# Need Help with a Nautical Flagpole Build



## Dal300 (Aug 4, 2011)

Usually I can see a design in my head before I ever try to build it. This time however, I am having a bit of a problem.
I have been given permission to build a flag pole for the place we work. What I want to do is build one from laminated pieces since I don't have any wood that is much more than 7' long.










It will have a nautical build, mostly a rounded square with two yards and maybe a gaff.

I saw something like this many years ago at the Aberdeen naval yard in Washington state and found it was made of laminated oak. to raise and lower the flag, a pin was pulled from a double piece that stood about two feet off the ground and then tipped.

My question is, how am I going to design this and make it handle being exposed to the weather, age, sun, high wind, etc.

For a background I would like to make it 25'-30' tall using a US flag and on the other yard, a Texas flag, (I haven't decided whether it would be a Texas Revolution a Texas Republic or a Texas State flag. 
The Texas flag will be the same size as the US flag and hang at the same level.

*CAUTION* Texas is the only state that is allowed to fly it's flags at the same level as the US flag. This is because Texas is the only state that joined the Union after being invited and became a state while still an independent republic.

Any and all design help will be appreciated.


----------



## jmartel (Jul 6, 2012)

If you want it to be more durable, forget about the pin to raise and lower it. Make it permanent. Use rigging to raise and lower flags.


----------



## Dal300 (Aug 4, 2011)

While you make a good point, I was trying to make it in the same manner as my dad did for the US NAval Academy. 
I may consider using steel or cast concrete for the base, I think it still needs to have the pin.
I should add he was a fireman Petty officer and rated as a ships carpenter on the USS Pittsburgh CA-72 during WWII, then again in Korea and again during the early 60's in Vietnam.
I think this might be a nice tribute to his contribution.


----------



## jmartel (Jul 6, 2012)

In that case, I would use 2 metal pins. One above and one below the pivot point, just to be sure.


----------



## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

Google "mast tabernacle". That arrangement is frequently used on sailboats that need on occasion to negotiate low bridges etc. think canal systems.


----------



## Dal300 (Aug 4, 2011)

Thanks Paul. I will check that out.


----------



## putty (Jan 1, 2014)

Norm Abrams made one on his show some years ago, maybe you can find the past episode. his pivoted from the base.


----------



## Dal300 (Aug 4, 2011)

Paul, I did the google searxh and was amazed at the information.

One question I had though was what wood would be good for this thing? I was planning on oak since it won't be on a vessel and it is long lasting. One thing that amazed me was that some of those masts are made of cedar! 
Sitka Spruce or long leaf pine I can understand, but cedar seems to not be a good choice at all to me!

*Putty,* I saw the Norm Abrams piece many years ago and that is probably the beginnings of this lilttle plan.


----------



## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

If you go with oak make it white oak, another choice would be Ipe, harder to work but very durable for outdoor projects and super dense and it's even Fire rated.


----------



## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

Sitka Spruce is used for its toughness (long fibres) and light weight. The weight part is more important on a sailboat than on land obviously but it would be the "traditional" choice. For the tabernacle white oak would be a good choice and traditional as well. Red oak is a bad choice because of its low rot resistance. Unfortunately the spruces are also very low in rot resistance but as masts are "well ventilated" we get away with it. 
You may have rot problems with spruce around the tabernacle, especially the holes for the pins. Yellow Cedar would be a good choice if you can get it. D. Fir would be good. Red cedar is actually decent for toughness but pretty soft for a mast. I could see it perhaps on quite small boats and it could work well for you as your mast won't be carrying the strain of sails. Red Cedar of course is very rot resistant, as is Yellow Cedar (Alaska Cedar).


----------



## Dal300 (Aug 4, 2011)

Thanks guys! Almost all the oak I have is white oak that I harvested from this property and it has been air drying for about 3 years. Some of it will take another year or 3 because I slabbed it thick enough to make a wood working bench and a cobblers bench.

*Paul,* I grew up around boats and ships when I lived with my dad. We did some stuff with the small sail boats and I watched my dad build a whalers Dorey for a museum but I never did much with him on those projects, (my job was rigging when they were done). 
Ships were usually either salvage Naval ships from WWII, (A friend and I bought them and cut them up for scrap), or one old ore ship on Lake Superior. 
The largest 'boat' I ever worked on was in the 80's, a steam stern wheeler called the Belle of Louisville out of Louisville, KY. I only contracted to rebuild/replace wooden decks on that one during a re-fit.
All of the lumber for the decks came from the Ky/Southern Indiana area, most of it from two saw mill owners I was friends with. The contractors who repaired the paddle wheel also used wood they got from these guys.

I wish I had paid more attention to what some of the shipwrights had tried to tell me.


----------

