It's a Sheave, not a Pulley

[sailaway21]

Sheave is the maritime term for a pulley, much the same as galley is the maritime term for kitchen. Ships, boats, and even un-manned scows do not have pulleys on board, they have sheaves.

I have a few maritime dictionaries asquired over the years and the word pulley does not appear in any of them. Sheave is the only word used for the object. I do not purport to know the reason in the way that I know why a floor is not a deck ( a floor being something completely different than a deck on a vessel).

de Kerchove's Maritime Dictionary, which runs close to a thousand pages, describes a sheave thusly:

A grooved wheel in a block, mast, yard, and so on, over which a rope passes. The sheave, which is bushed, rotates upon the pin. Sheaves are made of wood, bronze, or galvinized cast iron or steel. for running riggin where severe or heavy intermittent strains are expected, as in the case of runners and topping lifts, brass sheaves are used.

Wooden sheaves are made of lignum vitaem wood bushed with bronze. Iron or steel sheaves are used with flexible wire rope to prevent galvanic action, which would soon damage the rope. They are of much greater diameter than those for fiber rope (15-20 times the rope's diameter). The groove should fit the rope accurately so as to support it for one third of it's circumference. in practise the diameter of the groove at the bottom should be 1/16th inch greater than the diameter of the rope, with an angle of flare from 50 to 60 degrees. end quote

Elevator pasengers may refer to pulleys, those who wish not to appear lubberly should call a sheave a sheave. Thank you for your time and attention.

[soul searcher]

SA,
I worked for a guy named Bjornie Ricksford for a time. Are you kin to him.
He would see us walking down th deck and ask us where we were going. We would always say "down stairs( below ) to the back porch (fantail). He would get red faced and call us names You believe that!

[tigerregis]

Hey Sailaway, the next guy to call it "that", you just tell him to SHIV IT.

[USCGRET1990]

Originally Posted by sailaway21

Sheave is the maritime term for a pulley, much the same as galley is the maritime term for kitchen. Ships, boats, and even un-manned scows do not have pulleys on board, they have sheaves.

I have a few maritime dictionaries asquired over the years and the word pulley does not appear in any of them. Sheave is the only word used for the object. I do not purport to know the reason in the way that I know why a floor is not a deck ( a floor being something completely different than a deck on a vessel).

de Kerchove's Maritime Dictionary, which runs close to a thousand pages, describes a sheave thusly:

A grooved wheel in a block, mast, yard, and so on, over which a rope passes. The sheave, which is bushed, rotates upon the pin. Sheaves are made of wood, bronze, or galvinized cast iron or steel. for running riggin where severe or heavy intermittent strains are expected, as in the case of runners and topping lifts, brass sheaves are used.

Wooden sheaves are made of lignum vitaem wood bushed with bronze. Iron or steel sheaves are used with flexible wire rope to prevent galvanic action, which would soon damage the rope. They are of much greater diameter than those for fiber rope (15-20 times the rope's diameter). The groove should fit the rope accurately so as to support it for one third of it's circumference. in practise the diameter of the groove at the bottom should be 1/16th inch greater than the diameter of the rope, with an angle of flare from 50 to 60 degrees. end quote

Elevator pasengers may refer to pulleys, those who wish not to appear lubberly should call a sheave a sheave. Thank you for your time and attention.

...and we need to know this because........??

[sailaway21]

Soul Searcher,
I might be related or attended the same school! I notice you said "below" and not the redundant "down below", somethin' musta stuck. (g)

[sailhog]

I'm always shouting at my wife: "It's not a mast, it's a stripper pole! Now get up there and go to work, sailor!"

[soul searcher]

Yikes Your killin me Hog I might try that with the missus next time she goes to the mast. I wonder if thats were the term dodger came from. dodger... dodge her. makes you go hmmmm!

SA my fondest memory of Mr. Ricksford was when he was teaching me to plot DR positions. He asked me where I thought we were and I replied " I THINK we are right here." and put my index finger on the chart.
He replied "Well matt at a time like this you realy need to KNOW we are there, not think we are. And when someone askes you where we are don't point with your finger. Mash down with your thumb it gives a little more margine for error."
He was a great teacher.

[deniseO30]

Rope is never called rope?

and line is never cable?

Rigging is standing and running. Rigging doesn't really run. Rigging doesn't stand.

Spars are masts, booms, yardarms etc... BUT only a boom is a spar?

A bollard is never a cleat? But can cleat to a bollard?

The steering wheel is the WHEEL but it's always at the Helm?

A turnbuckle hasn't any buckle in it.

A pilot house is called that but do all boats have pilots?

"keel" is always used to mark steel. But steel will really mark your keel!

Heeling is not listing. Listing doesn't mean your selling your boat.

You can have sheaves without blocks but you can never have a block without a sheave!

Why do we go on like this??

[PBzeer]

Because we can

[LakeTravisP26]

Except the cordage attached to a bucket is a rope.