#marlinspike

A scrimshawed fid or marlinspike, 19th century

It’s the little things that matter, right?

When I found this beauty for sale, I couldn’t resist bringing her home and giving her a new lease on life.  They don’t make tools like this any more, and she’d had a hard life.... so I had to do something.

The first step was just cleaning her up.  A quick visit with the wire wheel had all the grime, paint splatter, and old varnish removed.  Personally, I love how the wire wheel pulls little bits of the wood out of the grain, really making the wood look like wood and not hiding things behind a coat of vanish.

The walnut had been cracked by a previous owner who thought hammering it down on the steel shaft was a good idea.  No worries, though because I filled in the crack with some grey epoxy.  Rather than try to hide the wound, I will highlight it and celebrate it.  Life gives us all scars.

The working end was too far gone to salvage.  I could have forged it out a bit, sure, but I thought this should be a new beginning for her in more ways than one.

If you’re doing any kind of decorative Marlinspike Seamanship, having a small marlinspike that lets you get into tight spots is a necessity.  This old girl’s size was just right for that, so I filed the tip down to a spear blade that was fine enough to let me slip under even the tightest line and create some slack.

Of course, how could i resist celebrating her new life with a bit of decorative knotwork?  If you’ve ever read the Ashley Book of Knots, you probably recognize the French whipping and Turk’s Heads.  They were great fun to do, but they also highlight just why decorative rope work was so important in ages past.

Prior to being covered in knots, my new marlinspike did her job well enough; the point was fine and she was a comfortable fit in the hand.  However, the thin shaft didn’t give you much to help manipulate the tool as you were trying to fiddle the fine point through a tight knot.

As soon as the final Turk’s Head knot was laid, though, the whole feel of the tool was changed.  Not only does it balance different, but being able to hook a finger here or there, the knots providing positive stops for your hand, makes manipulating the whole thing very dreamy!

Plus, it just looks sexy!

I’m a big believer it ending the day on a positive note, and little projects like this are a great way to do it.  I know it’s no as “cool” as those videos where guys rebuild vintage power hammers or drill presses, but we do what we can with what we have.  Not much time invested, maybe, but tremendous satisfaction in bringing an old tool back to life.  Plus, I’ll never have to worry about my shoes being tied too tight again!

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For the past few weeks my big project has been my rig knife: I did some fancy work on the handle to make it thicker and grippier, which led directly into a four strand sennit braid, and then I made a custom sheath for it!

Some progress photos: