Captain Midnight

That is truly outstanding work! My hat's off to ye all! I'd be interested in seeing more of Mr. March's cutlasses... :)

Yep, Here's mine: Captain Midnight Hope to hear from you all!

Greg, Just take a break from it...as long as you need, but do come back to us. We need you, brother. :)

Here it is, although Kind of blurry...

I'm working on a series of articles. The first, completed last week, was about belts and holsters. The second, somewhat finished but available right now anyway, is a list of Whydah artifacts that I know of, with some pics and commentary. Hopefully I'll be able to finish that one next week. Hi John, I would love to see your articles, when you get them ready. I have been thinking about reconstructing a holster as well. I wish we could see better pics of the Whydah holster, unfortunately, the one photo I've seen of it is not clear enough for me to glean any construction details, as it is rather fuzzy and grainy...

Hi Michael, I am no expert on cartridge boxes, but I would see no need to harden the leather with wax. That is what the wooden interior of the box is for. Also, I believe you are correct in that the flap would eventually crack at its stress or bending point after a while from being opened and closed. Not that I'm saying it wasn't done, but I just don't see the need to do it. Most cartridge boxes I have seen from various time periods are almost all just plain leather with some sort of wood or tin inserts.

John, no, I have not had any contact with Ken concerning the cartridge box. This is my interpretation of the box's construction, using what pieces remain, and I will attempt here to explain why I interpret it this way. It is fairly easy to discern which pieces form the actual box itself, which leaves the remaining slats or strips you mentioned. The remaining four strips in question are, I think, the same or nearly the same length as the width of the box, which means they would have had to be arranged side-to-side inside the box, rather than front-to-back. Also, they still exhibit stitch holes on each of their ends. Had they been merely dividers for the wooden box itself, it is doubtful they would have had stitch holes, as they most likely would have been joined wood-to-wood, rather than wood-to-leather, using glue or pegs. I have studied the photos and archaeological drawings of both the Whydah box and the Phips wreck box, which are almost identical in construction. The cartridge box from the Phips wreck is described on its web site as having had wooden stiffeners stitched or pegged to its interior, forming a protective lining which also helped hold its shape. In the Whydah cartridge box archaeological drawing, you can see that the main pieces which form the actual box itself bear no stitch holes, but the remaining four slats do. Look closely at the photo of the Whydah box and you can clearly see the stitching along each outside edge of the flap which secured the slats to the inside. Using this information, I would guess that the wooden box or tray was not stitched in, but was either glued in, or left unattached in order to be able to lift it out of the leather shell. It would be secure in the leather shell without being stitched, but the flap stiffeners would need some way of being secured inside the flap, thus the stitching. This would explain why only those four strips bore stitch holes, and the row of stitches along the outside edges of the box's flap. Why would there be stitching on the flap unless something was stitched to its inside surface, right? In my own thinking, this would be the most logical reconstruction. When the flap is closed and buttoned, the wooden stiffeners inside the flap close together and interlock down between the two wooden end-pieces of the actual box, forming a sturdy wooden box with a top similar to a roll-top desk. It is very strong, and prevents the flap or cover from being crushed in like leather alone would eventually allow. Now, I hope you will understand that I am by no means trying to say that my reconstruction is 100% absolutely accurate to the original, as that could only be accomplished by careful study and examination of the original, which we may never be able to do, due to its fragile nature, and the fact that it is behind glass in the museum. But my reconstruction does work well, and has all of the proper measurements and number of pieces as the original, and (I think) logically explains the arrangement of the pieces.

Ok, guys, here are the photos I promised. This is the front of the box. The back of the box showing the belt loops, which have an interesting shape. The inside of the box showing the nine wooden stiffeners which form the wooden box on the inside and the flap reinforcements, which are stitched on, as per the original. They are made of solid poplar. The archaeological specs didn't specify which species of wood the stiffeners were, so I used an educated guess and made them of hardwood. Makes sense that they would have been hardwood, considering the fact that they have survived over three hundred years at the bottom of the ocean. These will be going for $50 each, if I can get enough interest in making them. They will be individually hand-made, one at the time, and no payment need be made until they were ready to ship. All I would need would be people who would be honest enough to purchase them after I get them built.

Ok, Silas, will do! I'm posting from work right now, but later this evening when I get home, I'll post the photos of it and more information as well.

Ahoy mates I have made a replica of the Whydah cartridge box based on its archaeological drawings and measurements, as well as the few photos that exist of it. I have been considering making a few more to sell on a limited basis, but I'd like to know what kind of interest there may be out there for this before I start the project. Would anyone be interested?

Greg, The blade is cut from a 14' industrial saw blade from the local sawmill. I work there, so whenever they break a blade, I get them and bring them home to make knives and such out of. They are made of top quality steel imported from Sweden. My sword blade has just the right amount of flex, and a razor edge...it is the "real McCoy", not a show piece or wallhanger...the method I use to cut them puts no heat on the steel (at least not much), so the original temper of the steel is not jeapordized. I make other blades as well, mostly trade knives from the 1700's, but I've also made my own rigging knife, based on a British MOD rigging knife. You can see a photo of it over in the "rigging gear" thread. I've been making my own knives since I was 11 or 12 years old.

Thank you, William, for the nice compliment. Everything shown in the photo was made by my own hands with the exception of "Maggie Brown"...

Here is the pic of the finished set, along with the rest of my arsenal, finally!

Here is my own arsenal: an English doglock dragoon pistol named "Maggie Brown", a shell-guard cutlass, bandolier and "apostles", and grenadoes...

Finally did it!

Thanks for your kind words, guys. It was a major pain in the buttocks to build, but well worth it in the long-run!

My own meager gear is not as nice as you guys', but here it is. I made it all myself, including the knife, which is patterned after a British military rigging knife. I carved the seam rubber from walnut, and the fid and knife handle are carved from mahogany.

Well, I finally got my digital camera operating again, and as I promised a long while back, here is a photo of the cutlass I crafted myself. It is completely scratch-built and forged by myself. The grip is North American whitetail antler. The photo is not as clear as I would like, but perhaps you can get the jist of what my blade looks like. I fashioned it after historical examples, and replicated blades from Old Dominion Forge...

Those are NICE looking bedrooms!

Now that would be SWEET to see that one built! Thanks for that link!

Could they be fids of some kind?

Definitely a sea chest...and a piratess...

Cool! Thanks, I'll have to give it a try!

It sounds plausible...

Looks cool! Has anyone else tried it?