Cascabel

I believe it was a theatrical release in some European country, probably in a longer version, because of not having the time constraints of the TV version, as I have seen theater posters of it for sale on ebay occasionally in foreign languages, but I don't recall which languages for certain. I also have a lobby card showing Billy Bones in a fight with another pirate on the beach in a scene that does not appear in the TV version. Foreign releases seem to be under the title "Devil's Treasure". Tantalizing stuff !!! From what I have been able to find out, the movie is actually owned by Agamemnon Films, which is owned by the Heston family. It would be up to them to OK the release. I had a friend go by their offices once to query them, and the cute "20 something" receptionist was not able to be very helpful with information, never having even heard of the film. >>>>> Cascabel

Aye, I'm in agreement with ye !! 'Treasure Island' with Heston is without equal. I think Polanski's 'Pirates' runs a close second, especially concerning characters and costuming.... >>>> Cascabel I agree with you about 'Pirates', Cascabel. I've been looking for a copy on DVD but am told that it doesn't exist. Walter Matthow was great and the costuming was excellent. Animal I found it on DVD on ebay a couple of years back. It came out of Brazil. The primary language was Portugese, but you can go to the menu and select the original English dialog with no subtitles. The good part is that it is in "Region 1" format, which means it plays normally on US players. You might check Amazon also. The label on the case says 'Piratas'. >>>> Cascabel

Aye, I'm in agreement with ye !! 'Treasure Island' with Heston is without equal. I think Polanski's 'Pirates' runs a close second, especially concerning characters and costuming.... >>>> Cascabel

I mostly like a cutlass for brandishing and making threats of bodily harm, but I like a rapier for it's elegance on dressy occasions. "It's not what you do, but how good you look doing it that counts !!!" >>>> Cascabel

The naturally occuring roll is not as pronounced as the "Jack Sparrow" look. It's more of a gentle rolling forward of the rear part of the brim. I kinda like it. It gives the hat a well-used look. >>>> Cascabel

On all the hats I have ever made, the back edge rolls inward all on it's own after a while. I suppose you could help it along when you do the initial shaping if you wanted to. It may have something to do with my using a hat stretcher periodically on them when they shrink a bit. >>>> Cascabel

""Oh, good lord. And the guy smoking is the one with the priming flask. And just what the hell were they stuffing down the barrel? That whole procedure is so wrong on so many levels. I have searched for and read as many "accident reports" as I can find on cannon injuries. In every case the common mistake is not wet swabbing between shots and, presumably, not sealing off the touch hole while loading."" It amazes me that so many modern day idiots don't seem to realize that the wet swabbing is done for the very important reason of extinguishing sparks. Worming the barrel after firing will not get ALL of the remaining cartridge remnants for certain. I have even heard people saying that wet swabbing is to "cool" the barrel. Come on, people, think about it !! There is not enough water or time involved to effectively cool down several hundred pounds of hot metal. Experiments have shown that a hot barrel is not likely to ignite black powder, but a remaining spark most certainly will !!! These procedures were developed back when people fought wars with these things !! Do some folks think that in modern times the laws of physics no longer apply ??? >>>> Cascabel

The "accepted wisdom" of the underhanded grip with the thumb pointing out is really not going to help you a bit if the gun goes off while being rammed. I recently was present when a gunner suffered a badly broken arm, broken thumb, and nearly completely severed finger in a loading accident. Things happen much too quickly for any kind of "special grip" to do you any good. If the gun goes off during loading, and no injury or slight injury is suffered, it is pure luck in my experience. I've seen several similar accidents over the years. EVERY instance I have observed was the result of not wet swabbing before re-loading. Each time the gunner was using "accepted" ramming procedure. >>>> Cascabel

The way I do them is to make a close fit to the blade by measuring in several spots, marking the leather to follow the curve of the edge of the blade, and then fold it and run it through the sewing machine with the stitching along the side where the edge is, which makes a straight scabbard. The next step is to run it through the band saw to cut off the excess leather close to the stitching. To curve it, I then soak it in water for about a half hour, and force the blade into it with the seam running down the side of the blade. It helps to work it over with a mallet to make the seam lay down properly. I let it dry with the blade in place. Heavily wax the blade before inserting it to prevent rusting. You can remove the blade before it completely dries. After it dries, you can dye it to whatever color you want. This is the way that works for me, but some makers use other methods. >>>> Cascabel

Here are detail shots of the scabbard : >>>> Cascabel

Anyway, hope everyone enjoys themselves, and hope for pleasant weather for you all. I am going to give up the ghost and get rid of my re-enacting gear. I will not be attending any more events. Sorry i never got to meet so many of you. Best wishes to all. Bo NAY !!!!, sez I.... We won't have it !! Hang on to your stuff, Bro. Things will evolve in your life to where you can get back into the pirate world at some point. I was really hoping to meet you at some point. We seem to have similar attitudes. If you just wait a while, I think you will find your way back to the Dark Side..... >>>> Cascabel

I made the scabbard, baldric and buckle also. I'll shoot a couple of pics and post them after the weekend. I'm out of town on a gig right now. >>>> Cascabel

I'm not set up to make blades, so it was ready made. The rest of it I made from scratch. >>>> Cascabel

There really isn't a good way to do it without disassembly. If it's a cheap non-firing replica, you probably will do it no harm by getting a spray can of clear laquer like Krylon, and giving the whole thing a couple of nice even coats. >>>> Cascabel

Just finished me newest cutlass. Hopefully the images show up.... >>>>> Cascabel

One of the neatest cannon experiences I have had is the privelege of firing an original 7 inch Brooke rifled cannon at the Confederate Naval Museum in Columbus, Ga. It uses 5 pounds of powder per shot as a blank load. Normal live load was about 15 pounds, variable according to projectile weight. Quite an earth shaker !!! >>>> Cascabel

By all means speak up, mate. Point out anything that you disagree with. As I said before, this isn't rocket science and there is a lot of "wiggle room" for some things. If we point out the "wiggly areas" and agree on the hard and fast "don't do that" stuff, we will all understand the whole BP experience that much more. Wadding is one of those "wiggly" areas. Loads are a little less wiggly but where you point the big round hole is a "no wiggling at all" place. At some point when time permits, I'll take each point I disagree with one at a time. I don't feel right about publicly stating that someone is incorrect without a full and complete explanation. I believe I owe that person that consideration, because I'm sure they are posting information that they truly believe is correct, and has been taught to them as "gospel truth". When I do post about these things, they will need to be fairly lengthy posts in order to fully address the issues, and I don't have time right now. I also find that many times on forums, contrary opinions are taken as personal criticisms, rather than constructive information, and this leads to bad feelings. As stated before, if I see anything actually dangerous, I'll speak up immediately. >>>>> Cascabel

Aye, Jim... Loading directly from a horn is dangerous. I have been dealing with this stuff for well over 40 years, and I have seen several accidents of various types. I remember back when Park Service rules were instituted. Back then, besides paper cartridges, they also approved the use of a "secondary container" or powder measure to be used. This also prevented having a full flask or horn over the barrel. The spring loaded flasks are no safety factor at all, merely a convenience because of being able to be used one-handed. I am starting to see quite a bit of incorrect info appearing in this thread. Most of which will not get you hurt, but simply not the best methods. It is amazing the amount of misinformation that has been repeated over the years !! No need for me to step on anyones toes at this point, but if I spot anything really dangerous, I'll speak up. >>>> Cascabel

Aye, I think Crowe would be an excellent choice. I always thought Flynn was too much of a "pretty boy" to be believeable. I think the character needs to be a bit more gritty. Of course, Flynn was a product of the way movies were made at the time, when the hero was usually a pretty boy.... >>>> Cascabel

As far as wadding goes, I always try to discourage the use of any wadding at all. It is entirely un-necessary, and is actually prohibited at many events. The only time I ever use wadding is if I have to do something requiring carrying a loaded pistol on my belt for use in a scene of some sort. Even then, the wadding is very thin, and only rammed tightly enough to prevent the powder falling out. If a pistol does not fire after several attempts, you only need to point it down to dump the powder out and render it safe. I find that "newbies" only make the mistake of accidentally dumping their powder once. You only need to remember to not point the weapon below the horizontal before firing. Not using wadding prevents a multitude of possible problems also. Nothing to lie around smoldering, or to make a mess for someone to pick up. Nothing to become an accidental projectile, like an unusually thick wad., no likelihood of a ramrod being fired by being accidentally left in the bore, no need to locate a worm to pull a wad if a piece refuses to fire, no hand injuries from accidental firing while ramming, etc. >>>> Cascabel

From time to time, there are questions about traveling with black powder weapons. A couple of things to keep in mind about the following information is that generally, if it LOOKS like a gun, the authorities consider it to be a gun, therefore non-firing replicas get treated the same as real weapons. You don't want to try to explain to a non-knowledgeable gate agent what the difference is !! The other thing to understand is that the following information is correct AS OF THE TIME OF POSTING. Regulations and the interpretation of them by people in charge are subject to change on short notice, or no notice at all !!! Check with the airline you are flying with beforehand. The rules seem to be set in Jell-o, rather than concrete !!!! Traveling with weapons is not at all difficult. However, keep in mind that You CANNOT bring black powder at all under any circumstances, so empty your powder flask, and wash it out. Plan to have someone have powder available for you where you are going, and also be familiar with whether you can legally possess weapons in the jurisdiction where you are going. This applies mostly to NY, and MA, at this time. Different airlines have different interpretations of the rules, so there can be slight variations, but the weapons cannot ever be in carry-on baggage. Generally, the weapon must be in a lockable hard case. The best way to be absolutely sure of compliance is that the pistol be in its own lockable hard case, locked, and inside a hard suitcase also locked. When you arrive at the ticket counter, you must tell them that you have a gun in your luggage. You will then be given a tag that you attach to the gun, and then you lock the case and the suitcase. Sometimes, depending on the local procedures, you need to present the luggage containing the weapon to the TSA people for inspection by hand after getting it tagged at the ticket counter, or it may just go through an x-ray machine. They may ask you to unlock it for inspection. In any event, it gets locked again before it is out of your sight. You could just put the pistol in a small hard pistol case, without it being in a larger suitcase, but I do not recommend it. Small cases are far too easy to steal. One of the things I do whenever I travel by air is to ALWAYS have a gun in my luggage, even when I am not doing a show. It makes it to where they have to inspect it in front of you, and allow you to lock it. Locking it prevents opportunities for theft after it gets into the baggage room behind closed doors. The TSA employees are notorious for stealing things from luggage during "random" inspections. Also, locking it prevents accidental opening and loss of items during handling. Many times when I worked for the airlines, I saw luggage contents scattered throughout the baggage compartments from burst suitcases. >>>>> Cascabel

My gut feeling on this issue, (with nothing to back it up, other than experience !), is that many times there really isn't any regulation or permit system in place, but the lower echelon minions feel there there "must be something" on the books that applies to the situation. The other possibility is the usual poorly worded regulations that are too open to interpretation are sometimes applied for lack of something more concrete by people that like to push their authority. But...... We must always remember that we are playing in someone else's sandbox, and have to do as they say, whether we agree with it or not !!! >>>> Cascabel

These pistols vary wildly in quality, depending on each individual example. There are a great many variations in them internally in the locks, and I never determined if it had to do with different manufacturers, or production dates, or what the story was. They varied from pretty decent to pure junk, with all stops in between. All of them had "issues", and I don't remember any of them being good right out of the box. I don't remember ever actually seeing one that had a welded or pressed in breech plug, but considering the other variations, it would not surprise me. I advocate a careful examination of the breech area because of the rumors. I have worked on a great many of these guns over the years, and never came across one that I could not put "right". Some required more work than others, mostly concerning the locks. They benefit greatly from a general slimming down of the stock, as they are a bit "clunky" in appearance. This is actually just an esthetics issue on my part. The originals that they were copied from look just as clunky. I also like to exchange the rather awkward looking cock for something more graceful in appearance. This gives them the look of an earlier style pistol. I did this modification for our own Stynky Tudor, along with dealing with other issues. >>>> Cascabel

This type of lock is known as a Miquelet. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miquelet These are common on Spanish made guns, and also well known on Italian pieces. They are seen on Arabic weapons too. Most all I have seen are on guns from the Mediterranean area, and some Balkan pieces. The chief advantage with the mainspring and most of the works on the outside is that it makes for a much stronger stock. The amount of wood cut away to clear the mainspring and workings of a conventional lock weakens the stock considerably in the lock area. I have seen a great many antique guns with the stock broken through the lock area. The Spanish military swore by this design even up into the early percussion era. There is also quite a bit less work involved in inletting the stock to receive this type of lock. Disadvantages are that the moving parts are exposed to dirt and damage . >>>> Cascabel

Depending on the depth of the crack, and where it is, you may get away with using it for a very long time. One of my rifles has a curved crack across the face of the frizzen that has been there for over 30 years of heavy use without a problem. It never progressed to the point of going all the way through. It likely only goes as deep as the case hardening on the surface. >>>> Cascabel