Captain Midnight

Aye, I don't see the raised lip or ring either. The only pic of a grenado I see on the QAR site is of the one that appears to be either smashed or exploded, but the point where the fuse would enter the body in this particular grenade is broken away. I haven't seen any of the Whydah examples that appear to have a raised lip either; they all appear to be simple round iron spheres with a hole drilled for the fuse to fit into. I may be missing something in the two collections, though, but I don't recall seeing anything like that.

My next weapon project, (which may be temporarily postponed when I go overseas) will be this: Spanish Espada Anchas The Spanish Espada Anchas, means "wide sword" when translated. It was a weapon used by Spanish soldiers and civilians in the New World. It was typically short and fairly easy to produce. I will probably arm my crew with these swords due to their simple yet sturdy and efficient construction. According to this web site, Espadas Anchas, they were usually worn slung over the right shoulder, or from a saddle for mounted troops. My crew will have captured them from some hapless Spanish trader headed for America... Stay tuned, and I'll have pics of it up right here when it is built...

Thank you all for the nice comments! Greg, yes, I will be posting a photo soon of me with my pirate clothing and equipment on. To answer your question concerning the construction of the scabbard, it is hard to explain exactly how I did it. It took me about a day and a half to make the scabbard. It consists of a birch core covered with thin leather which I hand-stitched up the back center. The throat and chape are made of slightly thicker leather. The actual tooling of the designs into the leather is what took the longest amount of time. A plain scabbard could be made in possibly 10 or 12 hours or so. I will have to check out the muzzleloading site you mentioned, it sounds pretty cool!

Here are the pics. The scabbard is also based on a scabbard from the Old Dominion Forge website, except I made the throat and chape of my scabbard of leather, rather than metal. No, the hat is not part of my garb, that is actually my hardhat from work...

I've finally finished the scabbard and baldric for the sword, so the whole weapon is now complete, carriage and all. I'll try to have some photos made this afternoon so I can post them here this evening. I think the scabbard took almost as long to make as the sword did!

Aye, lass, it is indeed a grand tune! I also like "One Day" from the same soundtrack...that's me own personal favorite.

That's some fantastic stuff! Thanks for the good research brother!

Ah, yes, I see now, although that is far too expensive for my budget...lol Lady Alyx, that is also a cool clip watch. Where did you find that one?

Dang those are cool! Does anyone know of anyplace making replicas or even "close enough" copies of these watches? I'd buy one of those replicas right now if they were available...I prefer a pocketwatch over a wrist watch any day...

That looks awesome Matt! I really like the hat! Incredible metal work, too!

A father, who is an avid deer hunter, decides to take his 11 year old son on his first hunting trip. They get to the woods, and the man gets his son all set up in his blind. "Now son, I want you to sit here and I don't want to hear a peep out of you, unless it's the report of your rifle bringing down a nice buck. I'll be just a ways over there in my stand if you need me." The man treks over to his stand, and just as he's getting all settled in, he hears the most awful racket coming from his young son's stand. He rushes back over, and finds his boy yelling, flailing his arms and dancing around like a madman, his rifle and gear strewn haphazardly on the ground at his feet. "Son! What in the world is wrong with you?!! I thought I told you not to make a peep over here!?" The boy replied, "Dad, I did the absolute best I could. When that snake slithered over the top of my boots, I shivered and bit my lip, but I didn't make a sound. Then, a big black bear came up behind me and was breathing down my neck, and I just froze, trembling, and shut my eyes and didn't make a sound until he went away. I thought I was home-free until those two squirrels ran up my pants leg and I heard the one ask the other: "You wanna eat 'em now , or take 'em with us?"

Thanks Matt! Aye, it did indeed take a bit of time to finish. I've looked at your website, and WOW! You have some excellent, top-notch work there yourself, my friend!

Bess, if you look closely at the close-up photo that shows the front side of the guard, you can faintly see my monogram touchmark in the blade---the balance point for the sword is about 1" forward of my touchmark. Basically, about 4-1/4" from the guard. The blade is 24", with the overall length of the sword being 29-1/2". Thanks everyone, for your kind compliments! It was a very fun project, and well worth the effort to build it.

Well, I had hoped to be able to document the process by which I built my hanger step-by-step for you all to see, but my friend who does my digital pictures fell ill and had a short hospital stay. so he couldn't do the photos. He has since recovered, and was able to take these photos of my finished sword at work this afternoon. As stated in my previous posts, this sword is based on the American hangers offered by Old Dominion Forge, but I made my blade just a wee bit wider than Kyle's. The sword is very light and fast in the hands, and is razor sharp. I actually finished it last Sunday afternoon. Next is a leather and wood scabbard and baldric for it to "nest" in. I named the sword Providence, in honor of the origins of my skill to make the weapon in the first place, as well as the city in Rhode Island, where my ancestors come from.

Very nice site! I enjoyed looking at all the pirate event photos!

Fishing, reading, gardening, and making things with my hands.

Right now I'm reading "The Deerslayer" by James Fenimore Cooper, part of the chronicles of the life of Natty Bumppo, the character more famously known as "Hawkeye" from "The Last of the Mohicans". The various books are collectively known as the "Leatherstocking Tales". Excellent reading!

Dang! Can you imagine what things would have been like if they had won the suit concerning dressing as a pirate?

Nice artwork, Oderlesseye!

Yep. I've done it.

That's a fine name, lad...Mr. Sullivan Quint...very quaint and nice-sounding. And I even like "Squint" for the nickname...

So has anyone heard any rumors that another "Pirates" movie could be made one day? I'd like to see further adventures of Captain Jack Sparrow and Barbossa, but as much as I liked Will and Elizabeth, I could really care less about seeing more of them...

That is the first example of such a fancy pocket in a pair of breeches that I've seen...but it is very cool!

So, any progress on the return of the gallery? It's been a long while...

French toast dipped in Bailey's with a bloody Mary???