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Posted 9 years ago
blunderbuss2
(199 items)
Busby's, a beach-side restaurant that I have been stopping at for over 20 yrs., & BAM! I see it hidden behind speakers & crap. How could I have missed it?! I have been looking for a harpoon for yrs. & had finally decided that I would just have to make one & age it for that blank beam in my living room. Busby's is an icon on the Fr./Dutch frontier for decades. I started by telling them that it was the most interesting piece of nautical decor there, & they have it hidden! They are locals & just don't understand that "normal" people would love to see it plainly displayed. Well, since I know them, I popped the question to the owner's son & we settled on $200 (!). A repro. head/point is almost that much. As a family business, the owner asked his relative who started the business & he requested that they didn't sell it. Sh-t happens! Has me wondering, as the originals used iron instead of bronze for the toggle point because of dissimilar metal reactions (corrosion/electrolysis). Also, there should be a hole behind the pivot point passing thru the iron shaft for an iron wire to be inserted thru both to keep the toggle point straight until after penetration & then be sheared off when the toggle point is pivoted inside the whale. UGH! Can anybody add to my conclusions? Sure looks old, but is near the sea.
Category? "Fishing"?
it looks old to me !! very interesting .
I have no idea wht it is..but! pretty colour!...;-))
Sean, nobody would know the difference unless they have researched them like I have. Still wondering, but it wouldn't have worked right without the iron wire. The head won't work right without it.
Inky, it's a bloody whale harpoon! I know that turns you off, but a part of history.
Oooowooooh!!..is dat wat it is!!!!...:-)
No idea .... but you do.
I have no idea if it's old or not. But, it looks great!
I agree bb2 :)
Thank you for posting this. It is the second brass point I have seen. I have the first. Never mounted on a shaft, it has the hole behind the pivot. I have read the hole was filled with a wood peg that would shear to set the point in the whale. I asked at the New Bedford Whaling Museum about a brass point. I was told he had never seen a brass point, but could not guarantee they were never brass. Yours is proof some were brass, but we don't know where it was made. I found mine in the USA. I also have an iron point.
Slack, mine doesn't have the 2nd hole & wouldn't keep the point straight for entry. Maybe the hole is just hard to see. I'll go back in a few days & look at the other side. Want to get rid of yours. I am still going to make one & the head is the main problem. Have a German girl to swap. LOL!!
Here's one for you.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/6-Whaling-Harpoon-nautical-decor-/201450425345?hash=item2ee7618c01
No hole behind the pivot on this one either.
Walks, that's new made & not designed to work right. They just didn't bother to drill the hole thru the head & shaft. The slot for the shaft doesn't look like the head would quite go into the correct position. Aluminium as well. Thanks though for the trouble & thought.
Sorry, I guess I'm not on my A game. :(
Actually walks, that's what I want just to hang for decoration. I think I can do a better job. Talking to a friend who does investment casting about making the head.
https://www.google.com/search?q=whale+harpoon+museum&biw=800&bih=534&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0CDIQsARqFQoTCPLwyby95cgCFQWjiAodnb4Eyg
http://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g60913-d125282-i110690287-New_Bedford_Whaling_Museum-New_Bedford_Massachusetts.html
http://fosterartandbooks.com/whaleport/whaling.html
Interesting Roy, but not much on harpoons.
Oh Roy, just missed your #15 poste. Now that's loaded with great pix to help! Thanks. Explains some details.
Hey Slack! I'll give you 6 goats & 3 copper bracelets for your point. LOL!!
Here's one guys take about bronze on a whale iron:
http://www.whalecraft.net/Non_Whaling.html
T A
TA. I have done a lot of research before & even more with tours & Roy's input. One pix is questionable, but all the others are of iron. The one at Busby's I had classified as repro. since it doesn't have the second hole. Slack's, of course I can't judge. The securing axis pin/rivet is supposed to be peened to the head & as long as that is ferrous, then the dissimilar metal problem doesn't exist between it & the shaft & would be negligible between the rivet & the head. My opinion is that they were all iron.
Happy New Year Buss had a blast ! Don't go overboard tonight. Thanks for all the great posts.
Roy
PS Caper. I quit going out partying on New Year's Eve some years back. Too many amateur drunk drivers out there & it makes it dangerous for us professional drunk drivers ! LOL!!
This was blown away in hurricane Irma. What a shame ! They should have taken my offer.