Marine Hardware Definitions

awls : pointed tools used to make holes.

belaying hooks: provides easy stowage for halyards and other coils of rope.

bollard fittings: deck fititngs or Strong points for securing a rope

bow chocks: fitting at the bow, through which anchor or mooring lines are led. Usually U-shaped to reduce chafe.

bow rollers : for guiding anchor lines

cam cleats: A fitting to which lines are made fast. The classic cleat to which lines are belayed is approximately anvil-shaped. Cam cleats use a cam to increase grip on the lines.

clam cleats: where the line is gripped in a v groove like a clam shell

carbine hooks: hook that clips with a closing clip

Clevis Pins: type of fastener that will allow the rotation or swivel of the connected parts about the axis of the pin linkage. A clevis pin, sometimes reffered to as a link pin or hinge pin, consists of a head, shank and hole.

When using a fastening, such as a clevis pin, the hole which is at the opposite end of the pin to the head is inserted through the items to be linked, and then a cotter pin, R clip or similar fastener is inserted through the hole to keep the clevis pin in place.

davits: Wooden or metal devices with sheaves or blocks attached on the ends, projected over a vessels sides or stern, and used to hoist up a dinghy or small boat

eye bolts: A bolt with an eye on one end

eye plates: deck fitting with an eye

fairleads: eyelet fittings used to change the direction of a sheet or halyard led through it 

ferrules: for crimping stainless steel wire rope, usually to form a loop in the end. Suitable for hand swaging tools and for Talurit systems.

hasp and staples: a lock for fastening two adjacent flat surfaces in the same plane.

marlinspikes: - A tool for opening the strands of a rope while splicing

Pop Rivets: Made from stainless steel, for joining stainless to stainless, fibreglass, etc. Stainless steel rivets cannot be fixed into aluminium unless a joining compound is used between the metals, otherwise pop rivets can be safely used in aluminium masts and disimilar metals.

rigging screws: adjust tension in rigging or wire rope

ringbolts: eyebolts used for leading running rigging

shackles: U-shaped metal fastener with a pin across its open end, used for attaching various sails and rigging

snap hooks: metal device with a spring catch to attach one thing to another

snatch blocks: block with an open or hinged sheave, enabling it to be used quickly without reeving a line through the shallow

stanchions: upright metal poles, bolted to the deck, and used to support permanent fixtures such as life lines.

Swage terminals: in Stainless Steel, terminations are pressed onto wire strand with a swaging machine.

Turnbuckles: Tensioning devices using right handed and left handed threads for adjustment. Also called a rigging screw when used on shrouds