MarkG

Personally, I prefer using a shallow gouge to smooth the wood when I'm using a nice wood like walnut or oak. I also like sharp edges which is something that sandpaper ruins.

I made mine from 2x6 pine. It is double-bed width. My wife and I used it for years. I used pegs instead of holes. This is also period and much easier to string. Putting pegs in the holes helps to replace the strength lost to the holes. Oak is a lot stronger than pine so you can probably get away with 1" oak. Mark

I'm hoping to put one or both boats in the water after work Friday. I'll be hanging around the ship after that. I think we're going to need a bigger barrel. Mark

Prior to sandpaper, craftsmen got the same effect using a damp cloth with some actual sand stuck to it. Other abrasives like jeweler's rouge were also used with a cloth. Mark

The Spanish continued using a version of the rapier, long after everyone else in the world had abandoned them. They also had a reputation as Europe's best swordsmen. Their version of fencing involved the magic circle where angles within the circle are used multiple ways for posture and spacing. One theory about their prowess is that all of the practice needed to master the magic circle is what made them so good. This is probably one of those late rapiers. The Mask of Zorro refers to the magic circle a few times. It is also a plot point in an episode of Highlander.

Actually, the expression "firing from the hip" does not entail bracing it against the hip, but rather firing from hip level, pointing instinctively, rather than aiming from the shoulder held position. Recoil is absorbed by allowing the piece to move back or rise controlled by the strength of your arms. Not at all difficult..... >>>> Cascabel While that may be true, some people take it literally. I've caught people on TV bracing a blunderbuss on their hip. I started this thread after seeing a link to a Buccaneer 101 course that said a blunderbuss had to be braced against the hip.

Wired has covered absinthe several times. Here's one article. People have managed to get a hold of bottles from the 19th century and have them analyzed. It was not poisonous - just very high alcohol (140 proof) with an unusual taste.

I got to see the Bounty recently. It has a nice ladder built into the side. Perfect for taking the ship.

A budget cut of "more than a third" means that they will only get to spend $200 million instead of $300+ million. PoTC3 was one of the most expensive movies ever made. This is still close to the budget of PoTC2 ($225 million). It was made plain from the beginning that Bloom and Knightley would not be in it - their story is told. This writer comes across as a hack who realized that he can get picked up by predicting bad results.

Keep watching Ebay. I've seen real ships come up. There have been a couple that were specifically outfitted as Pirate ships. You can also find smaller, traditional wooden boats. Some of these can be a good deal. I bought a museum reproduction 17' Whitehall Pulling Boat (1-3 people can row it) on Ebay.

I'm hoping to put one or both boats in the water after work Friday. I'll be hanging around the ship after that.

If this was a weapon then it probably used a hole in the rail placed just for this purpose. If you put it in an oarlock you couldn't aim it. You would have to aim the entire boat and you could only aim the boat with one oar since the other one would be replaced with the blunderbuss. That would work for a fowling gun. You could row your boat into cover then wait until migrating birds covered the water. Then it would not matter where you aimed. Fowlers usually had long barrel and a big bore but a blunderbuss could be used that way. Mark

Oh if there is lead content never mind. I won it on ebay I didnt want one that was modern unless the woman lied about vintage which is a possibility. She stated in the listing it didn't leak and when I recieved it I filled it up to find it did. Oh boy was I dooped. Thank you for bringing this to my attention If it is a historic piece then it will have marks to prove it. There will be one or more hallmarks showing that it was an approved piece. If it is English then it will also have a date. This is a letter. They changed fonts. It isn't hard to find pieces from around the 1840s, especially tavern measures. I have several. There isn't a big market for these pieces so I can often pick them up for less than the price of a reproduction. The fact that it has a glass bottom is worrying. This was much more common in reproductions than in originals. I have several books on historic pewter and I don't think any show a glass-bottomed one. On the bright side, if it is a modern piece then you can be sure that it is lead-free. Mark

Maybe it was a small mortar. Both can fire explosive shells. Mark

I think Midnight's suggestion is a form of browning, but I agree browning would be a good option (from what I know of it).... Blueing on the other hand.... Well I thought blueing steel was a heat process, and while good metalworkers can successfully do blueing, applying heat to any tempered metal (like knives and sword blades) can be a foolish endeavour for anyone who isn't very well trained in the process, as too much heat can ruin the temper on a blade. I think there are chemical blueing agents out there, and they might be safe, but I would storngly recommend against any heat blueing. There are chemical bluing agents. That's how gun barrels are blued. First you have to use a degreaser or you will get uneven results. Gun stores will sometimes package degreaser and bluing together. I remember my father bluing a gun barrel once. It went on as a clear liquid but a few seconds later the barrel started changing color. I've used flux to age a blade that was too shiny. I know from soldering that any flux you leave on steel causes it to rust in a few days so you can promote some surface rust then put some oil on it. Mark

Every now and then I see references that say that a blunderbuss was fired from the hip because of the recoil. I am more than a little skeptical, myself for several reasons: 1) At least some blunderbusses had curved shoulder stocks. My wife's cousin was showing me his over the weekend. It was heavily researched and had a curved shoulder piece. This just doesn't work when braced against the hip. You have to tilt it at a slight angle. A flat stock would work much better against the hip. 2) They were known for being used on ships on from coaches. On a ship your hip is going to be too low. On a coach, you are sitting down and your hip is in the wrong place. 3) I think that the idea of firing from the hip is based on the idea that you don't need to aim. Even with the spread from the blunderbuss, I don't know how much a blunderbuss spreads but a shotgun still has to be aimed, just not carefully. It seems like firing from the hip, you might miss your target completely. Does anyone know of any period documentation that says how a blunderbuss was used? Mark

The steel may not be good enough. An alternative to Kasenit is to spot-weld a thin piece of high-carbon steel to the face of the frizzen. I know someone who had very good luck doing this. Mark

Jennie is thinking of freezing some Brunswick Stew ahead of time and thawing it out during the day. We can have a couple of braziers going on shore but we would need some volunteers to watch them and keep visitors from burning themselves (is that a real fire?). Mark

18 years ago? That should be 11 years past the statute of limitations. At least it would be in Ohio. Mark (not a lawyer)

The Cutty Sark is undergoing a major and controversial renovation. The restoration got off to a bad start. There was a fire early on. Fortunately, almost everything that was burned was later addition. More recently, a high-ranking official resigned over a plan to raise the ship three meters so that visitors can walk below the ship. There is some question about the new structure being able to support the ship without damaging it. Mark

By the time the serpent appeared, the barrel was longer, too. It was no longer a pistol-sized barrel on a stick. It was still shorter than a musket but it was getting there. By the Drake's raid they were using real matchlocks with the serpent coming back instead of forward. That allowed a bigger flash guard and a spring to pull the serpent back. Mark

Pirates started with whatever ship they could get a hold of. Some mutinied, others voted as a crew to turn to piracy. Some used small boats such as dug-outs or pirogues to sneak aboard a ship and seize it. Once they had a ship, they either tried to capture a bigger ship or they reworked the ship they had. They would streamline ships and add cannons. A few pirates managed to work their way to large ships but most used smaller ones. Blackbeard apparently decided that a large ship meant that the loot had to be split too many ways. He beached his ship and abandoned most of his crew. Mark

Slight correction: We're a crew of drunken pilots, we're the only airship pirates.

Yup, that's a smallsword hilt if ever there was one. No question about it. See here for an example. Now, what does it mean that it was found on a pirate ship? Did a pirate use or was it taken as loot and stored with the other treasure? Mark

Rats! Good to hear from you again!!! There is a list of those from the Pub considering going in this post, but the master list has almost 60 names on it (which I can't fully share ). That said, real life tends to trim the list by around 30 to 40 percent (in my experience with most events).... Which still leaves us with likely almost 40 folks coming! So are you coming alone? Any chance you can drag young Chuckton with you? Or anyone else? It'll be great to see you again man! Note to Rats - We have your barrel. If you do as we say it will not be harmed. Proceed to the Santa Maria event and wait for further instructions.