captscurvy_nc

Really? No one else is gonna make a ball joke here? Oh well. Can't wait to see what you do with the rest of the pistol Matt. So glad it was what you wanted.

OK, I'll bite. What do you need to do to 'convert' a muzzleloader to fire blank? All you need to do is not put the ball in. Hawkyns So your saying that without your balls you be firing blanks? (sorry, I had to say it)

Congrats!!

I knew you would bring her back to life Matt. Glad to know you're enjoying the work and can't wait to see how it turns out

Another excellent sword. Makes me even more excited about the one our doing for me

Once I actually go back to work again I may take you up on that

So my sister had some bad kidney infections when she was younger then had spinal fusion surgery in her 20's. She is a missionary that lives in California with the love of her life Adam Hoffman and they truly enjoy spreading their message all over the globe. Despite all advances in medical science though, her faith was tested by finding out she can never concieve. They started the process for adoption over two years ago and yesterday she met with the birth mother and the baby is due on May 5th. I really want to be there for her but I won't be able to fly into Cali until June. I may also need a place to stay due to their house being extremly small. If anyone here lives near passadena and has a couch or a spare room that a traveling pirate could crash on for a night that would be awesome. I can't wait to meet this wonderful little baby girl that has made my sister the happiest woman in the world.

Very nice work

On second thought, I am going to make this into a more dress weapon if I can find a hilt I like. Matt, how much would it cost to have a d ring style guard made for a blade like this?

Well after five hours of cleaning, cussing, cleaning, cussing again, some throwing bits of stuff around then more cleaning I have finally gotten teh blade clean enough to read the markings and designs on the blade. It says Knights of Columbus on one side and a shield with two swords on the other. don't know how common these swords are but I would imagine finding another one would be the easiest way to get a hilt for it. Anone familuar with these swords?

Any suggestions on what tpe of cleaning supplies are best for bringing this blade back to it'soriginal glory /

I'm limited to my camera on my cell but I will tr and get some larger pics posted tonight

http://i829.photobucket.com/albums/zz214/csuttle3/26571_1157536757448_1798636825_3075.jpg Couldn't get the image to show up here so I had to post the link. This is from the governers ball in Raleigh NC. They did a side by side of me as Blackbeard and the other gentleman is Sir Walter Raleigh

This is just too funny to me. Although it would be interesting to see girls sword fighting in bikinis to test the jiggly factor. Just another example of how there are still so many jobs cooler than mine. Ah, to be a jiggly consultant for a pirate movie, one can dream.....

The story was also posted on one of the displays at the Knights of the Black Flag exhibit at the NC History Museum but sadly no reference there either. Regardless, I love the story and think it is definitly something Horringold would have done.

http://i829.photobucket.com/albums/zz214/csuttle3/26571_1158606664195_1798636825_3103.jpg http://i829.photobucket.com/albums/zz214/csuttle3/26571_1158606864200_1798636825_3103.jpg These are two links to pics of a blade I found while cleaning out a barn for a friend of the families years ago. i don't know the age or history of it but it appears to be full tang. The problem is that the shape of the blade towards the end is squareish and then goes into a threaded rod. No soldering marks so it is one solid piece but I have yet to find any type of handle or guard that will fit this blade. Would love to make it functional since the blade itself has some beautifull etchings on it but I haven't been able to clean it to find any type of makers mark or date. Any help with figuring out what type of guard, handle and pommel would work with this would be much appreciated

Benjamin Hornigold is cited as the "nice pirate of the West Indies." Although not much is known of Captain Hornigold himself, most of the accounts left behind by his victims speak of him as a gentleman rather than a scoundrel. One famous legend recounts that Hornigold pursued an enemy vessel for miles, only to ask for their hats once captured. It seems his crew, after a night of drinking and merriment, had tossed their own hats overboard. After taking the hats, Hornigold and his men allowed the ship to continue its voyage, gold and all. This is from a website called Age of Pirates The Pirate Encyclopedia but it does not list any refrence to back this up as anything more than a story. Would like to think it's true though

It was during my Blackbeard research about 11 years ago. I'll look through my papers and see if I can find the refrence to it. May have been from the book by Robert Lee

I haven't heard that he was kept alive for that long. Most of the stories talk about after the hurricanr that wrecked his ship he was turned over to the authorities by the locals and hung within the week. I could be wrong though

Really great work

Be interesting to see what your buddy in Vegas says about the place.

KultOfAthena.com: Windlass Pirate Sabre, $45 I purchased one of these swords a while ago but it has a black skull and crossbones towards the end of the blade. Anyone know what I can do to remove it? Can't tell if it's just painted on or not but I would love to get rid of it to make the blade less comical and more period

NC to Missouri is a bit of a hike but I might know of a period food vendor willing to drive out there. I'll give him a call today and get back with you. Wish I could make it there myself but unless you got a extra plane ticket lying around for Blackbeard I couldn't afford the drive.

I'll have to get the book, never read it but feel like I need to now

I don't remember where I read it, it was a long time ago but one of my favorite things I learned about Horringold was of a very odd attack. He held up a ship and had his men board only to take every hat aboard the ship because the night before his men had been drinking and all threw their hats overboard. Don't know how true this is but it's one of those stories that adds to the legend of the character