Treenail
Description
A trenail that has been used. It has been shaped to fit, and a small wedge inserted at one end to hold it in place. A trenail or “tree-nail” was a round piece of wood used as a nail to hold the hull timbers together and to secure the planking. They were preferred to metal nails or spikes because they did not rust; and also because the shipwright could shape the timber after they had been fitted. In the first instance trenails were made by ‘trenail mooters’, generally aged shipwrights who were unable to do the heavier work. Each was cut to an eight – sixteen sided section and issued to the shipwrights and only when it was ready to use was it trimmed to a rounded shape and banged into the appropriate hole.
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Object Detail
Diameter: 42mm (1 5/8")
Weight: (0.41kg)