How is oakum picked?

Question

How is oakum picked?

Answer 1

it used to be a punishment in the Royal Navy popular because it kept the offender busy for long periods, was a pain to do, gave the miscreants "time to consider their faults" and was universally hated by the sailors so was a useful deterent.

Answer 2

Oakum is virgin hemp stalk fibres.

Answer 3

By the traditional definition, picking oakum was very tedious work and was typically performed by slaves, poor house inmates, and prisoners. The slang term "pickin' oakum" meant "getting into trouble", because few freely picked oakum unless coerced.  It was very hard on the fingers and hands.  I have helped caulk a boat using oakum, but I have never "picked" it.

Answer 4

Tediously, by hand. It is then usually bound by pine pitch or tar and applied to a hull seam...with a pinch of white lead powder or compound...it is pounded into the seam with an "Iron" which is effectively a blunt and wide chisel...this is called " Paying in the seams".

Done it many times...the white lead isn't available here in Canada and we had it shipped from Jolly old England.

Answer 5

Oakum was used as caulking in wooden hulled boats. It was made from hemp fibres soaked in tar.

Answer 6

'Picking oakum' is the act of pulling apart ropes to separate the individual fibers for use as oakum, usually as waterproofing in shipbuilding. It is typically done by hand.