Mahogany is a light hard wood from trees of the family Meliaceae, that was first introduced to Britain as ballast cargo from Cuba and Central America and became popular for making furniture during the 18th century. Mahogany is valuable as it shrinks very little when it dries, and suffers very little from warping or twisting. Research Mahogany
Warping is a mode of increasing the fertility of land along the banks of rivers liable to overflow by allowing them to deposit their mud, called ' warp', upon the surface overflown. Research Warping
The Giat FR-F2 is a French precision bolt action sniping rifle produced in 7. 62 mm NATOcalibre from 1984. It is an improved version of the Giat FR-F1 with a thermal insulating sleeve over the barrel to prevent warping due to heat and reduce the infra-red signature, and the fire-end is of plastic- covered metal instead of wood. The bipod has also been strengthened. Research Giat FR-F2
In weaving, a heck-box is a box suspended between the traverse on which the bobbins of warpyarn are mounted, and the warping frame on which the yarns are wound. It divides the warp threads into two sets, one for each heddle. Research Heck-Box
Serge is a durable, woollen, quilted fabric manufactured (woven) on a loom with four treadles, after the manner of rateens. Historically there were various varieties of serge denominated either from their quality or from the place where they were made, and in the 18th century the most esteemed serge was London serge, made in London, which was particularly popular in France, so much so that it was replicated and manufactured in France.
A description of the manufacture of London Serge from an 18th century source reveals the lengthy and intricate process involved in its manufacture:
For wool, the longest is chosen for the warp, and the shortest for the weft. Before either kind is used, it is first scoured, by putting it in a copper of liquor, somewhat more than lukewarm, composed of three parts of fair water and one of urine. After having stayed long enough therein for the liquor to dissolve, and take off the grease, &c. it is stirred briskly about with a wooden peel; taken out of the liquor, drained, and washed in a running water, dried in the shade, beaten with sticks on wooden rack to drive out the coarser dirt and filth, and then picked clean with the hands. Thus far prepared, it is greased with oil of olives, and the longest part, destined for the warp, is combed with large combs, heated in a little furnace for the purpose. To clear off the oil again, the wool is put in a liquor composed of hot water, with soap melted therein: whence being taken out, wrung and dried, it is spun on the wheel.
As to the shorter wool, intended for the weft, it is only carded on the knee with small cards, and then spun on the wheel, without being scoured of its oil. It must be remarked, that the thread for the warp is always to be spun much finer, and better twisted than that of the weft. The wool both for the warp and the weft being spun, and the thread divided into skeins, that of the weft is put on spools (unless it has been spun upon them) fit for the cavity or eye of the shuttle; and that for the warp is wound on a kind of wooden bobbin to fit it for warping. When warped, it is stiffened with a kind of size [some sticky substance used for stiffening fabric], whereof that made of the shreds of parchment is held the best; and when dry is put on the loom.
When mounted on the loom, the workman raising and lowering the threads (which are passed through a reed), by means of four treadles placed underneath the loom which he makes to act transversely, equally, and alternately, one after another, with his feet, in proportion as the threads are raised and lowered, throws the shuttle across from one side to the other; and each time that the shuttle is thrown, and the thread of the weft is crossed between those of the warp, strikes it with the frame to which the reed is fastened, through those teeth the threads of the warp pass; and this stroke he repeats twice or thrice, or even more, till he judges the crossing of the serge sufficiently close: thus he proceeds till the warp is all filled with weft.
The serge now taken off the loom is carried to the fuller, who scours it in the trough of his mill with a kind of fat earth, called fuller's earth, first purged of all stones and filth. After three or four hours scouring, the fuller's earth is washed out in fair water, brought by little and little into the trough, out of which it is taken when all the earth is cleared; then, with a kind of iron pincers or pliers, they pull off all the knots, ends, straws, &c. sticking out on the surface on either side; and then returning it into the fulling trough, where it is worked with water somewhat more than lukewarm, with soap dissolved therein for near two hours: it is then washed out till such time as the water becomes quite clear, and there be no signs of soap left; then it is taken out of the trough, the knots, &c. again pulled off, and then put on the tenter to dry, taking care as fast as it dries to stretch it out both in length and breadth till it be brought to its just dimensions. When well dried, it is taken off the tenter, and dyed, shorn, and pressed. Research Serge
An anchor is an implement for holding a ship or other vessel at rest in the water. In ancient times large stones or crooked pieces of wood heavily weighted with metal were used for this purpose. The anchor later used was of iron, formed with a strong shank, at one extremity of which is the crown, from which branch out two arms, terminating in broad palms or flukes, the sharp extremity of which is the peak or bill; at the other end of the shank is the stock (fixed at right angles to the plane of the arms), behind which is the ring, to which a cable can be attached. The principal use of the stock is to cause the arms to fall so as one of the flukes shall enter the ground. The anchors of the largest size carried by men-of-war were called the best and small bowers, the sheet, and the spare, to which are added the stream and the kedge, which were used for anchoring in a stream or other sheltered place and for warping the vessel from one place to another. Many improvements and novelties in the shape and construction of anchors were introduced around the 18th and 19th centuries. The principal names connected with those alterations are those of Lieutenant Rodgers, who introduced the hollow-shanked anchor with the view of increasing the strength without adding to the weight; Mr. Porter, who made the arms and flukes movable by pivoting them to the stock instead of fixing them immovably, causing the anchor to take a readier and firmer hold, and avoiding the chance of the cable becoming foul; Mr. Trotman, who further improved on Porter's invention; and M Martin, whose anchor is of very peculiar form, and is constructed so as to be self-canting, the arms revolving through an angle of 30" either way, and the sharp points of the flukes being always ready to enter the ground. Research Anchor
Abbreviations
Research Mahogany
