"Whalecraft from the Robert Hellman Whaling and Whalecraft Collection: Cutting In and Trying Out."

Whaling Hellman Whalecraft Contents Whalesite

Whalecraft

from the

Robert Hellman Whaling Collection

Cuttin-in & Trying-out.

Early Nantucket-made spade.

Cutting In & Trying Out.^*

"Gruesome and grueling, the work of whaling was in equal parts both. When the hunt was complete and the dead tonnage rowed back to the ship, new feats of labor were demanded of the crew, or as Melville put it, 'every sailor a butcher.' Cutting in was the work of flensing the whale, hoisting the blubber aboard the ship, cutting it into massive 'blanket pieces,' carving those into 'horse-pieces,' mincing them into 'bible leaves' and 'trying out' – boiling it down to fossil fuel in the 'try works.' (And that is not even to mention the severing of the head.) There was a whalecraft for each."

***

"from 'The Cutting In,' Moby-Dick:"

"'… And now suspended in stages over the side, Starbuck and Stubb, the mates, armed with their long spades, began cutting a hole in the body for the insertion of the hook just above the nearest of the two side-fins. This done, a broad, semicircular line is cut round the hole, the hook is inserted, and the main body of the crew striking up a wild chorus, now commence heaving in one dense crowd at the windlass. When instantly, the entire ship careens over on her side; every bolt in her starts like the nail-heads of an old house in frosty weather; she trembles, quivers, and nods her frighted mast-heads to the sky. More and more she leans over to the whale, while every gasping heave of the windlass is answered by a helping heave from the billows; till at last, a swift startling snap is heard; with a great swash the ship rolls upwards and backwards from the whale, and the triumphant tackle rises into sight dragging after it the disengaged semicircular end of the first strip of blubber. Now as the blubber envelopes the whale precisely as the rind does an orange, so is it stripped off from the body precisely as an orange is sometimes stripped by spiralizing it. For the strain constantly kept up by the windlass continually keeps the whale rolling over and over in the water, and as the blubber in one strip uniformly peels off along the line called the “scarf,” simultaneously cut by the spades of Starbuck and Stubb, the mates; and just as fast as it is thus peeled off, and indeed by that very act itself, it is all the time being hoisted higher and higher aloft till its upper end grazes the main-top; the men at the windlass then cease heaving, and for a moment or two the prodigious blood-dripping mass sways to and fro as if let down from the sky, and every one present must take good heed to dodge it when it swings, else it may box his ears and pitch him headlong overboard.'"

	Spades
	Boarding Knives
	Blubber Hooks, Gaffs & Pikes
	Mincers
	Bailers, Dippers & Skimmers

^* from Hellman Collection on Cutting In and Trying Out.

Contents

	Hellman No.	Page

SPADES

Signed COLE, "flat-shanked throat" or "bone" spadecast steel	REH151	1
Signed PETERS, "round-shanked throat" or "bone" spadecast steel	REH152	2
Signed CONKLIN, early round-shanked "bone" spade	REH153	3
Early cutting-in spade	REH154	4
Massive "head spade" with multiple maker's marks	REH155	5
Short shanked head spade with partially readable maker's markcast steel	REH156	6
Long shanked head spade	REH157	7
Signed D & W, early spade	REH158	8
Chisel-marked S L D, early cutting-in spade	REH159	9
Signed NA, Nantucket-made, early cutting-in spade with eagle pictorial	REH160	10
Signed SBF, Nantucket-made, early cutting-in spade with eagle pictorial	REH161	11
Signed SBF, Nantucket-made 'thin boat spade'	REH162	12
Signed A.J. PETERS, fully rigged "thin boat spade" with 3-part sheath	REH163	13
Signed DEAN & DRIGGS, wide-bladed "sliver spade"cast steel	REH164	14
Signed B & S, head spade with uncommon characteristics	REH165	15
Gouge spade (or "half-round spade")	REH166	16
Signed PETERS, early 20th C. cutting-in spadecast steel	REH167	17
Signed J. MAGUIRE NEW BEDFORD, cutting-in spade	REH168	18
Signed A.J. PETERS, thin boat spade with sheathcast steel	REH169	19
Signed COLE, thin boat spade (with inverted Ts in CAST STEEL)cast steel	REH170	20
Signed H.N. DEAN, "thin boat spade"cast steel	REH171	21
Signed FM, early spade made into a chopper for galley use	REH172	22
Signed J. DURFEE, "thick boat spade"	REH173	23
Signed SNOW & PURRINGTON, cutting-in or "platform" spade	REH174	24
Signed GIFFORD'S, thin boat spade	REH175	25
Signed P.E. MERRIHEW, sliver spadecast steel	REH176	26
Signed S. KEEN, cutting-in spade	REH177	27
Signed SMITH, Early cutting-in spade repurposed	REH178	28
Signed FOLG(ER), Nantucket-made, early cutting-in spade	REH179	29
Signed NA, Nantucket-made, early cutting-in spade on section of original pole	REH180	30
Signed RCC (or RGC), cutting-in spade on short, pointed-ended shank	REH181	31
Signed J.CONKLIN, cutting-in spade with short shank and spike end	REH182	32
Signed H.N. DEAN, cutting-in spade on original pole	REH183	33
Signed H.N. DEAN, sliver spade on short pole	REH184	34
Signed L. COL(E), sliver spade on short pole	REH185	35
Signed D GRAY, Cutting-in Spade on section of original pole	REH186	36
Signed HOL(WAY) AXE CO, boat spade made by axe and edge tool maker	REH187	37
Signed (S) W HO(L)WAY, long-bladed cutting-in spade	REH207	38
Signed A)G SNEL(L), "thick boat spade"	REH239	39
Signed E. PARKER, Nantucket spade on pole remnant	REH266	40
Signed J. BARTON, rare "gouge" or "half-round spade" with marked pole	REH269	41
Signed J. CONKLIN, early cutting in spade with marked pole	REH270	42
Signed JBC, Nantucket-made, early spade with eagle pictorial	REH287	43
Signed JBC, early Nantucket-made spade with eagle pictorial, and extension tang	REH288	44
Signed LT, rare early spade by Lewis Temple, on original pole	REH290	45
Early Nantucket Spade	REH506	46
Early cutting spade	REH507	47
Boat Spade	REH606	48

BOARDING-KNIVES
About Boarding Knives		49

Nickel plated boarding knife with sheath	REH188	50
Boarding knife mounted to original wood handle	REH189	51
Single-edged boarding knife fashioned from a sword, with sheath	REH190	52
Signed J. DURFEE JR, boarding knife fashioned from a War-of-1812 cutlass with RX inscription	REH191	53
20th C. Japanese flensing knife on pole, with manufacturer's mark	REH208	54
20th C. Japanese flensing knife	REH209	55
20th C. "hockey stick" type flensing knife, possibly Norwegian	REH210	56
4 whalecraft tools	REH626	57

BLUBBER HOOKS, GAFFS & PIKES

Blubber gaff on original wood pole	REH192	58
Blubber gaff on section of pole	REH193	59
Blubber gaff on original pole	REH194	60
Blubber gaff from Azorean whaling factory	REH195	61
Blubber pike made by recycling part of spade, lance or harpoon, on original pole	REH196	62
Blubber pike	REH197	63
Fire pike	REH295	64
Blubber hook	REH315	65
Blubber hook	REH316	66
Blubber fork	REH329	67

MINCERS

Signed BRADES & CO, two-handled, English-made blubber mincing knife	REH232	68
Two-handled blubber mincing knife	REH233	69
Signed TILLOTSON, Two-handled, British-made mincing knife	REH234	70
Blade for Sowle & Carsley blubber mincing machine	REH235	71
Signed DEAN & SAWY(ER), blade for Sowle and Carsley mincing machine	REH236	72
4 whalecraft tools	REH626	73

BAILERS, DIPPERS & SKIMMERS

Sperm whale case bailer	REH312	74
Sperm whale case bailer	REH313	75
Whale oil bailer	REH318	76
Whale oil bailer	REH319	77
Skimmer	REH320	78
Skimmer	REH321	79

Cutting In & Trying Out.

—————

Gruesome and grueling, the work of whaling was in equal parts both. When the hunt was complete and the dead tonnage rowed back to the ship, new feats of labor were demanded of the crew, or as Melville put it, "every sailor a butcher." Cutting in was the work of flensing the whale, hoisting the blubber aboard the ship, cutting it into massive "blanket pieces," carving those into "horse-pieces," mincing them into "bible leaves" and "trying out"—boiling it down to fossil fuel in the "try works." (And that is not even to mention the severing of the head.) There was a whalecraft for each.

***

––– from "The Cutting In," Moby-Dick:

"… And now suspended in stages over the side, Starbuck and Stubb, the mates, armed with their long spades, began cutting a hole in the body for the insertion of the hook just above the nearest of the two side-fins. This done, a broad, semicircular line is cut round the hole, the hook is inserted, and the main body of the crew striking up a wild chorus, now commence heaving in one dense crowd at the windlass. When instantly, the entire ship careens over on her side; every bolt in her starts like the nail-heads of an old house in frosty weather; she trembles, quivers, and nods her frighted mast-heads to the sky. More and more she leans over to the whale, while every gasping heave of the windlass is answered by a helping heave from the billows; till at last, a swift startling snap is heard; with a great swash the ship rolls upwards and backwards from the whale, and the triumphant tackle rises into sight dragging after it the disengaged semicircular end of the first strip of blubber. Now as the blubber envelopes the whale precisely as the rind does an orange, so is it stripped off from the body precisely as an orange is sometimes stripped by spiralizing it. For the strain constantly kept up by the windlass continually keeps the whale rolling over and over in the water, and as the blubber in one strip uniformly peels off along the line called the "scarf," simultaneously cut by the spades of Starbuck and Stubb, the mates; and just as fast as it is thus peeled off, and indeed by that very act itself, it is all the time being hoisted higher and higher aloft till its upper end grazes the main-top; the men at the windlass then cease heaving, and for a moment or two the prodigious blood-dripping mass sways to and fro as if let down from the sky, and every one present must take good heed to dodge it when it swings, else it may box his ears and pitch him headlong overboard."

Spades.

spades.

REH151:
Signed COLE, "flat-shanked throat" or "bone" spadecast steel

spades.

REH152:
Signed PETERS, "round-shanked throat" or "bone" spadecast steel

spades.

REH153:
Signed CONKLIN, early round-shanked "bone" spade

spades.

REH154:
Early cutting-in spade

spades.

REH155:
Massive "head spade" with multiple maker's marks

spades.

REH156:
Short shanked head spade with partially readable maker's markcast steel

spades.

REH157:
Long shanked head spade

spades.

REH158:
Signed D & W, early spade

spades.

REH159:
Chisel-marked S L D, early cutting-in spade

spades.

REH160:
Signed NA, Nantucket-made, early cutting-in spade with eagle pictorial

spades.

REH161:
Signed SBF, Nantucket-made, early cutting-in spade with eagle pictorial

spades.

REH162:
Signed SBF, Nantucket-made 'thin boat spade'

spades.

REH163:
Signed A.J. PETERS, fully rigged "thin boat spade" with 3-part sheath

spades.

REH164:
Signed DEAN & DRIGGS, wide-bladed "sliver spade"cast steel

spades.

REH165:
Signed B & S, head spade with uncommon characteristics

spades.

REH166:
Gouge spade (or "half-round spade")

spades.

REH167:
Signed PETERS, early 20th C. cutting-in spadecast steel

spades.

REH168:
Signed J. MAGUIRE NEW BEDFORD, cutting-in spade

spades.

REH169:
Signed A.J. PETERS, thin boat spade with sheathcast steel

spades.

REH170:
Signed COLE, thin boat spade (with inverted Ts in CAST STEEL)cast steel

spades.

REH171:
Signed H.N. DEAN, "thin boat spade"cast steel

spades.

REH172:
Signed FM, early spade made into a chopper for galley use

spades.

REH173:
Signed J. DURFEE, "thick boat spade"

spades.

REH174:
Signed SNOW & PURRINGTON, cutting-in or "platform" spade

spades.

REH175:
Signed GIFFORD'S, thin boat spade

spades.

REH176:
Signed P.E. MERRIHEW, sliver spadecast steel

spades.

REH177:
Signed S. KEEN, cutting-in spade

spades.

REH178:
Signed SMITH, Early cutting-in spade repurposed

spades.

REH179:
Signed FOLG(ER), Nantucket-made, early cutting-in spade

spades.

REH180:
Signed NA, Nantucket-made, early cutting-in spade on section of original pole

spades.

REH181:
Signed RCC (or RGC), cutting-in spade on short, pointed-ended shank

spades.

REH182:
Signed J.CONKLIN, cutting-in spade with short shank and spike end

spades.

REH183:
Signed H.N. DEAN, cutting-in spade on original pole

spades.

REH184:
Signed H.N. DEAN, sliver spade on short pole

spades.

REH185:
Signed L. COL(E), sliver spade

on short pole

spades.

REH186:
Signed D GRAY, Cutting-in Spade on section of original pole

spades.

REH187:
Signed HOL(WAY) AXE CO, boat spade made by axe and edge tool maker

spades.

REH207:
Signed (S) W HO(L)WAY, long-bladed cutting-in spade

spades.

REH239:
Signed A)G SNEL(L), "thick boat spade"

spades.

REH266:
Signed E. PARKER, Nantucket spade on pole remnant

spades.

REH269:
Signed J. BARTON, rare "gouge" or "half-round spade" with marked pole

spades.

REH270:
Signed J. CONKLIN, early cutting in spade with marked pole

spades.

REH287:
Signed JBC, Nantucket-made, early spade with eagle pictorial

spades.

REH288:
Signed JBC, early Nantucket-made spade with eagle pictorial, and extension tang

spades.

REH290:
Signed LT, rare early spade by Lewis Temple, on original pole

spades.

REH506
Early Nantucket Spade

spades.

REH507:
Early cutting spade

spades.

REH606:
Boat Spade

Boarding Knives.

boarding-knives

***

– – – From "Cutting In," Moby-Dick:

"'One of the attending harpooneers now advances with a long, keen weapon called a boarding-sword, and watching his chance he dexterously slices out a considerable hold in the lower part of the swaying mass. Into this hole, the end of the second alternating great tackle is then hooked so as to retain a hold upon the blubber, in order to prepare for what follows. Whereupon, this accomplished swordsman, warning all hands to stand off, once more makes a scientific dash at the mass, and with a few sidelong, desperate, lunging slicings, severs it completely in twain; so that while the short lower part is still fast, the long upper strip, called a blanket-piece, swings clear, and is all ready for lowering. The heavers forward now resume their song, and while the one tackle is peeling and hoisting a second strip from the whale, the other is slowly slackened away, and down goes the first strip through the main hatchway right beneath, into an unfurnished parlor called the blubber-room. Into this twilight apartment sundry nimble hands keep coiling away the long blanket-piece as if it were a great live mass of plaited serpents. And thus the work proceeds; the two tackles hoisting and lowering simultaneously; both whale and windlass heaving, the heavers singing, the blubber-room gentlemen coiling, the mates scarfing, the ship straining, and all hands, swearing occasionally, by way of assuaging the general friction.'"

^* from Hellman Collection on Cutting In and Trying Out.

boarding-knives.