Duchess

3 hours ago, madPete said:

My youngest son bought some tools and I guess its a rubber block that you can carve? I'd have to get ambitious again.

There's a bunch of different things you can do! A not exhaustive list of things to use:

• Piece of wood lumber (pros: small pieces are often cast offs and easy to find, con: grain can be a pain work with, just do all your carving with the grain, absorbs ink)
• Linoelum block (pros durable, can be carved in any direction, consistent. cons: can be expensive, might want a way to hold it while carving, set size unless you want to saw)
• unmounted linoelum (pros, easy to cut to size, straightforward carving. cons: not rigid, easy to accidentally cut through, still kinda expensive)
• rubber blocks for printing, ie Speedy carve (pros: pink is super easy to carve, easy to cut to size cons: kinda expensive, might be hard to source, not long term durable)
• pink eraser blocks (pros:cheap, easy to find, easy to carve. Cons: small size, hard to hold while carving)
• potatoes (Pros: easy to care, easy to find, cheap. cons: kinda wet and starchy. rots)
• 3D printing (Pros: I dunno? Fun to combine lots of skills, no hand strength needed Cons: expensive, time consuming, high learning curve)

Other things that aren't exactly carving or block printing that you could do:

• Mono printing, basically painting with the ink and then making one print of that
• Found objects, finding material with interesting texture/relief and printing with those this is really easy to do with leaves

2 hours ago, madPete said:

Except for eggs, milk, vanilla and yeast, we could mix it up ahead of time in baggies and bring to ft Gaines. We would need a grocery run and a cast iron wafflemaker. I have a small one which i just purchased and seasoned. So I'm trying out the above recipe with added ingredients from the JS townsend video (nutmeg and wine). I'll let you know how I did...

The mix actually keeps pretty well! We usually make a batch on Friday night/saturday morning and eat waffles for breakfast for 3-4 days. You might be able to make it up ahead of time and store it in a jug in a cooler.

58 minutes ago, madPete said:

Delicious!!!

The first waffle came out in two pieces because I forgot to melt butter over the cast iron. But it still tasted great. Scraped some sticky pieces off, buttered and WALLAH! see below. Everyone after came out nice 4 minutes a side on the stovetop on Med heat...

 

These look so good! I'm glad you tried the recipe!

On 3/6/2023 at 6:46 PM, Mary Diamond said:

Oh my word, 😂🤣 that print!

I've worn it to work a few times. The results have been...interesting...😁

2 hours ago, Stynky Tudor said:

Buying books blind over the internet/off Amazon - not the best idea. At least not for visual media. Looks like it's time to visit my local/physical book store.

Oh no! I stumbled across a folder of Pennsylvania Dutch designs at an antique store last summer, so you might try hitting up antique stores with art books.

A thread to collect ideas for the Traveling Yard -  A Pyracy Print Exchange project.

For right now: If you're interested in participating, chime in here. If you have ideas, share those too!

22 hours ago, Mission said:

"Equiparates, (Lat. in Logick) things compared, or made equal.
Equipollence, another Logical Term us'd, when several Propositions signify one and the same thing, tho' they express it after different manners; as some Man is Learned, not every Man is Learned.
Equipollent, being of equal Force, Value, or Signification."

Source: Edward Phillips, The new world of words, 6th ed, 1706, not paginated.

Equipollence and equipollent are used in physics quite a bit.

For a first go round I'd suggest just your original thought, a square of material that each person could print on. I could likely source some cotton blanks to use, similar to the one here. I would recommend that we keep the number small, say 5-10 participants for the first go round. Send all the squares together along with some fabric ink. Just given the nature of printing it is easier to print all at a time. And we'd want to make sure that the finished product is not going to wash away without forcing everyone to buy ink. I can work on putting this together as event later this summer if you like. Curate some tutorials for different ways to make a block and work up some directions on size etc. What do you think Stynky?

2 hours ago, Stynky Tudor said:

Did some one say non period waffles?

Krusteaz Belgian mix used to be the good stuff! BUT they changed their recipe late last year and the new stuff smells just like playdoh to me and I can't get over it. I was so bummed. So we started experimenting and came up with the yeasted recipe I posted above.

4 hours ago, Stynky Tudor said:

Between Duchess's thread here and conversations with Mary Diamond & Willaim Brand, I think we need to do a group block print on canvas project...

Now that I'm obsessed by the topic, I ordered some Ornamental art design books from Dover.  

Tell me more!

I could see doing a couple of different options:

• A traveling yard of canvas that each participant would add a print to using fabric inks.
• A submission of carved blocks for one person to print.
• We could maybe do a mini virtual workshop sort of thing using speedy carve or rubber erasers to create blocks.
• A mini print exchange
• A block printed canvas patch exchange (where my old school punks at?)

I have ideas!

39 minutes ago, Mission said:

Ah, a homework assignment.

 

Misunderstanding the assignment, I didn't turn my work in to the correct location. I'll copy it here in hopes for some partial credit.

Hello! I’m Duchess. I’m your Arts of Pyracy Moderator.

I spent my childhood summers working with my mom at one of the largest renaissance festivals in the country. I worked there again as an adult for almost a decade. I’ve been involved in a variety of historic, theater and arts related endeavors for much of my life, but stepped away from performing about 15 years ago. I still have most of my gear, living in totes in my small house. It might be angling for a come back or a side step, I don't know yet.

I am a physicist by training,  an inveterate and intemperate learner of skills by nature, nurture and inclination.

I’m thrilled to see the Pub return, having originally joined just a few months after it was opened in 2003. Those of you who have been around might recall that I used to moderate sea shanties and more importantly, organized the annual holiday gift exchange. While I’m moving to moderate Arts (thanks to William’s generosity) I don’t plan to hand off the holiday exchange duties any time soon. Get honing your gift making and package assembly skills and keep an eye out for that this fall!

32 minutes ago, Mission said:

Oh, I thought you were still making them. VG - Van Gogh.

Ah. I am. Or more accurately, I could be. I'm not sure I'm any good at working to a brief though.

1 minute ago, Mission said:

I want one. VG Starry Night version. 🙂

I'm not sure what I have left, but I'll take a look for you!

Once again I curse my academic schedule.

Wow! I've been working on developing a waffle recipe for my family, after of our favorite mix changed. What we've settled on is strikingly similar to this one!

2 cups all purpose flour

1.5 cups of warm milk

3 tbls brown sugar (I suspect maple syrup or honey would be equally good)

3/4 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1.5 tsp yeast

Let rise 1 hour on counter or overnight in refrigerator after an hour on the counter.

Here's this mornings breakfast.

16 minutes ago, Stynky Tudor said:

Alright, I'm intrigued. How/What are you doing this exactly?

3D Printing a block print?

Basically. I call it a plate since I've only been doing them about 3mm thick.

1. Start with a sketch
2. Photograph it, since I don't have a scanner
3. Bring it into photo software, clean it up into a two color image.
4. Convert it to a 3D model (okay there's really like a dozen steps here, but you get the idea.)
5. Print the 3D plate
6. Use a printing press to print the image
7. Paint. This step might involve various stages and resists depending on what I'm going.

In this case, the basic image is just the line work of the ship. Everything else is added at the end.

I've been working on a complicated process of designing and 3D printing relief plates. Then using the plates those to create the basis of 1/1 editions with a common printed element. The common element here is ,very loosely, a 16th century caravel.

Hello! I’m Duchess. I’m your Arts of Pyracy Moderator.

I spent my childhood summers working with my mom at one of the largest renaissance festivals in the country. I worked there again as an adult for almost a decade. I’ve been involved in a variety of historic, theater and arts related endeavors for much of my life, but stepped away from performing about 15 years ago. I still have most of my gear, living in totes in my small house. It might be angling for a come back or a side step, I don't know yet.

I am a physicist by training,  an inveterate and intemperate learner of skills by nature, nurture and inclination.

I’m thrilled to see the Pub return, having originally joined just a few months after it was opened in 2003. Those of you who have been around might recall that I used to moderate sea shanties and more importantly, organized the annual holiday gift exchange. While I’m moving to moderate Arts (thanks to William’s generosity) I don’t plan to hand off the holiday exchange duties any time soon. Get honing your gift making and package assembly skills and keep an eye out for that this fall!

In this space, keep your arts and crafts coming! Share what you’re working on or learning.

Be kind.

Be constructive.

Remember that we were once all novices in our favorite thing and we are presently all novices in something else.

14 hours ago, Stynky Tudor said:

I think this is a fantastic idea! I'm not sure how well it would work, but we could host over the Pub's Discord channel.

My aged self immediately rebelled at the idea of having to learn how to use discord. But I'll take a look.

6 hours ago, LadyBarbossa said:

Thank ye all for yo'r input. Since creating this thread, I have learned a lot more about tea, as well as tea caddys and other tea equipage. I'd love to see more conversations and discoveries about tea, too. 

Also, the East India Company in London has revived some old teas including the same type of tea mix that was similar to the type thrown overboard during the Boston Tea Party. I have yet to obtain a tin of this special tea but I will by the summer and when I do, I shall try it and give my review. 

What about getting a bunch a hosting a virtual tea tasting? We could have a sign up (small fee to cover the tea?), then send a package and brewing instructions for each signed up person. And do a zoom event for the tasting!

20 hours ago, madPete said:

Since the pub left us in 2015, my Slops by Chaaps venture has come and gone. It was an attempt to provide higher quality 1700s garb for our pirate events and raise the bar from typical fair garb. The pandemic pretty much shut events down and with that came the lack of interest in historical clothing. Between that, some burnout, and difficulty getting supplies, I just let it go.

With the pandemic, I caught Covid just before the lockdown. It resulted in a minor several day illness no worse than a flu for me. Being shut in a quiet house was the bigger illness and not something I dealt with very well, so I fell back on some old interests I was either dabbling in already or hadnt explored in a long time. I started spending more time mountain biking, picked up BMX again, and just generally rode bicycles like crazy. Since it was outdoors, it wasnt subject to all the pandemic shutdowns. I could still meet new people and enjoy a hobby.

At 59 I broke three ribs on a jump trail, walked the bike back 1/2 mile from the trails and managed to ride it another 2 miles back home... That accident drove me back like a demon, mountain biking every day following 6-8 weeks of healing. I peaked out at about 8-10 miles a day, and then went thru the phases of BMX racing only to find my lower back just cant do it at a competitive level. I tried my hand at skatepark riding and dirt jumping, and have generally landed in a happy medium enjoying the bicycles and health affects of riding frequently.

Now my interest in Pyracy has been rekindled.

If you need a bump to raise your interest, just talk to William Brand for 10 minutes!

Excellent!

My husband and I are avid mountain bikers (he also rides a variety of BMX) we actually stopped riding as much during the pandemic. Our local trails were absolutely flooded with new people who were in way over their heads. It got to the point that we were having to act as first responders nearly every time we went out and when you have to be the responsible adult for everyone else around  you, it sort of takes the fun out your adventure escape. We switched to night riding almost exclusively for the first two years. I'm hopeful we'll be able to get back out more in the daylight this summer. A few months ago at an antique store, we found a book on the trails in our region that was published in 1994 (revised 1998). Our summer plan is to revisit trails comparing the the guide to do today. Huzzah to 25 years of change!

5 hours ago, michaelsbagley said:

That is a gorgeous stylus....

Fountain Pens have become a bit of an obsession of mine as well. I even turn them (from kits).... but nothing that beautiful.

Please share some pics of what you make! I've played around with 3D some replacement parts for vintage pens, sections and the like but haven't made a whole pen. I'm working on a replica filling mechanism for vacumatics. It started out as piece for a workshop, so people could practice replacing a diaphragm on something delicate but replaceable. But now I'm thinking I can actually use the thing I designed as a replacement part!

1 hour ago, blackjohn said:

I always enjoy seeing you FB pen posts! It is neat to see new life breathed into old pens.

Thank you! It's so satisfying. Particularly the ones that are nearing or over a 100 years old.

2 hours ago, blackjohn said:

I stopped reenacting and jumped back in full time to tabletop gaming. You can buy a lot of games for the price of a musket. Sure, since I never throw anything away, I still have all my stuff, but I'm unlikely to use any of it ever again.

Games I've run lately included Star Trek Adventures, Alien, Vaesen, Old School Essentials, and some others.

 

My husband and I are still running a monthly table top group with a board game focus.  It's been running for more than a decade now, which is hard to believe.

14 hours ago, Stynky Tudor said:

Wait no, you got rid of everything? I'm so sorry to hear about this horrible tragedy - truly devastating.

I'm up for it, how much do you think you want?    

I did have some angst about it. Giving up/changing identities is always a journey. I don't really drink anymore. My parents wanted the equipment out of their house and the place we bought is far too small to house something I likely would never use again. I passed it off to a former student of mine who is very excited to begin her home brewing journey, which made the transition easier.

For the grains, maybe 5-6 cups? I use about a cup per batch of bread. It freezes well.

5 minutes ago, Mission said:

Ah, Wisconsin... I haven't got to it yet, so I am only partially versed in the uses of cheese at sea. (Meaning I have a bunch of references I vaguely recall, but have not looked into them to see how everything is tied together, where it goes, from whence it comes and who it goes with.) However, I can tell you that cheese was a staple in the navy diet. It was served three times a week, beginning before the GAoP and ending well after it. The 1731 Regulations (which were created using orders which had mostly been issued during the GAoP) stated that a pint of olive oil could be substituted for "two Pounds of Suffolk Cheese; and Two Thirds of a Pound of Cheshire Cheese, [and] is equal to one Pound of Suffolk." (Regulations and instructions relating to His Majesty's service at sea,1st ed, 1731, p. 60) So that tells you what types of cheese the navy was doling out. The cheese often went bad though. I recall reading somewhere that the men sometimes carved buttons out of it, it got so hard.
 

To be fair I was equally interested in cheese when I lived in Washington.

Thank you for this! Bad is not the same as hard. I suspect they were working with quite hard varieties to begin with.

17 hours ago, William Brand said:

I can appreciate this thread on too many levels.

By levels, surely you must mean rows!

18 hours ago, Mission said:

 I have all sorts of Excel spreadsheets that I've assembled over the years.... pirate ship data, medicine data, where water was found, alcohols sorted by sailor type, pirate nationalities, all manner of food spreadsheets. And you know what's great about them? The data overlaps so I can search them to quickly find dates, current locations and ships when I'm building a new spreadsheet. So it sort of is a database, but not really.

Is Access still a thing? I was doing some consulting years ago and they wanted an access database built. It was way overkill and none of their people were ever going to learn to use it. Still a fight to talk them out of it!

Anyway, point me to any cheese based recipes please.

2 minutes ago, Stynky Tudor said:

 

Since about 2017, I've been part of a beer brewing crew here in Oregon, "Dreadnought Brewing".

Very cool! I just gave away the last of my brewing supplies and I miss the process of it all. But I was never much of a drinker and we have very limited space in our house, so off it went. I still have a few cases of mead and porter that just keep getting better with age.

Would you be interested in overnighting me some spent grains next time you do a porter? Spent porter grains make an excellent addition to homemade bread. I'll pay the shipping!