Bronze Thole Pins

[elad]

I just found some bronze rod (1/2"). I was thinking of making thole pins out of it and trying them out. Any reason why I shouldn't??

Thanks,
Dale

[Thorne]

Seems like they might be better as small belaying pins -- they'll bang around a lot more than wood tholepins if you pull them out while tied into the thole-pin holes. Round the tops well to avoid possible injury if anyone falls on 'em.

[Brian Palmer]

Bronze sinks when dropped overboard. Thole pins are also usually tapered to fit a matching tapered hole. That is easier to do in wood than bronze.

Brian

[James McMullen]

I think you'd also want a thole pin to have a greater cross section than 1/2" so as to have a greater bearing surface and not cause too much wear or strain on the oar itself. All the tholes or kabes I've ever used were at least about 1 inch where the oar crossed it, sometime more.

[Thad Van Gilder]

do you mean like the metal ones on the jersey lifeguard boats?

-Thad

[James McMullen]

I've never used those--only wooden thole pins, norse kabes with the rope grommet, or conventional oarlocks.

[Thad Van Gilder]

traditional new jersey lifeboards, wether made by Van Duyne or Patroni have thole pins which look like a D shaped loop forward and aft of the oar. Van Duyne's are galvanized and Patroni's are stainless. back when Van Sant and others made them in wood, the thole pins where the same design.

-Thad

[Woxbox]

They'll chew up the oars and should be fatter, like James says.

[elad]

Thanks! The size was a bit of concern for me. I'll finish my plans to make the wooden ones. I'll hang onto this bronze rod for some future project. It's about 5' by 1/2"
Thanks again.

Dale

[Thorne]

Should make a lovely traveller!

[boylesboats]

Phil Bolger have a neat way of using single thole pin.. I cannot find the information anywhere.. but I remember reading about it..

[boylesboats]

Okay okay, here is this one from Jim Michalak's site http://marina.fortunecity.com/breakwater/274/2002/0801/index.htm scroll down a little way and check it out...

Here's another one http://www.jimsboats.com/2007/1may07.htm#Rowing%20Gear.. scroll down, about middle of page

[James McMullen]

Good gracious, L. Boyle! I usually like Jim Michalak's writings, but his comments about oars and rowing in that link are dreadful and misinformative. He's doing things backwards from how everybody else does it--even other freethinkers like Phil Bolger. His technique of using a rope grommet lashed around the oar to keep it from moving up is ridiculous complication that could very easily be solved by just learning how to row properly. I can't endorse that particular article at all. I like Michalak's can-do attitude generally. . . . but not this topic!

[David W Pratt]

One vote for wood here, I'd rather snap and replace a thole pin than an oar.
Good luck.

[Thorne]

Michalak's setup certainly is different. In effect he's turning the thole pins
http://intheboatshed.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/tholepin1.JPG
http://theinvisibleworkshop.blogspot.com/2008/04/thole-pins.html

into offset / D-shaped oarlocks...a popular shape for performance rowers:
http://www.duckworksbbs.com/hardware/oarlocks/douglas/Doug-Lock.jpg

He's not alone -- check out this tholepin and keeper design from Cascade Outfitters -

https://www.cascadeoutfitters.com/images/products/0360.jpg

[boylesboats]

One vote for wood here, I'd rather snap and replace a thole pin than an oar.
Good luck.

Make sense, wooden thole pins is easier and cheaper to replace than oars

[James McMullen]

But Thorne, he turns it arouond so that the oar bears against the grommet rather than against the pin when rowing! Wrongety-wrong-wrong-wrong says I.

[S B]

Make sense, wooden thole pins is easier and cheaper to replace than oars
It is also, safer to have the thole pin fail, than to have the end of the oar rammed into your ribcage if you happen to be in on the rocks and jam one.

[boylesboats]

It is also, safer to have the thole pin fail, than to have the end of the oar rammed into your ribcage if you happen to be in on the rocks and jam one.

Ouch..... I can see the idea...

[Pagie]

These pins are not much more than 1/2 inch maybe 5/8th. They are just some bolts from the electricity mob. They seem to work ok. I have used them. and no one pinches them.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1025/1305952221_23a6d3de8f_b.jpg

[James McMullen]

Is that an honest to god curragh? Cool!