Captain Midnight

A bowl of cheese grits with red eye gravy and three slices of fried honey glazed country ham...

The banner of my crew, The Cursed Few, as designed by Greene, Rackham,& Murther:

Aye, Chole, this is the computerized version. The real version hangs from an iron bracket in the front eave of my shop...thank you for your compliments!

I like it, mate. Good job!

Aye, No.2 is a very lovely choice. Of course you can do it, Ransom! Let us see pics when you do. I rather like the historical, classy looking ladies' looks far more than those slutty modern "tavern wench" get-ups, anyway...

This is not my flag, I have already posted a pic of that earlier in this thread, but this is the new sign and logo for my shop and business. If ever any of you mates find yourselves in my vicinity, look me up and stop in for a visit and we'll have a pint or two under it on me!

Beautiful flag, William! You always do such wonderful work!

Two lovely ensembles for period women, and two beautiful ladies wearing them...

I think it's a fine idea, Cheryl. Certainly pirates come in all sizes, and personally, I would prefer the weathered looking shirts over a crisp clean one, any day.

Aye, I like the colors as well. They go perfectly together. Very good job Michael!

Another gentle lady from history comes to my mind: the mother of the young Mr. King aboard the Whydah when it was captured by Samuel Bellamy. Of course we may never know if she was sympathetic towards the pirates, but it is believed that her young son was at any rate, as he joined them. It is also believed that the shoe, silk stocking, and small leg bone recovered from the wreck may have been his. If he was wearing silk stockings, it is probable that he was not the lowliest of commoners, so I would bet his mother was not dressed too shabbily herself. So there you have a possible historical incidence of a lady of higher social standing aboard a pirate ship...

Aye! Sit tight, says I! That part is coming next!

Here is a pic of the guard after cutting the slot for the tang to pass through.

All seven...but to choose the one which is my worst vice? Lust. 'Nuff said!

Ahoy everyone! Thanks for the compliments! I cut the slot in the guard that the tang will pass through. I haven't made photos of it yet, but I will do so as soon as I can. John, e-mail me privately and we will discuss your question further. Bloody Jack, to answer your question, no, there is no compromising the strength of the steel in the guard. I start with 1/4" mild steel plate, so if anything, it might only become a bit harder by forging it. There is no welding at all in the sword, so that is not a problem. Bess, aye lass, it is indeed (or will be) a full tang, like the originals it is based on. The tang passes all the way through the grip and the pommel cap and is peened down over the pommel cap like a rivet.

Some of you may remember the clam shell cutlass I built and posted photos of a year or so ago. Well, my daughter, who is a pirate reenactor as well, took a fancy to that cutlass and absconded with it like any proper pirate should. (I'm so proud of her! ). Being left bladeless, and being enamored of the simpler American style hangers like the ones shown on the Old Dominion Forge website, I recently took to my forge to arm myself with a new weapon. I love the fancy clamshell hilts, but to be truthful, I prefer a simpler, no-nonsense utilitarian business weapon, plus the shells on my daughter's sword were a royal pain in the arse to forge. What follows is my progress so far in forging a new hanger for myself. These two photos show the guard, the pommel cap and the grip at their current stage of completion. Most of Kyle Wilyard's hangers and cutlasses on the Old Dominion site are pictured with polished antler grips, and I thought heavily of making my own out of antler as well, as I have an abundance of the stuff, but I had a piece of pretty curly maple that I had been saving for a special project, so I turned the grip out of that. It is a period authentic wood found on many knives and gun stocks from the colonial period, and I like the warm feeling it has in my hands, so I went with the maple for my grip. It has the most beautiful tiger-striped grain pattern! It is not finished in this photo, but will feature a hand rubbed linseed oil finish when I'm done. The guard and pommel cap are hand forged from a piece of 1/4" steel plate. It is very tough stuff, and doesn't bend unless heated to cherry red... These are the hardest parts of making one's own sword, in my own humble opinion. Next, I will manufacture the blade, which is fairly easy to do using my own particular method. I currently work in a lumber/sawmill, so we get in these huge industrial band saw blades that are about 12' long or so. When they break, the mill wrights cut them into pieces with a torch and throw them away. I cut my blades from these abandoned pieces of "trash" saw blades using a dremel tool and the little cutting wheels you can buy for them. I take precautions not to include any part of the torch-cut area where the millwrights cut the blades up in my swords, as these areas are no good for blades. The temper has been destroyed in those areas. You can tell it by the blue color of the steel. My cutting method retains all of the original temper of the sawblade, so my swords will take and hold a razor's edge...they are not wall hangers, they are the real deal and will do what a sword was made to do! These saw blades are imported by my company from Switzerland, so it is top quality tool steel. It has just the right amount of flex to it, so that the blades will always return to "true" after being flexed. If you have a lumber yard or sawmill near you, just stop in and ask for a piece or two of the broken blades. Most places will be happy to give it to you just to get rid of the scrap. Anyway, here are some photos of what I have done so far. I will continue to post pics here of my progress with the sword as I go along, so you all can see how I do it. With some patience and minimal skills, you can also make your own swords, and have the satisfaction of knowing you made it yourself and that it is a real weapon, rather than a costume prop. Old Dominion Forge American Hangers My hilt parts Another shot

Merry Christmas to all of you! I hope your holiday is wonderful, and your New Year will be blessed!

That is an AWESOME Christmas tree! And two of the loveliest lasses to go with it! My wife has decided she wants a snowman tree next year, so...if she can do a snowman tree, it stands to reason I should be able to do a pirate tree? LOL! Merry Christmas to you all!

Charlie, Hands down! Sorry Nigel Aye, I agree! Baby Charlie steals the show! I wasn't there, so I don't know whose baby he is, but somebody has a beautiful baby! He's definitely got my vote!

I think just the fact that the ship and its contents alone are associated with William Kidd makes the wreck a fabulous treasure in itself, despite the fact that it was historically looted and burned before being abandoned. Just to have Captain Kidd's naval cannon, or a plate he might have eaten from or held in his hands displayed properly in a museum is a fabulous thing!

Dang, that's awesome! So now we have three finds: the Whydah, the Queen Anne's Revenge(tentatively), and now the Quedagh Merchant . Sure would be neat if any of them could be raised, or at least parts of them, kind of like the Mary Rose in England.

Exactly, Captain Bo. I think the notches in the blade would also be good for snagging burning sails, downed rigging, and other stuff to drag it out of the way...it's definitely a good axe, although it's not GAoP period. But see, the thing about this particular design that got me wondering was this: It was made by a bladesmith that had a contract with the U.S. government to make them, so I was wondering if there might have been any earlier contracts for axes for the Americans. This example is from the late 18th/early 19th century, so if it was made in the 1790's, I wonder where the design originated, or how much earlier it might have been used. Perhaps it wasn't used any earlier at all, as was mentioned in one of the posts above, and that is very likely. But I guess what I am ultimately looking for is any unique designs that were "American" (colonial) made, that differed from the English style, and used in the GAoP.

Aye, it was indeed, Kenneth.

Recently, while surfing online, I ran across a site which sells prop weapons used in the movie Master and Commander. One of the weapons shown was an "American" boarding axe, with two "teeth-like" notches cut out on the underside of the blade. Curious about this particular design, I did a bit more searching on the net and found this site American Boarding Axe Now This particular axe is a Revolutionary War period weapon, but I have been wondering how much earlier this type of axe might have been used, if at all. Does anyone here know anything about this American style of axe? I am wondering if the variety of boarding axes might have been due to the tastes of the individual makers, rather than one certain type which would have been attributed to a whole country? I don't think it would be too unreasonable to assume that what is now commonly called the English pattern of boarding axe would have been the only style of boarding axe made in England, do you suppose? Any help any of you could provide concerning this axe would be greatly appreciated, as well as your thoughts or research on any of the styles.

Awesome photos indeed! Damn, I wish I could have been there with you all!