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Faking Box

Bonnex

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Ambling through the US Chief of Ordnance Annual Report for 1878 I happened across a large section on Life Saving gear. Amongst it was a drawing of a Small Faking Box and then a Large Faking Box:

Faking Box1.JPGfaking Box2.JPG

followed by half a dozen more Faking boxes.

The question is please, just what is a Faking Box?
 
It is a box for Faking a line into. The lines are used with a line throwing rocket.

The boxes I have seen have a lid with a series of pointed pegs around the outside and the line is faked down into the box in a zig zag pattern. The direction is changed on each layer.
Once all the line has been put on the pegs then the rest of the box is put onto the lid and the whole lot is turned over.

When you want to launch a line you take the lid off the box and the line is neatly laid out in the box so it will run free when the rocket is fired.

http://www.bocn.co.uk/vbforum/threa...ne-throwing-rocket?highlight=schermuly+rocket
 
faking is not coiling, it is laying the rope out in a zig zag fashion so it can run free.
 
Slick,

I'm trying not to be pedantic, but your second picture shows a cheesed rope, not a coil.

A cheese is a rope arranged in a flat spiral.

A coil consists of coils of similar diameter.
 
Slick,

I'm trying not to be pedantic, but your second picture shows a cheesed rope, not a coil.

A cheese is a rope arranged in a flat spiral.

A coil consists of coils of similar diameter.

I stand corrected. BUT, back in my nautical days, we called "cheesed" coiled. Maybe 'cause we weren't the best the Navy had to offer. Of course, we were GMs and not BMs.
 
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I'm not sure they still teach it to new recruits today, but when I went thru Boot Camp we had courses in Marlinspike Seamanship.

Faking Down a line allowed for it to run out rapidly without binding or fouling. A Faked Down line could be reversed allowing it run in the opposite direction. Easy to do but hard to explain.

The flat coil that Rick showed, we called Flemishing. A Coil was a Flemish, only not as neat and seamanlike. A Coil and a Flemish were used if it was not expected that the line would be needed on short notice. A Flemish was mostly for show.

Trying to run out a line directly from a coil or flemish could result in a big mess. It was SOP to first fake it down.

Cheese meant something else entirely. Not appropriate for a family-oriented forum. ;-)

Ray
 
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Flemishing, faking and coiling. I was gonna use the excuse that it was so long ago that I forgot. Now that Ray's stepped in, and advanced in years that he is, well, I'm shamed to use that excuse. Forgetting. I do recall being advised of the basic seamanship skills whilst aboard TDE-1.
TDE1 (609x385).jpg

Hell, I forgot the Alamo!
 
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Mother Nature has a wierd sense of humor. I can clearly remember how to fake down a line, but forget my grandikid's names.

Ray
 
Slick,

I see the USS Recruit aka 'Never-Sail' was built to 2/3rds scale. My limited experience of warships is that they are cramped, surely this vessel was even more cramped?

TimG
 
TimG

What I recall of the internal space, in the hull, was a room, where we learned to use the sound powered phones. Don't recall any details
of the upper deck spaces. Also, if you really screwed up, you got to stand in formation with others, holding your '03 Springfield at arms length in front you, then march around TDE-1 chanting silly crap. Before the push-ups and run. Luckily, being the perfect recruit, I only had to do that a half dozen times, or so. And jumping jacks. Lots and lots of jumping jacks. Upside - I was very fit after my 11 week tenure.
 
"Faking" (or sometimes "flaking") is a nautical term for neatly arranging a line or rope so that it will run out without getting tangled up.
A "faking box" is used to neatly arrange a light weight rope used with a line throwing gun so that when fired the line will run out neatly. While this could be accomplished by arranging the line on the beach or deck of a ship, having it in a box made it portable and ready for instant use.
The faking box usually consists of a series of long posts around the edge of a board. After the line is neatly wound on the posts in a specific pattern the bod of the box is placed over the board with the posts and it can be transported. When ready to use, the box is placed on the ground, usually tilted forward, and the board with the posts is removed, leaving the neatly arranged nest of line ready to feed out. The outer end of the line is attached to the line throwing projectile and it is ready for firing.
 
I only knew the term as `flaking' and that related to the unpacking and particularly the repacking of Giant Viper, mainly because they leaked lots of plasticiser. The explosive-filled line was then flaked back into the box.
 
"Faking" - thought that was something women did in the bedroom???????? :tongue:
 
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