Belaying Pins

[Sailman58]

What finish should I use on a wooden (Maple) belaying pin ?

Ron

[paladin]

Howsabout CPES/varnish......

[Scott Rosen]

Funny you should ask. I just oiled mine a couple of days ago with boiled linseed oil. Tung oil would also work. I would stay away from a resinous coating like varnish or epoxy because the chafe from the lines will wear it off.

You should put something on it because maple stains easily from mildew, etc. and is almost impossible to bleach once it gets stained.

[ahp]

Blood, from the scalp. You take your pin to one of those waterfront eating and drinking establishments (Not one of those damned yuppiefied fern bars!) on a Saterday night and begin a conversation with some strangers.. I think you can take it from there.

[PatCassidy]

I would think that a varnished pin would not grip the line as well as an oiled pin. Not to mention the pain of varnishing a belaying pin!

[Sailman58]

Thanks all for the replys. I am leaning towards the oil finish myself for most of the same reasons. As far as blood is concerned, it would probably wind up being mine! That little belaying pin is not much of a weapon.

Ron

[John Gearing]

A nice traditional finish is a mixture of pine tar, boiled linseed and a little japan drier, IIRC. Pete Culler had his own recipe, and WB did a little article on a slightly different recipe a few years ago. Culler used to advocate soaking items like cleats and belaying pins in this "boat soup" (as he called it) and letting them absorb as much of it as they could. I'm away from my collection of Mariner's Catalogs just now (wherein Pete's recipe appears in the article "Old Ways Work") but this topic has been discussed before on the forum and there should be some recipes in the archives.

[martin schulz]

Le Tonkinois