzolo]

15 hours ago, Kenchington said:

(p. 67 and referring initially to practices in coasting vessels, which needed to anchor frequently, of course):

Thank you! I'll take a look. From what you provided it sounds like the cable was also 'served':

 

15 hours ago, Kenchington said:

keckled, and rounded with Plait.

I'll dig out my copies of Lever, Lavery and Boidroit. B's 74 gun ship books doesnt appear to mention Serving (or worming for that matter!) but I may have missed it. 

[Kenchington]

5 hours ago, Sizzolo said:

the cable was also 'served'

Served in way of the hawse holes, to prevent local wear there.

 

In deep-sea ships, anchoring rarely and then in varied water depths, the service would be applied where and when required, then stripped off. By Lever's account, coasting vessels had three pre-set lengths of cable to veer, with a permanent service at each length. (Not that they couldn't apply a temporary one when some other length of cable was essential.)

 

I think (though his words are open to interpretation) what he meant of the length of cable nearest the anchor was wormed (all the way to the first service in coasters, with the worming projecting to take the wear on the seabed), with keckling over that, "rounding" on top and "plait" on top again -- warships only having the first four fathoms from the anchor covered in rounding and plait, with those and the next three covered with keckling.

 

Ashley illustrates three forms of "keckling". His #3605 is a type of ringbolt hitching and his #3117 is similar but used to hold two ropes together, while his #3351  is worming much as we are discussing, with a single length of 3-inch rope in one of the contlines of the cable "to protect it at the anchor ring and at the hawse pipe". Quite what Lever meant by the term is beyond me, unless he intended something like serving but applied with hitches, like Ashley's #3117 and #3605, hence less likely to fall away when one turn around the cable gets worn through. Maybe it was easier to apply tightly, with the hitches, when the cable was too big and awkward for a serving mallet to be used. (That's just my speculation.)

 

Ashley has "rounding" as his #3350 : a "service of old rope" formerly used on cables at the hawse hole.

 

"Plait" presumably meant some sort of sennit or turkshead. At first, I thought Lever meant lengths of sennit wrapped around the cable but I rather suspect that the plait was worked directly on the cable, forming a tight, tubular net over the whole mass of chafing gear.

 

It all amounted to far more untidy complexity than I have ever seen in a model. And far more work for the crew. But if we'd ever hung onto an anchor, with the seas breaking on a  lee shore close under the stern, while fretting over what might be happening to the cable where it was being dragged across a rocky bottom, maybe we would not mind the extra labour!

 

Trevor

[Sizzolo]

That’s great stuff Trevor - thanks. More references for me to look in to!

Boudroit’s 74 vol 3 p 104 states that serving is aka heckling. P210 references Lever. 
in Seamanship in the Age of Sail by Harland, illustrated by Mark Myers there is a long section on protecting the cable: essentially it states serving was applied at points of greatest ware, platting was application of plaited sennit and Keckling was worming with 3 inch rope in a open fashion. - same as Ashley 3351. (Thanks for the reference - I had not seen that book and it is available online). 
I think I’ll go with heckling from the ring, as illustrated in 3351 but will then add two fathoms of serving, then heckling. This should look good on the end model. 
Pics of the ring progress and test of the cable being wormed parcelled and served. 

Edited Sunday at 11:43 AM by Sizzolo

[Kenchington]

You may finish with the most authentic model of a hemp anchor cable ever!

 

One final thought before I bow out and leave you to it: Lever wrote about contemporary (to him) seamanship for aspiring would-be sea officers. I think we can trust him to have known what he was writing about and to have attempted to communicate it accurately, though his presentation falls short of expectations for modern technical manuals.

 

Ashley was writing about knots, as an enthusiast and for other enthusiasts of arcane ropework. Where he stepped away from the details of twisted cordage and described the practices of former times, I think we should be a bit cautious in accepting what he set down at face value. His claim that his #3351, the form of worming that he terms "keckling", was used at the anchor ring and the hawse strikes me as unlikely. At the anchor ring and along as much of the cable as might drag on the seabed, as Lever hinted, seems altogether more probable. 

 

Nautical terminology has not been as stable and standardized as we might wish, while the meanings of words in New England (e.g. Ashley) and (Old) England (e.g. Lever) could differ. So I'll not say that Ashley was wrong to call his #3351 "keckling" but neither would I be too sure that it was what Lever meant when he used the same term. 

 

As to later authors: John Harland's and Jean Boudriot's books are superb -- something I would not say of the output of many of their (and our) contemporaries. However, they necessarily drew on much the same original material that we now have access to. While I deeply respect their competence at interpreting that evidence, and must not be ignored, we should still make our own examination of the contemporary sources, where possible.

 

Trevor

[Sizzolo]

New copy of Levers book arriving today as I was previously working from an old online version which doesn’t have the same text quoted above. I’ll make a final decision today after reading. I’m thinking if Keckling was effectively worming cable with large rope this could adversely effect the carefully calculated physics of the cable by significantly increasing the weight. If it was laid in open fashion instead of every cantline this would reduce the added weight. 
 

Ring wrapping done but I’m still mot sure on thickness. Seems a bit too stout. 

Edited Sunday at 11:48 AM by Sizzolo
altered image size

[Sizzolo]

New book arrived - same as the online copy.

On 10/17/2025 at 9:17 PM, Kenchington said:

The working Cable has always the Services kept on, of which there are three, viz. the short or windward Service at about forty-five Fathom

It’s not on P67 that I saw so it’ll be later in the book. I prefer books to online reading anyway. 
 

Definitely doing a new thinner ring. The first was a good test of the method though. Shame, as it’s going to get destroyed when I remove it. We’ll always have the memories I guess!

 

Made a new cable today which is neater and much tighter, and spot on for a 19cm diameter cable appropriate for a British ‘74 in 1/32.  I’m getting to grips with the ropewalk now so the rope and cable is a lot better.

[Kenchington]

3 hours ago, Sizzolo said:

It’s not on P67 that I saw

I have the 1999 Dover facsimile edition and that text in the last full paragraph on a page headed "67" then "Anchors etc." 

 

Trevor

[Sizzolo]

I actually like the idea of the ‘link-worming’ so might try that. Pics to follow, likely next week.