CAPSTERN, or CAPSTAN

A capstern is composed of several parts, (see plate II. fig. II.) where A is the barrel, b the whelps, c the drum-head, and d the spindle.

Plate II

The whelps rise out from the main body of the capstern like buttresses, to enlarge the sweep; so that a greater portion of the cable, or whatever rope encircles the barrel, may be wound about it at one turn, without adding much to the weight of the capstern. The whelps reach downwards from the lower part of the drum-head to the deck.

Plate II. fig. 11 and 12. The drum-head is a broad cylindrical piece of wood, resembling a mill-stone, and fixed immediately above the barrel and whelps. On the outside of this piece are cut a number of square holes parallel to the deck, to receive the bars.

The pivot, or spindle, d, which is shod with iron, is the axis or foot upon which the capstern rests, and turns round in the saucer, which is a sort of iron socket let into a wooden stock or standard, called the step, resting upon, and bolted to the beams.

Besides the different parts of the capstern above explained, it is furnished with several appurtenances, as the bars, the pins, the pawls, the swifter, and the saucer, already described.

The bars are long pieces of wood, or arms, thrust into a number of square holes in the drum-head all round, in which they are as the radii of a circle, or the spokes to the nave of a wheel. They are used to heave the capstern round, which is done by the men setting their breasts against them and walking about, like the machinery of a horse-mill, till the open ration is finished.

The pins, e, are little bolts of iron thrust perpendicularly through the holes of the drum-head, and through a correspondent hole in the end of the bar, made to receive the pins when the bars are fixed. They are used to confine the bars, and prevent them from working out as the men heave, or when the ship labours. Every pin is fastened to the drum-head with a small iron chain; and, that the bars may exactly fit their respective holes, they are all numbered.

Reference Works