MorganTyre

Wooden I assume? What's she built from? When was the last survey?

I saw it the other day. The 3D effects were ok but I think the luminosity loss due to the glasses robbed a bit from the dramatics of the scenery itself. I am so glad that did away with all of the old characters. I think all of the comedic possibilities of those one sided characters had played out in the first movie and the second and third just featured retreads of the same old material. My biggest disappointment was just how far they departed from the original book. For those who have seen this movie but have not read the book please do yourself a favor and read it. Other than Blackbeard and the fountain there is literally nothing in common with the source material that "suggested" the script. Because of that departure the zombies feel forced as did the magic "Revenge". Unfortunately, all of this means that a faithful to the book movie will never be made which is a shame. Once you separate the movie from the book the movie does have some neat scenes. The mermaid introduction for me was the standout and not the London escape. The legless Barbossa was a neat effect though I agree his makeup was overdone. He looked more rotten than the zombies. One minor quibble (that drove me nuts and literally noone else in the civilized world should have noticed) was that one of the zombies (don't remember his name but he had the majority of the screen time) had modern snap shackles, modern bow shackles, and what appeared to be a caulking iron strapped to him, literally none of which made sense and most were completely anachronistic. All in all it was a fun movie for what it was but I think the best thing they could do to that franchise is get rid of Elliot and Rossio as writers.

Well it's been a wild and crazy year for me so far. Sorry for the long absence from the pub here. Now that the rigging and dive work is starting to slow down I'm back to producing tools, cordage, etc. for sale. I also finally have a website up (sort of) showcasing some of the work, most of which regulars to the pub have probably already seen. Pricing is listed but right now it's just phone or e-mail orders. The home button on the bottom of the page takes you to my rigging/dive company here in south texas. It's a work in progress but it's finally getting there. http://www.coastalbendyacht.com/buccaneer.html

Some bowing is to be expected. I wouldn't worry about the amount pictured. Take one of the side boards, stand it on it's side between two blocks. If it can support you standing in the middle without breaking then you have plenty of safety margin (since in practice your weight is being somewhat evenly distributed between the full length of the four side boards rather than point loading one board. Oak was overkill to be honest though very cool. Mine is cedar which is a pretty weak splintery wood and was half cracked though on one board due to a knot (before I replaced it) and was still plenty stout. Since replacing that board I've had probably 400 lbs on it without issue and I'm sure it can take more. All of that said, you're ropes are probably going to sag low enough to put your butt on any boards slung underneath. You might consider making a shallow U shaped support to clear the sagging ropes. To save weight I'd take a 1x8 or 1x10 of yellow pine and cut it to shape with a jig saw. It's under compression only so something that size is more than enough. I'm about to make another one - this time a "castaway" bed made up crudely of driftwood.

Here's a site with some good instructions for aging brass. I've done the ammonia trick and it works well. http://hubpages.com/hub/How-to-add-patina-to-brass

I've had great results with naval jelly on steel. Apply a thick layer, let it sit for a short bit and then clean it off completely.

Where are they doing their thing? I live here in Corpus and wasn't aware there was any buccaneer activities going on for buc days. Nearest place to actually buy powder is in San Antonio I believe.

The only serving mallet I have is one I made for a project some time ago. It's extremely handy though. Now that you mention it I may have to make another.

Here's some stuff off my new lathe. Pictured are three seam rubbers (one in poplar and two in mahogany), two small fids (mahogany and maple), a needlecase (mahogany and pine), and a mahogany belaying pin for 3/8" line.

You do lose a certain percentage but how much depends on the diameter of the line, the stretch, etc. I'm sure there's a formula but it's going to be in the neighborhood of 5% or less. I normally set it up inside my shop which allows for approx 25' finished pieces but the are easy to set up temporarily so doing it outdoors is easy. I've done stretches well over a hundred feet and have room to produce about 250'. Because everything is small and lightweight you don't need a permanent set up, just drag it out when you need it. Next time I do I'll do some before and after measurements.

Yep, that's more or less it. The one end is cranked and turns all of the strands in the same direction. On my setup the end opposite the rope making machine is on a very free spinning swivel which is tied to a line which leads through a block and is then weighted. That's to keep a constant tension on the line while still allowing it to shorten which it'll do as it twists. The cross piece (or clover - depending on the number of strands) holds the strands apart. As that piece moves towards the machine the rope will form itself behind it. The swivel allows the rope to spin freely itself so you don't need another turning crank at the other end. The machine I build uses wooden gears which I hacked out of an old sunfish daggerboard using a template I generated here http://woodgears.ca/gear_cutting/template.html which spins some home forged hooks. It's not authentic by any means but works handsomely. On the smaller diameter lines I typically make it's not unusual to crank that handle a thousand times and the wood is still holding up just fine. I grease everything with Lanocote. It'll produce line up to an inch or so but I use it primarily to make hard laid cotton, flax, and hemp line for fancywork.

I built my own ropewalk a month or so ago and have used it quite a bit. Any help or info I can provide I'll be happy to.

Trying out the Kraken rum - on the rocks. Not bad and getting better by the glass.

I should have said that voodoo is the primary driver in the book.