Answers to Everyday Questions : What are port holes ?

You usually see round windows on the lower side of a ship. These windows are called portholes, which are also found in most spacecrafts and passenger planes. You can also call the small opening for firing weapons as portholes. Ship’s portholes are usually made for sunlight and a little air to enter the ship’s lower level.

Normally, portholes are bolted into the ship with round metal frames covered with glass. There are permanently closed portholes and there are those made with hinges enabling them to be opened if needed. A porthole can differ in size from a couple of feet in diameter to mere inches. Most portholes are very heavy due to the materials used on their development. For being rust resistant, brass and bronze are the most common materials used in making portholes. Portholes often have storm shutters, known as a deadlight. Also used as decoration, portholes provide a seafaring look in a room. To make a porthole mirror, use wood, buttons serving as rivets and a mirror. On the exterior of a house, an artificial porthole provides personality or can balance out the use of, or lack of, shutters. Some portholes are efficient windows too.

Authentic portholes are mostly retrieved from an old ship to be used as home decoration. An interior door can be decorated with a porthole, also. Other portholes offer a spaceship theme, for instance, in a child’s room. Another use of a porthole window is as a candleholder. Many items, such as porthole barometers and clocks are commercially available. Sea-themed paintings are usually accompanied with a round background enabling viewers as if they are looking out through a real ship’s porthole. Other artworks or prints depicting the sea or a ship might be framed in a wooden porthole.

A fun craft for kids is to paint a clear plastic circle with a sea image. Finish the edges with rope or twine and attach a loop for hanging. Other naval accents to include in decorating using portholes include life preservers, anchors, divers’ helmets, lighthouse replicas, scrimshaw, ship compasses – which is engraved or carved ivory, and other items.